He Made it to Seven

In the past, Bubba has had this Peter Pan syndrome...and every year after he celebrated a birthday he would tell us this was his last birthday. Last year he told us he would turn seven, but thats it! So far this year we haven't heard anything like we have in the past. I hope this means he is letting go a little bit. Not too much--just a little bit.

Today he celebrated his birthday with friends from school and church at Chuck E Cheese. I am not a big fan, but this is where he wanted to---for the 2nd year in a row.

Good times.....and thanks to all the friends who came. Bubba had a great time and we enjoyed watching the kids go crazy with the tokens! (....And watching them cash in their millions of tickets for a 10 cent trinket) :)

Bubba and Tyler

Most of the party gang

Bubba and Gabe

Bubba and Grandpa

Bubba and Hayden

Bubba and the Vasquez trio

Bubba's Patriotic Program

Last night was Bubba's 1st grade "Patriotic Program" at school. Since it was also his birthday, it made for a very busy day.

I must give kudos to the school, teachers...and of course the kids ---they did a great job.

The teachers began organizing the program early and assigned parts to the kids in December. Four classrooms participated....the kids all knew their parts so well and sang their hearts out.

It was so much fun to watch!

Bubba's part in the program was a tribute to the Air Force. Considering we have members of our family in most branches of the military, this was the only one we didn't.... But that was okay.

Grandma and Grandpa came to watch.

Happy, Happy Birthday Bubba Dear

Happy Birthday to my big Bubba!
Its lucky number seven!!
Big from the beginning he was 23 1/2 inches long and weighed 9 lbs 9 oz.

Now my "little" whipper snapper is over 4 foot 2 inches and wears size 5 shoes!

Bubba---we love you, we love you, we love you, we love you!

We cannot imagine our lives without you as part of our family and I can still remember seeing and holding you for the first time. We didn't know if you were a boy or a girl and when the doctor pulled you out Luke whispered to me, "Its a boy!" I thought for sure you were a girl, but you are ALL boy!

Here are some of my favorite pictures of Bubba!

Tear Jerker (4 months)

Oldie ( 9 months)

Cape May, New Jersey (7 months)

Swim time - (6 months)

San Diego (5 months)

Love those pants - 2 years old

Can't......stay.......awake... (2 years)

Meet Jack

Bubba's birthday is this week and the one thing he wanted was....a hamster. Why, I have no idea. I kind of pretended to be the supportive mother, but I did a crappy job. Good thing the boys have their father! :)

We have a busy week and tonight was the only good night to take the boys to pick one out. After Luke got off work he surprised the boys with a ride to the pet store. I can't tell you which one, because I am about to make fun of the "hamster whisperer" who sold it to us. LOL

Yes--that's right---the hamster whisperer. Complete with long dread locks and more information than the world wide web. As she explained the hamster's potty habits I asked her how often to change the liner and if they stink. She looked at me with all seriousness and said, "They don't stink, WE stink..............We stink for not cleaning them. At first, because of the long serious pause I didn't know if she really meant we stink to them. But when I saw Luke rolling his eyes behind her I figured out what she meant.

There were two "long haired teddy bear" hamsters to choose from...and they were both girls. If anyone knows Bubba, he is pretty anti-girl----so Luke lied and told him they were boys. Bubba then proceeded to ask the hippychick who could not lie, even though Luke was giving her all the signals. She looked right at Bubba and said its a girl. Luke then just told Bubba she was kidding and we tried to get the exchange over as quickly as possible. It was an experience I will never forget. Its the boys first real pet! Tubbs' birthday is in April and he is all ready talking about having his own hamster. Oh yay!

Ok---on to the hamster cage---which we forked $50 out on. Are you kidding me? On the drive home I was telling Luke, "Watch, we'll know someone who has an extra cage somewhere after we forked out all that money!" So--if you have a cage laying around somewhere I don't want to hear about it. And if you have any horror hamster tales I don't want to hear those either. I read that the life expectancy of a hamster is 2-3 years. I am hoping "Jacky" won't be around that long.

One thing I love to do is watch my husband put together things that are "poorly engineered." At least that's what he calls them. There seems to be one common component in these projects and that's my frustrated husband who can't seem to get it put together without rigging something up. Thankfully with this cage, he didn't have any leftover pieces.
"Jack in the Box"

Jack in the Poorly Engineered Cage

Water on My Cheek

Friday morning I packed up the boys and we headed to Roseville to see the family! My sister in law was having a baby shower on Saturday afternoon and my mom helped plan an impromptu birthday party that Bubba would share with his 2 year old cousin Bradyn.

Considering how I have been feeling with this pregnancy when I mentioned going out of town with the boys, they thought I was crazy. But I really wanted to go--and I am glad I did. The birthday party was a hit and the baby shower was great.

This morning we woke up early to get on the road and get home to big papa. I always feel best in the morning and considering I went to bed at 8pm last night we were charged and ready at 7am. I asked my dad to give me a blessing. I meant to do this when I was up at Christmas time...but forgot. So, this was one important reason I really wanted to go see my family.

My dad started my blessing: "Katherine Marceille Baer..." and I could hear my mom whisper to him "Hogue." But he didn't hear. It made me smile. But by the time he was done with the blessing I had a tear on my cheek. Bubba and Tubbs always notice that stuff---even when the room is dimly lit. Bubba says, " Why is there water on your cheek?" To which I wipe the "water" away and say, "I don't know Bubba, how did that get there?!"

We peeled out of Roseville about 8am. Its about 300 miles to home and its raining. An hour into the drive we need a potty break and more food. We stop at the boys' favorite breakfast spot---Carl's Jr. I sipped on a Dr Pepper as the boys chowed down on french toast sticks and breakfast sandwiches. I decided to check the e-mail on my phone and see that I got an invitation to view a blog of a friend who just had a baby. I click on the links and start reading the blog on my phone. I am scrolling through the blog pictures and after reading through the most recent post I look up to see my boys just staring at me. Yes--more water on my cheeks. I am not that good at expressing my emotions or explaining stuff to my boys. Since they were looking at me like I had 2 heads and Bubba was covering his face with his hands to avoid looking at me I begin to explain what the water on my cheeks was and why it was there. It immediately brought me back to where I was---in a Carl's Jr in Stockton, trying to get my boys home to big papa.

With these raging hormones, I know I will have lots more water on my cheeks. It would just be nice to go at least a day or two between "waterings"!

Cauliflower Ears, Here We Come!

Wrestling!

Its what Luke did in high school and college and he was MOTIVATED to get his boys signed up this year. The minimum age requirement is five years old, but lucky for Tubbs the coach slid him in since he only has another 2 months until his birthday.
Luke registered the boys 2 weeks ago and they wrestle at one of the local high schools. The HS wrestling coach coaches the kids in the program along with some help with a few boys from the HS team.
The coach started out practice with some jogging around the wrestling "ring" circle. They played follow the leader and stopped for some occasional stretches. Apparently Bubba is related to his father because he hates to run---for exercise that is. After about 5 minutes of warm-up Bubba trotted over to the gym door where Luke and I were watching and started to cry. He didn't want to wrestle. Luke tried to explain that they were just warming up, but Bubba didn't care. He spent the remainder of the hour either sitting in the chair by the door or watching his brother spar with a small high school wrestler.
Maybe Bubba is just a gentle giant who is destined to head up the chess club.

Tubbs has such a perfect little face and ears I am going to make sure to invest in head gear and anything else I need to, to make sure he remains perfect! It will be funny to watch Tubbs use his new moves on his older brother in the coming months!

Questions Only One Person Can Answer

I didn't know how to title this post.
Do any of you ponder questions that you know only God can answer. I am sure you are all nodding your heads right now. But let me also say that the questions I have been pondering lately don't have so much to do with questions of my existence, what does Heaven look like, will my dog "Puppy" be in Heaven, etc.,.

They are questions like...

Why do pregnant women have to puke and get heartburn on a regular basis in order to produce one of your children?

Yes---that is my number one burning question of the year.

Do you think he will have an answer for that one?

Now----my husband's number one question for God at this point (behind "Why did you create the fly and what is its purpose) is:

Why does my wife have to turn into a psychopath in order to produce one of your children---and when do I get my perfect wife back :) ?

I am sure he has an answer for that one too.

Thank Goodness for Grandparents....

.....who will watch my two little darlings and don't charge a daily/hourly wage!
Luke's parents watched the boys Friday night so my valentine could drag my pathetic booty out of the house for dinner and a movie. I have been wanting to see "He's Just Not That Into You" since I read the book last summer...so my sweetie sacrificed his manhood to watch a chick-flick with me. The movies were all sold out at Edwards so we headed over to the mall. As we pulled in to the parking lot and saw the large crowds we thought for sure we were out of luck again, but thankfully we got tickets. Luke said he was surprised there were so many people there to which I replied, "Even gangstas' take their ladies out for Valentine's!"
So....the boys got to stay the night up in Bear Valley with grandma and grandpa, which meant being able to play in the snow from the storm. They had so much fun and were exhausted from all the walking and snowball fights. I told Tubbs to make an extra big snowball to throw at Grandpa, but I don't know if he was able to sneak up on him. Snowball fights are my forte' so I was bummed I missed this snow storm.
Nevertheless, a big THANK YOU Bob and Nancy for taking the boys and for all that you do! XOXO

Getting it Right

If you are a parent, regardless of your child’s age, you know that the days in which you second guess your parenting skills/choices far outweigh the days that you feel you are doing a good job. Today was one such day for me, but in the good sense.

I have the good fortune of being in the education field which, in turn, is rewarding in all of the cliché ways, but also in the since that I get the same days off that my boys do. Therefore, I get a lot of extra time with them. However, being in education also gives me daily displays of poor parenting. I see kids that are neglected beyond words (both physically and emotionally). While I could spend pages telling you stories just form the last week, I will save you the knot that will surely occur in your stomach. This same aspect of working in education is also a small blessing in disguise—I hesitate to say that as, I am sounding like the misfortune of others is my satisfaction. Let me attempt to explain. Katie and I have a much different perspective on the boys at times, in the sense, what constitutes a big deal. Given that I often work with kids/families that have kids that are abused in every sense and come from destroyed homes I have far greater patients with the boys. When I come home and Katie is upset that the boys have been arguing for the last twenty minutes or that they are unappreciative of the cookie she bought them, I often don’t give the reaction she would like (don’t get me wrong, I discipline quite harshly). But when you come home after a home visit to a home that has a dirt floor (literally) where you had to meet with the mother because she fails to report to the school to discuss her child’s self mutilation and sexual misconduct (second grade) you gain a different perspective.

So on to my point, today was one of those days where I was off with the boys due to it being Lincoln’s Birthday. After a morning of driving the boys to get their favorite breakfast (egg and cheese sandwiches) and run a few errands, we come home to clean up the house and relax. It had been raining all day and the boys where becoming a bit restless and were tired of playing legos, watching movies and playing video games. Therefore, when it cleared up for a moment, I asked the boys of they wanted to go on a bike ride. They both yelled, “yeaaaaaah!” I told the boys I would get my shoes on and then we would go. Bubba asked, “can we go to the park and have a picnic?” to which I responded, “Bubba it is going to be cold and wet, why don’t we just ride the bikes and stop quickly at the park.” They both agreed. I came out from the back with my shoes on and said, “lets go!” After a few moments of prying the DS from Tubbs’ hands, we were off. Simon had his usual back pack on and loaded with his favorite toys, or so I thought.

We were riding for about ten minutes, when Bubba says, “Lets hurry up and get to the park!” I was a bit hesitant, because I wanted the boys to ride for a bit to get some exercise, but Bubba was adamant that we get to the park. Moments later we arrived at the park and Bubba quickly drops his bike and begins to feel the grass to see if it is indeed wet. As I get off my bike (this was a chore since I am sore and beat up from the prior day’s flag football) I look up to see Bubba and Tubbs sitting at the picnic table.

Now this is where I had one of those “getting it right” moments! As I hobble to the picnic table, Bubba begins to open his backpack. I am sure he is just getting one of his mothers Cadbury Cream Eggs out to enjoy (this is an entirely different story). To my surprise Bubba pulls out one of grandma Hogue’s quilts and says, “Since it is wet on the grass we will use it as a table cloth!” I just chuckle and laugh at him. He then takes his helmet and uses it to hold the “table cloth” down. By now, Tubbs and I are sitting at the table just watching Bubba. At this point Bubba says (I must emphasize that this is not altered one bit), “Ok, I packed each of us a water (he pulls out a water bottle for each of us), I packed a juice box for Tubbies and me (he pulls out three Capri Suns), I packed a peanut butter and honey sandwich for Tubbs, a yogurt for daddy, carrots for us, three jello’s for dessert, and a lunchable for me!! (Yes, he pulls this all out one at a time and I just laugh, but can’t help but want to hug him).” I respond by saying, “Wow, Bubba, this is a great picnic I really…” then he interrupts and says “oh wait, I packed a bag of ice too!” (He then pulls out a sandwich bag full of ice). I tell him thank you, but I will have to save the yogurt for later because I don’t have a spoon…” but why would I doubt him as he says, “Daddy (with his head tilted reaching into his pocket), I have a spoon for you right here!” and sure enough he pulls out a spoon. The 6 year old thought of everything!

We sat for the next 10-15 minutes eating our “picnic” and just sit back and watch my offspring discuss the world. Tubbs walks over, unprovoked and gives Bubba a big hug and says, “thank you for the picnic Bubba!” to which Bubba says, “you are welcome, I am sorry it is so cold!” (Again, nothing added). They precede to yuck it up only like they can and discuss deep concepts such as what they are going to call their rigs (manhood). This ranges from peanuts, kiwis and wiener, until they both settle on “family jewels.” This then requires them both to laugh uncontrollably for the next 45 seconds, of which Bubba uses to conjure up one of the largest green booger bubbles from his nose that I have ever seen!

As I sat there, I could not help but look at my two boys, who in my eyes are the most perfect creation Heavenly Father could put on the earth, and smile at how much they really love each other. I then think back to the kids I get to work with daily and then just truly appreciate the day I had with my boys. Unfortunately, after a few “cheers” with our water bottles it began to rain so we moved the picnic back home to the den. On the way back, I just had a sense for a moment that Katie and I are doing something right!

Finally!

Its the conversation I have been really hoping to have with my boys for some time. I didn't know how they would react or how to say it---so I let Luke do it.

The Hogue "tag-team" is being dissolved...and in 6 months will be a trio.

Yes....another bug will join our family in August. ( I am certain its one--even though Tubbs keeps telling me he wants two)

The boys just seemed to smile like they thought they were on "Candid Camera." But they figured out quickly it was for real because mommy has been using the words "I don't feel good" for the past two months.

It didn't help that to start the conversation and get them back to the dinner table Luke announces, "I have a surprise for you."

If you are my child and someone says the word "surprise" you are thinking its something sweet to eat or a toy is headed your way. So, when Luke announced the surprise was that Tubbs is going to be a big brother--by the time the announcement was over he was still anticipating his "real" surprise.
He was obviously a little disappointed when we didn't have a cookie or toy on back up.
I have it on video:

We decided to go with another "S" name and even though my husband thinks he has the final say and thinks he knows what "he" is going to be called I am still not sure. In the video Luke is throwing around a few baby names for Tubbs and its funny to see him laugh because he has my dad's "beavers" and smile. (For those of you who have seen my dad lean his head back and laugh, tell me Tubbs is not his twin!)

So---for those who have known about this impending arrival since the get-go, they are of course rooting for a curly headed little girl! All except my husband of course. He says I am "built" to have boys. He is probably right. I don't know if I want to add a crazy Hogue girl into the mix. I was of course the perfect child, but its those darn Hogue side of the genes that just cause trouble for me. And so far, this baby has caused a lot of trouble so its very likely its another boy---who just can't wait to meet his big brothers again!

We shall see!

Conversation of the Day

Sunday on the way home from church I overhear a conversation between Bubba and Tubbs in the backseat. Tubbs is talking about a boy in his primary class.

Tubbs: I love Jason
Bubba: If you love him so much why don't you marry him?!
Tubbs: If I married him he would have to get boobs!"

At this point I intervene and ask them what they are talking about. I am trying not to laugh and be serious, because frankly---I don't want my boys to be talking about this---at home, at school and ESPECIALLY church!

Tubbs then proceeds to tell me that when you get old you get big boobs. I am trying to decide how far to take this conversation and I unfortunately keep egging it on.

Mama: I have big boobs and I am not old.
Tubbs: No, really big boobs!
Mama: I know, I do have big boobs.
Tubbs: No---they will go all the way up to heaven and you can bounce on them.

I am giggling to myself and then I decide its time to be serious. I am thinking....how do I best explain this in the next 60 seconds before I pull into the driveway

Mama: Do you know why women have boobs?
Boys: No
Mama: Well...when you are a mommy they have something in them to feed babies. Ya' know...babies don't have teeth and can't eat food like you do.
Tubbs: Whats inside of them?
Mama: Milk
Boys: Awwww...groooooooossssssss.
Mama: But we don't don't talk about this to our friends, laugh about it or make fun of it. Its something very special that Heavenly Father gave moms.

THANKFULLY we had pulled into the driveway and they agreed with what I said. I definitely know that I am not going to be one of those parents who are good about explaining how things "work" with my boys. I will leave it all up to big daddy! :)

Sugar

Do you think I have enough?

My husband saw me come to the kitchen table with my bowl and his eyes almost jumped out of his head. I just chuckled because I knew what he was thinking.The next thing he did was go grab the camera.

There is nothing like a bowl of Wheaties with a lil' bit of sugar on top. And not Splenda...but the real stuff. I will admit that this appears to be a little "thick" but in my defense, the kitchen light was off and I was sprinkling the sugar with only the light from the dining room.

(Wink-wink) :)