Hard to Believe

As I sit and listen to the noise of a baby swing going back and forth and the sound of little feet running upstairs, with the occasion scream, both from my wife and my other two deliquents, trying to wrestle them into the bath tub, my heart is at peace with the world. Well, Baby Cate turned a month old on Friday. It doesn't feel real, since she has only been home for 2 weeks. She is adjusting FINE to the craziness in our house. Yesterday (Sunday), I was cooking some deer meat for my family to feast on and she was in the kitchen in her swing screaming, at the top of her little lungs, nothing was wrong, she was crying, hungry, dirty, nope, just screaming for the sake of screaming, all DNA testing that I thought about went out the window at that moment, I knew that that was a "pure D" Cantrell kid. She really has been doing very well, she is eating well, sleeping well, well any parents out there know that the word "well" is completely relative and changes tremendously when you become a parent. She seems to be gaining weight, don't know for sure, just because we do not have a scale here, who needs one, they just stress you out anyway. She really is just a great baby, the kind of baby I like, can't move, sleeps alot, doesn't talk back, and eats whatever you stick in their mouth, without complaints. I wish all kids stayed that way, till 21, now there's an idea, I might start a novena for that one. But, seriously, Cate is really doing well, it seems. We go back to the Dr. next week, so I will be updating you on her condition again soon. Ok, so what most of you come here for besides Cate. I seriously get so many comments about our family, and I do not make any of it up, it is to good to make up, and I am a pretty creative person.
The other night we were at a surprise birthday party for a friend of Ali and mine, when Ella asked if she could go to the potty, I said sure let's go. We are sitting in the bathroom, Ella, taking care of business and I am sitting on a stool, when she looks at me and said, " You know Dad, I love these shoes, this skirt, and this shirt together" at that moment I realized that I was going to broke in the next few years, I have a daughter who is EXTREMELY fashion conscious, at FOUR, and another one who came out costing more than my house, just kidding.
Dude, has taking a liking to his sister, one that we must watch CAREFULLY. He has this wooden sword that my mother-in-law, GOD BLESS HER, I love you Cheryl, bought him at the ripe old age of 2. Now, I realize that the many books I have read on raising boys and the masculine heart are true. We found our son the other day, stabbing his ONE MONTH OLD sister with his sword, saying, "I kill Baby Cate," people, we don't watch violent cartoons or movies or regular tv for that matter, I have never threatened to "kill anyone," I might say "damn" every now and then but, I have not been known to threaten to "kill" people, so I have NO idea where he gets this stuff.
Dude was running through the house the other day with his toy gun, yes he has toy guns, he is a boy. Going BANG BANG, Ella and I were sitting on the couch watching this fiasco and I asked Ella, "Ella, what do you think he is shooting at?" She responsed saying, "Deer, daddy, he is shooting deer. I like to eat deer. Sure wish you would kill one soon" Yes, my four year old gave a serious shot to my pride as a deer hunter. So this past weekend I finally killed a deer, brought the head, only the head home. The kids come running to the back door to see the spoils that daddy has brought home. Daddy, is proud of his kill, to which my loving daughter says, "Daddy, that is a small deer, sure wish you would kill a big one" Typical woman, NEVER SATISFIED, they are hard wired from birth, just like little boys.
Final one, then I have to call it a night. I get home the other day and am greeted by the usual screams of, "Daddy's home!" Give hugs and kisses, they go back to playing, Ali and I are chatting in the kitchen, when I see Dude pass heading towards the laundry room, no big deal, nothing sharp, deadly, poisoness, or bone breaking in there, so Ali and I continue talking, after a few minutes I notice its pretty quiet in there. I proceed to the laundry room to find our cat eating quietly out of her bowl and our son, laying down on his belly, licking the water out of her bowl. To which Ali and I did the good responsible thing, laughed, to which he thought was funny, therefore it will happen again! Well, my wife just yelled that my son is peeing down the stairs.
If Baby Cate can survive here, no heart defect will even have even the remotest effect on her! Well, until next time, thank you again for the continued gifts that have flowed into our house and all the thoughts and prayers. We love yall!