baking soda magic trick {chase got stung}

i was watching him play in the water table from the kitchen table.

he was scooping up mud and sand.

not a single piece of clothing on the boy.

he was so happy.

i couldn't keep my eyes off of him.

i could tell he was just so happy to be completely naked,

covered in sand and dirt,

with his hands in all of soaking wet.

then all of a sudden he picked up something black.

a bug.

oh no,

a bug.

a bee bug.

i went to open the back door to yell at him to let it go,

and that's what i saw his entire body jump and his little face burst into tears.

i ran out, pulled the stinger out that looked like a thorn from a rose bush,

and scooped him up,

covered in mud and sand and water 

and carried his little shaking body inside to the kitchen sink.

i put that little finger under the coldest water my sink would provide and left him sitting naked on the edge of the sink while i reached for the baking soda.

i'm always hoping it's a yellow jacket sting so the baking soda actually hurts,

but either way, i'm convinced that even if it's not, just the act of baking soda makes it feel better.

brennan and max agree.

then i carried him through the house to the lazy boy chair in the big room.

he sobbed out the entire story,

while shaking uncontrollably.

he cuddled up to me so hard,

squeezing big tears out through his shut bright blue eyes.

and i just held his little naked muddy sandy body right up next to mine in that chair,

promising him that the stinger was out, and his body would soak up that ouchie bee juice any minute and make it stop hurting.

pretty soon we were all up and at em again,

inspecting the water table to any more straggler bees,

and chase spent the rest of the day telling his tale of bee sting woes to all of his siblings, neighborhood kids that came by, and workers there were in the house.

he grew up a little bit from that bee sting.

i won't ever forget how good it felt to be hugged that tight.

but now there's one underneath the dishwasher too {there's a FRANK for that}

dehumidifiers.

fans.

heaters.

and more fans.

that's what our house has been like since monday.

because at 5:30am sean came downstairs to start paperwork to a small pond in our kitchen.

every time chase comes inside he turns off the fans in the kitchen and yells at me that they're too loud and to turn them off.

i'm so glad it's warm outside because aint nobody wants to be inside a house full of super charged fans.

i turn them off at meal times.

it's heaven:)

thank you dishwasher.

thank you for waiting until the basement was finished to do this:)

wait, thank you for NOT waiting another 6 1/2 weeks.

actually, what if the ceiling wasn't there to catch all of that water?

everything that was down there...books...pictures...treadmill...would have all been soaked.

so really we feel like we dodged the bullet on this one.

the insulation soaked up most of the water.

the damage to the ceiling in brennan's room looks like it's going to suck back up and never be noticed again.

and the kitchen floor.

which is now bowing up and needing to be replaced.

well, we aren't so sad to say goodbye to it anyway.

so if i don't think about the money at all,

it's actually not so bad.

because guess what,

as of tomorrow,

i won't have carpet under my kitchen table anymore.

just don't think about the money though...

after two days not one single appliance guy ever being able figure out why the dishwasher actually flooded our house, sean and i laid on the floor for half an hour with flashlights on wadded up towels with it running. waiting on pins and needles, praying for it to pee its pants so ta speak.

and well,

that darn dishwasher wouldn't perform.

it was dry as a bone. 

the 

entire 

time.

sean laid there for another hour and a half.

and still nothing.

not one drop ever.

never have we ever been so happy we spent $99 on RC willey's extended warranty.

bc now a brand spanking new dishwasher is coming to the gibson home next week.

after the floors go in.

and maybe life will return to normal for a few weeks before it won't again.

not gonna lie though.

trusting the metal box in my kitchen with the sprinkler inside of it 

won't ever be so easy for me ever again.

water alarms.

we have them all over our house.

but now there's one underneath the dishwasher too:)

lesson learned.

also, don't lay on the floor at 32 weeks pregnant for half an hour on wadded up towels.

not smart.

...

{a HUGE thank you to our good friend FRANK for always coming to our flooding emergencies before i have time to cry for too long. if you need FRANK, you can call him at Anchor Water Damage & Restoration 801.269.0343. no one will treat ya kinder. NOBODY! 

for once, the wet bandit wasn't max. who knew!? 

whatever or whomever your wet bandit is, i assure you, there's a FRANK for that.}

always such a good sport too.

toes AND fingernails.

per his request.

and then he demanded a napkin to wipe each and everyone off of his fingernails.

upon which he declared, "DARE-dat beTTer."

i guess his girly side doesn't extend beyond his toes.

sean was so proud.

or maybe it's just his constant need for NOTHING to be on his hands;)

either way, we girls always have a great time dressing up our chaser man.

always such a good sport too.

i can't reach my toes anymore.

it's a problem.

giant desert turtle

{the turkey button officially POPPED today. where i officially become an outie for the next 7 weeks, and i have the cleanest belly button on the face of the planet. softer than a baby's bottom i tell ya.}

...

every night brennan and i read together on our bed.
i take my compression tights off,
get into my jammies,
then it's makeup down the drain,
and lotion on my face while he flips through the books he's gathered for us on any given night.
once i'm all comfy and my face is all ready for nighty night,
i read one book to him.
he reads one book to me.
repeat.
we lock the other kids out.
sean wrangles the other two monkeys in their respective rooms,
and one by one he gets them down.
but brennan and me?
this is our time.
and i cherish it.
each and every day.
it's my favorite part of the day.
where he snuggles up next to me,
and doesn't move a muscle.
just listens and reads.
heaven.
out of all of my children he has taken the most interest in feeling the baby move.
or maybe he's just had the most quiet chances of the evening to enjoy it.
either way,
every night when we read together he loves to put his hand on my belly.
and spends the entire time feeling his brother move inside of me while i read.
i know he will remember these nights always.
something he will never forget.
something i will never forget.
i love the look on his face.
how he lights up every time his brother kicks him from inside.
it's like christmas morning excitement every time.
i think he will tell his brother about this when they're older.
at least that's what i dream about him doing.
and then every night he tells me how much he LOVES my big fat belly.
because he LOVES to rub it.
that's what he says.
he takes both of his hands and rubs my belly like a magician and alaKAZAM like.
giggling with a HUGE smile all over his face.
after we finish reading he says his prayers on my bed,
rubs my belly a few more times as a bonus before i send him on his way,
and then he usually hugs my belly a few more times after that,
like it's his own personal giant desert turtle.
and tells me he thinks the baby is for sure hugging him back too.
tonight he saide he's glad i won't go back to being skinny right away
because he doesn't want my big fat belly to be gone.
i told him it's not as fun to rub when there's no baby inside of,
but he says he knows for sure it will.
and then he thanked god in his prayers that my belly wouldn't go away right after the baby comes out because he wants a little longer to rub it.
gosh, i love that kid.
and i love this belly that is getting really heavy and hard to carry around.

{tonight's dinner highlight: baby getting the hiccups, and everyone putting their hand on my belly for a good 5 minutes to feel him BEAT like a little drum every time. chase of course was running around with his cars, trying to not eat his dinner, and asking when he could have a treat. also he tried to get sean a napkin and tortilla chips. and more juice. a few times. 

all while the big kids were mesmerized by the hiccups. and sean and i just looked at each other like, welp, this is what our dinners look like. god bless them and this little home we get to have them in. crazy as they are sometimes.}