This week in pics...

Here is a bunch of pictures from the weekend and the first half of this week. I think I might need to rename my blog "The Harbin's Beach Pictures" because that's all we've been doing lately. The kids beg to go all the time and I definitely don't mind taking them down there. It's an added bonus that the sun zaps out a lot of their wild energy too. Brent has been out of town this week too so far. I need an award. We miss you daddy!

Flowers from daddy - definitely one of the prettiest bouquets to date!

Friday evening on the beach!

Breakfast on the beach Monday morning

I found the two of them snuggled in my bed together like this watching tv.

Very messy tacos at Oma's house last night.

My peencess in her high heels!

Okay... hopefully I can get all the way caught up with this post. Lacey is doing fine, by the way. She doesn't have tissue damage and the wound is healing nicely. What a relief! Too bad it's not even snake season yet. It's at it's peak in Aug.-Sept. We have seen so many dead ones all over the roads too. I'm so nervous even to let the kids out in the backyard. It's awful!

Anyway, Laura and I took the kids down to the beach on Tuesday morning and ate breakfast and tons of snacks down there. The kids lasted over 2 hours and fussed when we had to leave. It was one of the funnest times we've had with them at the beach so far. Both kids took dumps down there too. Nothing like dealing with sandy and drenched, stanky buttcracks in the suffocating heat!

The rest of the week we just laid low, ate a lot, and watched movies since it's been so hot. Laura left Thursday afternoon and Brent came home later that night. Both of us are just completely wiped out; him from working and driving so much and me from basically being a single-mom for the last three weeks. It's been pretty tough.

Anyway, here are a few more cute pictures from our week and our visit with Zippy. Oh! One more thing! Wyatt is starting to get freckles around his eyes. They are super little and you wouldn't be able to see them if you weren't looking for them, but they are so precious and fitting! He also noticed that he has a birthmark on his hand. I told him that's where an angel kissed him and he said, "No mommy! Butterfly kisses!" Now he brags to everyone that he has butterfly kisses on his hand. Cute little runt!

Wyatt kept bringing me these shells and telling me they were butterfly shells.

Lacey Squirrel

On Monday, not even half an hour after Brent left town, Lacey was bitten by a copperhead snake. I was in the kitchen when I noticed her barking at something on the ground (never a good sign). Sure enough, by the time I walked around the sink, she had gotten into a full on brawl with this thing. It had that nasty diamond-shaped head too which immediately made me want to pee in my pants. Of course, I started freaking out and screaming at her to leave it alone and ran outside as quickly as I could to bring the dogs in. Kiddie came immediately but Lacey, being part terrier, was determined to kill it. She wouldn't come at all.

I ran around to the side of the house with Kiddie and realized I had locked myself out. (Figures.) Thankfully, Laura was sleeping inside and after beating down the front door just shy of breaking my hand, she let me in. By the time I got back outside to get Lacey, she was shaking uncontrollably. I called the vet and drove her there immediately not knowing where or if she had been bitten. I thought she could have been shaking too from me hysterically screaming at her so much.

The vet checked her out and said she looked fine. I felt relieved and so grateful that everything was going to be okay. When I got home, Laura had already found the courage to murder the damn thing with a shovel and I was able to look up what kind of snake it was on the internet. When we discovered it was a copperhead, I decided to check on Lacey one more time to make sure she was okay.

She wasn't.

Her face had started to swell and there was a baseball sided knot on her throat. I panicked and got her back in the car as quickly as I could - so worried that her airway was going to swell shut. She could barely hold her head up to look at me. I was so pissed that I she was at the vet 20 minutes before and they didn't catch it. I think I just got her there too quickly the first time. I didn't even get to talk to the vet as I passed her off to him. I was hurried to the front and had to sign tons of release forms saying that I would allow them to treat her in anyway they saw fit in order to save her life. I was a trembling wreck!

A few hours later, we learned that Lacey had to be sedated and was having her vitals monitored. They pumped her full of all sorts of anti-inflammatories and antibiotics. Thankfully, she made it out okay and was able to come home that evening. So far, she's still doing well... the vet is concerned about tissue damage though so we have another appointment this weekend to see how the wound is doing.

Thank goodness Laura was in town and I was able to take care of Lacey immediately without having to also worry about the kids. I am so grateful that she was here and that she killed that effing snake. It could have easily been one of the kids that was bitten instead. I felt horrible for Lacey and was barely able to keep it together through the whole ordeal.

I haven't been able to take a shower without covering up the drain since this whole ordeal happened. I feel like there are snakes crawling everywhere.

Last Week

To quickly catch up, Brent has been out of town for the last THREE WEEKS (two more weeks since my last post)!! It's been so tough taking care of the babes by myself and these terrible twos are officially kicking my butt! I'm sure that it's hard on the kids too because they are so upset and frustrated over such silly things. I hate disciplining them though. It's the worst part about being a mom because I would rather just play with them and let them bounce off the walls or do whatever they want. Their little attitude problems just get worse if I don't stay on top of them though. It's a tough balance when all they do is fuss. I'm sure they are missing their daddy too.

Last Thursday, Zippy came into town so we've been staying pretty busy just goofing off. Besides having her in town, this week has been an absolute nightmare (but I'll get to that in my next post). Here are some pics from last week:

I know I post a lot of pictures of flowers, but they are such happy and very appreciated surprises in my day!

I caught the kids reading books to each other one night. Some moments make everything worth it!

Presents from Zippy!

Sunday evening on the beach

Recooperation!

Brent was out of town all last week, but we got lucky when he got to come home a day early on Thursday night. It was such a relief because we all missed him so much! I hate it when he's gone. It ain't right. Plus, I was so exhausted from the week that my eyes were stinging.

He missed me too flowers!

Earlier that day, we had been invited to a planting and popsicles party thing. It was such a cute little idea and the kids got to paint little flower pots that they totally loved! Callie gave hers to daddy as a present when he came home. They are already sprouting little flowers.

Friday morning we woke up early and had breakfast on the beach. I had full intentions of taking advantage of the day but as soon as we got home, my head hit the pillow and I slept away most of the afternoon. I woke up with a huge migraine and doped myself up enough to pass out for the rest of that night too. A much needed day, and well spent too, if you ask me!

Early morning shrimp trawling

Saturday, I flew solo and went shopping in Savannah. It was nice having some time to myself even though I didn't find anything. Later that afternoon we ended up taking the kids to see their first movie in a theater! We saw "Up" and it was just precious! The kids did awesome through it! Callie acted like a little adult and barely made a peep. Wyatt did pretty good too as long as we were pumping him full of snacks. He got antsy towards the end, but I was impressed that he made it as far as he did. We all had such a good time!

Yesterday, we spent the afternoon at the beach. We had such a nice weekend and I'm hating that it's Monday all over again!

This picture cracks me up because you can barely see Wyatt's head out there in the middle. (He was sitting on his booty. It was still shallow pretty far out there.)

For you, B.

They were in a laughing fit when I snuck up on them and took this picture!

It was a little tooooo quiet when I found them like this.

Wyatt doing a really good impression of my dad!

Callie's last day of ballet!

Mya (on the far right) is Callie's favorite buddy in class. They are all so cute!

Wyatt's Binky

For one, my kid is way too old to be using a binky. I know it. I'm aware. But getting him to dump the thing is way too much effort for me right now - especially since the little guy is sick.

I was so proud of myself. Brent wasn't going to be home tonight and I didn't let it effect me in the least. Infact, I even made a huge pot of spaghetti, cleaned the entire kitchen and laundry room area (AND pledged the dining room table - we are talking sparkling clean, people!), and maintained my cool all through Wyatt's different colors of bodily fluids today. I was doing great!

So, when 6:00 rolled around and Wyatt was already starting to fuss and rub his eyes, I asked him where his binky was.

It turned out to be the question of the night. Where the hell was that stupid binky?!?! At first, I was just regularly searching but the closer and closer it got to 7:00, the more frantic I became and the more and more I ransacked the house. I even started sweating and borderline hyperventilating. I did NOT want to load these kids up into the car, in their pajamas, after their bedtime, and go to freaking Target to buy a binky that this kid shouldn't be sucking on in the first place.

But I had to. I couldn't find it. And my house was trashed.

By the time I got to Target, I was speaking through clenched teeth and probably could have started spitting venom had I tried. After I got the damn binkies, I had to force myself to relax. After all, I was pretty much scaring myself! So, I turned on the radio and rolled all the windows down.

I wish I could have had a video recorder at that moment. Callie was the cutest thing on the planet! She started squealing with delight and bounced her head to the music. She had the wind blowing through her hair and she was in heavenly bliss. It totally gave me a vision of what she would be like at 16... young and free... but seeing the pure enjoyment on that baby's face was enough to bring me out of my pathetic and ridiculous tantrum and into the gratefulness of getting to have that little girl's arms wrapped around my neck on a daily basis!

And, I must admit, although my little buddy is sick right now, I'm loving every minute of him wanting to cuddle and be with his momma. These kids are my heart and soul!

I better never find that damn binky though.

Catching up in pictures...

I let Wyatt choose his outfit one day last week. This was what he came up with!

Our pooches love icecream. I can't blame them. It's so hot here that I might be willing to enjoy a frozen turd on a stick!

Silly twinks

It's getting to the part of the summer where you start avoiding the beach during the middle of the day and only venture out in the morning or evening. Since we were lazy getting out early and the runts were relentless about wanting to go to the beach, we felt these dorky hats were a good compromise.

Vanilla milkshakes and french fries... the BEST snack on the planet! I let my "no sweets" guard down for a split second after a hot trip to the beach and this is what happened! Salty and sweet sookieness!

And here's a cute little video of Wyatt:

"Poor ting!"

The little dude is sick. Sad! He hasn't really been eating the last couple days which is so uncharacteristic of him. This morning, he started puking but shook it off quickly and demanded to go to the beach. He was good for the rest of the afternoon until after dinner (which was breakfast) when he hurled again. Let me tell you, scrambled eggs aren't too cute on their way back up!

So, we had to hose the kid down since he had egg giblets all over his head. I was disinfecting everything with bleach while I chatted with him in the shower. He was playing with a hair clip and started drawing in the steam on the shower door. I was absolutely blown away when I watched him very carefully and deliberately draw a circle and exclaim, "Circle!". Then he drew a snake which looked like a long squiggle. I about melted! I had seen him doodle before, but never specifically draw something with actual resemblance of what he was claiming it to be. Of course, I had to grab the camera! (It's too hard to see though.)

After we got him settled down and all cleaned up, I taught him about puke buckets. However, the puke bucket was quickly turned upside-down and redefined as a drum.

He hung out with us in bed for awhile when he saw this commercial and demanded to see it over and over again while he was chuckling and grinning from ear to ear!


We are in HUGE trouble folks!

Memorial Day Weekend (Part 2)

Monday was so much fun! The weather was finally gorgeous and we took advantage of it. It seemed like everyone else did too because the beach was so crowded! I had never seen the beach that crowded since we've lived here. Also, there was a rainbow circling the sun while we were down there. It was beautiful!

We had an awesome time at the beach and stayed there for a good chunk of the day. When we got home, we did a lowcountry boil and celebrated Lauren's upcoming birthday with a donkey cake. (Miniature donkeys are her favorite thing in the whole world.) It was a bittersweet day knowing they were heading home the following morning.

It was so sad to see them go. Everyone was upset and poor little Ellie even broke down and cried. It was the sweetest thing ever. Wyatt had fallen in love with Ellie the first day they were here and kept pinning her against the wall to give her hugs. He was relentless and seemed determined to make her his first little girlfriend! It was cute and Ellie was such a sport for putting up with it! She kept saying, "Oh no! Here we go again!" It was precious!

Callie also fell deeply in love with Ellie. She called her "Anna" the whole time and never left her side. When they left, Callie told me that she wanted Santa Clause to bring her a shirt with a picture of "Anna" on it. She has talked about "Anna" everyday since they left.

Noah was a champ too and Wyatt loved being able to hang out with another little boy. As soon as Wyatt saw Noah he said, "Hi Boy!" and they had fun together all weekend. Both of our kids were so independent and completely denied all parental affection while the big kids were around. Callie even told me, "Away Mommy!" when I would try and kiss on her. Wyatt rarely even got within a 5 foot radius of me. (Visions of things to come I suppose.)

Hopefully, it won't be too long before we get to see them all again! We miss you guys so much already!

Memorial Day Weekend (Part 1)

We had such a great weekend! We had some friends come in town on Friday night. We were so amped to see them that we ended up staying up pretty late and only getting a few hours of sleep. The weather was pretty crappy on Saturday so Lauren and I used it as an opportunity to dump all the kids on the guys and take off.

We had intentions of going shopping in Savannah but never even made it that far because we had so much fun goofing off on the drive there! We ended up turning around after one of us had the brilliant idea to find a Mexican joint where we could bathe in cheese dip and margaritas! That of course lead to a trip to the liquor sto' which eventually turned into some pretty serious partying and a puking incident or two (for a nameless victim). Te-kill-ya!

On Sunday, the weather looked threatening so we loaded up all the kids and took them to the beach early that morning. It was pretty nice even with the gnarly looking sky. We had a fun time finding clams and crabs and other creepy things in the tide pools. We headed home as soon as we thought it was about to rain but it held off most of the day and long enough for the kids to have some fun in the backyard.