Is this a problem?!

Can you see what he's drinking? I'd like to say that this is a totally isolated event!! That this is his first and last introduction to this sweet nectar from the heavens! But alas, I cannot.

I think it's safe to say that you may have a small tiny bit of an addiction when your kids are so used to seeing you drink DC (that's what I call it) that they call it "juice" and think it's just fine for them to drink! Yeah - that's a problem!! And is it a problem that I have a pet name for it (DC=Diet Coke!)? Um - I think so!

Where did it all go wrong?! I grew up not drinking any "cola" as my mom would call it. Even if it was caffiene-free, it wasn't allowed in our house. I never drank caffiene until my working days - when one busy season I was working 14-16 hours a day and everybody else was downing the coffee like there was no tomorrow. I clearly didn't drink coffee - so what was there to keep me going?! DIET COKE!!

Fast forward to today.................chances are if you know me AT ALL, you've seen me with a DC in my hand! Hello, my name is Jessica Sheen and I'm a Diet Coke-aholic! (just kidding - kind of ; )

The first step is admitting it - right? So there you go - I've said it - for all the world to read (or the one or two of you that read my blog!)

And - I'm cutting back. No - I'm not giving it up - let's not be drastic people!! Baby steps!

But I vow today that I am NOT buying a 12 pack from the grocery store every week anymore(Troy did drink some - not just me). And I'm NOT "going on a drive" with the boys just so I can drop by JITB for a fix. Maybe, I can order one when we go out to eat. Or maybe to treat myself on a really good or really tough day - I can go to Sonic for Happy Hour (99cent drinks 2-4pm daily) every once in awhile.

So, if you see me drinking my beloved DC - feel free to ask me how detox is going - I can use all the support I can get! Hold me to it people!

Daddy worship!

How great would it be if everytime you walked in the door to your house, everybody came racing to the door to great you, jumping up and down, with HUGE smiles on their faces, eagerly waiting for their turn to give you a hug?!

Well - I know somebody who knows that feeling well - in fact, he experiences it almost daily! This is what happens everytime Troy comes home from work. Why? Well, he has 3 little boys that absolutely worship the ground he walks on!! Yeah - they like mommy alright - she's pretty cool - but daddy..............he's the best!!

Here's the proof!!

They LOVE snuggling daddy and watching a good movie!
They LOVE watching him work on that computer!
They LOVE helping him mow the lawn and wash the cars (or just make a mess of the garage while he does it)!
They LOVE wearing his HUGE shoes!
What a lucky guy, huh?!

Alone!

Most of you would probably look at me as being a pretty strong, independent person, right?! And most of the time - I feel like that. I can venture into unknown territory, with 3 really little kids, all by myself and I'm usually pretty successful (though people watching might not think so.....they just don't know what my view of "successful" is). I have traveled by myself. I've even lived by myself (well with roommates who were never home).

So why is it on nights when my husband doesn't come home - I get FREAKED OUT?! Seriously - I know it's ridiculous. I live in one of the safest cities in the nation. I have a house with a great security system. Really, a burglar wouldn't have a chance!

But as soon as the sun goes down...................anybody else out there feel the same? Maybe we could have a support group ; )

America - what is wrong with you?!

Ok - that title could mean anything, really right?! But specifically - I'm referring to today's latest controversial headline!!

DAVID COOK WINS AMERICAN IDOL

Now I haven't been watching the entire season - but I did watch the last couple of weeks and the finale on Tuesday!! And seriously people!!

A 25 year-old guy with a guitar and a decent raspy voice (BORING! pretty much the same as every lead vocalist out there) not to mention some serious eye make-up

VS

A cute, humble 16 year old kid with a voice and talent that most seasoned performers would pay millions for!! (I was blown away by his performances in the finale and I'm not easily impressed!)

Was it even a choice? Well, apparently - because America chose WRONG!!! I was SHOCKED and APPAULED!

Thoughts? And don't give me the "Archuletta is young and will have lots of opportunities" because that is simply agism!!

Little blessings.......a hernia and conjunctivitis with an ear infection

All of you moms are taking note to stay away from the Sheen family, right? And where are the little blessings in a list like that? I'll tell you!

Hernia - We came home from church on Sunday expecting a relaxing day and hopefully an eventless week! HAHAHAHAHAHA - yeah right! So Jakey was outside jumping on the trampoline and came inside CRYING!! His stomach hurt - so I took him to see if he needed to go to the bathroom (sorry - but a necessary detail!). I look down as he's sitting on the pot and see a HUGE bump - if you can even call it that. Right where his abdomen and upper thigh meet, he had a "bump" the size of 3/4 of a roll of quarters. And he was in PAIN - serious pain. What to do? So I run him to the ER and on my way, leave a message for the on-call nurse. The ER was seriously backed up - so we had to wait and wait and wait - while my little guy was bent over in pain.

So we've been there for about 45 minutes and Troy calls for an update. So I go outside to take the call and Jakey - who hasn't been able to stand or walk - jumps down from my arms and says "It's all gone - I feel better." Just then the on-call nurse calls and says we can go home and just go see the Dr. in the morning.

We head to the Dr. in the morning and find (as I did on the internet when I got home the night before) that it's a hernia. So we have to take Jakey to see a pediatric general surgeon. Really - I was ok with that..................until I remembered a letter I got from ALL of the pediatric general surgeons in Austin a month before, saying that they were dropping our insurance!! WONDERFUL. They said we'd have to pay the out-of-network prices or go to Temple or San Antonio to find a surgeon that takes our insurance. Goodness!! What drama!

So where were the little blessings you ask? Well how about the fact that it happened on a Sunday when Troy was home!! What if I had had to take all 3 kids to the ER. And how about the fact that the hernia just went away before we paid the $75 ER fee? And we're waiting to see if this one pans out..........but the surgeons in Temple MIGHT make office visits at the new Scott and White campus in Round Rock!! That would be even better than going to Dell Childrens! Keep your fingers crossed for us on that one!! See - little blessings!

Conjunctivitis and ear infection - So as I put Zachy to bed on Tuesday night - I notice LOTS of yucky gunk (technical terms) in his eye! Great! I had already been to the ER and Dr already that week (not to mention my Dr that morning)! So I see what it looks like the next morning - and yeah - the kids needs medicine. Now I'm not a huge proponent of antibiotics - I try to not give medicine to my kiddos. But for something so contagious - do you have a choice?

So I take Zachy in - while Troy took the boys to lunch. The Dr. looks at his eye and says - yeah, conjunctivitis. And then he does his normal check-up and lo and behold, finds a WHOPPER of an ear infections. Don't kids usually show signs of an ear infection - like pulling at their ear or crying in pain at night? Not Zachy - what a champ!! But this ear infection was the "angry, red and thick, yellowy mucous" kind. Again - I don't like anti-biotics - and neither does our Dr thank goodness - but he said with this one we risked a perforated ear drum or hearing loss. So - OK, fine - now the kid's on 2 antibiotics - what can you do? At least he hasn't been on one in over a year!!

Again - where are the little blessings? Well - had Zachy not gotten conjunctivitis and had I not needed more of the eye ointment/drops - I wouldn't have taken him into the Dr and we wouldn't have found the ear infection - given what a CHAMP my little Zachy is!!

My life as a mom sure isn't easy - and there are NEVER relaxing, eventless weeks (not even days) - but I know things could be worse. And I know I need to recognize the little blessings that are there so often in my life that make my life just a little bit easier!!

Mother's Day Weekend!

It's always so much fun to get together with family over the holidays (yes - Mother's Day is considered a holiday - at least for all of us moms!). We're so lucky to have my sister Allison's family living just 3 hours north of us - in Dallas. Troy had a business meeting in the Dallas office on Monday morning so we headed up for a long weekend!

Our WONDERFUL husbands took the kids for the day and sent us out shopping to the Dallas Galleria on Saturday.......carte blanche! Oh, we were SO excited - totally ready to spend, spend, spend. Carte blanche, they said!! We had permission! And you all know what happens when you have money to spend right?! You find NOTHING!! It's Murphy's Law! Oh, we tried. We both tried on over way over 50 things throughout the day - but they just didn't work! We came home essentially empty handed - but we had a great day away and even got exercise walking from store to store!

While we were gone on our not-so-sucessful shopping trip - the men took the kids on a very successful Toys-R-Us shopping trip. Each kid got a sword and shield - and they battled eachother with them all weekend. Poor Jordan got tag-teamed by my boys!! Matthew even found a "battle mask" (Kylie's headband)!

Wow - can these 6 kids put down a lot of food! It felt like all they did all weekend was eat, eat, eat!!
And here's a picture of the cousins before church on Sunday. I know - this is NOT the best picture - but I took about 6 and this was the best we got!! You try and get these kids to look at you and smile all at the same time. It's IMPOSSIBLE!! We wish all of our other cousins were there too! We love you Jack and Eddie! The funniest thing about the entire weekend was the interactions between these little kiddos!! I had HIGH hopes of Zachy and Alexa being best friends!! Oh no!! Nope! Not even close!! This picture captures the one and only "nice" interaction between them of the entire weekend!

I would be holding Zachy in my lap and Alexa would come over to give him loves!! Alexa is a lovey, lovey little girl - which is SO sweet and adorable............until she gets so overwhelmed with her feelings of love that her little face turns red and her little head starts to shake and she attacks!! Even though Zachy outweighs this little pixie-girl by over 10 lbs - I think (he'd never admit it) - that he was a little scared of her!!

There was also the fact that Zachy is a big-time momma's boy!! He did NOT like mommy holding or loving on another baby. Zachy was a bit jealous! He's the baby...and he told us so!

Auntie Allison - Zachy, you want to give the baby (Alexa) loves?

Zachy - NO! (with his best grimace and pointing at her)

Auntie Allison - Zachy, is Alexa the baby?

Zachy - NO!

Auntie Allison - Zachy, are you the baby?

Zachy - YUP! (with a smile and one strong head nod).

Someday - they'll love eachother! What a fun weekend!

Who's Who?! - The Answer

Congratulations Sheyenne!! And thanks everybody for humoring me!

My sweet Zachy is first, Matthew is in RED and Jacob is in BLUE!

I know that was totally unfair - they both had glasses on and were smiling....and I know they look alike (a little bit)!

Thanks for playing!