WARNING: CRANKY BLOGGER AHEAD

Well, I will be in another day or so. Inspired by Tina and Alan, I have decided to do a three week detox diet. Sounds great, right? What could be wrong in kicking your body into healthier habits? NO DIET COKE...that's what. I can have 6 oz of coffee a day, but I don't want that. I need to do this. I've just gotten into terrible habits of eating junk. Not good when you have to do a rain dance of sorts just to get your pants on. For the first couple of weeks there is NO white rice, white potatoes, cold cereal, cheese, baked beans (no problem here!), alcohol or soda...even diet. I can have unlimited carrots and celery. Wow. Maybe I'll get a root canal when I finish this up, since clearly I'm having some super great luck. Seriously, wish me luck. My brother Bill did one of these a while back and his cholesterol dropped like 50 points in less than a month. He says that diets like this aren't so beneficial from a "detox" perspective, but that they force you to drop bad habits cold turkey and stick with it for a while. He's a doctor (and a very smart person) so I believe him. If I can make it through the first week or so of headaches from caffeine withdrawl, I think I can do it! :) More later...!

Another Year Wiser

I can hardly believe that it's 2008! Time has always seemed to escape me and it's getting worse as I get older. My mother was such a worrier that I think it was difficult for her to enjoy "the moment". Unfortunately, I think I acquired some of that and I force myself, almost daily, so slow down and think about what is going on, in the now, and be happy about it.


Seems like 2007 went by so quickly. It was a very busy year full of change. We started it off with our final 6 months of life in NYC. Originally, we were moving back to Dallas when the firm presented John with something that was just too good to pass up. After a weekend visit with the boys, we decided to change our relocation plans from Big D to Hotlanta so John could become the newest partner on The Home Depot. Huge deal as THD is one of the firm's largest clients. We found a great house in Buckhead and managed to get all of our stuff, from all over the country here, unpacked, arranged, and started a new life here. Ryan's school is close to home and just wonderful. We had a great summer full of pool/backyard fun. This fall was so much fun with the kids. We went to some pumpkin patches and had some big Halloween fun. We had a great Thanksgiving and Christmas with the boys. They made it all so much fun. Our 2007 had a sad, unexpected twist between the last two holidays as I had a miscarriage. It was one of the hardest things I've ever lived through, but I have such wonderful friends and family, I survived. All in all, it was a good year. Better than good, really. Despite the heartbreaking loss, I have so much to smile about. Like a dear, dear friend told me once, there comes a time when you have to be thankful for what you have and not worry about what you don't. (thanks DK! love ya!) I have so much and am excited about 2008!

Ryan's birthday was last week...the big 4! We had a little party with Granny Lin and Granddad. Ryan got a new Spiderman fishing pole and he is ready for some Georgia fishing. On his actual birthday, we had some cake and John and I gave him his gifts from us...some Lincoln Logs and a big-boy bike. He was so excited. He rides it every day but not for very long. He gets too cold! Last Saturday we had a party for him with a few of his friends here at the house. They played in a huge Spiderman bounce house, played with some of Ryan's new toys, John grilled burgers, and we ate Star Wars cake. Ryan is completely obsessed with Star Wars. He walks around with the hood of his coat pulled up telling people "I'm Darth Vader"...like they care. He had his checkup today and it went well until the end. Five immunizations, three in one leg and two in the other. I'd been telling him for the last few days that he would be getting them and that it felt like a big ant bite. So as I was trying to casually pin him down on the exam table I was asking him about the ants. Were the red or black? Were they going to a picnic? Then the nurse started. He immediately started screaming so loudly that I thought for sure the paint would start to peel off of the walls. Some of it was even that super high pitched sound that only dogs can hear. It sorta made my teeth ache. Anyway, after we gathered ourselves and walked (very slowly and with great drama) to the car, Ryan looked up at me and said "Mama, those were some MEAN ants back there!". Gotta love it! :)

In other Lambert boys news, Tanner decided life was too dull last week and that he would spice it up for me. Ryan was complaining of a headache (and he did have a fever) so I got out the Tylenol. Naturally, he decided for some crazy reason that he didn't want it. I was coaxing him, bribing him to take it but nothing was working. I decided to upgrade my approach to a physical one and hold his arms down while I shot it in his mouth. Hmmm...this takes two hands, so what do I do next? I set the open bottle of liquid infant's Tylenol on the coffee table and turn my back. Skip forward about 20 seconds. What do you think I see when I turn back around? Yep. There's Tanner with the bottle firmly gripped with both hands and turned completely upside down in his mouth. I screamed and he dropped it...but it was totally empty. I had no idea how much he drank and how much he just spilled as his shirt did have a good bit on it. So off we went to Children's Healthcare of Atlanta for the second time since we moved here. (A few months back he ate a battery...good times.) He's fine now. Crazy boy. I think these events are just dry runs as he's gearing up for breaking his femur or a massive laceration somewhere in his cute little head. He is a climber and he's pretty fearless. Great combo. Lucky me.


So what does 2008 have up it's sleeve? Well, let's hope for lots of happy, healthy times. Maybe even another little Lambert! John and I will have our 10 year wedding anniversary this summer. March will be three years since my mother passed away. Tanner will hopefully get up off of the floor and walk sometime before he turns two in October. Ryan starts t-ball pretty soon and will be in Pre-K this fall. It'll be a year of awful political commercials (I'm already dreading it). Can we please have an end to this miserable drought here in Georgia? I don't think I can sit around and watch my beautifully landscaped lawn dry up and die before my eyes. Torture! Trips away and visitors here. Sounds like enough to keep me busy and blogging away. I really enjoy this blog. It is an easy way to communicate with everyone and it also serves as an acceptable way to talk to myself. You know, so I don't get sent to the funny farm.

Stay tuned for more adventures, rantings, and whatever else this new year decides to throw our way!

The Imperfect Snack

Well, you learn something new everyday. The lesson for this particular day is that chocolate covered graham crackers do not make a good snack for the car. Seems obvious, but it certainly didn't occur to me until they were both covered in the mess, along with their coats, faces, and car seats. Stay tuned for other fabulous parenting tips from yours truly! :)

Diet Coke!

Ah, yes...one of my favorite things in the whole world! Have you seen this video? It will give you a few new reasons to like Diet Coke...about 101! Make sure the volume is up! I'm thirsty...gotta run! :)

Birthday boy

I can hardly believe that this Wednesday, my sweet little Ryan will be four years old. How did this happen? The only thing scarier than him being four is that I'm four years older myself. Really scary!

Anyway, we had the first of three parties this past Saturday evening with Granny Lin and Granddad, since they were in town. It had been a long, busy day and Ryan was pretty fried. We were at the table eating dinner before cake and presents when I looked over and saw Ryan laying sideways across his chair, eating only the bun without any meat in it. I asked him to please sit up and use his manners. He told me he liked sitting the way he was. I told him "you are almost four now and you will have to use your big kid manners all of the time, not just sometimes".

What do you think he told me?

"I'm not four yet. I'm still three for the next four days, so I'll just sit like this".

Somebody please send me a book on sassy kids for his birthday!!! :)

Winter Wonderland

John's parents just spent the weekend with us. They had been to NYC (sigh!) the week before and had wonderful weather. What did they get yesterday while here in Atlanta, GA...3 inches of beautiful snow! Ryan really liked it. He and John had massive snowball fights and Ryan rode around the backyard in his sled. Tanner might have liked it more if I hadn't tried to cram him into a snowsuit that was really too small. Mean Mommy! Here are some pictures to document it all...enjoy!

Attempting pictures!

Hi all! Here goes my first try at adding pictures to a post. I'll be writing a new post this evening, so tune in later! Have a happy Sunday!

Beavis

In my efforts to get things together, washed, and arranged before my in-laws arrive tomorrow, I have caved into a very whiney Ryan and agreed to let him watch a show. Of course, nothing we have recorded is acceptable and God forbid he just watch whatever Noggin happens to be showing..."I want something brand new" he proudly announces. My solution...On Demand. A mommy somewhere had to have thought of this. So as we perused the choices I happened upon a brand new Wonder Pets. Great! The Wonder Pets Save the Camel!

So you might be wondering why this post is called Beavis if he's watching The Wonder Pets. Well, the second of the two stories in this particular episode is "The Wonder Pets Save the Ants". In case you haven't already seen it, The Wonder Pets have the challenge of helping two different colonies of ants work out an argument over which group will be raiding a picnic. SO, they say they have to stop "the fight". Ryan immediately sits up on the couch. Now they have his attention...a FIGHT. He starts talking nonstop..."Mommy, they are gonna fight. I want them to fight. Do you want to watch the fight? It's gonna be a big fight!" and so on and so on. As the colonies get closer to each other and several failed attempts by the mediating Wonder Pets occur, the heads of each colony begin to sing "We're going to fight!" By now Ryan is standing on the couch with me repeatedly telling him to SIT DOWN, actually I was only talking to myself b/c he was NOT listening to me! As the ants close in on each other, Ryan starts pumping his arms up and down as fast as he can chanting "FIGHT! FIGHT! FIGHT! FIGHT!"

My mind shot back about 15 years and all I could picture was Beavis doing the EXACT same thing that my son was doing before me. It was about the funniest thing I've ever seen.

Sadly, the Wonder Pets convince the ants at the last moment to share. Ryan was so disappointed. He finally noticed me freaking out about his standing on the furniture and sat down. He folded his arms across his chest and announced in a very serious tone "Mommy, I don't want to watch the Wonder Pets EVER again". In fact, he's so PO'd that he got up and turned the TV off and is sitting on the couch reading his Star Wars book.

Damn those Wonder Pets!!! :)

A nut where?

Don't you just love it when you step back and look at yourself in "one of those" moments with your kids? I'm standing in the kitchen cleaning up after our fabulous, nutritious dinner, courtesy of Papa John's, when all of a sudden Ryan erupts from the other side of the room..."MOMMY, MOMMY, MOMMY, MOMMY, GET IT OUT, GET IT OUT QUICK!". Okay, you would think that I might have gone to him a bit quicker than a regular-old-stroll-through-the-park pace, but I've had kids long enough to know better. I didn't smell smoke and the dog was in plain sight so how bad could it be? When he comes in my view, I see his contorted little body in the floor, one-piece pj's unzipped, and both hands firmly dug down as deeply as he could have possibly gotten them, moving about wildly. "What the heck is wrong?" I ask. "Get the nut out of here" he exclaims. Nut? He's thrashing around like he's plugged into an outlet and being shocked repeatedly.

So I pull his hands out and promptly stick mine in. That's when I saw myself from the other side of the front windows of our house. Oh, please don't let the CPS people drive by right now. How weird does this look? Anyway, I search to no avail...no nut. I asked him why he put a nut in his pj's...he replied "I didn't. It just got in there all by itself". Well naturally. Nuts have a tendency to do that sort of thing. He seems to buy my explanation that "it just got OUT all by itself", so back to the kitchen.

Five minutes later, here we go again. So now I'm done with this chapter of the day and I pull him out of the pj's entirely. Going on a nut hunt. At the very tippy toe of the pj's I finally find it. I have absolutely no idea what it is...sorta looks like some clear, shiny bead that fell off one of the 25,000 Christmas decorations I recently sent back to the basement. Ryan gets his face about 1/2 inch away from it and says "OOOOHHHHH, it's a jewel. Do you love it?".

Oh yes. I love the nut/jewel/choking hazard for your brother to eat that I just retrieved from your pj's.

:)

From the mouths of babes....

If you've ever spent any significant amount of time with Ryan, then you'll know that he likes to talk. A lot. More like a ton. Some days I swear the only time his isn't talking is when he's eating, and if you know Ryan, then you'll also know that he doesn't eat a lot. SO, today has been one of those days where since the first "good morning, Mommy" there has been a continuous conversation with little pause. What does he talk about and inquire about all day long you might wonder? Here is a small sampling of topics covered thus far, at 4:30 today:

"Why can't I fly?"

"Does Tanner have to go with us?"

"Where do ants sleep at night?"

"Do they use blankets if they get cold?"

"Why do they get cold?"

"Do you remember when Granny Lin had a frog in her bathroom?"

"Is it Christmas Eve again?"

"Does Nolan live in Atlanta or Texas?"

"Why does Nolan live in Texas?"

"Why does Nolan's mommy and daddy work in Texas?"

"Can I just have some gum for dinner?"

"Why do I need socks?"

"Do we take the sea monkeys to the vet if they get sick?"

"Do you remember when Granddad fell in the lake?"

"Why don't you pants fit?"

"Why isn't Diet Coke for kiddos?"

Are you getting the picture? SSSSSHHHHHHEEEEEEESSSSSSSSSSSSSHHHHHHHHHH! I'm pretty sure if at the end of the day, if my head had a convenient screw top, you could look inside and see a bowl of pudding. After a few hours of a day like today, I feel like my mind melts a bit.

The truth is I wouldn't have it any other way. I love his interest and need for knowledge. John and I do our best to answer all of his questions. Sometimes this is easier than others. Sometimes we all go to the computer and look up an answer. Like this past Saturday, after the dog drug a snake out of some monkey grass and John threw it over the fence and into a tree (oops!), Ryan needed to know about garden snakes...specifically what they eat. So, in case you don't already know, they eat frogs, slugs, earthworms, and mice.

So now you know. If you ever have a question, please let Ryan know...he has probably already asked it!!! :)

A Brand New Day!

Hello everyone! Welcome to my latest endeavor...blogging! As my boys get older and talking on the phone is increasingly impossible, I've decided on this as a new method of communication with friends and family. Please don't think I'm rude or impersonal, just increasingly practical. I want everyone to know all of the funny, crazy, silly, horrifying, embarassing things my boys do, but getting on the phone just encourages several undesirable behaviors...hitting each other, eating random things, putting things into each others ears, and pushing buttons on Daddy's expensive electronics throughout the house. As soon as John gets home from NYC and Monterray, Mexico I will get the cable to put pictures up here. Please check back frequently. I hope to entertain, inspire, and gain strength and perspective on life from others!!!