Spaghetti Arms

Year before last, John and I purchased a "Slam Dunk" basketball game at Wal-Mart. It had regularly been around 80 bucks. We paid $15 for it during an after Christmas clearance sale. Our original intention was to put it on eBay and sell it for $80 bucks or so. We got it home and Moriah wanted to keep it. Time passed and it was still in the box and every once in a while Moriah would say, "Will you put my basketball game together?" We never did. Then, came Luke and it just kept getting pushed to the side. Not literally of course because it was kind of heavy.

On Moriah's 9th birthday she had a sleepover and I started putting it together. I thought it would be fun for the girls to play while they were here. Although it wasn't complicated to assemble, it started taking up too much time because much like everything else, I had procrastinated to the last minute. So, again, it got pushed to the side. This time literally.

We had originally planned to put it in our family room which is a fairly large room. But, with the recent influx of small, medium, AND large baby toys, we thought our screened in back porch would be a better choice. That is, after all, Moriah's playroom....And will be Luke's as soon as he figures out how to open the door by himself.

John finished the assembly process last night. And, if you don't know exactly what it is I'm talking about. It is like an arcade basketball game similar to the ones you see at Chuck E. Cheese. John and Moriah played it for a bit. I went and played for a while. John played a 1 minute game and scored 50 points. Not to be outdone (so I thought), I tried to beat his score. I got 48. I played again, 49 points. John comes back out to play. We start playing against each other. He won; then, I won one. So, we had to because of the laws of marriage had to play best 2 out of 3. But, this was not just throwing basketballs at a goal this was cut throat Bill Lambehr elbowing, pulling of hair, gnashing of teeth action. I won the 3rd game fair and square, well, except for the hair pulling and elbowing. John calls for 3 out of 5. No can do.

We stopped playing for maybe an hour. I went back out to the porch after Moriah went to bed at 9:30. She heard the action and got up. She and I played a few games. It was fun. Then, she decided to call it a night....Again! I kept playing because I still hadn't beat that 50 points in 1 minute score. John came and stood right behind me because he knows that it gets on my nerves for someone to stand over my shoulder like that. And, if he didn't know that, he will after he reads this. We started playing again. We played a few games of 2 minutes or so. Then, Mr. Smartypants thinks it a good idea to set the time at 4 minutes. Ohmigosh! Everything was okay for the first 2 minutes. Then, the fatigue started setting in. We already had the elbows, hair, and teeth thing going but we both started getting spaghetti arms. If you have ever seen someone whose legs are cramped up try to go ahead and finish that marathon, this is kinda what our arms looked and felt like. We were laughing at each other; crying from the pain and agony!
Moriah again gets out of bed and comes out to the porch. She screamed at us, "ENOUGH BASKETBALL! We ALL need to go to bed! Stop that game!" But, we couldn't!!!!!!!!!!!! There was one minute left. She was sighing with disbelief, I mean really, it was her toy!

When the buzzer rang, and time was no more. We walked back in the house and fell on the couch. Our arms dragging the floor. It would have been impossible to try to pick anything up. It was lots of fun and I can't believe we went to that extreme. I woke up this morning with my arms still sore and couldn't remember what I had done. Then, I saw it on the porch. Sitting there staring at me as if to say..."You never got that 50 points, Loser!" I have not caved to it's calling. I don't even remember what the score was last night. But, if I lost, I'm sure John can fill you in on that later!!!!

Love Bites!!!!

Luke has been biting everyone. He bites us, he bites the ladies that babysit while I sub. Gnaw, Gnaw, Gnaw!!!!

I think part of it is because his teeth bother him. However, there are a few other theories that are becoming more and more believable.

For instance, he has this little grin that he does. He puts his bottom teeth on his top lip like he has an underbite. It looks a little impish; but, really really cute. The other day I was emailing LeaEtta (my Sunday School teacher) and Luke looks up at me grinning like this, puts both hands on my arm, and chomps down! Grinning and laughing.

The most popular bite...........this one hurts the worst....the LOVE bite! He will be sitting in your lap playing and put his hands on your face and lay into you. He did it on the hand of one of his babysitters. She said, "He probably thought my hand was a chicken bone." I thought that was cute. Today, he bit the other babysitter, the first lady's daughter. She said that it didn't hurt and he was loving on her when he did it. As far as I know, he has only broken skin once. He latched onto one of my eyes one Sunday afternoon. It hurt!!!! I had visions of pictures I saw when I worked at DHS of things that people had done to babies. I now assume that this the reason that someone could find it reasonable to throw a baby against the wall.
He also bit Moriah today. You can imagine the response. She started saying, "Not my skin, not my skin!" Oh but yes, her skin! He dug the little razorblades in and she screamed, "You have damaged my beautiful flawless skin, Luke! Why did you damage my flawless skin?"
Flawless skin? Yeah right! But anyway! She was severely irritated.

Moriah was never a biter. Well, pretty much never. She bit me once and I administered her first of many politically incorrect form of child discipline. She bit John once and with the same result. Except big bad Dad cried just a little that he had to do this to his baby girl! But, we never had another bite mark on us. Well, until now!!!!

A Walk Home from the Park

While we were at the park, we saw the Mineral Springs School resource officer and his family. So, John and he had to talk shop for a while. It started thundering and lightning. We started our trek back to the house.

Before we even got out of the park, there was a big flash of lightning. It seemed like it was just right there. It couldn't have been more than a few miles away. Now, I can't say that I wasn't a bit concerned. But, Moriah panics in storms (she isn't scared of anything except big brown bugs, burning light switches, and storms).

I grabbed her by the hand and started walking faster. She was starting to get the 'I'm going to cry' respirations. I said, "There is nothing to be scared of Moriah, the lightning is just God's way of telling us that we need to go home." Then, CRASH BOOM RUMBLE!!!!! She looked at me with fear in her eyes. I said, "Ok, that's His way of sayint 'RIGHT NOW!'"

We hurried home. We didn't even stop to play with Winter (Winter is a big dog that lives in our path to the park that we called White Dog for a year and a half before we found out her name; anyway, Winter is a whole 'nother blog all by herself; maybe I'll get to that later). Moriah explained to Winter as we hurried by that we had to get home and didn't have time to play. I'm sure she understood. Lightning and thunder were right on our heels. I had my teeth gritted. So, did Luke, all 6 of them.

We made it safely home. We were all glad to be home. All of us were hot and sweaty.......except for Luke and he didn't have to put out much energy. We came in the house and sat down. John was holding Luke, he was kissing (more like licking) his daddy's neck, when he said, "Ewwwwwwwwwww!" Was this a coincidence? I think not!!!!

I better go for now. Luke has started his daily trek to the other end of the house. I would hate to lose him..........................AGAIN!

Can you say that?

I may have already told you this but in case I haven't....we live about 2 blocks (if Nashville even has blocks) from Nashville's City Park. It is a pleasant place. There are 2 walking tracks; one is 1 mile and the other is just pretty with trees and flowers and such. There is also a playground and every evening there are plenty of children there to play with. We walk because, well, we all need the exercise and his only 2 blocks for Heaven's sake. Except for Luke, he rides in his Lukemobile.

Last evening we walked over there. John and Luke walked around the track twice and Moriah and I went to the playground. There weren't very many kids there when we arrived but they started coming in right at dusk. There was a little Hispanic girl that came over and started playing with Moriah. There were the basic introductions and hellos.

Moriah asked the little girl, "Where do you live?" The little girl stammered a little saying, "I live, I live, I live...." Moriah said, "Do you live in Nashville?" The little girl said, "I live in a trailer." Moriah said, "You mean, a mobile home." The little girl said proudly, "Yes! I live in a noble home."

I just sat there thinking 'how sweet!' followed by thoughts of 'do I live in a noble home?' How many of us can say that our home is noble?

Happy Easter!

I hope you all had a Happy Easter! We had the tradtional Fultz Family Easter. We drug ourselves out of bed for the early service at church and when John was through playing his trumpet in the 10:50 service we went outside and made Easter pictures. It is always so peaceful. I guess because most everyone in the whole country is in church on Easter morning. This year was particularly interesting. When we started doing this, Moriah was old enough not to eat the flowers and the dirt. Not to mention, she would not have done that anyway. She never was really bad about putting things in her mouth as an infant. Luke, on the other hand, it matters not the size, texture, taste...........IT WILL BE IN THE MOUTH!!!!! I really didn't know what to expect but he did really well. Of course, I can't get either one of them to pose like I want them; usually the facial expressions says it all anyway.

Spring Break

We had a nice Spring Break considering there were no beaches involved. We spent most of the week with John's family. It was fun.
We went to Atlanta (TX) for church on 04-09. Moriah's choir sang. As always, she sang beautifully. It's amazing how well she does when she doesn't realize you can hear her. Sunday evening after choir, we drove to Waldron and spent the night with my parents.
Then, Monday we went to the big ol' city of Kingston, AR and spent most of the week. For you who aren't family, John's parents live up on top of the mountain. It is beautiful. I enjoyed just sitting out on the front porch looking out at the hills and watching the monarch butterflies fluttering by.
Wednesday, we went to Springfield, MO and met our new great niece, Delsa Dawn. She was 6 days old on that day. You do the math. I'm not fully functional at this time in the morning. She is a beautiful little girl just like her momma. And, if you know John, it was a must to go by Bass Pro Shop. It was okay though. Moriah and I played like we were at an amusement park. We rode the elevator (A LOT!). We found John talking shop with some guy at the gun counter. We snuck up, walked off with the cart (that had my purse and the camera in it), and hid around the corner and watched him panic just a bit. Good times! We came back through Harrison and ate dinner with John's brother, David, and his family. John's parents also met us there. I got sick after we got home. I made the comment that I hadn't thrown up that much since I was pregnant with Luke. I think my mother-in-law was in a panic for a moment.
Thursday, we went to Harrison again. We ate dinner with John's brother and family again. Karl came over (John's sister, Karen's oldest). He had never seen Luke (in person). Moriah didn't go with us. I think she wanted some Memaw and Pa time without Luke and us. And, from what I understand, it was a great time of partying and jumping on the bed. When we left Harrison, we drove through Ponca (?). I think that is where the elk are. We always go and watch the elk. They don't come out until around dusk so I've yet to get any good pictures. We saw about 17 this time.
Friday, we went to Springdale and visited with John's best friend, Jonny Hammond. It was good to see them. I hadn't seen them in about 4 years. They have a 3 1/2 year old boy. I am so bad. It was good to see them. The girls have sure grown a lot in those 4 years. Cassie still had baby fat the last time I saw her and now Jack is calling her wanting his beanstalk back. We took Moriah to the Jones Center to swim Friday afternoon. In case you don't know what that is, the Jones Center is a community center in Springdale that is free. If you have ever heard of Jones Truck Lines, this is the family. Their foundation has provided so much for the NWA community and the whole state of Arkansas. They have an indoor leisure pool and lap pool; ice skating rink; and various other activities. You have to call and get tickets but if you are ever in NWA; it is a good thing. Did I mention that it was free?
We ate dinner with Laura (John's oldest sister) and her son Keith. We always have a blast with Aunt Laura. Also, Keith had never seen Luke. Keith lives in Smyrna, TN which is right outside of Nashville. This is strange, we live in Nashville (AR) and we moved here from Smyrna (a community outside of Atlanta, TX). Hmmmmm! Then, we spent Friday night with them.
Saturday, I felt like we were on World Tour. We ate lunch in Bentonville; then, went back to Springdale and visited with the Hammonds again (we got to see Heidi this time; I just love her!). We left there and drove to Waldron visited with my parents for about and hour; drove to Nashville (unloaded and got the Easter clothes); and headed back to Texas.

Smarter Every Day!

Well, Luke is getting much better with his electronic skills. He managed last week to turn the TV on with the remote and then crawl over and turn the DVD player on so he could watch his Baby Einstein. John walked in and turned the TV and DVD off. Luke went through the process again and smiled at John.

We are on Spring Break right now. I will blog about that next week after I recover. Happy Easter everyone!!!!

Turn that Trash OFF!!!!!

Before Luke was born, John and I went to Toys R Us and spent $8 on a piece of plexiglass that fits over the TV buttons. We knew from previous experience that once he started crawling this would be a vital piece of furniture in our home.

Now that he is pulling up, we have learned just how convenient that little piece of plexiglass is. It is annoying to Moriah; she can't turn the TV off without the remote control now. But, I think she is beginning to realize, too, how important it is. One thing we didn't take into account was you cannot put a piece of plexiglass over a DVD player. So, after figuring out that the front of the TV was smooth and nothing happens when you bang on it......................naturally, we must push buttons on the DVD player.

Actually, this wasn't a problem until this past week. Luke loves his Baby Einstein videos. His favorite is Baby Beethoven; he falls into a comatose state when this is on. He likes Baby Mozart but not to the extent of the Beethoven. We purchased Language Nursery over the weekend. I think we may have wasted $15. He has shown no interest in this video. To be honest, neither have I. I, like Luke, also enjoyed the other two. But, this one has failed to capture my attention. I know that it is much like the other two except it is more language than music. And, not just English, it is also Spanish and French and maybe something else. I mean how would I know. The only other languages I speak besides English are Redneck and some Ebonics. I wondered, "What are they telling my baby to do?"

I began to think that maybe the timing was off of the watching. So, I put it in again. Luke crawls over to the TV, pulls up, and puts his little chubby fingers on the power button and turns the video off. He just crawls away. I thought it was a mistake. I turned it back on with the same result. He turned it off and crawls away. I thought this was a little funny. I looked at him and said, "Do you not like this show?" He looked at me, grinned, shook his head side to side (merely coincidental.....I think?!), and said "Da-da;" which means "NO!" So, I stopped trying.

A day or so later, we were watching Baby Beethoven. Luke crawled over to the TV, pulls up, turns the DVD player off, and begins to cry. I turned it back on for him and he giggled, showed me his muscles, and said, "Da-da;" which means "Thank you!"

Now, we have developed a new skill in higher level thinking. This morning, he was watching his daily dose of Baby Beethoven. He goes to the DVD player and turned it off. He begins to cry. I have the remote. So, I just push a few buttons and turn it back on. It comes back on; Luke looks at it; but, this time, he continues to cry. He turns it off again; then, crawls over to me (still crying). Instead of turning it back on immediately, I picked him up. He stopped crying. But, he starts looking around at the TV and starts to fuss. Apparently now, we must be held while watching our shows.

And, we finally made it through Language Nursery. I have narrowed the message they are trying to send Luke with this video. It is one of two things. It is either the Operation Manual for the DVD player or 'Quick! Take control of the house before the Girl gets home from school!"

Just this.........

This is not mine. I received it in an email.

Just for this morning, I am going to smile when I see your face and laugh when I feel like crying.
Just for this morning, I will let you choose what you want to wear, and smile and say how perfect it is.
Just for this morning, I am going to step over the laundry, and pick you up and take you to the park to play.
Just for this morning, I will leave the dishes in the sink, and let you teach me how to put that puzzle of yours together.
Just for this afternoon, I will unplug the telephone and keep the computer off, and sit with you in the backyard and blow bubbles..
Just for this afternoon, I will not yell once, not even a tiny grumble when you scream and whine for the ice cream truck, and I will buy you one if he comes by.
Just for this afternoon, I won't worr

y about what you are going to be when you grow up, or second guess every decision I have made where you are concerned.

Just for this afternoon, I will let you help me bake cookies, and I won't stand over you trying to fix them.
Just for this afternoon, I will take us to McDonald's and buy us both a Happy Meal so you can have both toys.. !
Just for this evening, I will hold you in my arms and tell you a story about how you were born and how much I love you.
Just for this evening, I will let you splash in the tub and not get angry.Just for this evening, I will let you stay up late while we sit on the porch and count all all the stars.

Just for this evening, I will snuggle beside you for hours, and miss my favorite TV shows.

Just for this evening when I run my finger through your hair as you pray, I will simply be grateful that God has given me the greatest gift ever given.I will think about the mothers and fathers who are searching for their missing children, the mothers and fathers who are visiting their children's graves instead of their bedrooms, and mothers and fathers who are in hospital room s watching their children suffer senselessly, and screaming inside that they can't handle it anymore.

And when I kiss you good night I will hold you a little tighter, a little longer. It is then, that I will thank God for you, and ask him for nothing, except one more day..............

She's only 9; yet we are already getting DUMB!

This weekend John, Moriah, and I went with two of his band students to the Arkansas All-Star clinic in Atkins. Moriah will readily take care of her little brother when she is asked to but "her needs" are always first priority. I can see that! She was IT for over 8 years!

Saturday morning, she was on the bed watching TV. John and I were getting things ready to go home. John asked Moriah to watch Luke and not to let him fall off the bed (AGAIN!). Moriah put her hand on Luke and went on watching her "shows." I was taking the luggage cart out in the hallway to get it out of the way. I heard John say "Moriah! You were supposed to be watching him!" I paused for a moment waiting to hear a "THUD!" If you have never heard a baby fall off of a bed it is a very distinctive sound followed by the screams of what must be a thousand babies. No thud! Everything must be OK! John had seen Luke going for the edge and managed to get there before the "thud!"

Every time something like this happens. Moriah, being very sensitive, starts to cry. I went back in the room and of course, the tears they were a flowin'. I told her to come help me load the car up so we could leave. She gladly came to avoid further scourging. We were talking as we were loading up the car. It is always good in this type situation to actually avoid conversation about the actual happenings of the preceding event. Moriah asked, "Momma, why did Dad hit me?"
I inquired, "Dad hit you?"
"Yes," she said, "when I wasn't watching Luke very well."
"How did he hit you?"
"Like this." forming her hand like she was going to "thump" someone.
I told her that isn't really hitting. I tried to explain to her how important it is that Luke not continually fall on his head that eventually it's going to hurt....................really bad. She said, "I know but sometimes Dad has..........................................."
"Issues?" I asked.
"Well, I think he isn't very smart." she said. I looked at her and she was serious!
I laughed. Then, I said, "Moriah, that isn't nice. Don't say things like that about your daddy. Besides, if he heard you say that don't you think you would get in trouble." She giggled.

Every time I would think about it, I would start laughing on the inside and a smile would break. Then, when he finally asked. I told him I would tell him later, maybe years later. But, I kept it for as long as I could. I had to share it! I told him not to be mad at her she has to vent sometimes. I'd rather she share her true thoughts (not that John being "not smart" is a true thought) than to bottle them up and explode when she is a teenager and unload the whole truck of what bad parents we are all at once. Even though, I know realistically this is going to happen anyway. John's only comment upon this new thorn in his ego, "It's started already! She's 9 and we are already getting dumber!"

Saturday night in the hotel in Atlanta, we were playing on the bed and Moriah was being her usually jolly self. She said something along the lines that she was smart like me (which is SO NOT true, I can only dream about having the creativity that she does.). John said, "I'm smart!"
She said, "No, no, no! You are UNsmart! You have a tiny brain." I'm pretty sure that I lost consciousness for a moment. The next thing I remember is this statement from her: "I heard somewhere that babies have little brains. So Luke isn't very smart either."
"Like who?" I asked. "Like Dad!" she said giggling.

After laughing for a while, I think I told her again that wasn't nice to say about her daddy and brother. I think I did. I may not have. Oh well, I thought it my massively BIG ol' GIRL brain!!!!!

Psycho Baby

I haven't written many stories about Luke. He is fine and doing super well. It's just that he seems to bring out the best (and worst) in Moriah and that makes for more interesting stories than endless stories about how he crawls everywhere (I've lost him in the house twice...he was under the kitchen table both times), pulls hair just so he can chew on it, and thinks he is a computer genius and he can do anything just by sitting on the keyboard. Luke is a happy child. His life has pretty much consisted of eating, sleeping, and smiling. But, for the past few weeks he has had some problems that has made him very irritable (at least now he fits in with the rest of us).

A couple of months ago Luke had 2 teeth on the bottom make their grand appearance. This seemed to cause him little pain...........us on the other hand, it hurts considerably when he gnaws on our faces. Those two little pearls were so cute in his mouth! But............................................ this past week he started waking up in the middle of the night, screaming in agony, and nothing seemed to help. We knew that he was teething but we didn't know the severity of it until this weekend. He gnaws and chews on everything from his own thumb to my face. Not to mention, the soles of his shoes, stuffed animals, teething toys, or (the one that irritates John the most) my Victoria's Secret underwear are favorites. Pretty much anything that he can get his mouth on has been used as a "chew" toy. He could not be consoled at times....no holding, no sitting, no standing, no playing.......just jump up and down, flailing about, and screaming as if to say "It's my party and I'll cry if I want to!"

Yesterday, "EUREKA!" He seemed to be in a good mood. Luke threw his head back and grinned really big and lo and behold.........the TEETH! He has 4 that erupted in a 24 hour period. Bless his heart. A few molars and he will be gnawing on T-bones.