Brothers

Bryson was four years-old when Jackson was born. He was so excited to be a big brother. From the beginning he has always looked out for Jackson and been his best friend. Bryson taught Jackson how to play. When Bryson started school he would try to teach Jackson his letters and how to add and subtract. They are always around each other. In fact, Jackson will tell us that he doesn't know what to do when Bryson isn't around. They have separate bedrooms, but they choose to sleep in the same room. Usually, they sleep in the same (twin) bed. They are inseparatable.

Bryson is at church camp this week and Jackson has been feeling his absence. To lessen the pain I took Jackson to the water park by himself yesterday. We had a good time talking and playing, but Jackson kept saying, "If Bryson was here we would do_________."

Bryson is getting to the age where he may not want to spend as much time with his little brother. They are, after all, four years apart and Bryson will be starting middle school this year. Jackson and Bryson have always gotten along most of the time. I usually say they get along 95% of the time and argue 5% of the time. This is starting to change. Lately, they have been arguing more and more. Jackson is starting to stand up for himself when Bryson gets bossy and Bryson is starting to want to spend more time alone in his room. They will be in different schools next year, so they won't see each other as much after school. This breaks my heart a little, but I know it will happen.

Last night Jackson wanted Addie to sleep with him, but I knew that wouldn't work. The girl rarely stops moving even in her sleep. Neither one of them would have gotten any sleep. Addie ended up falling asleep on the couch and Jackson asked if he could lay down with me for a little while. Drew was at the airport picking Pily up, so I said why not. When we lay down he grabbed my and and held it. He said, "Bryson usually holds my hand when I am trying to go to sleep." That was about the sweetest thing I had ever heard. Bryson, who is starting to distance himself from Jackson, still holds his hand when they are going to sleep.

My prayer for these two special brothers is that they will always remain close even when life starts to pull them apart. Bryson is all Jackson has ever known since the day he was born. Bryson has taken care of him and taught him so many things (not all good, I must add!). I can see that brothers must have a special bond to each other. I love those two boys with all my heart (even when they are on my last nerve) and pray that they will always be able to depend on each other.

The other day at lunch they were talking about being roommates one day. Bryson said he would wait for Jackson to finish high school before they went to college together. I quickly nixed that idea, but told them they could still be roommates when Jackson got out of high school and Bryson was finishing up college. They went on to say that Jackson and his wife could stay in one room and Bryson and his wife could stay in the other! They may or may not end up as roommates or have a "Simmons' Brother Compound" one day, but I pray they will remain close and always be best friends.

Happenings

I got a new camera a few weeks ago and I am trying to learn how to work it. The manual is on a disc and I don't like that. I want to be able to hold a manual in my hand and my camera in the other. I want to be able to flip to what I am looking for easily instead of searching for it on the computer. I am just old school, I guess, and I am okay with that! :0) I wanted to include some pictures I have taken with my camera this past week, but for some reason they won't upload. I will figure it out. Until then, I will just update with bullet points.

• Addison is back in gymnastics. She goes on Wednesdays. Last week she was pretty timid, but I am hopeful that she will warm up to it. The teacher she has for this class seems to get easily frustrated with the kids. News flash: 3 and 4 year olds can be frustrating! If you can't deal with it, you shouldn't be working with them! I am going to give her the benefit of the doubt and assume she was just having a bad day. If she is still just as cranky this evening as she was last Wednesday I will look at putting Addison in a different class with a different teacher. I have some pictures of Addison in action, but I can't get them to upload.



• Jackson started baseball about a week ago. He has two practices a week and one game a week. At his game on Saturday he had two good hits and got someone out at first base. He as been looking forward to "playing outs" since last year and at this stage he gets to. This makes him happy!



• Drew has been working with both boys on their batting, throwing and catching skills. They have gone to the park a few times already this summer to do that. I went with them last night and had a lot of fun. I LOVE to hit, also.



• Drew and I had a date day yesterday. Pily watched the kids for us. We just went out to lunch and then to the mall. I can't believe Drew stepped foot inside of a mall, but it was his idea. I wanted to try on some shorts at Old Navy. I need some new ones and saw some online that I wanted to try on. Well, Old Navy was almost out of shorts. I WILL NOT wear shorts with a 2" inseam, so we had to look elsewhere. We wandered around a little bit and I began to wonder if I was looking for something that didn't exist. I wanted some that were about mid-thigh. I didn't want bermuda shorts (I already have a couple of those), but I didn't want any booty shorts either. Finally, we found some at Macy's. I tried them on and discovered that the size I have been getting was too big. I was able to go down a size! I thought it was just a fluke with that particular brand, so I tried on a few more and they fit in the smaller size, also. I was a little in shock because when I look in the mirror I don't see someone who I would think fits that size. Drew always jokes that I have Body Dismorphic Disorder, but I don't. I don't know why, but I still see the same me. Anyway, whatever, I will take the smaller shorts and not question it!

• Speaking of bodies, Pily and I have been meeting Nancy at the gym every morning. We have been taking some classes and doing some of our usual stuff. The change of pace has been nice. We don't have to be there until 8 or 9 o'clock, and that is A LOT better than 4am! We have been working out 2 hours a day and I think I can already tell a difference in my strength and definition. I haven't really lost any weight, but maybe things are changing that can't be measured on a scale.



• Still speaking of bodies, I have ALMOST reached my weight loss goal. I am about 2-3 pounds away from -30 pounds. When I started this journey last summer, I really didn't think I would make it. I originally wanted to lost 20 pounds so I wouldn't weigh as much when we ran the half-marathon in December. I only lost about 15 before the race. I decided to just keep going and see if I could lose the last 5. I did and dropped my goal 5 more. When I reached that goal, I dropped it 5 more to my current goal. I won't drop it anymore. I feel like I am at a good place and will be able to maintain. I would like to drop the final 2-3 pounds just for my own satisfaction. If I don't, I will always feel like I have business that is left undone. Hopefully, by the end of the summer I will have finished that up and can work on maintenance. Slow and steady is the way I have always looked at it, so I am not in a hurry. I have gone down 3 dress sizes in a year! Woo Hoo!



• We have spent a lot of time outside already this summer either at the pool or at the water park. Today I have decided to just stay inside. I don't really know why this is worth mentioning, but I just did!



• We are looking forward to our vacation in 5 weeks. We are going to Disney World! We are going with Drew's older brother and his family. I can't wait to go and hope we have as much fun as I imagine we will. I haven't been since I was 19, so I am looking forward to seeing the changes. This will actually be my third time to go. I went once as a kid, once as a young adult and this time I will go as a parent. I can't wait to see how my kids react to "The Happiest Place on Earth."



• Addison's birthday is in a little over two weeks. I can hardly believe that she is going to be 4. These last four years have flown by. She is really coming into her own and I love to see her personality blossom. She is such a sweet and funny little girl, but can be head-strong and moody, also. Most of the time she is sweet and funny, though, so I can handle the times her moodiness comes out. I am so glad we added a little girl to our family four years ago. Life wouldn't be the same without her.

That's about all that is going on right now. I will work on getting some pictures up. I know my dad likes to see pictures of the kids.

Our Weekend in Pictures and Words

Sunday morning Drew, Pily and I set our alarms for 5:30 so we could go fishing. Crazy, I know! Apparently, the best fishing is in the early morning hours. We fished for a couple of hours (and caught several fish) and started heading back. That's when Drew saw the snake pictured above. He had the novel idea of trying to hook it with his lure. After three attempts, he hooked it near its tail. What he didn't consider, though, was what he would do with it AFTER he hooked it. We had no stick or oar to hit it with and no other way to kill it. After he reeled it in (a little too close for my liking) he tried to hit its head with the end of his fishing pole. (Sorry, animal lovers, but its a snake and I don't like snakes!) He stunned it a bit by hitting it with the pole then he body slammed it against the water. That slowed him (or her) down enough so he could grab its neck with some foreceps. There was much screaming and laughter going on during all of this and Jackson caught most of it on video. I forgot to mention that Jackson was our camera guy for our fishing outing and he did a mighty fine job! We took the now dead snake to the dock where Pily cut him (or her) open so we could examine its stomach contents. Evidently, his (or her) last meal was a frog. We found two skinny frog legs inside his (or her) stomach. That was a good 45 minutes or so worth of fun! You gotta love life in the country!

This is me and my kids at my mom's headstone. She and my sister are buried in the little country cemetary down the road from my grandparents house. That is just another reason I am so tied to that place. I KNOW they aren't there, but their headstones are a reminder that they were, in fact, alive and they are part of me. I so wish my kids would have been able to know her. One day. One day.

This is Pily and me at our sister's headstone. Pily was just about 2 and a half when Jamie died, so she doesn't remember her. I remember her plenty and wish she were here. Again, one day.

This time of year is turtle time! Mama turtles can be seen laying their eggs. We passed this one while riding the four-wheelers one day. She only laid one egg before we interrupted her. Maybe she went some place else to lay some more.

This is Pily's first fish she caught at the creek. Yes, she is holding a fish. If you look REAL closely you can see it! At the creek you can catch a bunch of fish, but most of them are tiny. It is still fun, though.

Here is Addie fishing from the dock. She is not the most patient person around, so she never caught anything. Doesn't she just look happy to be there? She is a country girl at heart!

Jackson and Addison at the creek. They had fun walking around and getting wet. That's what it's all about!

This is Drew's big catch. That is one of the biggest fish he has ever caught at the pond. It looked so much bigger in person. We all had to take turns holding it. The mouth on that thing was HUGE!

A dress, rubber boots and a Santa Claus necklace. Does this just scream SUMMER?!

This was Pily's first four-wheeler ride. She went about 2 MPH. Addie said, "Come on, Grandma!" I think she may have gotten up to 10 MPH before the weekend ended, though!

We spent part of two afternoons swimming in the creek and laying out on the "Fun Island." We went for walks, rode the four-wheelers, fished, ate and had a great time. We were only there two full days. Hopefully we can go back soon and stay a little longer. I just love it there. It is my favorite place in the world!

5th Grade Graduation

This is a picture of Bryson on his first day of kindergarten. As you can tell, he wasn't too excited to be there. I still remember that day like it was yesterday. We were both new to the school and had so much to learn. Six years have gone by very quickly.

Bryson graduated from 5th grade and from elementary school today. I really didn't expect to get emotional about it. I was SO READY for him to be finished and to move on to middle school. Well, so I thought. I took him outside this morning to take his picture in the same spot as I did almost six years ago. That is when the burning in my nose started. I knew it was going to be an emotionally rough morning from that point on.

Here is my big 5th grader ready to leave the school. He didn't really want his picture taken today, either, but for different reasons. There happened to be four 5th grade girls putting the flags up when we went out there. I told him I would be quick and they wouldn't even know what I was doing. I snapped the picture real quickly and off he went. I headed straight to my office to wipe the tears away in private.

I really can't believe it is time for him to leave elementary school. I knew this day would come. I thought I was ready for it, but I'm really not. I keep wondering if I have done a good enough job parenting him to move on to the next phase in his life. I have made SO MANY mistakes. I just hope he can remember the good lessons I have tried to teach and forgive me for the many mistakes I have made. My first baby is growing up and I can't do anything to stop it. All I can do is try to be the best parent I can be and ask for grace and forgiveness when I mess up.

I love you, Bryson James. I am sad to see you leave, but I am excited to watch you grow into a wonderful young man.

Update on Addison

Addison hasn't eaten solid food since LAST Saturday. She has been living on yogurt and the occasional pudding or applesauce. And she just started applesauce yesterday. She is afraid to eat anything "hard." She only wants "soft" foods, but the only "soft" foods are the ones I have already mentioned. She won't eat ice cream or popsicles. Oh, the reasoning of a three year-old. Go figure! We have even resorted to bribery. I offered to take her out for another "Ladies Day" if she would eat some "real" food. She said she would stay home with Daddy. I offered to take her to get her toenails painted. She said her toes look fine. Drew even offered to buy her a new toy if she would eat some "real" food. No interest. Those are all her favorites, and she isn't budging.

We are hopeful that she will eventually start to want to eat other things. Last night at dinner she licked a very small taste of refried beans off her spoon. And when I say very small, I mean about the size of 1/2 of her pinky nail. Tiny. Apparently, I really screwed her up when I scraped her tonsil. Or maybe it was the choking/tonsil scraping incident followed by strep throat that really messed her up. I'm sure she will blame me for her food issues when she is older anyway even if it isn't due to the choking/tonsil scraping incident. Don't we all blame our mothers for our food/body insecurities/issues anyway?

She had lost 4 pounds last week, but I think she has gained back one or most of one pound. She doesn't have a whole lot of energy (for apparent reasons), but she is doing okay. Monday will be a week since she started antibiotics, so hopefully when she finishes that after Wednesday her appetite will come back and maybe (hopefully) she will want to eat some of her favorite foods again. I hope she isn't scarred for life.

So, our lives right now consist of trying to survive until school is out THIS Friday and trying to find something Addison will try to eat. Yes, we are that exciting. Aren't you jealous?

Addison

Addison was diagnosed with strep throat yesterday. Drew stayed home with her yesterday, so today was my turn. And, let me just say, we were TOTAL bums today. We did absolutely nothing, nada. We hardly left my bedroom. She did eat part of a yogurt and a snack pack pudding. She drank a yogurt drink this morning and some apple juice. That is all. She has lost a couple of pounds since the weekend, but will hopefully get her appetite back in the next couple of days. She does well once the ibuprofen kicks in and we plan on sending her back to her sitter's house tomorrow. I feel like I wasted an entire day, but if I had it to do over again I would probably do the exact same thing again! Now, let's just hope nobody else gets strep throat before school is out!

Ladies Day

Addie and I had been waiting for this past Saturday to get here. Finally, it arrived! We had a "Ladies Day" scheduled over a month ago and have been waiting and waiting (patiently, of course) for it to arrive. We had tickets to Casa Manana to see The Wizard of Oz and planned on eating dinner at Zoe's Kitchen. She wanted to throw in a pedicure, also, but I had to put a limit on our "Ladies Day!"

While we were waiting for the show to start she started getting a little restless, so I offered her a Tic Tac. After a couple of minutes of sucking on it she began to choke. She started crying and coughing, so I took her out to calm her down. We went back and enjoyed the show. (By the way, if you have a chance to go see The Wizard of Oz at Casa Manana you have got to go! They did a fantastic job!) Throughout the show she kept apologizing for choking. It was really quite sad.

When we got to Zoe's Kitchen she wanted a bowl of rice pilaf and a bowl of fruit. This is what she always orders when we go there. When our food came she said she was going to eat her rice in small bites, in fact "one piece at a time." She put the first piece of rice in her mouth and chewed it up and started choking. That was it, she wouldn't eat another bite of anything. I told her to drink some water, but she was choking on that, too. I got some to-go boxes and we headed home.

I told Drew what had happened and we tried to get her to eat some dessert pizza the boys had ordered while we were gone. She took one bite and started choking again. By this time we were starting to worry. This wasn't normal. Believe me, that girl doesn't miss a meal! We noticed a fleshy piece sticking up in her throat we had never seen before. After talking about it for several minutes and looking in her throat numerous times, Drew decided to take her to the urgent care clinic.

The doctor examined her and even took some x-rays to make sure there wasn't a foreign body stuck somewhere in her throat. He found nothing. The piece sticking up in her throat is her epiglottis. Who knew?!? I do know that we have NEVER seen her epiglottis before, so this was unusual for us. In fact, I have never seen ANYONE'S epiglottis before. Drew told him about the Tic Tac incident earlier that day and he said the Tic Tac could have aggrivated some scar tissue that may have formed from the time she choked on a meatball and I dug it out and scratched her throat. (See my previous post for that story.) The doctor also thought maybe she was just a little paranoid to eat because she has choked several times. He didn't seem overly concerned, though, and sent them on their way.

Yesterday we offered her anything soft that we thought she would eat. She tried to eat pudding, but choked on it. She tried to eat applesauce, but choked on it. She did finally drink most of a yogurt drink, but that was all. She hasn't eaten anything of substance since lunch on Saturday. Drew is taking her to her regular doctor this morning, so I will post an update later on.

So, we did finally get out "Ladies Day," but it sure didn't turn out like I had hoped. We may just have to have another one to make up for it!