Fatigue

It's been a tumultuous 2 weeks! The wreck, taking my exit exam for my masters, taking a mid-term, moving 3 days later all while working full-time and caring for Jim-Jim...I don't know how I made it through. An incredibly supportive husband is the ONLY way I was able to deal with everything! Friday finally arrived signaling that I can finally check out, and checking out is EXACTLY what I did!

Jim and I went to pick up dinner after work on the way to pick up Jim-Jim from daycare. As we were sitting across from each other in the booth waiting for our dinner to arrive, we began messing around. Never leave two nutty people alone in a booth to wait. Crazy things start happening! I yawned, and Jim stuck his finger in my mouth to ruin my yawn. To repay the favor, I stuck my finger in his mouth to ruin one of his yawns. Not to be bested, Jim pretended that he didn't care. I needed to make my "yawn ruin" better than Jim's "yawn ruin", so I told him, "I didn't wipe the last time I peed." Wait, WHAT?! That didn't come out the same way it sounded in my head! What was supposed to come out was, "I didn't wash my hands the last time I peed." Wouldn't that make me sticking my finger in his mouth doubly awful than him sticking his finger in my mouth? I thought so! Telling him I didn't wipe the last time I peed didn't have the intended effect. It just made him not want to sit anywhere I've sat!

My favorite part of the week was taking a walk with Bailey and my boys once we got home from work on Friday. Being with them makes everything right and all of the struggles meaningful!

Rambunctious

The Boy turned 4 months old on the 12th of October, and already seems to be a nut! He's starting to become more curious about the world around him, and it's amazing to see the ways in which he chooses to interact with it!

Exhibit A
Kara and I were getting ready for work one morning this week. Jim-Jim was supposed to be asleep in his crib after his first feeding of the day. While in our bedroom, we hear a large THUD, THUD, THUD. Concerned, we rushed into his room to find this:

The stinker had rolled onto his back, placed his feet through the slats in the crib, and was banging his heels against the wall. WHAT IN THE WORLD?!? Where did this come from?

Exhibit B
We have a pretty unique changing table. K and I shopped for quite a while looking for one that we really liked. We finally came across a corner changing table; this table allows Jim-Jim's feet to face us, helping changes go much more smoothly. Anyway, hung over the changing table are a couple of fabric shoe racks, the type that can be hung from the back of a closet door to provide extra storage. These allow for quick access to things like Tylenol, thermometers, and stuffed animals.

Jimbo has begun to take notice of these hanging racks, and has started reaching for them and playing with them while being changed. It's like he just has to check them out. This week, he grabbed one with his hand, and then raised his feet to it, as if to push it out a bit for further inspection.


This boy is going to be into everything very quickly. I think we may need to babyproof sooner rather than later. Our prayer is that we will be able to channel this natural energy and dexterity into something constructive!!

Bluetooth

Yes, folks. The title of this post is "Bluetooth", not "Blues Clues". As I am writing this post, the melody of "Rock A By, Baby" is reverberating in my head, and I know the day is impending when I will be talking about a cartoon animal. For today, it's Bluetooth.

We were running errands in our rental car, and I caught a glimpse of the stereo system and noticed we have Bluetooth. Incidentally, we've been driving the car since our wreck 2 weeks ago, and I am just now noticing the Bluetooth buttons.

Me: "Wow, Jim! We have Bluetooth!"

Jim: "Go ahead. Push one."

What Jim intended for me to push...

What I pushed...

His point in asking me to push one of the Bluetooth buttons was to show me that the buttons aren't linked to anything. Not surprisingly, nothing happened when I pressed "1", either. After we finished staring at each other like the other person was crazy, we cracked up laughing! We've been married a little over a year, and we still have a little work to do on the whole communication thing!

Like Father, Like Son

I have a feeling there will be many posts with that title! Big Jim and little Jim both love to ride in the car. Windows down, breeze blowing, radio blaring, engine revving...nothing else makes them happier!

Vertical Stripes, Please!

Chunky, soooo big, like a six-month-old, hasn't missed a meal, thunder thighs. Those are just a few of the words I've heard that are used to describe me. If the joy of eating is hereditary, then it was definitely inherited! I think people's judgments aren't fair, though. How is a little boy supposed to look his long, lean self if little boy onesies are only made with horizontal stripes. Haven't they heard that vertical stripes are more flattering?! The clothes make the mann, so I'll take some vertical stripes, please!

Jim-Jim

MY POOR BABY!

You may not know this, but my Jeep is one of my prized possessions. My truck and I have been through a lot together, and it's pretty high on my "love scale". Even so, yesterday's wreck was an amazing display of God's protection over us. The fact that a) Jim-Jim wasn't with us, b) nobody was hurt, and c) we were able to keep from hitting anyone else proves to me that God was watching over us!

Poor Justine. She did a wonderful job protecting us yesterday. I hope and pray that she comes out of this OK. She's been so good to me!


Update: Justine wasn't totalled! She's in the shop now, and we should get her back in about ten days or so. In the meantime, I've been given a behemoth Jeep Commander. I can't wait to get my girl home!

Rush Hour

I'm not talking about the movie, I'm talking about our lives. Jim and I were driving home from work during rush hour when a delivery truck to the left of us didn't see the cars in front of him slam on their brakes. The driver finally realized what was going on, and his course of action was to swerve into our lane. Unfortunately, we both didn't fit in the lane at the same time. He hit us on the driver's side and nearly spun us around.

Thanks to Jim's quick thinking and manuvering, he was able to pull us out of it. Let me tell you, there were about 5 moments after the truck hit us that I thought we were certainly going to flip over or end up in another lane that was full of cars! If any decision was made differently, this story would NOT have the same ending. If Jim had turned the wheel left instead of right, we undoubtedly would have flipped and taken a bunch of cars down with us. God had his angels watching over us and the other drivers on the road! Jim and I were talking about it after the adrenaline had finally simmered down, and we decided that the truck hitting us was probably the best thing that could have happened. At 60 mph, if the truck had slammed into the cars in front of him that had stopped, it would have caused a multiple car pile-up and many more serious injuries. Minus a little soreness, we're fine. When thinking about it that way, we don't mind taking one for the team!

The car was "drivable", and we made it home in time to get our other car and go pick up Jim-Jim from daycare. We are so thankful Jim-Jim wasn't with us when it happened as the truck hit his side of the vehicle. You no longer need to read the blog to keep up with the Manns, just watch the 5 o'clock news!