Return of the Mac...

Isn't that a song? Or something similar?

Anyway, the computer is back, this time with a new logic board. Fabulous! It's nice to be connected again.

The past week has been a good one for the Pruetz family, albeit a little boring (boring by our standards may not be boring by yours, by the way).

Last week, Todd worked like a mad man all week long on a number of different projects. Most nights he wasn't home until 7:30 or 8:00, long after beddy-bye time for the girls. He would get a few moments with Devin, but the Doodlebug goes to bed at 8:00, so the two didn't have a whole lot of time together.

I guess I never realized how much I miss Todd when he's not around. Of course, it was hard feeding all three kids, getting them all bathed and jammied (yes, it's a verb in our house) and into bed all by myself, only to have to go and tackle cleaning the kitchen afterwards.

But really, that stuff didn't bother me as much as just not having Todd around bothered me. I missed him. I missed watching TV with him at night, or having a glass of wine with him on the front porch. It was sad, but I did get a good appreciation for not just Todd, but for our marriage as well.

Friday, though, Todd took a half day off. He took Devin to his 3:30 gymnastics class and after that, the two of them went on their Father-Son campout at the San Antonio Zoo!

Our zoo is so cool (as you've heard from previous posts) and they have so many neato programs. This particular one is called the "Family Campout." It's designed for families with kiddos 3 years - 5 years (hence the absence of the twins and me) and is a one-night adventure that includes roasting hot dogs over a fire, up-close animal experiences, a nighttime tour of the zoo, s'mores, a morning tour of the zoo (apparently, this is when the animals are at their friskiest!) and a breakfast. The two were home by 9:00 on Saturday morning, regaling me with tales of their fabulous trip.

Getting to pet an armadillo, a snake, an owl and a giant snail (which creeped Devin out and he dropped it -- he's his mommy's son)

A panther that put on quite a show by pouncing and stretching for the crowd

A rarely seen grizzly bear

A new friend named Aiden

And lots, lots more...

Here are a few pictures from the camping trip of all camping trips


Petting the Armadillo


I love owls and was very disappointed to have missed this one!


Dinnertime!

Moving On...

The rest of the Pruetz family is doing very well. The girls are masters at walking now and toddle around the house like old pros. It's easily the cutest thing I've ever seen. I just love that they are upright now.

It's always been that Gracie was the dominant personality, while Faith was a little more reserved and quiet. Gracie would topple Faith in an effort to get what she wanted, while Faith was pretty content sitting in my lap, watching the action.

Well I don't know what happened, but it seems that those personalities have been switched.

Now I know what you're thinking, but no, I have not mixed the two up. How do I know? Because I am the mom, that's how. The girls look different to me. Also, Faith has always been smaller than Grace and has a freckle on her left leg that Grace doesn't have.

So there.

Anyway, it seems that Faith will no longer stand for being the "little, quiet one." She's decided that she will not be stereotyped and is doing everything in her power to make sure everyone knows that she's the boss.

She talks ("What's that?" and "Kitty cat!" are her favorite sayings), she screetches (usually during meals) and she bites.

The latter of those three personality traits is something that comes unprompted and seemingly randomly. She'll just see Grace (who is the sole recipient of Faith's oral imprint) from across the room, walk over to her and CHOMP! Two weeks ago, she drew blood on Gracie's left arm. Just as that bruise was going away, she took a chunck out of Gracie's right cheek. We are now calling Faith, "Hannibal Lector."

And poor Gracie. She's become so quiet and retiring. She's now my lap baby who just follows me around, hoping to be picked up and cuddled. I have to admit that I love the snugglieness that is coming with this new personality. Since she wasn't a cuddler for the first 15 months of her life, I feel like I missed out on some good Mommy-Gracie bonding time. I'm making it up now, though. :)

Peace from the Pruetz Pound. More to come...

Out of Commission

Hi Folks...

Both of my computers have been usurped for various reasons, meaning that I am without the ability to communicate digitally (ie - email, blog, iChat, IM, etc).

So if you're looking for an update from me or wondering why I don't answer my emails, now you know! I'm hoping for a return of at least one machine later this week.

I'm alive, I'm mostly well (I only consider myself, "Well," if I'm sitting on a beach with a trashy novel in one hand and a pina colada in the other) and I'll be back as soon as I can!

Peace,
Me

The Bathroom

Yes -- the story continues. I mean, seriously... When did I start this whole process? Mid-August. And is it done yet? Of course not.

On Tuesday, my contractor finally showed up to start the tiling. Of course, since there was carpeting in the bath, we had to put down cement board first. That was laid on Tuesday and had to set over night.

Wednesday arrived and the tiling began. It went pretty well until the very end, when we were short three tiles. Three. Seriously.

Of course, I can't just buy normal tile. I had to buy the small, mosaic octogonal tiles that often have to be special ordered. Luckily, Home Depot had them in stock, but I was totally prepared to wait six weeks for my three final tiles to come in.

So the remaining tiles were set today and now the guys are up there grouting. The grout will set over night and, hopefully tomorrow will bring my baseboards and my toilet back.

What a luxury -- a working toilet in your master bathroom. SHEESH.

We haven't even begun the painting the master bedroom and suddenly the current paint job doesn't look too bad. I can't imagine doing any more home improvement. I'd rather put an ice pick in my ear.

Moving on...

Last week I took the Doodlebug to have his stiches taken out. I knew it was not going to go well, but I was totally unprepared for what transpired.

I took the girls to the drop-off childcare place near our home (this place is a lifesaver!) so I could focus my attention on Devin.

We got into the room and talked about what was going to happen and how it was going to be done. He was a little anxious about it and I warned the nurse. She said, "Oh -- they're all like that," and didn't heed my advice to sedate him. :)

So Dr. T. came in and asked to see Dev's hand. No can do. He wouldn't even show it to her.

We finally got his arm stretched out and the screaming commenced. Dr. T. had to go get her nurse so that the nurse, along with me, could restrain my 40-lb. child.

And so it began, as I held his right arm down by his side and wrapped my legs around him. The nurse held D's left hand still while Cheryl pulled the stiches.

And what did Devin do? He screamed. And screamed. And screamed. And screamed.

And screamed.

We heard a lot of good phrases come from my kid's mouth:

"Get me out of here!" "Let go of me!" "Stop it right now!"

It just about broke my heart and I think I would have cried if I hadn't been laughing so hard. I mean, the whole thing was just so ridiculous.

Afterwards, we hit Krispy Kreme for a Get Well doughnut. That perked the kiddo up pretty easily.

And Finally...

This weekend is Todd and my 6th anniversary. It's hard to believe that it's been six years since we married in Dallas. It's been a great six years and we are looking forward to going out on a date alone on Saturday night. Oh the bliss.

And, for no good reason other than the fact that my kids (and dog) are adorable, here are some picture. Enjoy!

First day of Pre-K, September 4, 2007.


So much for clean laundry. That's Gracie in the basket and Faith trying to make her way in.


Zoe. I love that dog and couldn't resist a photo.

A Trip to Sea World

The great thing about living in a touristy town like San Antonio is that there is never a lack of things to do. And, if you wait until tourist season is over, places like the Riverwalk, Sea World, Fiesta Texas and the Alamo can be pretty fun when you don't have to dodge old men in sandals and black knee socks.

With that in mind, this weekend was our family trip to Sea World. We've been once before, when Devin was just about two years old. While the kid can remember seeing bee outside the doors of our church when he was 18 months old, he has zero recollection of petting a dolphin or coming face-to-face with a shark six months later. Go figure.

So we got to the park and headed straight to the dolphins exhibit. Unfortunately, they did not have the feeding booth open (where you can purchase four small fish for the bargin price of $5.00), so the dolphins were a little less likely to come right up to you and let you pet them (they're in a big, open-topped tank, obviously). But they did come up close and Devin was amazed.

Next we went to the coral reef exhibit and what we missed at the dolphin exhibit was made up here. We walked into the big, theatre-style room with a huge coral reef tank that must have measured 25 feet tall by 35 feet wide. Hundreds of people were crowded in there and Dev and I found a good viewing spot pretty quickly. My fabulous husband stood at the back with the girls.

We walked in just in time to see a diver jump into the tank and while the woman in the theatre was explaining what was going on, the diver started to talk! How cool! She had a microphone in her scuba equipment and could hear everything we were saying, despite the 11-inch-thick glass. Ahh, modern technology.

They did a little bit of background on the fish and then began feeding. You should have seen them all swarm! It was amazing!

We decided to leave before the 200 people in the room with us all headed for the door at the same time. We went into the next room, which was dimly lit and completely taken up by another huge tank filled with sharks of all shapes and sizes. We stood there for a long time and watched as they would come right up to the glass, teeth bared and looking mean. It freaked me out and I kept saying, "Please don't eat my children..."

We grabbed a bite to eat and right around that time, Devin spotted the ride, "Journey to Atlantis." It's one of those big water rides that takes you up a big hill, turns you around and drops you, getting you and everyone standing nearby soaking wet.

I was fully expecting Devin to say, "I'm never doing that!" which is his patented saying when he is adamant about not doing something.

But, instead, he said, "Can we ride that, Mom?"

I've never been so proud and I know my mom, the ultimate daredevil, was smiling down. I quickly grabbed the Doodlebug's hand and marched over to the "You have to be this tall to ride Journey to Atlantis" sign. I stuck his little head under there and, wouldn't you know it, he missed the height requirement by about a half-an-inch. Seriously. I tried to reason with the girl standing there, but she wouldn't allow it.

I see a trip to Sea World again in our future, just for the sake of riding that ride. Devin was so disappointed.

To cure his disappointment, we ran into a gift shop and grabbed a small, stuffed Shamu for Dev. He promptly named it "Fluffy." Whatever you say...

Then we went to see the newest Shamu show, "Believe."

I was really expecting some chee-zee show with some sort of stupid plot, but I was mercifully wrong.

This show was amazing. They first started with a salute to the military and invited all US military as well as military personnel of the United States' allies to stand while the rest of the audience gave an ovation.

After that, the music began (I may buy the soundtrack -- it was that good) and out of the water came Shamu. And Shamu II. And Shamu III. I've never seen a killer whale show that included three whales at once. It was fabulous and the whole thing just brought tears to my eyes -- it was simply incredible and beautiful.

The best part of the show, though, was Faith. I was holding her and Todd had Grace. Grace was her usual fiesty, squirming self. But Faith was mesmerized. Every time Shamu came out of the water, she would point and squeal. Then she would patiently wait for the big creature to emerge again. She even caught on that Devin's toy looked like the show she was watching and would point and squeal at it, too. It was fantastic to watch her enjoy that show so much.

We were pretty tired by this point, but we trudged on to see the penguins and the sea lions. We finally said, "We're outta here!" and took a very begruding Devin home.

All-in-all it was a fantastic day and we are so looking forward to returning.

Moving On...

All week long, now, Faith has been practicing her walking skills. Every day she walks a little more and a little more, getting more comfortable with going distances, letting go and even changing direction.

Well, Grace would hear nothing of it. Last night, as all five of us were playing upstairs and cheering Faitharoo on, Gracie just popped up and started walking. Before last night, she'd only taken one unaided step. Suddenly, though, she's matching Faith step-for-step, despite being a week behind in practice.

So now, I have two walkers whereas only two weeks ago, I had two crawlers. Holy cow it happened fast.

More news to come, as it happens or as I have time. :)

Ciao...

What I Heard From Upstairs A Few Minutes Ago...

Babble, babble, talk, laugh, cry, talk, babble, laugh...

Thud.

Silence.

Screams.

Grace has decided that when she's done with her nap, she will remove herself from her crib rather than wait for me to do so.

No injuries, luckily.

Not To Be Outdone...

Grace took her first step yesterday. It was only one step, but I don't think she can stand the idea of her sister doing anything that she's not doing, too.

Life as we know it is over.

And, just for a laugh, here is an image I got from my high school friend, Karen. As a devout Catholic, I found this particularly hysterical.

How Catholics Know When They Are Driving Too Fast

When Is This Rollercoaster Going To Stop?

Ugh! Our lives have been so crazy lately! I don't know where the lazy, dog days of summer went, but suddenly we are in the throes of a very busy fall.

Devin started Pre-K at a local church and preschool last Tuesday, the 4th. It was a proud day for mommy as he walked in, put his bucket (instead of backpack) and lunchbox down, found his name at the table and started working on his morning worksheet. I didn't cry, although I did get a little teary-eyed when I was taking photos of him looking so cute in his denim shorts and new polo shirt. He's just so grown up.

We've also had a few crazy weekends lately, with family in town, birthday parties, etc. It's like I just can't seem to catch up!

And, of course, life has not been without excitement.

This past Sunday, I went to a bridal shower and was enjoying some girl time. My stupid cell phone won't hold a change, but I didn't think much of it, as I wasn't going to be gone more than a couple of hours, I was close to home and Todd had the number of the house where the shower was being held.

Big mistake.

I got home around 4:30 and as I got out of my car, I saw my neighbor coming across his lawn and mine, toward me. Now Billy is the life of the party, always laughing and telling jokes, so when I saw his face without a smile or silly comment, I knew something was wrong.

"Don't panic. Everything is fine. Lisa (his wife) and Elena (our neighbor) are inside with the girls. Devin cut his finger on a knife and Todd took him to the Emergency Room. I saw them before they left and Devin was doing fine. He got into the car himself and had even stopped crying. Lisa and Elena are happy to stay with the babies if you want to go to the hospital."

Okay. Okay. I can handle this. D is in good hands, Todd is with him and the babies are happy. Okay. What do I need to do?

Put the milk that I purchased on the way home in the fridge.

So I went inside, met Lisa and Elena and asked them if they'd mind staying while I went to meet my husband and son. They were totally supportive and encouraged me to please go and not worry about the babies.

So I did.

I was at the ER in record time and found Devin and Todd immediately. There was my poor son, sitting on the exam table, his left hand wrapped in a towel. I asked if I could see the wound and Devin bravely showed it to me. OUCH! It was a pretty deep cut!

As we were waiting for the doctor to come in, I got the full story.

Todd was working on our bathroom and was on a ladder. His Leatherman pocket knife was out and Devin was reaching for it. Todd told Devin not to pick it up, but the munchkin did not listen and grabbed it anyway. He had a slice in his thumb before Todd could get down the ladder.

The doctor came in, decided on stiches and we discussed how to make the Doodle comfortable during the little "procedure."

First was Tylenol for Codeine for the pain (which, by the way, had the opposite effect on my kid), then a topical anesthesia. After that was a local anesthesia via a shot (Devin was not happy about this, but luckily they had him wrapped up in a blanket like a burrito, so he couldn't swat them away). Then the stiches. The local anesthesia worked well, because he never felt a thing. While the doctor worked on D's left hand, Todd stood on the right side of the room and did tricks with the latex gloves. He had Devin (and the nurses, in fact) in stiches (pardon the pun!) and kept his mind off of procedure at hand (pardon that pun, too!).

After the procedure, we were out of there pretty quickly and D's done very well ever since. We've kept his hand wrapped in an Ace bandage to keep him from using it too much, but it's barely slowed him down. We'll have to skip Gymnastics class this week, but he'll be able to return next week.

The girls are doing well, also. Thank you to all of you who posted comments or sent me emails on how to boost their calories and get them to gain weight faster. We've adopted a number of your suggestions and they seem to be very happy with their new, more fattening diet. Who wouldn't be?

A few weeks ago (actually, it was August 6!), Faith took her first steps. It was those tentative, coaxed steps that stopped as soon as they started. She walked, but she wasn't interested in doing so. Over the next month, she did it a few more times, but again, it was only when I sat across the room with the remote control in my hand, begging her to come toward me.

This past Thursday, though, as I was sitting in the living room, Faith popped up onto her feet by herself (she didn't even pull up on an object!) and walked over to me. I was so surprised, but I'm not sure she knew was she was doing. I think instinct had taken over her conscious, because she wouldn't do it again. It was like she didn't even know she'd done it.

Until yesterday.

Last night, around 5:00, the three kids and I were playing in the front room, and Faith did it again: poppped up by herself, and walked to me. This time, though, she laughed and smiled, so I know she knew was she was going.

And that was it. She started walking everywhere: From the living room to the dining room, through the kitchen and breakfast room and into the family room. Rest. Then off to the entry hall and back into the living room.

Houston, we have a walker

Gracie, not to be outdone, has now started to spend more time standing on her own. I doubt it will be long before she's walking as well.

So there you have it -- the latest in the life and times of the Pruetz family. Stiches, first steps and general craziness. It's just another day in paradise. :)

Calling All Moms of Preemies

Today was Faith and Grace's 15-month check up. I went in knowing exactly what would become sticking points -- their ears and their weight. And I wasn't disappointed.

Today, their ears seemed to be fine, but Dr. T could already see some fluid build up in Grace's right ear, so we're on "alert" for an ear infection. And since Faith is just one big ear infection after another, we're always on alert for her. I'm certain tubes will happen sometime in the not-too-distant future.

The girls' naked weights were taken and Faith came in at 17 lbs, 14 oz while Grace is at 18 lbs, 8 lbs, 8 oz. I was astonished to see how little both of them had gained in recent months. I knew Faith wasn't gaining, but Grace isn't exactly packing on the pounds either.

I asked Dr. T about them and she agreed that they really aren't where they should be. To give you a reference, a friend of mine has a little boy who weighs 15 pounds and he's only four-and-a-half months old. My best friend's son is six months younger than the twins and weighs nearly 21 pounds. YOWZA.

Truthfully, my heart feels as though they will be just fine. I don't really think that there's anything wrong with them. But there's always that element of doubt that sticks in the back of your mind, making you doubt everything you know to be true. This time is no different -- I definitely have doubts.

Dr. T isn't in panic mode, either, which helped me a lot. She told me that they may just be small kids. She very politely pointed out that Todd and I are not exactly tall (Todd's a monster at 5' 10" compared to me at 5' 2") and that the twins being preemies may just be making their small nature all the smaller.

To be on the safe side, we're going to do some blood work to check for red and white cell counts and thyroid activity and see a Gastrointerologist to make sure there isn't some sort of digestion issue going on.

I'm not looking forward to either one of these, but I am looking forward to confirming that my girls are fine and just petite.

So here are my questions for you moms-of-preemies, moms-of-small kids and anyone else who just has something to add: Have you been through this with your kids? What was the outcome? Can you recommend any foods that can help my little ones "beef up" a little? We eat a lot of cheese and avocados around here, but I'll take all kinds of suggestions.

Leave a comment or zip me an email -- I'll take all the advice and reassurance I can get and truly appreciate anything you can add.

Susan Nino...This One's for YOU.

Susan sent me an email the other night, letting me know that she was impatiently awaiting my newest post. Okay, so it's been awhile. Here goes...

We've been enjoying the end of summer before gearing up for Devin's Pre-K this coming year. He's been scheduled all along to go to ParkHills Church for Pre-K, but we got a call yesterday that Crown of Life has an opening. We've decided to go to Crown of Life, as it is only a matter of blocks from our house and we can walk there. Devin is very excited, as he went to Crown of Life for Summer Camp and just loved it.

We're also finishing up on our bathroom renovations. We've gotten the room painted -- this time in a color that is not remniscent of a canary on crack -- and got the mirror framed. Todd painted all of the hardware a matte black and reinstalled it on our white cabinets. It looks beautiful.

Our contractor fell a little behind and wasn't able to start the tiling until today. True to his word, though, he rang the bell at 8:30 and immediately started ripping up some pretty awful looking carpet and (old linoleum in the water closet).

But he didn't get far. It turns out that our home builder did not put any kind of plywood down underneath the carpet. The carpet pad was nailed directly to the decking of the second floor! A big no-no in home building, from what I understand.

So that was going to add a few days and dollars to our project.

They went on to work on the water closet and pulled up the toilet and then the linoleum.

Surprise, surprise! Apparently, the toilet was never properly installed (or was re-installed after some repair prior to our buying the home) and a wax ring was never put down, allowing the toilet to leak every time it was flushed. We've lived here for over five years and never touched that toilet, so you can imagine how long this was going on.

The wood underneath and around the toilet was completely rotted. When the contractor stepped on it, is actually buckled under his weight. How that heavy toilet hasn't fallen through our ceiling is a huge mystery and an absolute miracle.

So all progress has stopped on the bathroom. I have only a bare, particle board floor and no toilet. The toilet is sitting in my bedroom next to Todd's side of the bed. And nothing can happen until the claims adjuster comes, looks at the damage and decides what we need to do.

Fabulous.

I just keep thinking to myself, "We were so close!" All I needed was the floor to complete my bathroom. I was *this close*. UGH!!!

The rotten wood beneath where my toilet used to sit


Where my toilet now sits. This is what greets you as you walk into our master bedroom.


My poor bathroom

In Other News

Last weekend we had a great time with our good friends, the Ahmanns. Jeff and Todd have been friends since college and Jeff's wife, Alicia, and I have become good friends. They have a son, JamesThomas, who is only months older than Devin, and a two-year-old boy named Tate who is so cute I could just take him home with me.

The Ahmanns live in Austin and we decided that we needed to get together, since it had been since JamesThomas and Devin were only a year old that we last saw them.

We decided to meet halfway in between our respective cities, in the town of San Marcos. San Marcos is a college town and happens to be where Todd and Jeff went to school.

We met up at Aquarena Center. This is the place where both Jeff and Todd worked in college. At that time it was called Aquarena Springs and, along with the glass-bottom boat rides and the gift shop, they had an underwater show where visitors actually got into a submarine and watched mermaids and mermen swim around (this was Jeff's job!) with Ralph the Swimming Pig. There were gondola rides, nature walks, a hotel and even a bird show in which a handsome young man trained and showed off McCaw parrots to the delight of visitors (that was Todd's job!). In its hey-day, this was quite the place to visit!

Alas, with Sea World and Schillterbahn and Six Flags Fiesta Texas coming into the market, Aquarena Springs just couldn't compete and had to get rid of some of its locally famous shows. It's now more of a salute to the natural beauty of the Texas Hill Country and still features the glass-bottom boat rides, a boardwalk over the wetlands and an aquarium.

The boys just loved running around from exhibit to exhibit and the boat ride was a hit until Faith decided to scream so loudly that the tour guide had to actually cut her speech short. I know that the rest of the folks on the boat with us breathed a collective sigh of relief when we made it back to the dock.

After Aquarena, we decided to visit Jeff and Todd's old haunt, Valentino's Pizza. Again, the boys had a blast together and Todd and I enjoyed catching up with Jeff and Alicia as best we could in between trips to the potty, diaper changes, and two boys who did not want to sit still.

It was a great day and, as always, we had a fantastic time with the Ahmanns. Here are a few pictures from our day.


Devin fell asleep on the way to San Marcos. This looks so uncomfortable!


Devin and JamesThomas hit it off!


Me, JamesThomas and Devin


Jeff and Alicia

So that's the exciting news in our house. I'll post more as the saga of the bathroom remodel continues. Until then, here are some photos of my adorable children. :)


Tuckered out on the couch with Daddy


Pasta night at the Pruetz house! Faith loves pasta!


Grace is not nearly as impressed


The girls love to play in the dog's bed. I've just given up and let them do it. I'm a fabulous mommy. :)

Maternal Instincts

In college, I majored in Public Affairs and Corporate Communications (which is really just Public Relations, but leave it to a PR student to switch the name around to make it sound much fancier than it really is). I doubled minored in both Sociology and Political Science. Funny...I didn't go into any of those three fields.

In Sociology, though, one of the first things they teach is you is that gender is a learned behavior and that boys and girls are essentially the same. We assign their genders to them by giving trucks and cars to boys and baby dolls and play kitchens to girls.

I never bought into this, though, and as my Sociology minor was proving to be as useless as a wind sock in the desert, I just shrugged it off and didn't pay much attention to it.

But apparently, it stuck with me, because that particular teaching comes back to me every time I see one of my kids -- especially Devin -- doing something very typical of their gender.

I've tried not to buy into it and have done things specifically to counteract any ill-effects I may be inadvertently putting on my kids. We bought Devin a play kitchen for his second Christmas. I've made sure that the twins have blocks and trucks as well as teddy bears and dresses.

I feel like I've done a good job of treating all of my kids the same way. I hold them to the same standards like, "Yes ma'am" and "No sir" and "Please" and "Thank you." I kiss their boo-boos, rock them when they are upset and play silly games with them.

From the beginning, Devin was all boy. He learned to say, "Vroom," without ever being taught and was naturally more rambunctious than his female counterparts. He wasn't much of a cuddler, but was instead more interested in running around and being loud. I'm telling you -- all boy.

The girls are a little more sensitive and a little more attentive to others' needs.

You might even say they have motherly instincts. Instincts that my boy never exhibited, despite being brought up in nearly identical situations.

Earlier this week, Grace wasn't feeling well. Faith was already feeling better with her newest round of antibiotics, so she was playing very quietly on the floor. Grace was crying, so I picked her up and sat down in a chair with her. The chair wasn't a rocking chair, so I perched my rear end on the edge of the cushion and started to rock back and forth, back and forth, back and forth with Gracie, to calm her down.

Faith watched me for awhile, and I quietly smiled at her and whispered that I love her. I didn't want her to feel left out.

About that time, Faith crawled across the room to the green, stuffed Hippo lying on the floor. She picked the toy up, sat up straight, wrapped her arms around the animal and slowly began to rock, rock, rock, back and forth. She was rocking her baby.

I thought it was so cute and even told Todd about it last night. But I figured it was an isolated incident.

This morning, though, Faith was throwing her usual morning fit as Gracie moved from one toy to another. I picked Faith up and rocked her back and forth the way I had done with Gracie a few days earlier.

Without even looking at me, Gracie crawled to the stuffed elephant on the floor, picked it up and rocked it back and forth in her arms.

So much for the good money that went into that Sociology minor, huh?

Poopapalooza -- The Sequel

It happened again. This time I heard the babies "talking" in their room. I walked in to get them up, dressed and ready for breakfast. There was Faith, sitting quietly in her crib, while Grace (who now has a fever) was sleeping in hers.

Then I noticed that Faith's bottom was bare.

Then I noticed the poop everywhere.

Before cleaning up, I ran into the master bedroom to change into one of Todd's old t-shirts so as not to get poop all over the white top I was wearning.

So then, it began again -- run the bath, get Faith cleaned up (around now, Grace is awake and is "asking" to be picked up from her crib), pull up all the bedding and blankets, disinfect the tub and bed, get the girls dressed and downstairs.

All while wearning Todd's bright red shirt that says, "Chick Magnet," on the front.

Are you getting a visual?

Why has this happened twice in as many weeks? Devin never did anything like this! Now I'm afraid to walk into the nursery in the mornings...It's a real crapshoot.

And in other news

I got a much better color for our bathroom and it's painted now. We have coffered ceilings in there, so we're going to paint the coffering. That'll be Todd's job. I'm done with painting for awhile.

The tiling starts on Monday. I'm hoping by next Wednesday, my bathroom will be complete. Here's to praying.

WHOA!

Ummmm...I was going for "serene, buttery yellow," but instead I got, "the canary that swallowed a lemon." Yowza....that's a lot of yellow.

So, I'm on to round three of painting. I went to Home Depot and bought a paint called, "Soft Yellow." If soft yellow is what I was going for in the first place, why the heck didn't I just buy it the first time around? No one ever accused me of being a genius.

Without the flash on


With the flash on

The Only Thing You Can Count On Is Change...

We have lived in our house now for just over five years. We love this house, although we know that one day we'll have to move. We need another room (or study), a game room and another bathroom.

But because we like this house so much, we want to stay here as long as possible. Also, we have a ridiculously cheap mortgage that makes moving very, very hard.

Most of the stuff we love is downstairs -- hardwood floors, travertine backsplash in the kitchen, custom crown moulding, custom lighting, floor-to-ceiling windows, etc. The downstairs is very pretty (at least in our opinions), if not a little bit small.

The upstairs, though... Well, that's another story.

As you know, Todd is a fantastic artist and have given our kids some beautiful custom-painted room, like the girls' Tinkerbell room and Devin's Hot Wheels room. The kids' bathroom is a fun mix of pink flowers and blue bubbles and different hook for each of their towels, above which are their names. It even says, "It's Soapy Shower Time!" above the shower -- a favorite bathtime song in the Pruetz house.

The guestroom is in pretty good shape too. Done in pink and brown, it's a little bit retro and a little bit modern all together. It's not fabulous, but it's fun, and, heck...it's a guest room!

So really, all that leaves us is our bedroom.

When bought this house from the original owners, we fell in love with all of the custom work in the house, especially in the master bedroom. The female half of the couple who owned this house before us was quite the crafty one and she put a lot of work into the master suite.

The bedroom is done with a faux finish to look like stone, with an ornate, gothic-style red stenciling around the top. It's striking and beautiful. I'm not one for stencil, because I often associate it with "country" style homes, which just isn't my style, but this is so much different. I've really enjoyed it.

The stenciling in the bedroom


Close-up of bedroom stenciling


About two years into living here, as we were lying in bed, watching TV one night, Todd announced to me that there was a Devil's face in the stenciling, where the corners met. After sitting, staring at it for a moment or two, I saw what he saw. Since then, I've laid in bed every night, thinking, "Satan is watching me." It's the stuff nightmares are made of...
*Hint: Click on the picture to enlarge it -- it's easier to see the face*

The bathroom was spectacular, too. She'd used a similar stencil and stenciled a floor-to-ceiling pattern onto the walls. Now we have a 200-square-feet-plus bathroom with 12-foot-ceilings, so this was no easy task. After stencling hundreds of pieces over and over and over again, she antiqued it. The result was a pattern that looked like wallpaper, but was hand-done. A piece of work, although not exactly our style.


It's not a perfect view, but hopefully you can get the gist of how much work went into the paint treatment in our bathroom

For the first couple of years of living here, we really didn't want paint over this masterpiece, but as time wore on and the house started needing more and more work, we decided we'd just completely redo the bedroom and bathroom.

So, along with a few other projects around the house, this week will be home renovation week at the Pruetz residence. In the bathroom, we are pulling up the carpet (who the heck puts carpeting in a bathroom???), putting down mosaic tile, painting, framing the wall-to-wall mirror, adding new window treatments and new hardware.

We're not doing quite so much in the bedroom, as we pretty much like it the way it is. I am done with the stenciling, so we'll be painting in there and, eventually, adding in hardwood floors.

Both rooms will be a butter yellow color with black and red accents. Sounds a little garish, I know, but when done correctly (which I hope we're doing!), I think it will be very striking. We already have the red window treatments in the bedroom and will be investing in a couple of matching ones in the bathroom. We want both rooms to have similar decor so that they act together as a "suite" instead of as two separate rooms.

In order to pay homage to the previous owners' very hard work, I've taken some "before" photos of our bedroom and bathroom.

(Note: We are having some work done in our closet, too, for which we had to completely clear all of our clothes, shoes and other stuff out. Most of it is in our bathroom, on the floor. I tried to keep most of it out of the photos, but the stuff made it into a couple of pictures. Just didn't want you to think I'm a total slob. The truth is, I'm only a partial slob, than-you-very-much. :)


The bathroom, pre-priming


I'm not proud to admit this, but I'm the reason that our carpeting looks this way. Makeup, hair color (I don't mind telling people that I'm gray, but showing them is a whole other story), and other products have contributed to this carpet's demise.


The shower and the double doors leading into our bedroom


The double doors that lead into our closet

So yesterday was spent looking at paint samples, pricing tile, and purchasing the "stuff" we'll need to get the job done. We have a handyman doing our tile, but the rest we're doing ourselves. I don't like giving up control.

After we finally settled on what we wanted, we got everything purchased and came home. I started priming this morning, and here are the first in a series of "in the process" photos.


Not a fantastic photo, but you can see that the stenciling has been primed over


Wow...that's a lot of white

So it sounds like it's all going smoothly, right? Wrong.

Yesterday was not without incident. After putting the girls to bed at 5:30 p.m. Friday night (they were inconsolable and exhausted from missing their afternoon nap), I figured they'd be up early on Saturday morning.

Oddly, at 9:00, they were both asleep. I started to worry around 9:30, and went to check on them. Grace was quietly laying in her crib, eyes open, while Faith slept quietly on the other side of the room. I got Gracie up and dressed and took her downstairs. After she'd eaten, I decided that Faith really needed to get up.

When I went to her room, she was also lying quietly in her crib, wide awake.

But when I reached for her, I could feel her radiating heat. She was burning up.

Sure enough, 102.2 fever. We gave her Tylenol and breakfast and went on our merry way to Home Depot and tile stores (definitely contenders for "Parents of the Year."). Faith's fever was back by the time we returned and after she wouldn't eat lunch, I decided to take her to the after-hours pediatrician down the street.

Like clockwork, it's an ear infection. Tubes here we come.

Needless to say, the girls both went down early last night (6:30 ish) and before I went to bed, I decided to check on them. I never go into their room while they are sleeping, as they are such light sleepers that I risk waking one or both up. But I couldn't resist -- I really wanted to check on Faitharoo.

Boy am I glad I did.

I went into the room and peeked at Faith. In a deep sleep, snoring lightly.

Then to Grace, who was wide awake and lying on her back. When she saw me, she rolled over and stuck her little bare bottom up in the air.

WAIT A SECOND. Bare bottom?

The kid had taken off her diaper and thrown it over the side of the crib. Devin never did this and I was astounded to see such I sight. Todd was already asleep, but I woke him up to see it. He laughed and laughed and held Gracie Too while I changed her sheets (because, of course...she tinkled in her bed).

Give me strength...

Okay Susan...This One's for You...

My friend and fellow blogger, Susan, sent me a "Crazy Eights" email last week, where you fill out eight interesting (or at least random) things about yourself. I told her I'd do it and now that she's stalking me via my blog, here it goes. :)

1. I gave serious consideration to becoming a nun when I was in high school. A group of sisters even came to my house one day to talk to my parents about my joining their convent in upstate New York.

2. I took seven years of vocal performance lessons and have been trained in operatic performance. (That was a long time ago, though, and since women's voices don't mature until around the age of 30, I never actually hit the tones and pitches that come to mind when you think of the opera).

3. I was a pre-med major for half of college. Then I got a life. :)

4. When I was 16 years old, I could bench press 185 lbs.

5. I met Todd on Septeber 29, 1999 and we married exactly two years later.

6. My wedding was on September 29, 2001, only 18 days after the tragedy of September 11. Our reception was held on the 70th floor of the tallest building in Dallas-Fort Worth -- a building which housed the regional headquarters for the FBI and the headquarters of the second-largest bank in the nation. Needless to say, we had a few no-shows.

7. I wore a red clown nose in my engagement photo.

8. In 1997, despite being a staunch Republican, I took the trip of a lifetime to Washington DC to witness the inauguration of President William J. Clinton. I went with a group of students from college, along with our very well-connected professor. Because of her connection in DC, we were able to sit in the second row, just behind Congress. I sat next to Byron Allen (from the "That's Incredible!" TV show of the 1980s) and, as I was walking somehwere, I swung around to say something to a friend and ran face first into Whoopie Goldberg. I also stood next to Matt Lauer and tried to get him to interview me, but he wasn't interested in some college kid from Texas -- he wanted to talk to celebrities.

So there! Impressed? Me neither. :)

I *Heart* Texas

A number of my blogger friends have recently done "Things I Love" posts. Whether the posts are about every day items they can't live without (the Mr. Clean Magic Eraser, TiVo and the automatic sliding doors and liftgate on my van are three of mine) or their collection of favorite summer shoes (I just cleared out 25 pairs of shoes from my closet, so this would not be a good one for me to post about), the lists are fun and have gotten some great responses in the "Comments" section of each blog.

I've been wanting to do one, but no particular subject has caught my eye -- until now.

As you know, I do some mindless at-home work for my former full-time employer, MySanAntonio.com. Mostly I proofread and publish comments on the pages that contain blogs or I answer feedback from livid readers, people who can't find the story they need or, every so often, someone who wants us to know that we're doing a good job. The work is not exciting and it's certainly not rocket science, but it is something to keep me from turning into a vegetable who only knows how to cook grilled cheese sandwiches and sing, "If You're Happy and You Know It" to very short people.

Recently, one of my projects has been to gather and verify data from nearly 400 high schools around the Central Texas region.

Now let's just stop right there. For those of you who aren't from Texas, I'll need to do some 'splaining.

You see, high school football in Texas isn't just a sport -- it's a way of life. Families spend entire weeks preparing for the big Friday night game by perfecting their recipe for hot chocolate, gathing up the coziest stadium blankets and bringing out all things team-related like sweatshirts, hats, stadium seats, pom poms and so on and so forth. Tickets are bought weeks or even months in advance and there's very often a tailgating party in the parking lot before the game.

And these aren't even people with kids playing. You should see the parents of the team members. The movie Friday Night Lights was no exaggeration. This is a part of Texas' culture.

Okay, that being said, MySanAntonio.com has an entire section devoted to high school sports and, namely, football, come August.

It's been my job to input the names, addresses, phone numbers, school colors, mascots and stadium locations and, in doing so, I have been united and reunited with some of my favorite crazy Texas town names.

So now, without further ado, here are some of the best small towns in the Lone Star State. And yes, every single one of these does indeed exist.

Dime Box
Old Dime Box
Cut-n-Shoot
Beeville
Agua Dulce (means, "Sweet Water" in Spanish)
Banquete
Bruni (as in "The Sultan of..."
Comfort
Dripping Springs
Edcouch
Louise
Mercedes
Geronimo
Nome
China
San Diego (don't go looking for the Zoo, though...you'll be sorely disappointed)
Shiner
Utopia
Van Vleck
Grit
Noodle
Paris
Atlanta
Eden

And a few, just to throw you off
Pflugerville (pronounced "Flooger-ville")
Boerne (pronounced "Bernie")
Gruene (pronounced "Green")
Helotes (pronounced "Hell-o-tis")
Burnet (pronounced "Burn-it")
Manor (pronounced "Main-er")
Buda (pronounced "Bue-duh")


Texas is a big state, so I'm sure I've missed a few obvious ones (and maybe some not-so-obvious ones), so post some of your favorites.

And while Texans like to think we're the only state in the Union (the only state worth mentioning, right? *BIG SMILE*), we aren't and there are plenty of good names for towns all over the USA, so post 'em and see what we come up with!

Welcome, Meg!

My stepsister, Heidi, safely and happily delivered Meg Ansley yesterday at 3:30 p.m. She weighed six pounds, 12 ounces and is 19 inches long. Daddy, Ross, and big brother, Luke (two-and-a-half) are very exicted as well.

Here is Meg's first video, shot by my dad.

Family Day at the Zoo

This'll have to be quick, but I had to write the down before I forgot.

Todd took the day off today so we could have a "Family Day." We spent the morning together, hanging around, went out to lunch at Alamo Cafe (Yum!) and then headed to the zoo to introduce the zoo creatures to what real wild animals are about. Our kids definitely take the cake in the wild animal department.

We combed the zoo, looking at everything from a Bald Eagle (I've never been so up close to one -- amazing!) to the biggest Catfish you've ever seen.

We took a turn down a raised walkway to look at a habitat filled with a number of different Cranes. We came upon one that was enormous -- his head was right at level with our feet. If he'd been standing next to me, I am sure he would have reached past my chin.

Devin looked over the railing at him and let out a Devin's Doozie.

Wow! That's a heck of a duck!

Have a great weekend!

PoopapaloozaAnd Other "Shocking" Stories

This week has been a lesson in futility for Erin.

First, it started out last Tuesday with a major lightning storm rolling into San Antonio around 5:00 p.m. I was outside with the kids, enjoying an unusal period of dry weather. Of course, a roll of thunder rumbled across the neighborhood and down came the huge, "run because you've just gotten into a water balloon fight with God and are losing" raindrops. I shuttled the kiddos inside and soon the rain started coming down in sheets. Thunder and lightning made it interesting and Devin stayed close by me, none-too-impressed by God's show.

Now, being the industrious (and obviously brillilant) woman that I am, I decided to get some work done before I started dinner, knowing that Todd would undoubtedly be late because of the weather.

So I did some dishes. I stood with my hands in water, at my aluminum sink, which is placed in front of my aluminum framed window, under our corrugated tin patio cover.

Can you see where this is going?

BOOM! A crash of thunder came simultaneously with a flash of lightning which obviously hit somehwere very, very close to our home.

The electricity from the bolt came through the tin roof, around the window, through the sink and water and zapped me in the stomach. At first, I thought I'd dropped a breakable item and that a piece of glass had flown out and gotten me. But I soon realized that I had dropped nothing and that there was nothing broken anywhere around me.

I quickly turned off the water and the electricity went out. The kids were freaking out and I was trying to take stock of my bodily functions:

Heart beating? Check.
Lungs breathing? Check.
Eyes blinking? Check.
Ten fingers and ten toes? Check.
Name: Erin Pruetz
Eyes: Green
Age: 23

Okay -- I was all right, as I had not lost my delusions about my age.

Sadly, though, our phones and internet service did not fair so well, so if you've recently left me a phone message or sent me an email that I never responded to, now you know why.

Everything has been restored, except that our TiVo is on the fritz. We can't seem to plug both the TiVo and the phone in at the same time, so I have to make a choice: Pause-able, rewind-able TV or ability to make a phone call? It's a toss up, sadly.

We recovered quickly and Todd left on Thursday afternoon for his retreat. He was on a team for the first Teen ACTS retreat that our parish has done. He got back today with reports of an amazing weekend with some very inspiring kids.

While he was gone, I played single parent to the three kids. We had a good weekend, although I admit that we did not go a lot of places. We did got to Costco on Saturday and as I was standing in line with all three kids, who were crying and/or whining about various issues, a woman behind me asked, "How do you do it with three little ones?"

I told her, "There are a lot of tears shed. They are usually mine."

But the real excitement was on Saturday morning. Devin woke up at his usual time, around 7:30, and climbed in bed with me. I turned on the Disney Channel for him and snoozed while he watched. Soon, though, I heard the girls "talking" in their cribs and listened as they went from babbling to talking to crying to screaming. It was time to go get them and start the day.

The girls' cribs are positioned on either side of the door to their room. The way the door is positioned, though, you see Faith's crib when you first walk in. Around the door is Gracie's crib.

So I opened the door and there was Faith, standing at the end of her crib, doing her little, "Good Morning, Mommy!" dance that I just love.

But before I could open the door far enough to see Grace, I knew something was wrong. The smell. The girls' room smelled like the zoo. I kid you not -- it was the only thought that could get through my mind: This room smells like the zoo.

I continued opening the door and the stench got stronger and stronger. Moments later, the origin of the odor was apparent.

Grace was standing in her bed, crying, diaper still attached around her hips, but hanging down to her ankles.

And there was poop everywhere.

It was on the sheets. On the walls. On the rails and rungs of her crib. It was in her hair. Down her legs. In her ears and between her toes.

You have never seen so much poop in your entire life. How can so much stuff come out of such a small body?

I had to move quickly, running to get a pastic bag in which to put the soiled linens, a can of Lysol to disinfect everything that couldn't be put in the washer and start the bathtub.

In record time, I got Gracie cleaned up, her sheets, mattress pad and jammies into the wash and the poop off the walls and crib. All the remained was the smell, which took an entire 24 hours to get rid of.

Chalk one up for Super Mom...I had to laugh because if I didn't, I would have cried.

Most things are back to normal around here, although it seems that Faith may be developing another fever. We'll see how she sleeps tonight -- if she's up two or three times, it's a sure sign that she's got another ear infection.

More to come. Here's to wishing you a poopless night...

Uptown Liz

A friend of mine, a mom of triplets in California, also keeps a blog of things that are important in her life. Like my blog, most of her entries are about her girls, but every once in awhile, something else sneaks in.

Today, there was a new post about a Web site called UptownLiz.

I read the story and visited the site. The whole thing touched my heart and I contacted the owner, Ramona, to let her know how moved I was by the way she honored the sister she lost.

We emailed a few times and I asked her if I could please feature the site on my blog. She was ecstatic and even sent me some information and a picture of Liz.

Uptown Liz was founded to promote products from companies whose proceeds directly give back to charitable organizations. Through our online database, you can search by cause or product, with the knowledge that every time you link to a company and make a purchase, you are making a difference. Our mission is to build a bridge between compassionate consumers and concerned companies in order to improve the world around us. We like to call it "retail philanthropy" - the opportunity to purchase quality products that benefit worthwhile causes. Shopping has never felt so good.

This company was created in the memory of the late Elizabeth Ann Overturf, who died at the age of 28 years old on February 1, 2006 from a long and painful battle with breast cancer. Liz was a fashionista; she loved clothes, handbags, shoes, jewelry and perfume. One of her dreams was to own a clothing boutique with her sister, Ramona Russell. Because this was one of many dreams cut short for Liz, Ramona decided to create Uptown Liz and launch it on what would have been her sister's thirtieth birthday, July 17, 2007.


Elizabeth Ann Overturf
July 17, 1977 - February 1, 2006

I don't know Ramona and I didn't know Liz. But I don't have to know them to realize what a senseless loss this was. Ladies, you are the best judge of what's going on in your body. If you feel something is not right, get to the bottom of it. Don't take no for an answer until you've exhausted every option.

You may not be someone's sister, but you are someone's daughter, friend, mother, or wife. Take care of yourself for yourself ... and for them.

General Pruetz Family Goings-On

This weekend marked a lot of "firsts" for our family. And frankly, it's about time.

For awhile now, the twins have been saying, "Mama" and "Da-dah," with the occassional, "Deh-deh" thrown in (something I assume is their version of "Devin"). But, like all babies, sayings and habits come and go and they dropped these words for the most part (dire cases like 3:00 a.m. bad dreams or the need for a toy that's rolled under the couch brought the words back out). Because of this, I've become very frustrated in recent weeks.

See, Devin was very advanced in his speech. He started using multiple signs by about nine months and had about a 500 word vocabulary on his first birthday. Very early on, I knew Devin's needs and was over the "Why are you crying? What do you want?" stage of mommyhood much earlier than most. Devin being my first, though, made me think this was all very normal.

The girls, however, are on the opposite end of the spectrum. First, being preemies works against them -- for at least a few years, they'll be behind in just about everything.

Second, being twins is also a strike. Twins tend to learn to communicate with one another before anyone else and they very often stick with that method of communication. I've known of twins who didn't speak until they were six because their twin talk got them where they needed to go.

This is certainly the case already with my girls. They hold entire conversations in some language I've never heard. We often call it, "Speaking in tongues."

And third, my history works against me My first kid talked early. So my second and third should do the same.

All of this spells a lot of, "You're 14 months old! Why are you crying all the time???" Even if i don't say it, I think it very often.

But this weekend, we made a breakthrough (yes...I'm finally getting to my point).

On Friday morning, as we were having breakfast, I was feeding the girls their usual bananas. They love bananas and will take them any way they can get them. First was from a jar, then was mashed up on their trays and now it's just dump a few pieces down and back away quickly before you lose a finger.

As they were finishing up with their first round, I was asking out loud, "What else do you want?" trying to come up with something to give them some variety in their diet.

Grace looked right at me and said, "Manna..."

What? What did you just say?

Then she did the sign for "Please" by patting her open hand to her chest. And once again said, "Manna..."

I nearly died. I called Todd.

"It's happening! It's finally happening! They're communicating with me!"

You'd think I'd just won the lottery.

And doesn't it seem that when one thing happens, it opens a floodgate? Thoughout the weekend we had a number of "firsts" from both girls. Gracie learned to play Peek-a-Boo without our help -- hands over the eyes and "Where's Gracie?" from Mom or Dad. Then she uncovers her eyes and grins with all three teeth.

Three teeth? Hey look! One of Grace's top teeth is coming in!

Then it was kisses from Grace -- big, open-mouth, slobbery kisses, right on the kisser.

Faith wasn't left out either. She's begun with please, like today when she was sitting on the floor, crying and, once again, the "You're 14 months!" thought went through my mind. Before I could ask her to try to tell me what she needed, she did the sign for "up" by holding both hands in the air. I said, "You want me to hold you?" Her reply? The sign for "Please."

At dinner tonight was what I think may have been the sign for "Thank you."

Finally. Thank God.

Moving On...

Today was Devin's 4th check up. I'm proud to say that it went great. He weighs 38 pounds and is 41.5 inches tall. That puts him at 75% for weight and 55% for height. Larger than 75% of the population of boys age four, and yet the kid is as thin as a rail. I guess that's just how boys are. It just ain't fair.

He did great with his Denver study, being able to point to and do all of the things he was supposed to do. Ahead of the curve as usual.

His hearing test went well, but his vision test showed him with 20/40 vision. We'll be seeing an eye doctor soon to get a complete exam and see what's going on.

Lastly, though, were his four-year shots. I told him ahead of time that he'd have to get shots and while he didn't seem to dwell on it all day long, he did ask about it a few times during the exam. And finally, the nurse came in and the wailing began.

Because he's such a big boy (*sniff*), he got the shots in his arm. I sat in a chair with him on my lap. I wrapped my legs around his, my arms around his and held his head still with my chin. Polio vaccine in the left arm.

Screaming.

Second shot (don't recall which one) in the right arm.

More screaming.

Measles/Mumps/Rubella in the right arm.

My child turned into Satan.

Apparently, the MMR shot is a doozie and boy did it hurt him. The poor guy just screamed and screamed. After it was all done and the bandaids were administered, I held Devin to my chest and rocked him back and forth. Even as a baby, this wasn't something he loved to do, but today all he wanted was his mommy. Even in such a horrible situation, it still warmed my heart. He'll always be my first love.

As a special treat, we drove through our local Krispy Kreme and got a doughnut for Devin (okay, one for me too). He also requested a Sprite. Against my better judgment, I acquiesced, and minutes later sticky soda was all over my minivan. I guess it wasn't truly a mom-mobile until that happened.

And now, without further ado...

Here are the photos I promised in my last post:

Devin turned four on July 11, 2007


Devin and across-the-street neighbor buddy, Reid, at Devin's party at Inflatable Wonderland


Brother-in-law, Brian, and my nephew/Godson Brendan, doing their impression of a super hero


Best friend, Sylvia, and her son/my other (but no less important!) Godson, Drew


Action shot of Addy and Presley on the big slide at Inflatable Wonderland


All other photos of Devin, when he is quietly smiling for the camera are posed. This is the real Devin, in his truest form


Pa-pa (my dad) bounces Gracie on the side of one of the inflatable attractions


Macy, Dale, Reid (across-the-street neighbors) and Devin sporting their Bubba Teeth from their goodie bags. How could I resist handing these out?


Not at all related to the birthday party, but worth a mention nonetheless. This weekend, all was quiet upstairs. Too quiet. When I went to check on what Devin was doing, I noticed that his hair was wet. I asked why and he said, "I was washing it so you would be proud of me getting clean all by myself." And to make matters worse: He used handsoap. And no water.

So Much Catching Up To Do...

We have been so busy around here. I keep saying to myself, "I need to post this, " and "I need to blog about that." But I just can't seem to find the time. I'll start from where I left off. Get comfy...we could be here awhile.

After the Fourth of July, the girls were diagnosed with two double ear infections. True to form, Gracie's cleared up very quickly, while Faith finished ten days of antibiotics and got a fever on the 11th day. Another round of antibiotics. Ten days of medications. Fever on the 11th. Another round of antibiotics. An allergic reaction. Stopped antibiotics for 48 hours. Restarted antibiotics two days ago. Waiting for fever to return. Tubes are next.

The Monday after my last post, July 9, Devin started Vacation Bible School at one of the neighborhood churches. Our church's VBS is only for four-years-old and up, so he missed that one. But this one accepted kids at two years of age, so we signed up. Day One went great. We were set for Day Two.

Day Two arrived. Devin complained that he didn't want to go. I put him in the car anyway. We drove to the church and he refused to get out of the car. I dragged him out and took him to his classroom.

That's when all hell broke loose.

There was screaming, crying and an attempt to "climb" me in order to get me to carry him. I quickly said my goodbyes, handed him to his teacher and made my way down the hall.

Moments later, I heard a screetch, an "OUCH!" and here came Devin, out of the room, bolting toward me, his teacher limping behind him. Apparently, he kicked her, wriggled from her arms and ran after me.

I begged, I pleaded and then I just got downright mad. He wouldn't relent. He didn't want to go. VBS was starting and we were beginning to make a scene. So I gave up and took him home.

I know I sent the wrong message, but I didn't know what else to do.

We came home and D's punishment was to stay in his room until Daddy got home that night. I also told him that if he didn't got to VBS for the rest of the week, I would cancel his birthday party. And I meant it -- I was prepared to do so.

Needless to say, Days Three, Four and Five went much better. He wasn't thrilled to go, but he knew I was serious about his party and he wasn't about to let that happen.

Favorite Devin's Doozie from Day Two of Vacation Bible School: "I don't want to learn about Jesus!!!"

Wednesday, July 11, was Devin's fourth birthday and we celebrated at home with cupcakes for breakfast (a family tradition), a big, "It's my birthday!" button worn all day and a special dinner of pizza and Sprite, followed by presents from the family.

Saturday the 14th was the big party and, since VBS had gone smoothly for the rest of the week, Devin was permitted to go and have a great time.

We arrived at Inflatable Wonderland a little before the 1:00 p.m. start of the party. Todd arranged the cake and presents while I re-stuffed the goodie bags that I had dropped all over the parking lot on the way in. Classic Erin.

Soon, kids and family started arriving and most of the kids bolted for the giagantic, inflatable slides, castles and obstacle courses while their parents came to sit down and chat to avoid the mayhem.

There was the hokey pokey, the limbo and some fun dancing. Next was cake (Lightning McQueen from Cars of course) and ice cream and then presents. Lots and lots of presents. My Lord, the presents. It was gluttonous.

And then, two hours after the start, it was over. We paid up, loaded up and left the mess behind. It was totally worth every cent to walk away from the melted ice cream, cake-smeared table cloth and mound of wrapping paper.

If you're wondering, the girls were in attendance at the party and they enjoyed the attention they got from Grandma, Grandpa and Pa-Pa, as well as friends like the Schaefers and the Daniels.

Sunday was a night on the town with my sister, brother-in-law and three of their four kids (their oldest when on a summer trip with Pa-Pa, my dad). We went to the San Marcos River Pub and Grill, about an hour north of here. We dined on burgers, chips and queso (for those of you non-Texans, french fries are very often cut out of the picture in lieu of tortilla chips and cheesy dip -- a very yummy Texas delicacy) and beer on the lawn and waited for the show to begin.

Around 7:30, Bruce Robison, brother to Charlie Robison, who is married to one of the Dixie Chicks (SMU girls! Go Ponies!), hopped up on stage and sang a number of fantastic Texas-country style songs. Some were originals I had never heard like, "I went out to find myself and I found myself in bar." and others were classics like, "What Would Willie Do?" There were even a few George Strait and Dixie Chicks songs. Our kind of show, for sure.

ZZ's three kids (Presley, four, and Brendan and Kaelin, two) and Devin had the best time running around, catching lightning bugs and making friends with the families around us. The kids were almost as big of a hit as the performer was.

We packed up the families around 9:30 and headed back to San Antonio. As we were approaching our neighborhood, I got a call from our babysitter -- apparently the girls had been screaming since we left (despite the fact that I had bathed, fed and jammied them so that all Sarah had to do was put them to sleep at 6:30) and she was wondering if she could give them some milk. The poor thing -- my heart was sick for this poor young lady. She'd even called her mom over to help her out. I doubt she'll ever want to babysit for us again, and I can't blame her.

We got home and got the girls settled down (apparently, only mommy and daddy will do) and I drove Sarah home, apologizing all the way. I wish I could have crawled into a hole and died.

We didn't get into bed until pretty late and the next day was the first day of summer camp for Devin. It's held at the same church where VBS was held and when we pulled into the parking lot, Devin said, "Whoa, whoa, whoa! What are ya doin'?" I said, "Summer camp!"

"No way! This is VBS!" It was as though this was the first my son was hearing of summer camp, even though I'd been talking it up for weeks.

It took some time for me to convince Devin that this would be a totally different experience than Vacation Bible School and he finally obliged, dragging his feet into the building. He perked up when he saw that he was going to be in a different classroom with different teachers. It finally dawned on him that this really might be different.

Then he saw Colin. Colin is a buddy of his who is exactly the same age as Devin. Colin's mommy, Erin, is a good friend of mine as well and I said a special, "Thank you God!" prayer right then and there as Devin suddenly became interested in being a part of summer camp.

So Tuesday and Thursday went great (only two days a week - bummer for me). Devin just loves this summer camp program and so far he's made homemade play-dough (Casey -- my dream came true! Devin got to make play-dough and I didn't have to clean it up!) and brought home tons of crafts. Much better than VBS, apparently.

All this week, too, we've been doing swimming lessons. A former neighbor of my sister is a certified swimming instructor who does private lessons in her own pool. For eight days straight, I take D to her house and she spends 30 minutes teaching him to kick his legs, use his arms and blow bubbles. He's gotten all three down -- now we're just trying to coordinate them all. She says she sees a lot of progress already. We'll finish out these eight lessons, practice what we've learned and then take some more next summer. Hopefully soon, I'll have a little fish on my hands, as I loved the water when I was Devin's age (okay, I still do) and I want him to feel the same way.

So along with ear infections, parties, VBS, summer camp and swimming lessons, we've also been doing gymnastics. Devin just loves it and opted to continue gymnastics rather than do soccer this fall. A former gymnast and diver myself, I couldn't be more proud.

So there you have it -- the hectic life of the Pruetz family. I vaguely remember my husband and I assume I could pick him out of a lineup. I haven't seen him much lately, as he's been at church a lot, working on a retreat that he's teaming next weekend and I've been all over the place with the kids.

Such is the life of a mommy, huh? And it's only going to get more and more hectic as the three of them get older. For the most part, I enjoy it, but when I fall asleep at 9:15 and don't wake up again until 7:15 the next morning (as I did last night, thanks to Todd who took over household responsibilities for the night), I know I must be exhausted and think to myself, "Slow down... you're going to burn out." We'll see.

Peace.

Erin

PS - Of course, there are lots of photos, but I'll post them later. Hopefully today, but the twins are crying and I need to go get them from their cribs before they learn how to jump out. ;)