And  here’s Lily’s version (complete with subtitles):

dad: do you know what helping means?

lily:  yeah.  it’s like if a cheetah runs over you and then a fireman comes to help.  that’s helping.

dad:  you’re right.  that’s helping.

hilarious!  at least she’s getting the gist of it, right?

for a few weeks now, we have been rewarding lily for good behavior by giving her marbles with the goal being to go out for ice cream as a family.  this evening we were able to celebrate lily by going out to graeter’s (more on this later).  later, at bedtime, tom prayed over lily.  he thanked God for her and said how proud we are of her, as well as asked for protection over her.  anyway, this was her prayer that followed.

“dear Jesus,  i’m proud of myself and my family and i’m proud to be an american.  thank you for helping me win the marble race.  please protect me from the “eminites” (i.e. enemy) from the “robberts” and “mudder goffel” and people in the woods who shoot animals and make them die.  in Jesus’ name we pray, amen.”

how do you know when your family is complete?  there seems to be no exact science in how to come to that decision.  i fully understand that God might have different plans for me.  He might even be smiling as i type this at how sure i am that i know we are done.  however, in my heart, i do feel complete.  not saying that i couldn’t or wouldn’t welcome another child, i most certainly would . . . but if i’m being honest, i’m hoping it doesn’t happen.

after giving it a lot of thought, i have narrowed it down to these five reasons . . .

1.  my kids are awesome.  i know that in the past i would tire of hearing how great people think their kids are, but now that i’m a mom i totally get it!  lily and gus absolutely drive me bonkers sometimes, and i’m not kidding myself by thinking that i don’t do the same thing to them.  but there is nothing that they could ever do to make me not love them for the unique kids that they are.  i’ve said it before, and i’ll say it again, they have completed me in a way that i never knew needed completing.  my love for them runs so deep and i don’t feel that i need any more children to feel fulfilled.

2.  the cost . . .  i’m not just thinking about college tuition or a wedding either.  paying for another cesarean section, diapers, food, clothing, school expenses . . . and then eventually college, possibly a wedding, etc.  it all adds up!!  right now we are able to live comfortably and provide for our children.  adding another might very well make the difference between comfortable living and feeling too stretched financially.

3.  pregnancy . . . i actually think that i do rather well as a pregnant person.  ok, i snore a lot (or so my husband tells me) when i’m pregnant, but that only lasts for nine months.  however, walking around for months without having to suck in my stomach is a major perk . . . am i right, ladies?  but with the fun of not having the monthly “friend”, the sorta cute maternity clothes, and the awesome hair that comes with pregnancy also brings swollen feet, not being able to sleep on my stomach, barfing every time i have to feed the dogs their food, and out of control emotions.  (admittedly, people that know me best might think that i don’t need pregnancy for the latter . . . sigh.)

4.  weight loss . . .  i drop baby weight . . . fast . . . and i’m not ashamed to shout it from the rooftops.  if i were a celebrity, i’d probably be one that women get pissed at for losing the weight in a matter of weeks.  however, that is pregnancy weight, people.  i’m not embarrassed to admit that i packed on several pounds between my two pregnancies.  after gus was born though, i was absolutely hell bent on losing all of the weight . . . pregnancy and laziness weight.  i did it, with help of weight watchers, and i’m in absolutely no hurry to have to go through all of that again!

5.  the dark cloud that is PPD (postpartum depression) . . .  i get it, and it sucks.  brooke shields has no idea how her willingness to write about her own struggles with this helped me.  should i ever meet her, i will tell her just that.  i had never experienced depression before being hit with it after lils was born . . . and it absolutely scared the hell out of me that i’d get it again the closer it came to gus’ arrival.  i absolutely credit my doctor’s (both in orlando and cincinnati) for helping me through such a miserable experience and for prescribing wellbutrin.  it saved my life, and that is no exaggeration.  i hope to never go through that again.

6. (ok, so i added one more!)  see the picture at the top of the page?  this image is what prompted the decision to be made in the first place.  it may just look like a picture of a family’s toothbrushes, but to me it means so much more.  it proves completion.  it shows that we need to be content with who we’ve been given, and that there is no need to add anyone else.  it means that, if i did get pregnant again (nice one, God) we’d have to rip out this awesome original toothbrush holder from the 1930′s to make room for a bigger one . . . and that i’m really not wanting to do!

lily:  luke, can we get married?

luke:  no.

lily: (immediate body language / facial expression change . . . now with arms folded and a scowl on her face)  why?

luke:  because i’m marrying someone else.

christy:  who are you marrying, luke?

luke:  tori.

lily:  well, i’m marrying my dad.

luke:  you can’t marry your dad.

lily:  yes, i will.

(as she moves from off the floor she walks by him and glares while saying…)

i will marry you.

as lils would say, “herlarious!”  even though it was a funny conversation my heart truly did break a little for my girl.  she was genuinely hurt and sad.  luke is absolutely her number one guy, but more in a brotherly way.  who knows what the future might bring for them.  at the very least, a lifetime of friendship and happy memories of playing together.  besides, i hear this tori girl gave him her phone number and a few of the numbers were backwards and some were even missing, so lils shouldn’t be too worried about her!

well, it’s happened.  i have a child who is a biter.  gus has recently discovered that his little teeth can be used for more than just chewing his food but also a weapon to retaliate against those who take his toys, “hug” him around the neck too hard, etc.  lily has not been the only recipient of this behavior.  i’ve personally received a few bites when holding him / playing with him . . . on the shoulder and even once on the thigh which really did hurt.  there are two incidents that specifically stick out in my memory (and i’m sure in lils too!).

one day, while at the grocery store, i decided to be the cool mom and let my kids “drive” the car attached to the front of the grocery cart.  i’m sure some of you have experienced these monstrosities before.  you know, the carts which are practically impossible to maneuver and stop on a dime?  anyway, here i am, attempting to push this around the store, trying to get my coup-on, when all of a sudden i hear my daughter screaming, “no gus! no gus!”  i run to the front of the cart only to find gus chomping down on lily’s little shoulder.  big tears rolling down her cheeks she’s yelling, “why did he bite me?”  after correcting him, i tried to explain that sometimes babies just bite but sometimes it’s the only thing they can do when being provoked.  after all, i had just seen her with him in a headlock!  needless to say, gus quickly became the lone driver of the car.

the second, and dare i say, more loving incident happened just a few days later.  we had just pulled into our driveway and i had finished unbuckling lily.  she walked over to gus’s seat to give him a kiss on the lips.  bad idea!  she pulled away with a bloody bottom lip.  though it was hilarious, i really did feel bad for her.  poor girl, she was just trying to be affectionate with her little brother, only to end up wounded!

in the end, this has been gus’s biggest fault thus far.  i’d say we’re doing pretty good!!

oh, and i’m sure that he could give charlie a run for his money.

enjoy our video recap of our great week at grandma’s!

i knew the party was going to be on a much smaller scale since i had a much smaller budget (thank God for the dollar tree!), but i did spring for a few special things like fun fabrics to make a birthday banner and neat personalized invitations (thank you etsy!).  we decided on a carnival theme . . . partly because i wanted it to go with the banners i had made and partly because it was easy to find what i needed at the dollar tree.  we gave away favors of candy and pinwheels (the latter of which always makes me happy . . . just like gus!), ate cupcakes with sprinkles, and even had a “cake walk” with the kiddos (thanks again for the idea, franki!).

we are super lucky to have so many great friends in orlando who gave up their day to celebrate sweet gus.  even though he wasn’t feeling all that great, and lily was a total pill,  we still enjoyed ourselves as you will see.