Where to start, where to start?
How about the beginning.
Part 1.
This week, my dear friend Gretchen was coming to my house to visit from out of state. So I invited some of our pals over for lunch to catch up on old times.
In preparation of Gretch's arrival I decided to purchase some new cacti to spruce the place up.
Some people buy flowers. I buy cacti.
I went to Lowe's and was feeling particularly adventurous that afternoon. Check out the newby in the middle...whooot whooo!(this is me trying to whistle a cat call, k?).
I was walking on the wild side when I picked up that bad boy.
John said that I am not allowed to buy any more cacti. I mean, I don't know why.
My mad gardening skills.
To the top left is the massacre of the monstrous cacti that wouldn't stop growing. I showed them.
I even put some of the left-over cacti as center pieces on the table. Only the finest for my customers.
From left to right: Olive Oyl, Gretchen and Alisha.
Olive Oyl is doing something peculiar with her hands to make us laugh, per ushe. She has finally started blogging again, much to my joy. If only I could get Alisha to blog again...
Some of our offspring. Orange and blue. Our lil Giants and Dodgers harmoniously coexisting? Sweet Pea says no.
We decided to do an awkward friend photo session, just for kicks. Finn was our photographer. He literally snapped photos with one hand, while he played with his new dsi with his other hand. So.
We can laugh at ourselves. And we do. A lot.
Lorie was supposed to join us, but was having car trouble. Next time Lorie, next time.
I couldn't stop staring at Lish's braid. And her girlie outfit.
Gretchen with her newest baby, Yohan(aka Hansi)
Even though we live miles apart, we always pick right up where we left off. Gretchen is one of the most sincere people I have ever met and I hold a special place for her in my heart.
Gretchen and I first met when Ollie and Elijah were wee babies. They are just 2 days apart.
Elijah and Twain are 5 years old this June!
One thing I must point out here. Ollie is ALWAYS fussing with the seam lines of his pants and checking them out. It's part of his spd.
Kids with spd are typically very sensitive to the feel of clothes. Seams just bug them.
And while we look like we are all smiles here...oh my.
Ollie had one of the biggest melt downs ever that wednesday. And I'm afraid I didn't handle it too well.
By nature, Ollie is defensive and thinks everyone is out to get him. Today, he was somehow convinced in his mind that people were coming over to steal Peach(I did not realize this til later. I'm slow).
He walked up to Alisha's 3-year-old daughter, Zoe, and asked, "Are you going to take Peach home?"I mean, he was pretty much setting her up. What was she supposed to say.
Zoe replied "yah-ahhh", and confirmed Ollie's deepest suspicions.
He started flipping out and kept asking her until he worked himself up into a frenzy. He started screaming and crying, despite my best efforts to calm him down.
I put him on his bed and he only screamed louder and kept trying to frantically get up.
I did not expect this today. It was a small gathering of friends at OUR house. He is usually just fine over here. But not today.
I knew he was upset and I tried to hold him and pat his back, but he was inconsolable. In his mind I was just thwarting his plans to rescue Peach. I didn't really realize this at the time, otherwise I'd have reassured him that nobody was taking Peach. (why yes, my doily is her new hangout)
As Ollie screamed louder and louder, I'm afraid my pride got the best of me and I was willing to do anything to quiet him down. I was stressed out and started to discipline him out of embarrassment, which is a terrible horrible prideful thing to do.
I told him, "If you don't stop screaming I'm going to ship you off to grandma's house!"(which really isn't punishment at all, if you know his grandmas. not to mention it's wrong to give an empty threat).
Of course this didn't help at all and just made things worse. In his hysterical condition...when he just needed mommy...I feel really bad. And I've since apologized to him.
And the biggest lesson I'm learning with Ollie is "to expect the unexpected".
The other night at small group, we had a pool bbq with craziness abounding everywhere. Kids squirting water guns everywhere. I fully expected Ollie to flip. But no. He did great.
Seriously. I cannot predict this child.
Despite Ollie's meltdown, everything settled down and I really enjoyed chatting with the girls til late in the afternoon.
*During all this, my mom called with some exciting news.
Everyone left. All was quiet.
*And then I called my family back.
And that is when this wednesday became really unexpected.
I'm not trying to leave you hanging here. I will try to fill you in as much as I'm allowed next time! It's getting late!
Alrighty. Good night for now.
*sightly edited from last night. last night i was not remembering clearly. and i have this thing about all details being as accurate as possible, otherwise i feel like a lying liar who lies.
