Boy Mom

My favorite hashtag is #boymom. I use it all the time. Why? Because it's a an experience that is hard to understand unless you are a boy mom. As I type this my laptop is jumping up and down like an earthquake in my living room because you both have created a pile of blankets and pillows on the living room floor and are jumping on them. We've stopped once for a chin to the head injury but I have no doubt you will be back at it in no time.

On any given day you will find someone in our house is covered in blood or dirt and bandaids and ice packs are always out. I frequently find dirty socks, granola bar wrappers and cups tucked in the cushions or under the bed. But I also find "I love you" written on my bathroom mirror, get constant requests for cuddles and am surrounded by uncontrollable laughter. You two play hard and love hard I love being your boymom.

Mommy (by Huston Jones)

my mom is the best mom in world and she is cool and fun.ssssssssssssssssssshhhhhhhhhhhhhheeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeee cccccccccccccccccccccccccccccccccccccccccccccccccccccccccccccccccccccoooooooooooooooooooooooooooollllllllllllllllllllllllllllllllllllllllllllllllllllllllllllllllllllllllllllllllllllllllllllllllllllllllllllllllllllllllllllllllllllllllllllllllllllllllllllllllllllllllllllllllllllllllllllllllllllllllllllllllllllllllllllllllllllllllllllllllllllllllllllllllllllllllllll!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!111111!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

Nolan - June 2017

Nolan, you little stinker. Really, that's all I can think when I see you right now. You are still my little cuddler and are cute and sweet and my baby...but man you have turned into a stinker! The look you give before, after and during you are about to do something rotten is both frustrating and adorable. I'm glad you are finding your place but keeping you safe will be my biggest accomplishment.

To be fair, you are just as sweet the other half of the time.I feel like I've missed so much on your blog, but you say the funniest stuff and I'm going to do better keep track. You love animals, dirt, and big brother. You played your first year of t-ball and we had a lot of fun playing together. You just finished up Oak Tree and are going to karate camp this summer and then will start Pre-K at Westwood in August.

I love baby boy and I just know you are going to do big things and do them with all your heart.

Huston - June 2017

Huston, somewhere between my last blog to you and this one, you have grown up. I can see bits of teenager in you and I know if I blink too long you will be driving. Your expressions, the things you say, your interests...there is no "little boy" left in you.

You have always loved dancing but now that you have found music videos on YouTube you have started begging me for your own channel so that can post videos of you dancing and singing. If I had to guess what genre you'd be I'm a little sad to say you be a mix of pop, rap and boy band. You do have a love for classic rock but I don't think I'm ever going to get you to like country music.

Your favorite subjects at school are reading, math and PE. Something finally clicked and you love to read, sometimes to the point that you ignore everyone around you. I don't know where you got the math gene, but I'm sure glad you did because I sure never had it! Your teacher is Mrs. Reeves and I think you may have your first crush. The other day when I asked you to tell me I was the prettiest girl in the whole world, you told me quite seriously, "But you're not. Mrs. Reeves is." I am just so happy that you love your classroom and school and friends that I let it slide :) This has been a great school year for you - you have so many different friends and are doing great in school and have lots of different interests. This summer you are going to karate camp.

You are such a sweet and smart little boy that truly has a kind heart. Sometimes you are a little too rough and mean with your brother and are still learning to adjust to being a "big brother" but I can see you starting to teach him things and I hope you always know how much he looks up to you. I hope that as you are older and reading these blogs that you and your brother are best friends. If you aren't, I'm telling you now to pick up the phone and call him. And me...don't forget about your momma!

I love you so much and love being your mom. 

Bad Momma

Boys, life got in the way. I'm so sorry! I have been a slacker on your blogs and and I promise to try and do better. I can tell you that you are both so funny and cute and smart and crazy and cuddly and amazing! I love you both so much with all of my heart and am so thankful every day that I get to be your momma.

Nolan - December 2015

Nolan,

You did it! You are potty trained! Just before your 3rd birthday. One day you just told me as I was getting you dressed. "I no need diaper, I wear underwear." And that was it. I am beyond relieved and you are still so proud every time you go and announce it to the world. You also can pretty much dress yourself now which kind of happened over night. Some mornings your brother will help you while I am getting ready and you are so happy "Momom, brother help me!"

Some of the cutest things come out of your mouth. One of my favorites right now is when you mess up, you say "Silly me." If you don't feel well instead of saying that, you say "I not feeling better." You are a little copy cat to your brother and anything that he does you say "I did xxxx too!" And first has become very important to you. "I did it first, I got there first, etc." And Bumblebee. Anytime you see a yellow car you scream loudly "Mommy I see BUMBLEBEE!" Another favorite is every time you wear this little Adidas athletic set you call the jacket your "running jacket". It's never just a jacket.

You are still at Oak Tree and you moved to up to the three year old room. You tell me all of the time "I in Ms. Sandy's room!" And "I friends with Talen, Nathan and ummm, I have bunch of friends." 

One thing I cannot figure out about you is how to get you to sleep. You are a night owl. Even though I put you to bed around 8:00 you will lay in there for hours and not fall asleep. You are sometimes up at midnight. When you finally do get tired you will come in my room and crawl in bed with me and pass out. Good news is that you don't seem tired the next day but man do I wish you'd fall asleep in your own bed. It's hard for me to sleep with your little knees and elbows beating me up.

As fearless as you are, I knew that it would happen but we had our first major injury. We've been to urgent care a lot for ear infections, viruses and the time you stabbed a drum stick in the roof of your mouth. But this one was a scary one. I was in the shower and Huston came in bawling because he "broke you". He was giving you a piggy back ride and you both fell into the entertainment center and you cut your head open just above your eye. I kept my cool and calmed everyone down, dried off and got dressed and took you to urgent care, luckily they were open for about 20 more minutes. You got 6 stitches. Once we got home I lost it becuase it sure is hard on mommy to see you hurt. You called it your "caterpiller". I don't think it will leave a major scar but you will get to check out that whole "chicks dig scars" theory.

You are my crazy, sweet, cuddly little man and I just love you so much. You are a complete handful but no matter what you throw at me, you can always make me smile.

Huston - December 2015

Huston,

We have big news. Since my last blog you have finally lost a tooth! Two actually. To you this was far more exciting than Christmas, birthdays or learning to ride a bike. You also learned to tie your shoes and the way you are reading and doing addition just blows my mind. I see flashes of a teenager and less of my baby boy every day. Every year I think that this is my favorite age and even though I miss my squishy baby, boy do I love this age even more. Seeing how smart and caring you are becoming makes me so proud of you.



The Pokemon craze has hit. You are totally obsessed with cards and can tell me all about each one. You go to the YMCA after school program now and have found other friends who like to trade and it amazes me what all that has taught you. You do your research to know which ones are the "good" ones, you have learned to compromise and when to say no (and tell me the whole story every day on how you got each one) and you've learned the value of saving up your money so you can buy more. One morning you woke me up telling me you vacuumed the living room, made Nolan breakfast and offered a back rub...all as "chores" because you needed money to buy a pack :)

We did the Westwood Running Club this Fall and it was so much fun to spend that time with you. I got to know a lot of your friends and the other parents and it really made me feel a part of your school. I love being your homeroom mom but it was fun to meet people from the other classes as well. You were very proud of your toe tags that you earned each week and we ended with a color run which you thought was the coolest thing EVER.

You have added some pretty big words to your vocabulary and have picked up some funny expressions. It's alway fun to hear you use them. Some of my favorites are "holy smokes", "seriously", "actually", "appropriate" and for some reason you love the word "jalepeno" even though you would never actually eat one. Weekends are "home days" which I think is absolultely adorable. You also like to call me M-O-M (spelled out) and will occasionally slip in "old lady" or "Lisa".

One thing I have to brag on you for is how much of a helper you are becoming. You clean up without fighting me at all, you are working on your patience with your brother and you are becoming more thoughtful of others. During the mornings when I'm getting ready you will help your little brother get dressed. This is a huge help to me and it makes his day and he always shouts "Momom, brother help me!" He adores you so much.

I guess I should have known with your love of dancing that the music would follow. And although you love some classic stuff, you do not like country at all. But you LOVE pop music. Specifically Katy Perry. I don't know what to do with this. Nothing like that is in my library so we just YouTube it and play it for you.

You are starting to figure out fantasy/make believe and real life and have lots of questions. You are also playing with "what if" and making up stories. I can usually tell when you've added something to a story by the look on your face but we've had to start talking about what a lie is and how it's wrong. Figure starting early can't hurt. One thing that concerns me is that you are very concerned about what your friends think. So much to the point that your teacher has even brought it up. I hope you always know that your thoughts, ideas and feelings are just as important as everyone elses and that you are always yourself and not who you think people want you to be. You are such a sweet, fun, smart and caring boy and I hope you don't ever doubt that. I love you so much. Just the way you are.