Heeeeerrrrrrrreeeeee'ssssss Mackenzie!

Just minutes after she was born. That's the wonderful, multi-lingual nurse.

Meeting her big brother for the first time.

Finally home, after he first sponge bath.

All dressed up!

I came up with a thought today. Why not celebrate my children's birthdays with a celebratory blog post? Since its Mackenzie's birthday the day I thought of it (today, May 18th) she gets to be the lucky first one, even though she is the second born. So, happy 12th birthday Mackenzie Lynn!
I figured a good place to start is the beginning, so to the beginning we go.
Picture it, Clarksville, TN, 1998......
Mike and I were discussing adding to our family. Joey was almost 2, it seemed like a good time. So, that summer I went off the pill. Now, when you first go off the pill it is suggested still being careful for at least 3 months before really trying to get pregnant. That was the intention, BUT....well things happen and by August I was pregnant. I know some people wait a couple of months before announcing it to the world, but we have never been that way. It was way too good to keep secret for long.
I never really suffered from morning sickness with any of my pregnancies. I would get some gnarly headaches, and had certain food aversions (I still have a hard time eating chicken), but no real nausea. Everything went pretty textbook. About my 5th month I had my first ultrasound. We decided to find out the sex. We didn't with Joey, but now we're "old pros" and the need for surprise was gone for us. Mackenzie wanted to be sure that we could be as sure as possible that a girl was on the way and positioned herself just so for the tech. So sweet of her! It also made it easy on mom because I'd been required to drink 2 liters of water just before my appointment, and like a good girl I had. Only problem, they were running late and I had to sit there in the waiting room holding my already squished bladder for an extra 15 minutes. That was worse than the birth!
Not long after that, in February we were shipped off to Bonn, Germany. We were going to the U.S. embassy that was in the process of shutting down and moving to Berlin. We were an hour and a half from the nearest military installation, so I was prepared to have my daughter in Germany. But I prayed like crazy that I could at least find an English speaking doctor!
My prayers were answered, I actually found an American OB/GYN with a German practice. She was pretty full, but took me on because of my special circumstance (I'm American, already 6 months along, and speak NO German). Dr. Harder-Faigle was awesome! I received two further ultrasounds, and had a fairly easy pregnancy. My only complaints were the occasional gnarly headaches, leg cramps that kept me up at night, and no Taco Bell (my craving of choice). I was able to substitute Taco Bell with European chocolate though, so not a bad trade off really.
In Germany things are a little different. Usually, you chose a doctor/midwife, and then choose a hospital where that doctor/midwife has privileges. Assuming of course they take your insurance. In Germany, being military meant we had "private" insurance (not government provided), being in a remote location meant we could choose whoever we wanted without need for insurance approval. In other words, the red carpet was rolled out. I chose to deliver at Johanniter Krakenhaus. It was the closest to home. Private practice doctors generally do not have hospital privileges, so I would not get to have my doctor there, but she did assure me that it was an excellent hospital.
So my due date came and went and my doctor sent me to the hospital for a non stress test to check that the baby was still ok in the cooker. They gave me meds to start a few contractions, and monitored the baby's heart beat. Everything was good. They then gave me the choice, go ahead and continue with enducing, or go home and wait for nature to take its course. Well, Mackenzie was a little too fond of my ribs, so I chose NOW! They suggested I go home for a couple hours, eat, walk around and see if the medicine they already gave me would start things in motion on their own. We snuck past the neighbors that were watching Joey and did just that. Nothing. Nada. Zilch.
When we arrived back at the hospital, they checked me in, got me changed and put me in a labor bed. It was about 8pm when I really started feeling the contractions. About an hour later, they convinced me to get an epidural. Around midnight, the nurse made Mike go across the hall and lay down a little. I wasn't thrilled with that, but since the epidural I was ok, so I decided to get some sleep myself. Around 1am, I woke up with some rather startling pain. I'd had a continuous epidural with Joey, so I really had no idea what "time to push" pains felt like. I sat up and realized I was alone in the room. I didn't want to shout, so I just started saying something like, "Um, hello, it hurts, um, someone might want to check me out." The nurse finally heard me, checked me, then got the doctor. By this time I didn't mind yelling and screaming. I'm not ashamed, child birth hurts darn it!
I was on my third shift of nurses. Every one spoke English, except the one that helped deliver me. Spanish, French, Dutch, German, but not English. Curse me for not taking more French! But, through sign language, and the fact that everything was going smoothly got us all through it. Mackenzie made her debut screaming not long after. And I might add, that she didn't really stop for 5 months!
She weighed in at about 8 1/2 pounds and about 19 inches. All the measurements were metric, so I didn't memorize them, and only have an approximate conversion. But, she was great, 10 fingers, 10 toes, good color and healthy lungs. We named her Mackenzie Lynn (which really confused the Germans).
By German standards I should have stayed in the hospital 5 days. After 2, I was so stir crazy I begged them to let me go. They thought I was crazy, but they discharged us and home we went. I might add that while Mackenzie does have a German birth certificate, she does not have dual citizenship, it takes a little more that being born there to be German. But, she does have a Consular Report of Birth. How many people can say that?

Rants that won't fit on Facebook

So, I've had some thoughts lately that I tried to post as status updates on Facebook. Somewhere between my iPhone and Facebook, they got lost. Bummer! But these were important rants to me, so after much (a few seconds) of deliberation, I decided to dust off the old blog, get it all out of my system, and post a link on Facebook. Take that status stealing entity in the sky!

Ok, first. This makes me angry:

Let's be clear on this: OBAMA did NOT kill Bin Laden. An American soldier, who Obama just a few weeks ago was debating on whether or not to PAY, did. Obama just happened to be the one in office when our soldiers finally found OBL and took him out. This is NOT an Obama victory, but an AMERICAN victory!!

This is one of those, repost if you agree status's going around on Facebook. Before I start, let me state that I claim no political party. I make no public statements for or against any politician. The following is NOT a political statement, just my own thoughts on being logical. So here goes...
1. Obama is not taking credit for the take down of Bin Laden. At least not that I've heard. Other people (the media) may be giving him the credit, but that does not mean he's taking it. If you assume he is just because you don't like him, that's what I call ignorance.
2.Obama never debated over whether or not to pay our troops. Yes the government shutdown may have DELAYED their pay, but if that were the case, they still would have received any back pay owed.
3.Obama is not the SOLE person responsible for the possibility of the government shutdown. It was MANY people on both sides of the aisle in Congress that were responsible. Obama didn't sign off on the budget because of cuts that were being proposed to evil things such as Planned Parenthood. Ok, so they perform abortions. It isn't illegal so now we must punish the evil organization that provides free and/or low cost health screenings for women? I have used Planned Parenthood for that very reason, and for that I am very glad they exist. I'm also glad that Obama stood his ground on those things he felt strongly on. Whether I agree with those things or not, I admire a person who takes a stand when necessary. So if you dislike Obama because he's a democrat, take a good hard look at the republicans that held up the budget before you point the finger at ONE man. If you don't like him because he's black, wake up and smell the decade.
4.This is where my logical argument comes into place. It makes no sense for you to declare that ONE man shouldn't be taking credit for a collective effort and then try to blame the same ONE man for yet another COLLECTIVE effort.
I'm sorry if I offend any of my friends, that is not my intention, but this kind of thing really gets my goat up. All of this is like people who blamed Bush for 9/11. Just please stop to think before you post.

Now, why I never repost those fun messages we all get about everything under the sun, that 98% won't repost. I'm one of the 98%. Here is why:
1.My religious beliefs are my own. I am always comfortable discussing my beliefs with anyone, but I shy away from unsolicited discussion. I'm not afraid, I'm not embarrassed, I just like living my beliefs in my own way. Its very personal.
2.I vigorously support our military. I was an Army wife for 13 years, so I know 1st hand what are soldiers go through. But, to be cliche, I gave at the office. I like to make my appreciation and gratitude known personally to those I know and meet who serve. Again, its very personal.
3.I know several people battling cancer, and a few who have lost the battle, but I don't see how me reposting something on Facebook is going to make the struggle of cancer anymore well known. We all know it sucks, we all know more needs to be done, so quit reposting and do it is my humble opinion. (Unless of course you are yourself battling cancer, then you've already done your work)
4.My family knows how I feel about them, and fathers, daughters, sons, grandparents, 2nd cousins weeks seem a little silly to me. Especially since it seems that there are about 3 weeks a year each.
5.I work with people with special needs. And actually, acceptance isn't as big, as just wanting to live their like with the same rights as everyone else has. But those people that will actually see the reposts and repost the message aren't the ones that need to hear it. And those that need to hear it, most likely aren't going to no matter what. That's what prejudice is all about.
6.I really really really hate anything that has political undertones. I get enough of that from the media. Facebook is for fun.
And to sum it all up, I guess I just like to be original and post my own ideas.

Again, sorry if I offend. These are my feelings and beliefs and I never under any circumstances expect anyone to believe and feel as I do. But sometimes, I just feel the need to explain myself.

Mom of the year?

Recently a friend of mine told me that she and another "old" friend of mine had decided to vote me mom of the year. I chuckled at her. Its just the kind of thing those two Amys would come up with.

Then I had to ask her how that happened. She told me its because I work awful hours full time at a miserable job (all true) and still find the time/patience to be very involved with what my kids are up to. I laughed even harder then. Really? Me?

But it all got me thinking. While I appreciated the praise (especially coming from 2moms who I greatly respect and admire)I really doubted that their thought process was all that accurate. Sure, I try to help out at the schools where I can, which to me is VERY little, and I REFUSE to be a part of the PTA, which to me is just a click/popularity contest for adults. And yes, I go to all the functions I can Class parties, concerts, games, ceremonies. But to me it all seems like very little. I always feel like I'm not doing enough. My need for sleep tends to keep me from doing the amount I feel like I ought to be doing. Do I spend enough "quality time with my kids? Do I them to enough "fun" places? Is it bad that instead of the shoes they REALLY wanted, I bought the ones I could REALLY afford? Am I teaching them all that I want to teach them? Am I raising well rounded individuals that know the importance of thinking for themselves, but also how to treat everyone with respect (even the bullies)?

So now I wonder is this what all moms go through? Stay at home, working, single, married, grown up kids, little kids, new moms, old hands, one child, many children? I know I still had the same concerns back when I was able to be at home with my kids. Am I just being neurotic? Am I just hard on myself? Or am I really not nearly as good a mom as some people seem to think? Its all almost enough to make one's head want to explode.

Mom of the year? I don't know, despite the Amys' declaration, I'm saying the jury's still out on this one.

Slacker's Anonymous

Hello, my name is Brenda and I'm a slacker. And a procrastinator. And sometimes I write out a whole blog only to delete because it seems frivolous, or whiny, or preachy, or just doesn't meet my expectations of myself. This is why I could never be a writer. I am WAY too hard on myself. In school I never wrote a rough draft. If I did I'd never get a paper done. A lot of times if I did write a rough draft I would end up not even turning the paper in because I would agonize about every last little thing. Fortunately by college, I was confident enough in my grammatical skills to just shoot from the hip, hit spell check and turn it in. I allowed myself one read through to make sure spell check didn't miss anything, then it got turned in. More often than not it I got an A. Once I even got singled out. That time I'm pretty sure it is because I made a very good argument. But I digress....its about time I posted a new blog!
I don't do family updates very often because nothing really changes around here. Kids go to school, I go to work. In between there I'm constantly doing laundry, trying to attend as many of the kid's events as I can, and of course I try to get some sleep. Luckily for me, Wes does most of the cooking, and the kids to do a lot of the cleaning, so I have time for sleep. I'm going to hate it when Wes goes back to work because I'll be back on cooking duty more often. But while things don't change much here, there are things to report. We'll go youngest to oldest just to make it easy.
Joel: Successfully finished out kindergarten! With flying colors I might add. Kindergarten awards are different from higher grades. His teacher gave out "candy awards" for the class. Each child got one, using a type of candy to describe an aspect of each child's personality. For example, the class flirt got Kisses, the class giggler got a Snickers. Joel got the 100 Grand award for being the class mathematician. His reading skills are so much improved, he loves pointing out all the words he knows on signs, books, magazines, and on tv. He's still obsessed with Mario and I have to limit his DS time or he'd sit on it all day. Some progress has been made with his toileting issues and I feel like we might finally be getting over a HUGE hurtle there.
Mackenzie: Is off to middle school! She had a very successful year academically and I can't wait to see what she has yet to accomplish. She's looking forward to playing softball in the fall. I'm a little disappointed in the league here, but not everyone can have a program like Kirkland American, and she's really excited about it. She recently celebrated her 11th birthday, but while she looks 8 years old, she can sometimes have the attitude of a 16 year old! She is completely boy crazy. I try to discourage as much as I can without it turning into encouragement. We'll see how that goes in the land of pre-teens this fall. Joey's band teacher really wanted her to be in the band (figuring musical ability ran in the family) but she decided not to. I hardly see her these days. She got a new bike for her birthday so she's off around the neighborhood all day. I usually have to send Joey after her because I still think she's too young for her own cell phone.
Joey: High school? Really?? Oh lord its scary being a parent of a high schooler! But exciting. I don't know who's more jazzed about marching band: him or me. Probably him since I'm the one that has to come up with the fees. But, I'm pretty stoked. I can't wait to go to football games and watch him play, and they are going to the Macy's Thanksgiving Day parade in NYC this year. Mark your calendars, I expect you ALL to be watching. His class schedule is tough, but I'm confident in his ability to make it. He's very focused and motivated about what he wants out of high school and after. I wish I'd been that way. I also wish I could take the credit. But I've never pressured about college. I've only expected him to do the best he can and do things he is passionate about. His artistic ability amazes me. Although everyone else in the family gets to keep samples of his work, but not me. He's got a really cool circle of friends beyond the neighborhood kids that he's developed this year. They're all very down to earth, not too clicky or judgemental and I just love that he has that. This past year he's just grown up so much that I'm just bursting with pride at the young man he is becoming. I am so blessed to have 3 such great kids!
Briana: Is now living with us. Long story short, mom had to move, and has been staying with grandma, and she doesn't like it there, so she's been staying with us. She was going to move here permanently this summer anyway. She wants to go to Summerville high school. She's been playing softball this fall for the first time and shows a lot of potential. Her team is tied for first place, and if it ever stops raining long enough to dry out the field, they could have the play off to decide. She actually spends most of her time at Wes's sister's to be with her cousin. But I know Wes loves having her here. And she's really good at tag team teasing her dad with me, so I've really enjoyed it as well.
Russell: Sore subject, but we still see him every other weekend or so. It is what it is.
Wes: Had back surgery in April and is doing very well. The surgery has helped a lot, but he is looking forward to not having to wear the brace anymore. But for now he's happy that the staples are out. He should start physical therapy at the end of the month.
Me: Well, I already covered me. I could mentioned that due to the nature of my job, I've become an obsessive reader. Normally an average novel would last me a couple months. Now I'm lucky if I get 2 weeks out of one. That's about it, unless you want to hear my rant on shopping at Wal-Mart. What? No takers? Oh well.

Aunt Judy wasn't kidding

I love my aunt Judy. Actually, everyone loves my aunt Judy, she's just got that sparkle. Whenever we went to aunt Judy's she cooked enough food to feed an army. Little did I know this was just a survival tactic. It wasn't for our benefit, it was more about he teenage boys. She used to go on and on about how hard it was to keep those boys fed. Jimmy, the oldest was a bean pole, Billy was beefier, but by no means overweight. These boys reportedly inhaled food constantly like they were about to be shipped off to Ethiopia. To tell you the truth, I never paid much attention. I mean, they're boys, what did I care about how much they ate? I just remember all the talk about it.
Now I know how she feels and I only have to feed one teenage boy. It's like the boy turned 13 and overnight developed a tape worm. I can't keep this boy fed. I try to stock the freezer with things he can heat up and snack on between meals (hot pockets, chicken nuggets, pizza rolls) and he still eats dinner like he hasn't seen food in a week. And where does it all go? I have no idea. He's a bean pole like Jimmy. Just keeps getting taller.
Here's an example:
Tonight I made homemade macaroni and cheese. Usually, I make it in a 9x9" dish. But, knowing how my son eats, I made a double batch in my 13x9" dish. Not even a 1/4 of it is left. And he still ate dessert! Is there an assitance program for families with teenage boys? Kinda like WIC. you know where I can get things like milk and cheese? Because I think I need it more now that when I had it for these kids and myself when I was pregnant and they were little.

Two months? Really?

Holy wow, its been a while, and I'm pretty sure that my sister is angry with my lack of posts.
I've been going through a lot of personal, lets not share with the entire world wide web kind of stuff, so its been hard to come up with those little things that go well in a blog.
I've been dreaming lately of a really nice vacation somewhere sunny and pampering and beautiful and interesting. But, bnot until atleast next year. Other priorities that need to be addressed first. But, they're nice dreams.
Work has been mellow lately. Yeah, I still hear some lovely words from some residents, but that's just par for the course. I've also learned to just nod my head and deal with my boss, and to just let go of the frustrations over the way the place is run. It makes for a slightly less stressfull work environment. Ok, I'm lying, I do not get a long at all with one of our new employees, but fortunately the way our schedules are, I actually work with her less than anybody else on my shift. It's just weird not getting along with someone, I get along with everyone. I'm an easy going kind of gal.
The kids are doing great. Joey is gearing up for lots of band stuff this spring. The state band festival is soon, and that is their big thing for the year. He's all set for his classes for freshman year, he even got in the honors science that combines bio and chem into one year, so it frees up a credit for sophmore year. You need a teacher reccomendation for that, and he didn't think he'd get it. So we're excited about that. He also got into the one and only AP class they offer freshman year. Geography, teacher reccomendation also required.
Mackenzie also just signed up for her 6th grade classes. She was passed on to the middle school GATE classes, and is ging to try dance, steel drum band, foreign language, and pre engineering for her electives. She's on the math team for her school, and the district competition is coming up in April. She actually voluntarily gave up all of her other after school activities to focus on this.
Joel. Well, Joel has always been my challenge. On one hand, he seems the one child that learns a thing the first time he's told/taught, and hardly ever has to be reminded about things. On the other hand, he's a little too ingenious with how to get around the rules. He's been having some regression issues here and there, so its a battle sometimes, but he sure makes life interesting. He absolutely idolizes Joey. He's got lots of new friends in the neighborhood, so he doesn't feel left out anymore when his brother and sister are out playing with their friends. Sorry, Joey doesn't "play". he "hangs out" with his friends.
Wes is waiting to hear about his worker's comp on two levels. He's decided to go for the surgery, we're just waiting for approval from worker's comp. And were waiting to see how much if any compensation he's entitled to since he's been out of work. At the very least, he'll be reimbursed for travel expenses for all the doctor's visits and what not. Right now its a waiting game.
Oh, and Sassy has been attending dog training at PetSmart. She's doing pretty well, but still has hyperactive issues, and attention issues. Yes, I think our dog is ADHD.
Pictures soon, I promise, just need to get them onto the computer first.

I have no new pictures

They're all on my iPhone, and blogger doesn't like my iPhone. Facebook does, so you can see pictures there.
We had a great holiday here. No snow, but that's part of the reason I like it here. The kids are now off visiting the PA grandparents and having a great time. I think Joey was actually able to fill himself up at their "open house" yesterday. He really does make it sound like we don't feed him.

The newest stage of making me feel old comes next week when we sit down with his guidance counselor to plan out highschool so Joey can achieve his college goals. It sounds kid of daunting, but really its just about making sure he takes the classes he needs in order to go to the college he wants, and if he knows, get a head start towards his chosen field of study. Joey does know, he wants to be an architect.

Mackenzie unbeknowst to me entered a writing contest at school and won 2nd place! Her piece is now being sent to the district finals.

Joel is loving kindergarten, but is still working out the kinks as far as getting along with others goes. He often becomes upset when other kids aren't on task and forgets to keep his hands to himself. But, he's a little sponge and is absorbing so much.

Tonight is New Year's and I'd love to say I have fabulous plans with Wes, but I have to work. I've applied for some other positions and I hope one will work out. I'm tired of this crazy schedule of mine! But Happy New Year everyone!