Magic Sissies

Hello, my name is Dayna Palmer and I lie to children. I lie to the children that I teach swimming lessons to but worrisome of all I lie to my own children. See, I often have new "swimmers" in my classes who do not like to put their face in the water. Worse than that task would be for the children to open their eyes up while under water!! It is torture...or at least you would think so by the tears and screams that come from the pool when I am teaching.

My dear little Hayden is one of those children that I torture. He has not been in swimming lessons all winter with me because he has been sick with colds and after colds come ear infections. His torture has only been able to come in the form of a bath. So, I figured that a week in Florida would be the start of a wonderful relationship between Hayden and the water. He was a little reluctant at first but after about a day and a half he wanted to "Yump!!" into the pool, he would float back to the wall if I gave him a push but best of all he was going under water and keeping his eyes WIDE open.

This is where the big lie comes in. In order to get the kids - Hayden included - to open their eyes in the pool I tell them that I have put fishies in the pool. The only way that they can see them is under water. They won't see them if they look for them on the top of the water....because they are MAGIC fishies.

A first born child will usually look at you with skepticism and then maybe give it a try. They often bounce right back up and say "There are NO fishies in there!!" A second born or later has a bit more imagination than us first borns so they will go and give it a try (with a bit more drama) and stand up and announce "I saw a BLUE (or their favorite color) fishy!!" After those first moments the task of opening their eyes is not so bad and finding different color fish can be very exciting.

So, without any prompting after the first time he tried to open his eyes Hayden went under water and when he came back up he ammounced (as loud as his voice could be) "Mama, I saw the MAGIC SISSIES!!" Hayden has a bit of a problem pronouncing "F's. So, while I was so proud of how brave he was I had to laugh (along with all the other people at the pool). Maybe Hayden will learn to love the water just as I do
So, the following picture is proof that Hayden loves to look for MAGIC SISSIES!!! Hopefully little Landen won't be too far behind :-)

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Fun in St. Augustine

Well, after 3 months I am finally getting around to "blogging" again. Life has been busy with the kids and with swimming and being on the computer when I don't have to be doesn't appeal :-) So, when Jim agreed that it was in the best interest of our family to get away for a week or so I quickly planned a trip.

We went to St. Augustine, Fl which incidently is the oldest city in the United States. I have to be honest though...we drove through the city...but other than that I didn't do one "touristy" thing. I spent the week reconnecting with my husband and the kids. We did alot of swimming in the pool (can't we do that at home :-) and in the ocean. We built many a sand castle and chased many waves. It was relaxing and stress-free...well, as stress-free as a vacation with 3 little ones could be!!

So, here are some pictures of everyone. I promise to post some more in the coming days. I have to catch everyone up on the kids and tell a funny story for each of them :-)

Swabs & Bald Seagulls

There is no question, Bryden is a very smart little girl :-) Everyone agrees...her grandparents, her teachers, her friends even say it....but most of all her Mama thinks so!!

Every once in awhile she will be trying so hard to carry on or start a conversation above the 4 years old that she is. That scenario often produces funny little "kids say the darndest things" moments. This weekend she had 2 in the same day!!

We had a beautiful, sunny weekend last weekend. It was about 80 degrees and Jim took the kids outside to play in the backyard. Soon after being out there Bryden ran into the house like her hair was on fire. "Mama!!! There are big swabs outside!!" You can imagine my confusion in not being sure what a swab was. So, I asked "What is a swab?" She tartly replied, "Mama, you know. They are so big." Still not sure I prompted her to tell me a little more about what a swab looked like. She said, "It is big and has wings."

OK, from that description I realized that it is big and that it flies. So, I went outside onto the deck to see for myself what a swab looked like. When I got out there Bryden ran away screeching "Another swab!! It can eat you!!" I didn't see a thing out there that was big and was flying nevermind something that could eat me. My brave little Hayden came wandering up and pointed and said "Mama, fly." Then I realized what a swab was. It was a WASP. At that point I didn't know which was funnier...Bryden who couldn't pronounce wasp or Hayden who thought it was a fly.

For some reason Bryden can't get her mouth wrapped around the word wasp or wasps. It comes out swab everytime. It makes me laugh everytime I hear her say it or think about her saying it. The funny thing is that she is hearing herself say wasp and doesn't realize that she is saying the word wrong.

Second funny word of the weekend. Same beautiful day, same deck outside, same sweet little girl who is so smart (thought I'd throw that in there again :-). Bryden looks up into the sky and points at a large bird. Then she says "Mama, that is a bald seagull isn't it?" I didn't have the heart to correct her so I said "Yes Bryden it is." I am sure that if God created a bald seagull he would have had them flying over our house that day.

So, when you see a swab or a bald seagull think of sweet Bryden.

The Love of My Boy

Yeah, today is Friday and it is the day that Hayden and I get to spend a little bit of time together. Landen is sleeping and Bryden is at school so Hayden and I get to have some fun.

For anyone who knows me well you will know 2 things. The first is that I always said that I would not have children (or get married for that matter). My logic was that I didn't need my own because I taught swimming lesson or coached competitive swimmers all year round. Those parents paid me to work with their children and then I got to send them home. What a good deal that was!!

The second thing is that I do not have an artistic bone in my body. My type "A" personality does not seem to allow me to be artistic and creative. Now, I can color in the lines with the best of them but I really struggle to draw anything freehand. I know that I don't do it well so I shy away from it. OK, that is an understatement...I stay away from drawing like it is the plague.

Well, this morning Hayden and I sat down with a pile of books and started reading. I love to read and it was going along very well. Then suddenly Hayden stood up and said "Mama draw". He ran to his desk and picked up some paper and a pencil and came back to me and with all kinds of anticipation in his eyes said "Fava Tuck, Mama". My initital response was "No Hayden...you draw Mama a firetruck." That did not go over so well. He said "No, Mama draw."

So, with all the apprehension in the world I started to draw a firetruck. As I am drawing I am thinking "What a lame attempt this is." When I finished Hayden said "Nice. Draw airplane." So, I drew an airplane. Then he asked for a "Nana" (which is a car...cars say nanana...that is where the name comes from). Then a "Bus"...then a "Boat"...then a "Choo Choo"...then a "Peace Car"...then a "Tuck" (truck).

As I drew Hayden smiled ear to ear...the smile that only my sweet boy can do. He didn't care that in the world of artists his Mama would receive a failing grade. He only cared that I was sitting with him...he had 100% of my attention and I was able to "draw" his favorite things.

I now know that I could never have lived my life without children of my own. I love to teach swimming lessons and I love to coach those swim team kids but I think that I was meant to be a Mama. All the years of loving everyone else's kids was preparing me for the time that I would love my own in a way that I never knew possible. I am so proud of each of my kids and I love them so much and yet so differently.

I will NEVER be an artist in the "real" world but in the little "Palmer World" this Mama can draw firetrucks, buses and boats with the best of them. The love in my son's eyes is what tells me that. I hope that he can see the love in my eyes staring right back at him.

The Way to Hurt a Mama's Feelings

It happens all the time to my kids. People stop us and comment on how beautiful their auburn hair is or how cute their curls are or how pretty their smiles are. On the outside I smile and say "Thank you". On the inside I am crying because all three of my children look JUST LIKE JIM!! It isn't fair. I carry these precious children for 9 months (Bryden was 9 1/2 months) and they don't look a think like me. One would think this was odd since the Harvey genes were so strong in our family.

The nice thing is that no one (other than family...which doesn't count) has ever made a comment about the children not looking like me. That is until we went to the mall a few months back. A nice little old lady came up and said "Oh, your children are beautiful." And I said my usual "Thank you." But she continued. The next words out of her mouth were those that no mother wants to hear. "They must look like your husband."

Now, while I know that is true I DO NOT need a sweet little old lady to remind me of it. So, I am not in therapy for this but I am tackling it head on. YES, MY CHILDREN ALL LOOK LIKE JIM AND NOT ME!! There, I said it and I am OK with it but it doesn't mean that my feelings aren't hurt just a little bit :-) Maybe I should try one more time to have a baby that looks like me :-) So, below you will see what I am talking about and you can draw your own conclusions.

The first picture is Hayden at 21 months old and the second is Jim around the same age.

The above picture is of Landen at 6 months old (well almost) and the picture below is of Jim with Michele at about the same age.

Well, there I have posted these pictures for all to see. Uncanny isn't it. Imagine how I felt in the delivery room when they hand me these babies that I know came from me but don't resemble me at all. I hope now everyone feels sorry for me and will always tell me from here on out how much my kids look like me. I will know that you are lying but I promise not to care :-)

Bryden & Hayden - First Haircuts - Pictures

Bryden holding her "hair bag" and not being very pleased with the process. Hayden is more than entertained with the sucker that he got. My boy sat still!!
The end result is 2 little kids that look better than when they got up this morning!!

Our 1st Haircuts

Today was a big day in the Palmer household. Bryden and Hayden had their first haircuts. I know...Bryden is 4 and Hayden is almost 2 1/2 and it seems odd that now would be their first haircuts. Many children get a haircut in their first year of life. Well, my children didn't have enough hair in their first year of life to have a haircut. Sad isn't it?

People thought that Bryden was a boy all the time because of her short hair. She has such beautiful naturally curly hair (thanks to Daddy) and I was really afraid that cutting out the curls now would cut them out for good. That is what happened to my sister so this was hard for me to do. Due to the curls her hair looks like a rat's nest more often than not. No matter how much conditioner we use or how often we brush it the tangles return. The poor child cries every morning before school because I have to brush her hair. She has been asking for a haircut for a few weeks now.

Hayden, on the other hand, was looking more and more like a girl according to Jim. He also has naturally curly hair (thanks to Daddy) and I loved the little curls at his collar and around his ears. Jim thought that enough was enough and it was time for Hayden's hair to be cut as well.

So, off we went to the mall. There was no wait and we were ushered right it. At that point Bryden started to cry and said she didn't want to do it. Being the mean Mama that I am I sat her up in that seat and saw to it that we went through with the hair cut. I would rather deal with a few minutes of tears (due to fear) than tears every morning (due to pain). When all was said and done we actually got a smile out of Bryden. Maybe the sucker had something to do with it.

Hayden was my brave boy. He climbed right up into that chair...also with the bribe of a sucker...but at least there were no tears. He sat really still and let the nice lady cut his hair.

So, the end result is that after some apprehension (on my part) and some tears (on Bryden's part) we have children who are more beautiful than when we started the day. That from a biased Mama but you can look for yourself :-)

Oh dear furnace!!

I came home from work on Thursday night not feeling very well, kinda like I was coming down with a cold. Great...this is all I need. Bryden had an upper respiratory infection that was almost gone and Hayden's ear infection had cleared up. I guess that it is only fair that it is my turn.

I didn't take the kids to school because I was feeling pretty awful. You know, the kind of sick when your skin hurts to touch and you are hot one minute and freezing the next. Yep, that was me!! So, we made it through Friday and it was on to Saturday. Thank goodness for Jim. He let me sleep in a bit and rest most of the day. I still wasn't feeling great. Why is it that when mom's get sick (the person in the family least available to get sick) always gets it worse than anyone else?

Well I thought that Sunday things would start on the upswing I quickly figured I was wrong. Bryden was still coughing...Hayden was really fussy...and Landen had a "yuck nose" as Hayden would say. Nobody ate much and we all just sat around hoping to feel better sooner than later.

At about 6pm I wondered why the house felt chilly. I figured that Jim had turned the temperature down a bit. When I looked at the thermostat it read 67 degrees - that is 19 degrees for those of you in the "NORTH" :-). We usually keep the house at about 69 or 70 as the kids won't wear socks and don't keep the blankets on at night. What was odd is that the gauge was set for 70 degrees. We are all sick and our furnace is BROKEN!! At one point during the night I checked and the house was a little more than 63 degrees which is 17 degrees back home.

Jim slept in my office with Bryden because it has electic baseboard heating. The boys slept in their room with layers of clothes on and a space heater to provide warmth...and I got to sleep in the king size bed all by myself with lots of clothes and lts of blankets. OK, sleep in a realtive word I guess. Hayden cried most of the night (a signal that his ear infection has returned) and when Hayden wasn't crying Landen was because he could hardly breathe. His "yuck nose" was filled (and I am not exaggerating) with more green snot than I had ever seen before. Sometime between 4am and 7am I got about 90 minutes of sleep.

So, what is the end result you ask? The furnace needed a new ignitor switch which for almost $200 was replaced on Monday. I wish everything else was as easy to fix. Hayden has another ear infection so he is on more medicine. Landen has an upper respiratory infection and it will just work it's course with some help from triaminic. I am suffering from a sinus infection and exhaustion :-) Bryden is still coughing and my loving husband is caring, sensitive and made dinner last night for me!!

I hope that the rest of the week gets better...as do the kids and I. Please don't take your furnace for granted. Get it checked before winter starts :-) Too late for this year and too early for next year.

Family Picture 2005

We only do family pictures once a year so here it is. Our wonderful family of 5. Hayden is 26 months old, Bryden is 1 week shy of being 4 and Landen is almost 3 1/2 months. No one is crying and all the clothes are clean. It was a success all the way around :-) 

Santa's Gift to Landen!!

Out little Landen was only 3 1/2 months old at Christmas time but since he was already sleeping through the night Santa figured that he also deserved a present. Landen enjoys being upright much more than laying down so this jumper that makes all kinds of noise (thanks Santa) has been entertaining him for hours (thanks Santa). 

What Santa brought for Bryden!!

Wow, Bryden got a Cinderella bike from Santa. That Santa is one smart guy to know how much Bryden loves Cinderella. She left Santa a bunch of cookies and some egg nog. Hopefully we have a nice Spring so that she can ride her bike down to the park.  

Santa came!! Santa came!!

Santa came to our house on Christmas Eve despite the fact that we weren't sure that Hayden was always good ;-) Santa left a Pooh bear bike for Hayden. His poor short little legs (thanks to Mama) don't quite reach the peddles but maybe they will by Spring.

The Kids with Santa :-)

Well, we waited until the very last minute to get pictures done with Santa. I am usually good about getting to the mall about 2 weeks ahead of time...but not this year. We had to stand in line for about 45 minutes. The things that we do for memories!! Bryden was happy to sit with Santa, Hayden was tired of waiting to sit with Santa and Landen could have cared less about sitting with Santa.

It was a positive experience all the way around :-) I am glad that it happens only once a year. Oh, that isn't right...we do it all again with the Easter Bunny in April!!

February 10, 2006 - Finally Friday

Alright, I called my sister on Wednesday and she says "Why don't you start a Blog?" "A WHAT?" I ask. I know that now being in my almost middle 30's technology is starting to get away from me a little bit but a BLOG??!! How was I to know that it was a hip term for a diary that I would be OK with the entire world having access to? Didn't I spend my whole childhood trying to keep my diary from being read?

Since I now live about 3000 miles away from all family and most friends I thought that this might be a good way for everyone to keep up to date on my crazy life. I have all the good intentions of keeping in touch by phone (at best) or by e-mail (at worst) but really, I seem to do a whole lot of NEITHER!!

I suppose I could blame it on the kids...or Jim...or work...or the laundry (that is completely taking over my house by the way)...or the dishes (no, can't use that one as Jim does the dishes)...or the fact that there are just not enough hours in a day. OK, that is the one I am going with. I DON'T KEEP IN TOUCH BECAUSE THERE ARE NOT ENOUGH HOURS IN A DAY (and there are 3 hours less if you live on the West Coast :-)!!

So, I hope that everyone will forgive me and now we can all get on with our lives and maybe this will be a better way to keep in touch.

I love Fridays!! Bryden (4) goes to pre school 9 - 12. The boys and I get to stay home. Landen (5 months old today) slept 9 - 11 and Hayden (2) and I watched a Thomas the Train movie and had a sing-along session with the "Wiggles" guitar that he owns. Good thing no one could hear us...I am sure that I was singing off key and you can't understand most of the words that come out of Hayden's mouth.

After we pick up Bryden we eat lunch. Well, we eat lunch after we go to Wendy's drive thru and get chicken nuggets, fries and sweet tea (remember that I live in the "South" now). Whoever (or is it WHOMever...you pick the correct one) created chicken nuggets should be given an award. Mothers all across North America might not be able to feed their children if it was not for that fabulous food!!

After a great lunch it is my favorite time of day. NAP TIME!! I am blessed that all 3 children rest at the same time...some days they don't all sleep though. I use this time to get some work done on the computer and attempt to start thinking about dinner. I have a baby monitor in my office so that I can hear everything that is going on. The monitor's are also walkie-talkies. Bryden has not figured out how I can hear her or where my voice is coming from when i tell her that I am sure she does not want me to have to come upstairs.

As I type Hayden is singing (and I use that term loosely) about Choo-Choo's. Did I mention that he is ALL boy? Loves anything with wheels - "Fava Trucks" (firetrucks) and "Peace Cars" (police cars) are the things we love to see when driving. Back to naptime...I think that Landen is sleeping. I only hear heavy breathing so I assume that is him. He has started to roll over now (a 3rd mobile child - lucky me!!) and will do it in his sleep and then wake up because his arms are flailing. So far so good though. Bryden usually does not sleep but she said that she didn't feel well and asked to go to bed. She put her Cinderella dress on and collected up all her Dumbo's (every elephant stuffed animal that she has is named Dumbo) and climbed under her G.G. blankie and has gone to sleep.

I also love Fridays because I don't have to go to work. Maybe that isn't the right way to put it as I think that I actually have to do quite a bit of work. I don't teach swimming lessons on Fridays so I don't have to leave my home to do any work. I know that one day Friday is going to mean that I get a babysitter to stay with the kids while Jim and I go out for dinner and a movie or something. Here is a sad statistic...since having children Jim and I have been to exactly 1 movie in the theater TOGETHER. I guess that we have brought it on ourselves having 3 children in 5 years but I would NOT give those kids back for anything and thank goodness for Blockbuster :-)

Well, I suppose that I should think about getting dinner started before the natives start to stir. Once they are up it is a constant whirl of chaos until bedtime at 8pm. So until the next time that I have 15 minutes so write...