enjoying motherhood

I was driving to the mall yesterday to get my glasses fixed yesterday when I had some thoughts about motherhood. I thought about how most of my days are filled with dishes, laundry, changing dirty diapers, wiping snotty noses, side stepping mine fields of toys, kissing booboos, playing cars, getting snacks, making food, and running errands. Then I had an overwhelming feeling of joy and satisfaction. I'm so blessed and I would not want to do anything else. Sometimes doing some of those things feels like a chore or can be tiresome but there is really no other job I'd rather have. I'm blessed to have a husband that works so hard to make it possible for me to stay home with our boys. My only response was to give a prayer of thanks.

me running?

I, like most people in America want to lose some weight. I'm finally down a few pounds below my pre-pregnancy weight! However, I would like to lose more. I was a size 4 when I got married...eight years and 2 kids later... well I'm not a size 4 anymore. I would like to be in a size 6 or 8. Enter "The Running Group". There is a lady at my church that runs all the time and she is starting a running group. It's great for beginners like me because we will be starting off really slow. And by slow I mean the first week we are walking 11 minutes running 1. The goal is that at the end of 6 months we will all run a 5-K. I'm excited and a little nervous not only about how I will hold up but how well my boys will do in the jogging stroller for 45 minutes streight. Oh did I menton that I will be pushing both boys? This should be a great workout! Wish me luck!

Trains and Food

My mother -in-law had a great idea. She suggested we go to the hospital were she works, on Friday because on the first Friday of every month they bring a band into the lobby. There was a Ragtime band performing this last Friday and she thought Truitt would like it. He really likes Baby Einstein, Meet The Orchestra. We took him to Fritz's first. It's a local restaurant that has a train track close to the ceiling. The train actually delivers your food to your table. We had no idea how much he would love this place. He didn't touch his grilled cheese for the first 15 minutes. The we went to see the band at the hospital. Tru loved this too. He just sat there in awe. The he would point at each instrament and tell me what it was, then look at me with a big grin on his face.
The next day when Daddy came home from being out of town for a few days I told him to tell Daddy about the exciting time he had on Friday. This kid went on for 30 minutes (I'm not exagurating). He just kept saying "Trians and trains and trains and trains and fooood." If the place was that exciting I think we will be going back very soon.

Carrie is missing Dairy

At around 4 months Ephraim developed what we thought was Eczema on his little face, chest and belly. We kept trying different creams and lotions to heal it with no avail. Finally last week Ephraim, Truitt and I made a trip out to Colorado to visit my family. There we took him to see a Dr. who specializes in natural medicine and food allergies. We found out that Ephraim is allergic to oats, bakers yeast, pecans, almonds and is lactose intolerant. Therefore, because I'm nursing I can not eat any of these items. I have been off of them for a few days now and his face looks as though it is starting to clear up. It is a little overwhelming at first to cut all those things out of one's diet. Especially if you are addicted to dairy like I am. Milk, butter, sour cream, cheese I love them all! If it makes his stomach feel better and his face to stop itching then it's all worth it. So at least for the next 6 months, it's lactose-free milk, goat cheese, and making my own bread. I hope this all works to make him feel better.

Toddler Tourettes

I don't know if any other mom's suffer from this, but I believe I have a severe case of it. You see "Toddler Tourettes" (at least in our house) is when a parent randomly sings, speaks a phrase, or makes a noise that he/she has heard over and over again due to a Toddler's toys, books and movies.
For example, last night I'm cooking dinner and suddenly I start singing, "Drumming Drumming Drumming....Cave company is coming." Aaron just walked past me and muttered, "Toddler Tourettes!" I bowed my head in mock shame and said, "It's true...so true." For those of you who don't recognize this little ditty, I will let you know that it is a song from "The Backyardigans". I think I've seen this movie with Truitt at least 5 times. We have watched it a lot lately because all of us in the Lowrey household have been sick, and I believe that movie watching is great theropy for feeling icky.
For me it's not just with movies, it's with toys and books etc. Sometimes I will have phrases from "One Fish Two Fish" in my head as I lay my head on my pillow at night.
I have a strong feeling that I am not the only mother that suffers from this syndrom, but I don't know of any support groups.
But....
"Now it's time for us to have a snack, see you next time wheeeeen weeee're baaaaack with our friends the Backyardigans."

Happy New Year

I just thought I would re-cap the old year. I think that it's nice to look back before you look forward, that way you can see how far you've come and you have a nice starting point for what's ahead.
January through May of 2008 seems like ages ago. It almost feels like a different lifetime. Truitt was just pulling up on things and learned to walk by April. Aaron was still working hard, and considering school. I was teaching a boy to walk, working at Starbucks and little baby number 2 was developing well.
In May Truitt celebrated his 1st birthday! I think his favorite gift was his ball. He got so excited when he opened that gift.
In June Aaron celebrated his 26th birthday.
June and July were spent making sure we had everything ready for Ephraim's arrival. In July I also did some extra training at Starbucks so that I could earn my Black Apron. Aaron was also busy getting grants and scholarships and enrollment information for college.
August finally came, and we waited and waited for Ephraim. We ended up doing a C-section on Aug 11th and suddenly 3 became 4.
My mom was a huge help to us while I recovered. Keeping up with Truitt at that point was a full time task. Aaron started his first semester of college for the mechanical engineering program.
August through December were a bit of a blur. With Aaron at school 2-3 nights a week and all the homework, and me keeping up with 2 little boys we were just trying to make it through each week as best we could.
It's amazing how much a child learns in one year. In April Truitt was just learning to walk. Now he runs everywhere, can climb up onto the dinning room chair on his own, knows most of his alphabet, and repeats anything you say. He is currently working on his numbers, and colors, he still loves books and cars.
Ephraim is now 17 lbs, has a crazy mo-hawk and is SOOOO close to rolling over on his own. He is now very good at grabbing things with his hands and pulling them to his mouth. He smiles a lot and is very ticklish.
Aaron is about to head into his second semester. He is doing well but sometimes get overwhelmed. A full time job, a family, classes and homework are hard to balance.
I am trying to keep up with 2 boys, still working 3 days a week at Starbucks, and supporting my husband in any way I can in his scholastic venture.
Oh what will the new year bring?
How do you look at a new year? Is it just another year to you, or do you see endless possibilities?
Personally I'm excited to see what comes of 2009.

Why

Do you ever wonder if somethings that don't seem to have a purpose actually do happen for a reason? For example it is currently 2:14 a.m. I am awake because Aaron and I stayed up until 12:30 watching a movie. However, at 1:00 a.m. our fire alarm started going off. We checked the whole house and there is no fire. We plugged in our carbon monoxide detector and it's fine. Chances are the current fire alarm has just gone coo coo, I mean it is old. Then you always have the "what if" thoughts and you don't feel safe. So Aaron is currently at Wal-Mart buying a new smoke detector. On the way to Wal-Mart he was pulled over. He didn't realize that he was in a construction zone and that the speed limit had changed to 45. He explained what he was doing to the cop and graciously the cop just gave him a ticket for "not wearing a seat belt". (Aaron was wearing a seat belt but a $10 ticket is much better than a $100 ticket)
So if it is just that the old smoke detector has lost it, and everything is fine, what was the purpose in this morning's events? Are they just some random things that happened or is there more to it than that? Is there some lesson we were supposed to have learned? Will we ever know?
Sorry if this blog sounds pointless, this is what you get from me at 2 a.m.
If the new fire alarm also sounds then we will be calling the fire dept. Hopefully all will be quiet in the Lowrey house and we can get some sleep.