I quit!

Do you ever have one of those days at work where NOTHING seems to go right? That's how I felt at my job today. The majority of the day was wonderful. The weather was great, so I decided to put Drew and Mallory in the double stroller and walk to get the big kids from school. It's only about a mile and a half round trip. Great! That went smoothly enough.

As soon as we got home, the kids got a snack and then headed outside to enjoy the beautiful day. Elizabeth came back in and changed into something cooler because she was hot. That's pretty normal for her. Ross changed into junk clothes because he was going to practice "sliding" for baseball. Fine. Then Drew went up to his room for a LONG time and came back down wearing his same clothes. Still fine. After a while, Ross came in and asked if they could play in the sprinkler. The high today was 64 degrees. I suppose it felt like a tropical day to them because of our crazy winter. I said, "NOOOOOO WAY?" I did tell him thanks for asking, though, and not just going ahead anyway. He told me Elizabeth didn't want him to ask. I gave them a lecture about what they could and could not do outside, with strict instructions not to play in the water. Elizabeth asked if they could play in the grass. That should have been a red flag to me because they always play in the grass. I didn't think any thing of it and told them they could.

So I had just laid Mallory down for a nap and was straightening up the house. I heard some playful screams outside and again didn't think anything of it. After a bit it dawned on my to go check on them to make sure they were following my rules. Knowing my children, can you imagine what I saw when I peeked out the window? Ross had his shirt off and baseball pants on and was indeed playing baseball. Elizabeth was in her swimming suit, holding the hose and spraying a swim suit clad Drew. Again, it was 64 degrees. You know hose water is freezing in 94 degree weather!

I opened the dining room door, and from inside I screamed at her to "stop this instant." She turned to look at me, smiled, hesitated for a moment and then proceeded to blast me INSIDE THE HOUSE!!!! I quickly turned and shut the door. I was so shocked at what had just happened that it took me a moment to move. I opened the door to try to talk to her again, and the same thing happened. I was able to yell to Ross to turn off the water. She then turned and blasted him. I made a dash to get the hose away from her as she turned her attention to my decoy, but she's a fast one. In between my hiding in the house, I was yelling every threat to her that I thought would get her to stop. Nothing. I told her her Easter candy was gone and it was all mine. With joy she yelled, "I don't care!" and then stuck her tongue out at me. MY BLOOD WAS BOILING and there was nothing I could do!

At that time, I got a phone call from Ross' coach telling me that because it was such a nice day, they would be having practice outside instead of in, and that it would start at 5:00. The current time was 4:07. I was thinking, "Great! You have NO idea what is going on here. I have to rectify this situation, get the kids cleaned up, wake up Mallory, and have him there in less than an hour. No problem!"

I then called Edward to tell him about practice and about the watery standoff that was taking place in our backyard. He told me as long as she wasn't hurting anyone, let her continue and he would take care of it when he got home. While on the phone with him, I peeked out and saw Drew with his trunks at his ankles taking a leak in a huge puddle. I know our neighbors are so glad to have us in the neighborhood. So I ignored her for about 5 minutes. When I checked on her again, part of the backyard looked like a flood, and I couldn't sit by and watch her destroy it. She had dropped the hose, so I made my move. I got to the faucet and tried to unscrew it, but the darn thing wouldn't move. Of course! By that time she was on to me again. I ran into the garage and got a wrench. I waited for her to let go of the hose, and she did. I felt like I was in combat. I got over to the faucet and began unscrewing it. While I was doing that she came up and wiped mud on my shirt, laughing all the time. I honestly think steam was blowing out of my ears. I told her to park her heine on the bench immediately, to which she replied, "NO!" She then skipped down to the trampoline and started bouncing away. I honestly didn't know if any neighbors were taking this in, so I decided to wait a few seconds before approaching her for fear the authorities would be called.

When I got to the trampoline, I told her I would have to call the police - maybe she would be willing to listen to them since she wasn't obeying me. That finally worked. At that point she did what she was told and began cleaning up.

I'll spare the rest of the details, but we made it to baseball practice only 10 minutes late. At the ball field, there is a large dirt mound. I told Elizabeth & Drew not to play in it. Apparently the last hour didn't make any impact to her because she went there immediately. Drew on the other hand just milled around it. I honestly didn't have the energy to deal with her, so I just left her alone and was going to let her dad handle it when he got there. After about 10 minutes, the temptation got the best of Drew and he was in. I waited about 3 minutes, packed up the diaper bag, stroller, and Mallory and headed over there to tell them we were leaving and Ross would have to be picked up later. As I was telling them we were done, Drew tripped and skidded down the dirt hill and landed in a large mud puddle. As he tried to stand up, he lost his balance and fell back into it. He was covered front and back. At that point, all I could do was cover my face and laugh. What else could I do? He got to ride home in his underwear, and all three had baths before 6:00.

Back to Elizabeth - how do you punish such blatant disrespect? She never does these things to her Dad. I honestly feel like why do I even bother trying to mother her. When Edward got home he talked to her, and she cleaned the house and did chores until bedtime. With as much work as she did we need to start calling her "Cinderella."

If I worked at an actual 9:00 to 5:00 job, I would have definitely quit today. Can you blame me?

Sleep tight!

On Sunday night, Drew asked if Ross could come down and sleep with him in his bed. We agreed because we didn't have school the next morning. About a half an hour later, Drew came back downstairs and told me Ross was crowding him (that's kind of what you get when you share a twin bed!). I just told him to either lay right next to him or climb up to his bed. Several hours later when I went to bed I found this scene:

It cracked me up! The next morning he told me he just stood up and put his head on his pillow and fell asleep because he didn't have any room in his bed. How is that possible?!

Easter with the Felkers

Happy Easter

Happy Easter, my dear friends and loved ones. I wanted to share how important and significant this holiday is to me. However, I really struggled with this post. Why? Mostly my blog is so light-hearted and silly. It is filled with the craziness of our family's everyday life. My personal relationship with the Savior is so sacred to me, and I did not want this post to be put into the same light-hearted category as my others. After much thought, I did want to share some of my feelings on the Savior because my desire to be like Him is absolutely a part of who I am.

My favorite artist is Liz Lemon Swindle (LDSart.com). Her life-like paintings astonish me. I want to share some of my favorite works of hers.

Jesus - What a beautiful, pure image!
Why Weepest Thou - This is a portrait showing the love and concern Mary Magdalene had for the Savior. You can feel her anguish as she realizes His body is missing.

She Shall Bring Forth A Son - This painting is my favorite. I could stare at it all day. Mothers, think of the feelings you had as you met your child for the first time. Combine those feelings with the knowledge Mary had that she was holding the Savior of Mankind. I can't even comprehend what she must have felt. This painting is so tender.

The Holy Men - I love this one too! These are the wise men paying homage to the young king. By the look on His face, He doesn't seem to know who they are! I wanted to share what Liz Lemon Swindle said about this painting. I couldn't have said it better myself: How wonderful to consider that moment when three or four or twenty holy men knelt at the feet of the holiest man of all, though yet in the body of a toddler, and worshipped Him. (Matthew 2: 8-12)

When Did He Know - I just saw this painting for the first time tonight. The title really struck me. I suppose I have never thought of that before. When did he know? At what age did he gain an understanding of who he was?

Let The Children Come - The Savior loved children. We all know of the story of when He was teaching all day, and some of the people brought their children to Him just so they could see Him and He touch them. His disciples shooed them away so as not to bother Jesus. When He saw this He was very upset. He told them, "Suffer the little children to come unto me, and forbid them not; for of such is the kingdom of God. Verily I say unto you, Whosoever shall not receive the kingdom of God as a little child, he shall not enter therein." - Mark 10:14 & 15

Friends - I think it is impossible not to smile when looking at this painting. Jesus is talking to and listening to this beautiful child. Don't you think we wants to do the same with us?

Hold On Tight - What a perfect name for this painting. We have to "hold on tight" to the Savior and His teachings. If we "hold" onto Him, he will lead us back to The Father.

Worth Of A Soul - This one pierces my soul. I almost feel as though I should turn away and not look because it is so intimate. I have always felt humbled as I think of how great the worth of a soul is to the Savior and to our Father in Heaven. Let's think of our own children. Would we be willing to put a price tag on them? $100,000? $1,000,000? $1,000,000,000? Of course not. That's how Jesus Christ and our Heavenly Father feel about us. That's how they feel about the scummiest, most vile human beings too. They are also children of God. We are not to judge anyone as to think they are "worthless." That one can certainly be hard.

Seeking The One - In this one, the look on the Savior's face is one of waiting. Waiting for us to come to Him.

Of course I could share more, but I think I'm running out of room. I love the Savior, Jesus Christ for so many reasons. His ability to love everyone - not just the people who were kind to Him; He showed love to His enemies as well. Think of the words He spoke to the Father as he was being killed: "Father, forgive them. For they know not what they do."

I love Him for being willing to show us the way. For example, we've been commanded to enter the waters of baptism. "Except a man be born of water and of the Spirit, he cannot enter into the kingdom of God." (John 3:5) But the Savior was perfect! He had no need to be baptized! He was willing to do so because the Lord commanded it to be done by all men.

I love Him mostly for His atoning sacrifice. Have you ever taken the time to ponder that? His atonement on my behalf, let alone on behalf of all people ever to have been born is almost incomprehensible to me. It is almost impossible for me to grasp what He did. I am eternally grateful for His sacrifice for me.

Smelly Cat

I think we're figuring out why we got the cat for free. Yes, our sweet little furball knows how to use the litter box, but she just chooses not to always use it. She uses it when it's convenient for her, which is about half the time. With four kids, we DO NOT need to deal with cleaning up her messes! If she doesn't get her "business" figured out, I'm afraid she'll be getting a new family. We're not willing to sacrifice our carpets for a Smelly Cat. Surprisingly, all of the kids are okay with that.

Anyone have any ideas as to how to litter box train a cat 100% of the time?

Rain, Rain Go Away...

We're going to be going to school until August, I just know it! Due to TONS of rain we've received over the last 24 hours, school was cancelled again today because of the risk of flooding. The rain is suppose to continue for the rest of the day today. I guess because we live in such a rural area, some of the country roads have been closed because the water is overflowing the creeks and rivers, and the buses can't get to the kids who live there. Another day stuck in the house! Aahhh!

Family

Our family gathering over the weekend was certainly a bittersweet one. Edward's Grandpa John Sargent passed away last week at the age of 86. He lived a long, mostly healthy life that was filled with serving others. He served his country as a young man, served his community as a respected physician, and served the Lord in many ways. He and Grandma Edna served a medical mission to Mexico City shortly after his retirement about eleven years ago. This amazing family lost its patriarch. I'm so thankful that I know his family can be just as amazing in eternity as it has been here on Earth. Grandpa Sargent was buried to the left of Ed, Edward's father. On the right of Ed is baby Kathryn's grave.

It's sad to see our loved ones' sad. My heart was sad for Grandma Sargent. She has always said she wanted to be the one who goes first, so as not to be left behind. I thought she seemed to be coping pretty well.

That was the bitter part. The sweet part was seeing our family that we don't get to see very often. It was so exciting to see the Sanders, whom we haven't seen since August. It was also wonderful to see some of Edward's aunts & uncles that we haven't seen in years! One uncle we hadn't seen in 9 years!

I can't help but think that's just a glimpse of what it will be like as we see our loved ones on the other side of heaven. Our joyous reunions will be so sweet!

This is just Edward's family - all 34 of us! A family photo was taken of the entire Sargent family, but I don't have a copy of that yet. We literally took up the entire middle section of the chapel.

Mallory and Katrina get reacquainted.

Mallory, Audrey, and Aubrey

Reunited And It Feels So Good...

Oh, Drew & Sterling. Their bond is indescribable. Even though they're separated by about five states, their love and friendship picks up the second they see each other. There is no warming up to each other. It is immediate. They pick up right where they left off the last time. Cousins and buddies squabble, but not these two. They are the yen to the other's yang.

During the funeral service, I overheard Drew tell Sterling, "I wish you didn't live in Florida. Maybe your dad could get another job." I feel the same way too, Drew. ;)

It was absolutely heartbreaking when we told them it was time to leave. They got the saddest looks on their faces, then hugged and loved on each other. Drew turned to me very sad. Sterling walked to his dad. John picked him up, and he buried his face in his shoulder and sobbed. Ouch! Then as John was carrying Sterling, and I was carrying Drew, they began reaching for each other.

The two months until they see each other at Mary's wedding is like an eternity to them. We might as well explain to them it will be twenty years until they meet again. Jan Ellen and I even talked about if it was just two weeks, maybe even a month, they could stay together at one of our houses. Two months, though is a bit too long for four year olds to be away from their families. If we could all be so lucky to have a Sterling/Drew relationship!

Elizabeth's birthday party

Thank goodness Elizabeth's birthday was so close to Easter this year. It certainly made planning her party a lot easier! She wanted to have an Easter Egg hunt! EASY! The girls had a bunch of fun doing it. We have a great yard(s) for an egg hunt.

"Funny Scott" as Drew calls him, went out of his way to entertain the boys during the party. ;)

Once inside we played some games. This was one where the girls (and Drew) had a dress-up race. They looked so lovely!

These are the easy bunny cupcakes Elizabeth picked out. They are made from big & small marshmallows, colored sugar, and jelly beans. Thanks Family Fun Magazine! You always suggest such cute, easy ideas!

.Chocolate

It's official.... She's a Felker. Chocolate makes her happy.

Also, when she takes a bite of something she particularly enjoys, she goes, "Mmmmmm." Her first time doing that was after eating Krispy Kremes. Can you blame her?

District Wrestling

Finally, I've found time to post! After a very crazy couple of weeks, I'm back. I've been busy with planning a birthday party, postponing said party due to the death of Edward's Grandpa, remodeling a bathroom, having the party two days EARLIER than originally planned, traveling to Sikeston for the funeral, caring for a sick baby, feeling sick myself, etc.... I hope things can slow down a bit this week!

Last weekend was Ross' last wrestling tournament for this year. He took part in the district tournament in the St. Louis area. He got manhandled his first match. I don't remember the score. He was doing awesome his second match, and was winning all the way through. Then in the last period, he made a wrong move and the other boy took advantage and pinned him. It was a double elimination tournament so he was out. He was devastated. One of the reasons wrestling is NOT my favorite sport is seeing how crushed most little guys are when the lose. Ross' record this year was 5-0 going into this tournament, so he was so disappointed in his losses that day. He's already started his baseball season. Off to the next sport....

In between Ross' matches he shared his MP3 player with the kids to kill some time.

It's pretty fun to take a busy 10 month old to a crowded tournament for about 4 hours. Not really. Luckily, she slept for a while in between the bleacher seats.

So, it makes a mom feel very comfortable to see not one, but two boys being taken to the hospital on a stretcher for possible neck injuries during the tournament her son is wrestling in. Two boys (one in the 12 year old division & one in the 8 year old division - Ross' division) were taken out on stretchers just about 10 minutes apart from each other. I was sick at my stomach upon seeing this. Edward keeps trying to find out how these boys are doing, but he's been unsuccessful. Scary!

Happy Birthday, Elizabeth!

Yesterday was Elizabeth's 7th birthday. What a shot of life she adds to our family! I have always felt that one of her purposes in coming to Earth was to bring happiness and joy to our family. She certainly has always done that. She joined our family at such a sad time. She was born exactly two weeks after my brother, Joel, died. I feel like she was sent to us at that precise time to help our hearts heal.

She is also special in that she has a "twin cousin." Edward's twin sister and I had baby girls 9 hours apart. She gets to share her birthday with her very special cousin, Julia. Elizabeth and Julia have a bond that is different than the rest of their beloved cousins. It has been neat to see that relationship.

Elizabeth is a funny, happy girl and is always very willing to share with others. Several times a weeks she saves special treats such as candy or drawings to share with Mom or Dad or her

brothers. She tries hard to please others.

We were laughing yesterday about some of the funny things she has done over the years. One of our favorite home videos is of Elizabeth at 22 months old. I asked her, "What's your name?" With a straight face she answered, "Stephie Felker." I asked, "How old are you?" She replied, "Sive (five)."

One evening when she was 3 she was in charge of Family Home Evening. She wanted to play "School," and of course she was the teacher. As she was at the head of the class giving us our lesson, she tooted. She didn't crack a smile or even mention the slip-up, as is often done. Ross, the student, made some comment about it, and as seriously as could be she replied, "Well, sometimes things happen in America."

And of course the most famous "Elizabeth Story" - the one that has literally traveled the country is the "Aldi's Incident." Drew had just been born, so she had just turned 3. What possessed me to take two rowdy toddlers and a newborn shopping escapes my brain to this day. Nonetheless, we were in the GIGANTIC check-out line. We were the only group with children; the rest of the shoppers were senior citizens. Of course all eyes were on us as we were the most exciting thing in line. On the other side of the metal railing separating the grocery store and the bagging area was an inflatable child-size jumping pit. On the pit were plastered 894 signs that read, "DO NOT TOUCH!" We were waiting patiently in line when all of a sudden Elizabeth broke free from me and ran at full speed for the jumping pit. I didn't want to run after her and leave 1 month old Drew in his car seat at the top of the shopping cart - that always has made me nervous. So from line I was yelling every threat I could think of to get her to stop, but nothing was working. Finally, something worked and she stopped before entering the Inflatable Wonderland. All eyes were still on us. As she made her way back to me, I picked her up and whispered, "Who do you think you are making happy - Heavenly Father or Satan?" She raised her arms above her head and yelled, "SATAN!!!!" I could do nothing but laugh.

Happy birthday, Lizzy!

I'm a M. O. A. L. F.

In case you don't know what this stands for, I'm a Mother Of A Little Felon. I received my first disciplinary call from the school about my child. The said child is Ross.

I got a call from his teacher today telling me that he carved his name into his chair. I really tried not to giggle as she was explaining his infraction to me. She said she explained to him that her future students wouldn't want to sit in a chair all year that said "ROSS." I certainly don't mean to downplay the situation, but really? Have you ever sat in a chair that someone had written/carved on and could think of nothing else than that graffiti? I can come up with a better reason as to why he shouldn't have done it. She did too, but I thought that reasoning was amusing.

He was missing recess, thinking of how he could rectify the situation, as she was calling me. His idea was to do chores to earn money to buy a new chair. At 40 bucks my house is gonna shine! He also thought he could try to use sandpaper to fix it. That could be a possibility. So, his teacher made him call me himself and explain the situation. He did, and he didn't sound as upset as I thought he might be for his first trip to the principal. That's right, the principal got involved as well as the janitor. This was serious.

Later in the afternoon I went to the kids' school to attend the Valentine's party that was rescheduled for the second time due to the snow and ice we had for two weeks. Let me tell you, the carving was MUCH BIGGER than I was anticipating. Again, I had a hard time not giggling. On the back of his chair (the part that his back rests on) "ROSS" is carved in about three inch letters! Oh man!

So, the teacher was pretty serious about the situation. She kind of acted like he defaced the U.S. Constitution. Again, I'm not trying to downplay what he did - it was wrong. He said he just wasn't thinking. I believe that, because he's really a good & responsible kid at school.

Later in the day, I ran into the principal. With a smile on her face she asked if we had everything under control. I said yes and apologized. She started laughing and said she had three kids so she knows how that goes. Then she started laughing hysterically and said, "Maybe next time he won't write his own name."

*Another note to this story is how much Ross is like his father. When Edward was in the second or third grade another kid talked him into writing a cuss word (which, of course, my darling husband was clueless of the meaning) on the wall of a tunnel on the playground. His crime was discovered, and he had to bring a note home to his parents telling them he was caught writing the F-word. The funniest thing is he was spelling it wrong! He had the middle two letters mixed up.

Oh, the joys of parenthood!

Mallory's favorite pastime

Mallory LOVES helping me unload the dishwasher. If I have the door open she's climbing into it the minute I turn around.

She had her 9 month check-up today, only it was a month late - she was 10 months old yesterday. She weighs 18 pounds 8 ounces and is 29 inches long. She is right around the 50th percentile for both weight and height.

She crawls every where, especially up the stairs. That is where she heads every time we turn around, so we have to watch the sneaky little thing like a hawk. She squeals with delight when we spot her on the steps. She also coasts around the furniture and is even daring enough to take a couple of steps. She is still very wobbly, but she doesn't seem to have much fear of things - just like her big sis.

She is a little jabber-jaw and is always talking or singing. She can say light, kids, hi, bye-bye, Mama, Dada, no-no-no (while shaking her finger), and now cat (she says that one ALL the time).

The Wright Family Rock Band

Last Saturday we all went to my brother Aaron's house to play his Rock Band. Very fun! We all took turns jammin'. Next time I want to get a babysitter so I can enjoy myself a little more!
Ross, Elizabeth, Emmaline, and Mary Catherine rocked out to Weezer's "Say It Ain't So."

Even Grammy & Grandad gave it a shot. Be sure to watch my dad singing his guts out to Bon Jovi's "Dead or Alive."

Ross plays a little riff.

Aaron, Tommie, Andrea, and Edward earned almost 4 stars for their rendition of "Dead or Alive."

A new addition to our family

Do I have your attention? No, it's not THAT kind of addition - we have a new kitten! The kids have been begging for a pet for a while, so here we go! I found this sweet little 4 month old kitten for free on Craigslist.com. She is up to date on all of her shots (which she might need at our place), she was free, and she was in the town next to ours. We thought we'd give it a try. Edward picked her up from the Smokey Smokerton family on Friday night and surprised the kids with her. He said the guy met him at the door without a shirt with tattoos all over and was missing a few fingers (I really hope that's not why they're getting rid of the cat).

She's still a baby at four months old, but she's not too tiny that I would fear for her survival around here. As some of you may know, we are 0-2 in the cat department here. Our two previous kitty's didn't make it. We thought we'd take a break from cats for a while. Three years later we're ready to give it another shot.

The kids knew we were possibly getting her (we told them we'd pick her up the next day) so we spent the day coming up with names. The final four names were Lucy, Lola, Maxine, and Ruby. I e-mailed Edward at work and asked him to be the tie-breaking vote. He e-mailed back and said he wanted to name her Kate since he didn't get to pick Mallory's name. Oh, our naming tastes vary so drastically. Anyway, the kids pretty much started calling her Shadow the minute they saw her (excuse me, that wasn't on the list!), so it has stuck. This is little Shadow:
I think she is such a pretty black kitty! Except for a tiny bit of white on her tummy, she is completely black.

The kids were SO excited! We surprised them a day early.

Drew is hilarious with her. He's never really been around animals so he's a bit skittish. Here Edward picked her up when Drew said he'd like to try to hold her. As soon as Edward turned around to put her on his lap, he was out of there. He's still pretty jumpy if she comes his way, but he has a smile on his face the whole time.

Here he finally got up enough nerve to let Shadow sit on his lap. It only lasted for a second.

Mallory is so cute with Shadow. She giggles every time she sees her and really wants to get her hands on her. She pets her as gently as a 10 month old can. She is very curious about her toys, too.

Still snowed in!

Ugh! Out of the last fourteen days, the kids have only been to school for TWO of those days. Yes, TWO! We keep getting sleet/snow/freezing rain, and the temperature has been so cold nothing is really melting. The kids, of course, are loving life. I, of course, enjoy the snow days until about 9:30 a.m. After that time I start going STIR CRAZY until Edward comes home in the evenings. It's not like I really can (or even want to) take all four kiddos out and find something to do for several reasons. 1. The roads have been TERRIBLE. Here in Missouri, we kind of shut down when we get these kind of storms. We're just not equipped to deal with them. 2. A lot of places of business have also been closed because employees can't make it in to work. The kids' practices and games have all been cancelled. That really leaves us twiddling our thumbs because that fills SO much of our time.

Church was even cancelled today. We got up and started getting ready but then got a phone call to inform us of the cancellation. My first thought was, "NO! Another day of being cooped up!" It was a pretty good day though because at least Edward was here all day. We all bundled up and headed outside this morning for a little family snowman building/snowball war.

I just checked and so far we're still on for school tomorrow. Oh please, don't snow/ice any more tonight! I don't think I can make it another day! I also don't want the kids to still be in school until the 4th of July. On second thought....

Good old snow days

So, including weekends, our kids will have been out of school for 10 days when they go back on Tuesday. Man, that's like Christmas break all over! School was cancelled last Monday because of the impending ice storm. We woke up to brown, dead grass. No snow. No ice. I thought, "This thing had better come to fruition." It did. After the storm passed, we ended up with about 4 inches of ice pellets. Let me tell you, that makes for some AWESOME sledding! The first day, Edward came home early to play in the snow/ice with the kids. Oops. I mean, he closed his office early because the weather was so bad. Yep. That's the story. They next day he was thoughtful enough to come home early to stay in with Mallory and cook supper so I could go out and play. Fun! Good times, good times. So by Friday of this week, I was ready for the kids to go back. They still get tomorrow off because of President's Day. Yippee. Oh well. - one more day to sleep in! To all of you Southern beach bums - you're really missing out!

Happy Easter, Drew

I think this is the CUTEST little Easter outfit! Don't all of you mommy's agree? The daddy's - probably not.

I bought this adorable outfit for Drew two years ago when he was just 2 years old. Edward immediately began making fun of it (out of Drew's earshot) when I showed him. He's pretty good at being supportive of what I dress the kids in, but he really thought this one was too girly. I stood my ground because Drew was still a baby at the time.

Fast forward to Easter morning when I pulled this outfit out for Drew to wear to church after we assessed what the Easter Bunny delivered to us. As baby Drew was playing with his Easter basket I told him it was time to get dressed. He softly told me, "No. That's for girls." I said, "WHAT?" He said again, "That's for girls." Edward was laughing hysterically! I asked him, "Have you been telling him those are girl clothes?" As he laughed more he said, "NOOOO! He came to that conclusion all on his own!" We were rolling that this little bitty boy already had a sense of masculinity when it comes to fashion. As I pressed the issue a bit more to Drew he began to cry about wearing it. Edward was all too ready to help him find something else to wear.

Last year I pulled the outfit out again (it's a size 4T) to see if he would wear it. He pretty much had the same reaction. Just tonight I pulled it out for what would be my final shot and was turned down again. I actually had to hide it from Drew because he was trying to rip it with his bare hands and teeth. Wow. I guess he really hates it.

So, I'm taking my first stab at selling something on ebay (Item number: 200201092089). Edward told me to pass along the story of the first time I tried to get Drew to wear it, but I decided not to include it. Funny as it is, I don't know how many bids I would get after explaining my baby boy was in tears because of how girly the outfit was.

I guess if the outfit doesn't sell because it's too girly, I could always pass it on to Mallory!