The boy likes cake

It's a hot Sunday. The kind where you think it's going to be not so hot, so we turn the air off, but it turns out super hot, but you keep thinking, it's getting later in the day, it will start cooling soon and then we won't need the air, but until then, we're just sticky hot waiting for the few puffs of cool breeze that will come through our open windows.

Yesterday was a nice day. We got up and just hung around the house and napped. I made a boatload of waffles, we watched some Sesame Street and just had a nice day. Then Marc and I got a rare treat. We went out on a date for his birthday. We got a sitter and we went out to dinner with the Dresslers to Rio Grande. It was SO GOOD! Marc gets his dinner free, so we go all out and get a steak and a full rack of ribs! Between the meals, sides, soups and bread...we had enough food to eat a nice lunch of leftovers today. It's kinda a pricy restaurant but when you think we got 4 meals for the price of 1...well...it's our standard birthday restaurant. Anyway, then we (just the two of us) went and saw the new Batman movie. It's the first movie I've seen in a theater in I'm not sure how long. And, it was good, too. I would recommend it.

This means, we didn't get to see our little boy that night, since he as napping when we left and was down for the night when we got home. Of course, I peeked in on my little man who was down for the count but with a different outfit than I left him with. Apperently, the sitter allowed him some birthday cake (which I ok'd) and he created an unbelievable mess. Too bad I missed it.

This morning was church and it was great. Then we came home and like I mentioned earlier had a really good leftover lunch. Once we ate, it was nap time for Andrew and myself and Marc went fishing. I love Sunday naps. Our house is still messy and there are a thousand other things I should have been doing, but c'mon...it's Sunday...it begs for a nap! After we woke up, Andrew and I played outside for a while with some water.






We had blue water and red (pink) water and made purple water and got both Rocky and Andrew soaked. The rest of the night we just hung out, had a gourmet dinner of blue box mac & cheese and hot dogs, and got a tub for Andrew.

We still have to pick up the house, get things ready for tomorrow, put laundry in the dryer and shower (did I mention how stinkin' hot it is today)? Well, have a good night.

They hand hath provided

Great is Thy Faithfulness
Great is Thy Faithfulness
Morning by morning new mercies I see
All I have needed thy hand hath provided
Great is Thy Faithfulness
Lord unto me

Church was awesome this morning.

My little Picaso..

What happens when I get too busy making waffles in the morning...

A few shots from Marc's surprise party.

Make a Wish!!

Boys just wanna have fu-un. 

One of Marc's lovely gifts. Thanks guys!

Horror to Hurray

OK, so I am on the phones this afternoon, when all of a sudden on my caller ID is Andrew's daycare.   AAACCKK!  Why would they be calling me?  What happened?  Is he ok?  Did he collapse from hunger?  Is he still crying from this morning????

 

Nope!  They called to tell me how WELL he was doing.  In fact, they said they were so surprised themselves because he seems like a whole different kid.  He ate a good breakfast, he ate a good snack, he ate a good lunch and he was already asleep for his nap.  And get this...lunch of all things was tacos and oranges.  ORANGES!  I've never been able to get him to eat oranges.  In fact, that's what I give him when I want to see his face scrunch all up funny looking.   (Yes, I am a mean mean mom).

 

Anway, I was so happy I about cried on the phone.  They said he was laughing and smiling and running and acting like he'd been going there for years.   Praise the LORD!   I can't tell you good I feel right now!  Thank you for your prayers!!  Thank you  - Thank you! 

Jump-out-and-yell-surprise!

Well, many of you know and some do not, but on top of EVERYTHING else that's been going on with work and daycare craziness....I had also been planning a surprise party for Marc.  Well, it was last night and it was a hit.  He was surprised.  Although, not the jump-out-and-yell-surprise, but surprised we had the night planned for him.  We had a good turnout, too.  There were 16 of us there, plus 4 kiddos at Zap Zone, a laser tag/arcade type place.  We got hooked up by a friend of ours and was able to get anyone who wanted to play 2 laser tag games and a bunch of tokens on the house.  I had other people bring snacks, pop and cake, so literally it was a perfect set-up.  He even got some gifts...one of which I will have to post a picture of at a later time.   

 

Other than my little man being pretty fussy and clingy so that I had to have everyone else do the work (maybe that was the plan from the beginning, eh?), it was a really fun night.  He even warmed up to his Aunt Kari long enough for me to sneak in a game of laser tag (it helped that we let him take off his shoes and run around in his bare feet - and just not think of all the ickiness that he could be stepping on or the totally black feet I had to clean off later that night).  Back to laser tag - I totally lost.  I was the worse of the both teams.  However, on my behalf...I had to step out of the game for a minute 'cause my contact popped out AND was told later that the gun I was using was the worse one there (like any of that would have mattered...laser tag guru I am not). 

 

Ok, let's see other than the party, would you like an update on the usual...the kiddo?  He did fine at daycare yesterday and took a really good nap for them, but is still refusing to eat while there.  His teachers even found some of their own crackers to give him so that he would at least have something since he was there all day.  One of them even mentioned that if there is something that I think he might like, that I could bring it for him today. 

 

This poses two problems for me. 

1)  I am paying for his lunches...I don't want to pay for a lunch he is not going to eat, and then pay for the food to send with him. 

2)  I don't want him to get used to the fact that mom will send back-up food if he doesn't eat what daycare offers.  

 

That being said...I sent some peanut butter crackers with him today.  I understand where his teachers are coming from.  They said that not eating the first week isn't uncommon and since he is there ALL DAY just yesterday and today, not eating means a little more than when he is just there the usual 4 hours.  I mean...I don't want my kid to starve.  The kicker is, is that MOST of the food that he's been offered is food he likes.  So who's to say he would even eat the crackers? 

 

On a good note:  I dropped him off this morning and he fussed for like 2 seconds when I left.  By the time I even got the door closed and peeked for a few minutes back in the window (where I couldn't be seen), he was fine.  His teacher was pointing out cars that were driving by out the window.  He had some milk and some Rice Krispy cereal waiting for him...so here's hoping he eats some of it.  

 

We really don't have big weekend plans.  We are going out to dinner on Saturday (Marc's actual birthday) to Rio Grande, a really good steak place where the birthday boy eats for FREE!  Then he want to go see the Batman movie.  I'm not about that one yet.  We have yet to find a sitter and by the time you throw sitter, dinner & movie...well, you do the math. :)

 

Nobody likes cold wet wipes first thing in the morning.

My test post worked. So now I don't have to be in Blogger to post. This is a good thing.

Ok, ready for an update on the DrewMiester? We got up early-squirrally this morning and poor little man is NOT a morning person. I'm not sure WHERE he gets that. (*yawn*). So he was cranky. But it was hard to determine whether he was cranky because I woke him & changed his diaper and clothes or if we wasn't feeling good. I mean, how would you like a cold wet wipe on your bottom first thing in the morning? Because he hasn't been eating well as DC, I made a quick smoothie of milk, banana, peanut butter and a squirt of chocolate syrup (just because I love him) so he wouldn't totally starve and he could drink it in the car. We made it out the door with shoes in backpack. They were the last thing I was going to worry about.

We got the day care at 7:30. Just in time for breakfast. Pancakes with syrup AND they got to use an adult fork. If we were home, this would have been heaven for my little man. But according to him you would think it was the opposite. Again, he clung to me and cried whenever I tried to let him go. Although, they did give him some milk and you would have thought we just pulled him out of the desert.

Finally, I had to leave and he had to cry and I had to walked sadly to my car. I did call when I got to work, and they said he didn't eat, but he was playing and was fine. He only cried for a few seconds and they were guessing he was done crying by the time I reached the parking lot. Hopefully he will sleep well for them today since he was up early and hopefully he will eat well for them today so he does add hunger to his sore teeth and sleepiness. Marc might try to pick him up a little early today. We'll see. I really want to get him on a routine, so this may actually not be a good thing. I may call later and see how he is doing. I gave them Tylenol to give him if necessary.

His regular teacher shows up at 9:30 which is soon. Hopefully this will help him get through his day a little easier.

Test Post

This is a test post.  This is only a test.  Had this been a real post it would have been filled with deep meaningful content that would have brought tears to your eyes and smiles to your faces.  It would have moved your soul to go out and better yourself and the world.  It would have made your cherish what you have and encourage you to give to others.  It would have been life changing.

 

But this is only a test.

 

(Supposedly, I can e-mail posts to my blog.  This is what I am trying to do)

Warm Fussy

So, this morning Andrew woke up on the wrong side of the bed. I think he is teething. He was warm, and fussy and didn't want to be put down for anything. Not even Cheerios. He wouldn't eat and was lethargic. This seems to be his typical teething pattern and I know he has like 4 teeth coming in right now. Needless to say this morning was rough. He just wanted to be held, which made it tricky to get ready. Marc had to constantly hold and distract so that I could get ready for work.

I left early this morning, since I needed to swing by my old office and drop off a baby gift for an ex-coworker's shower that I can't attend. Then I had a doctor's appointment, that got canceled 20 minutes before it was supposed to start. Of course, I was already on my way, so I just came into work early. I found out once I got here, that the calendar had me in early anyway, so I guess it worked out fine. Although trying to reschedule was a HUGE pain. Oh well.

Because of all this, Marc got the priviliage of dropping Andrew off at Daycare. And a priviliage it was. I guess Andrew was literally clinging to Marc to the point where Marc had to pry his little fingers off him and hand him to his teacher. And he was screaming. AUGH! Good thing I wasn't there, or I probably wouldn't have left. I did call his classroom this afternoon and talked to his teacher. She said he was doing fine. He didn't eat anything for lunch, just drank milk. He hardly napped, and woke up in tears like he didn't know where he was. But overall, she said he was doing fine and even got a few more smiles out of him today.

Tomorrow and Friday he is there all day. I really hope he is feeling better for both his sake and his teacher's sake (and my sake).

Also, he got to take candy bars with him today. Next week's theme is camping, so we've been asked to bring in 'Smore' parts. So we brought in Hershey bars. He also has to bring in a little flashlight and blanket or sleeping bag. Hmmm....all we have at the house are huge maglights. May have to check the dollar store for a little flashlight. But it sounds fun, doesn't it?

Well, today I worked downtown in a new position covering for someone who is off. It's so new that I really didn't know what in the world I was doing. I'm still not 100% sure, but the ladies have been wonderful trying to work with me. It's one of those jobs where I could write out what to do, but then there are SO MANY exceptions that they 'just know' that is makes it really hard to pick up on. But I am here the rest of the week, so it will be good training if nothing else.

Not my problem is this. His teacher hinted that I may want to consider "Rainy Day" tomorrow. Rainy Day is the sick child daycare. But you just have to have an uncomfortable child to use it, such a child teething. They will get more one on one attention. It doesn't cost more and should have availability since attendance is low this week due to vacations. However, A) This is his first week and only his fourth day of daycare, I would hate to totally change his routine already and plop him with entirely new people and B) tomorrow is a FULL day. I drop him off at 7:30 and pick him up at 4. It's not just a short few hours. So I am praying that he makes an overnight recovery and I won't have to even consider this decision in the morning. Please pray for him as he is still cranky and running a low fever. Please pray that regardless of where I drop him off tomorrow, he goes smoothly. I don't know if I can take a departure like I one he had today. Please pray that he eats tomorrow. He hasn't eaten well at daycare (ie: sometimes not eating at all). It's one thing when it's just lunch, but he's there all day tomorrow including breakfast, lunch and snacks. That's a long day for a little boy to not eat.

Ok, I need to get going. I have a ton to do tonight, plus I have to have little man and myself totally ready to go and out the door by 7 tomorrow morning. Plus it's 10 and he's still up and fussing and I'm on my own tonight. Marc went to Uncle Art's tonight where he'll meet my cousin early in the morning for a day of fishing. Ok....just pray. Thanks!

DayCare DayTwo

Well, we recovered from DayCare DayTwo. He did really well once again. However, he would not nap. His teacher was actually just getting ready to get him up and give up on the nap, when he finally laid down and conked off for about 50 minutes. So, we tried to put him down when we got home. He laid there and talked and shouted for "DaDa!" for a good 45 minutes, but again, he never conked off. So today he had a total nap of 50 minutes all day. All day! And get this...at 9:00, he was still going strong and happy. Little odd man. :)

Although all day he's been warm. Not full fever warm, just noticably but slightly warm. So he got some Tylenol and went on his merry way. He is getting his "i" teeth in, but he's acting fine. Just wondering if that may be why he's not sleeping. Who knows since he's not really fussing either.

Turtles Eat Bananas?

Well, it's another slow day at work. I haven't even started my chart copy shift yet. I cover both hospital department phones from 1-2 which normally keeps me hoppin'. Not today. S.L.O.W. day. Then, when I finally do start my 3 chart copy hours, I have a whopping 4 to complete. Snooze-City. I would rather be super busy than bored. And the thing is, is that there is truly nothing else for me to work on. So...I'll plan my grocery lists. Make a few calls to doctor offices, check the weather, plan dinner, etc...

Andrew did good today when I dropped him off. He was still a super cling on for a while. But he was willing to sit and paint for a few minutes while I was sitting right next to him. Then his teacher let him feed a banana to Splash the Turtle. He REALLY likes Splash. (I know what you are wondering...turtles eat bananas??? I didn't think it was true until I saw it with my own eyes. That turtle got obviously excited when the teacher walked over with the banana and almost violently devoured each little piece that was thrown in.) Finally his clinginess wore off a bit when on of the 'friends' pulled out a drum. This distracted him enough that I could stand up, rub his hair and say bye-bye. I snuck out and he didn't even look up. No tears. Happy Momma.

First Day of School

Well, today was Andrew's first day of school. And I was nervous for him.

He woke up early this morning, so I knew right away that he would be tired well before his scheduled nap time. He ate oatmeal and cheerios and he watched his Sesame Street as usual. I tried to get everything ready for today last night, so that this morning would be as normal as possible. We got him all dressed, the car all packed and headed out about 10:50am. He was so tired already that we had to play and count during the ride so that he would stay awake. We got to our lot and unloaded the car. He got to run around a bit while we waited for the bus. The bus came, I had a lot to carry with him, all of his stuff, and all of my stuff, but we managed. He just sat next to me on the bus...not quite sure what was going on. First time he's really ever rode without a carseat.

We get to his daycare and find his room and he instantly becomes a cling-on. This makes it quite challenging to unload my bags and fill-up his three baskets. Although he does show some excitement over the turtle, "Splash". So we talk to his teacher a bit, and get unloaded and he gets brave enough to get down and play with some cars. I think that since he is distracted and happy, that I should sneak out. Well, he saw me as I left and I saw him long enough to start crying pretty hard and trying to get to me. AUGH! I went ahead and left anyway, but it was AWFUL! I was dying!! Of course, my day at work was s.l.o.w. so the minutes ticked by and I didn't have a clue how he was doing. In my head I knew he was fine. After all, he does great with babysitters, in the church nursury and when we visited last time....but still I felt horrible. Next time I will definately hug "goodbye" and not "sneak out".

So finally around 2:45, after I knew naptime would be over, I just sucked it up and called. I got to talked to his teacher who said he'd been wonderful! He cried for a whole 15 seconds after I left and has been fine since. He didn't eat real well, but that's ok. And he napped great! Wowsers! I felt SO much better. She said that he still had his pacifier (which we only let him have while napping), but they didn't want to take it from him since it was his first day.

Well, four o'clock rolls around and I practically run down the stairs and over to his building. I get to his room and he doesn't see me for a good couple minutes. During this time, he is totally fine and just playing with the kids. Finally he sees me and then his little pouty lip comes out. He doesn't cry, but instantly becomes a cling-on once again. I talked to his teacher once again who said he did SO GOOD and went down for a nap great with no tears. He got a great report card and even made a project to bring home. This week's theme is "water fun", so he made an 'aqaurium' out of a baggie, sand, blue water, and some plastic fish, however it was already leaking on the way home.

So now we are home and he is down for a nap since he only slep for 1.5 hours so far. We he gets up we are going to run some errands and maybe hit McDonald's to celebrate the good day. Thank you for all the prayers and here is hoping that tomorrow is just as well if not better.

First Day of School Picture - Sorry - No Backpack Pictures

First Day of School - Breakfast of Cheerios and Oatmeal

First Day of School - Project 

First Day of School - Report Card

Baby Spa Treatment

Little man had his 15 month well baby appointment yesterday (although he is 16 months - we are month behind). He is weighed in at 25 lbs 14.5 oz. which put him the 50th percentile. And he is 35 & 7/8 inches tall which put him in the 95th percentile. his Dr. said he was doing really well and growing great. But the poor little man had to get his shots which I can TOTALLY sympathize with now. And now, because he is a big boy, instead of laying him down, they have him sit on my lap. I stick his foot between my legs and hold his arms while he gets 2 shots in his thigh. I felt sp mean. Especially during the second shot when he was screaming and writhing. Fortunatly, I have the bravest little man and he recovered within a minute or two.

Sidenote: Currently he is sitting/bouncing on a balloon watching Seasame Street. Thankfully, the balloon is currently holding his 25 lbs and 14.5 oz. And it's a full balloon. I'm almost waiting until it pops and freaks him out.

Well, I went to work yesterday, we got home, Marc made dinner of brats and mac & cheese. We worked in the yard for a bit since Marc got an edger from his friend Steve, then we packed up and went to the mall. Marc needed new blades for the edger at Sears and I wanted to price shoes. Plus, Andrew didn't take a second nap and we needed to keep him awake. Which worked but the whole reason we keep him awake was hoping he sleeps in in the morning. Which he didn't this morning. Anyway, we went to the mall and just walked around. We let Andrew play in the breakfast food playarea. (If you are reading this and not from the area...yes, the mall's play area is large plasticy breakfast foods - I have no idea why.)

We got home and Andrew got a nice little mommy spa treatment. He poor little feet are so dry, they are cracked and peeling and blistering, plus he has cuts and scrapes from running on the cement. One foot has such a large blister, it looks like a 6th toe. I can't figure out where that came from - he hardly wears shoes and when he does, it's his sandles that don't touch that spot. I even brought it up to his doctor, who just said to leave it alone. Well, I didn't touch the blister, but I am trying to be pro-active with his feet. So, rather than a full bath, he got a nice little warm soapy foot soak in the sink to clean them and soften them a bit. They he got a little foot massage with a lotiony concoction my aunt made up. Then he slept in socks. Man, to be a kid again.

Big Trucks

This is a post I wrote yesterday afternoon, but just now posting now:

This morning Andrew and I got up, ate breakfast and headed to daycare. Today was a visit, so that Andrew could meet the teachers, see the room, see the other "friends" (as they call them), etc...Well, we get there at first during morning snack time. He does NOT want to let go of me, until that is, he is offered his own seat with his own plate of grapes and graham crackers and his own non-sippy cup of apple juice. He sits and proceeds to teach the teacher how to steal third (or ask for more graham crackers in his own exagerated sign language). He did like drinking from the cup by himself refusing help most of the time and he only dumped half of it down his shirt. He did touch the grapes, but after convincing the teacher he needed a couple more graham crackers, snack time was over.

Then it was sensory activity time. On one half the room, there were paints and brushes to paint cardboard tubes. He was interested until we put a paint smock on it. You would think it was hot lava. His interest in the paint was over. Then we saw Splash, the class turtle. Boy, Andrew found him very exciting since he was a busy turtle...swimming, tucking his head in and out, push a log.... This helped Andrew a bit, although he was still staying VERY close to mom.

We moved over to the other side of the room, we the "friends" were in the "rainforest". They had golashes and mini umbrellas and squirt bottles. But they had to wait for the clouds to come to squirt and when the sun came out they had to stop. Some of the "friends" got a little damp with this game. Andrew didn't really take part in this one, though he did enjoy watching and stood by himself during it. But boy, when it was time to pick up and put things in boxes, he jumped right in there.

Finally it was time to play outdoors. Andrew managed to close every door on our way outside. But finally went we did get out....it was like "Mom who?" He took off. There were slides and swings, and trucks, and the squirt bottles, and a mower, etc... He had a blast. There were even airplanes that flew overhead that stopped the boys playing long enough to point to them in the sky. When there was about 10 minutes of outdoor time left, some construction workers started working a little ways away using some big trucks and a BobCat forklift. Andrew immediately forgot about all the toys and was glued to the fence. He just stood there with his face pressed against the chain links watching the big trucks. It was so cute that I wished I had my camera. He just stood there the entire time...watching.

Then it was time for us to go. I had to get him home so I could make it back there for work. The teachers were really great with him and I think he will be just fine. We need to get a few things for him yet like duplicate items he can keep there (sunscreen). But he'll have a regular basket for his change of clothes, sunscreen, cups, etc... A nap basket with his sheet, pacifier, tag blanket, etc... And a diaper basket with his diapers, wipes, any ointment etc... They will also send home a daily sheet telling me when he napped, how he ate, etc... Overall, I am looking forward to him starting on Monday.

Stay Tuned...

Ok, work was a litle slow today and while there I wrote a nice post about our visit to daycare this morning. But I forgot to send it home, so you'll have to wait until tomorrow to read it. Sorry.

Bumps & Bruises & Airplanes

Andrew officially learned how to go down the stairs on his bum. Full thud thud thud all the way down. It's funny.

Today was a nice day. We got up early and headed to Andrew's doctor's appt. Then we still had time to come home and hang out a bit before I had to head to work. Work was much lighter today and I managed to get Andrew's daycare packet filled out save the part that his petiatrician has to complete. After work, Marc hung out with a buddy, so Andrew and I hung out for a while and ate leftover chicken lasagna (not a favorite in this household). We hit Meijer for a few odds & ends, then hit the playground on the way home. I tell you...that kid gets so beat up, I swear we don't abuse him, but he gets more bumps and bruises and scrapes, one may think we do. Anyway, he loves the playground. He loves the slide and the steps and the airplanes that fly overhead.

After we got home, we played for a while before bedtime. During that time, Andrew learned that if he presses on Mommy's puffed up cheeks, she 'spits' out a puff of air in his face.

Tomorrow we go and play at Daycare in the morning for a little while. Here's hoping he likes it.

Don't Miss the Bus

So we start our busy week today. Today I had a meeting at 11:00 downtown. Which I really didn't want to go to since both my boys were home today. It was hard for me to leave at 10:30. Then I get downtown and find a note on the desk that says, "Sorry - we have to reschedule." AUGH. So now, I could go straight to work early or dink around or head home since I don't have to be at work until noon. I really don't want to go to work yet, since Monday's are usually slow and I guess I'll already be bored part of the time. BOY WAS I WRONG! It was a record day. 19 transfer requests....boy my feet were aching and my calves were mooin'. So tonight after dinner and an attempt at a nap by our little man, Marc and I headed to the mall and went shoe shopping. We didn't buy anything, but found what I liked and sizes and etc... Boy - good shoes are pricey!! Have to put little man to work more. :)

We got home and got little man in the tub and to bed. He is so sweet. He lets us rock him now and I LOVE rocking him. He closed his eyes and relaxed right away and you would think that he would be totally asleep except for that his little hand his just twists and twirls his tags. Even when I laid him down, he didn't open his eyes at all, but he didn't stop playing with his tags. It's just too cute.

Tomorrow morning, we have to get up and out early for Andrew's doctor appt downtown at 9:00. Then work again. Not much more is going on. I need to get a large packet filled out for daycare - hopefully tomorrow I'll get that done so that I can give it to them on Wednesday. On Wednesday we are going for a visit in the morning to daycare from 9:30-11 so that Andrew can get a little used to it while I am still there. Although I don't think I'll have him ride the bus that morning. Unless I can find parking. Have I mentioned that I can have Andrew ride the shuttle bus with me to and from daycare? As a hospital employee, I can't park onsite. I have to park offsite and ride a shuttle bus in. It really isn't bad at all. But I thought that I was going to have to find a spot at the hosital, drop Andrew off, go park offsite, just to ride right back in to work. Then again (only opposite) after work. This would add a good 20 minutes both before and after work. When I only work a 4 hour shift...an extra 40 minutes is a lot. But...thankfully he gets to ride the bus with me which will make things much easier. I will probably have a armfull juggling my stuff, his stuff and him, but we'll be fine. The bus drivers usually even have treats for the kiddos who ride.

Ok, I need to get going. Have a good night.

Tear-Free for a Reason

Well, it's Saturday and another crazy week went by. Can I mention again that I will be glad once we are on a regular schedule? Andrew in daycare on a nap schedule he can handle, not having to deal with daily sitters, back to having time to actually clean my house (or something somewhat close to it). Yes, that will be nice, but it won't happen next week. Next week is even crazier than this week, but I won't go into that now. I'm sure you'll read about it eventually.

Today was a nice day. First of all Andrew let me sleep in. My allergies have been acting up (yea...not sure where allergies came from anyway), so I took a Benedryl before bed. Of course I didn't set my alarm since that is what my son is for and it's Saturday. Well, when Marc's mom calls and wake me up at 10:30am...I practically panick. Why didn't I wake up sooner? Where's Andrew? Why didn't he wake me up sooner? I answer the phone and tell her to hang on before she can barely get "Hello" out and run to Andrew's room, where he is just laying in his crib playing with his tags. I get him and head back to the phone shocked that we both slept in so late. Good boy Andrew!! (Marc was gone this morning fishing).

Anyway, we ate breakfast while watching Sesame Street and just hung out until about noon. We had a test at 1, so I get some toys for Andrew to play with and we all head downstairs to bathroom so that I can take a shower. (Our shower curtain rod broke in our bathroom upstairs). Well, Andrew decided that he was going to get in the shower with me - since there is really no barrier that keeps him out. So I strip him down and let him in. He enjoyed himself splashing in the water until he stood up then totally slipped and wiped out and screamed for the next couple minutes until I convinced him that splashing water at Mommy is fun. Since this was an impromtu (but still much needed) shower for Andrew all I had regular shampoo...not tear-free shampoo. Apparently, you wash kiddos with tear-free shampoo for a reason. He started rubbing his eyes right away, then crying, while I am trying to hold a super slippery kid under the running water to wash away the evil shampoo as fast as I can while simultanously taking a dry towel and wiping his eyes. We went back to the splashing Mommy game as soon as we could. I don't think we'll be doing the shower thing again anytime soon.

So we get all ready and we head to a product testing where we tested 6 different kids of cheese crackers....and Andrew loved them all. Tonight we went over to the Uelands with the Dresslers for pizza, dessert, pool, chit chat and cards. It was a really fun night. The girls totally beat the boys. And the kiddo was good and went down really well over there. It helps that the Uelands have babysat him a couple times before and he's sleeps well there. So now we are home and I am going to head to bed - I took another Benedryl and can feel my legs relaxing.

The plan tomorrow is church, lunch, clean the house, read the paper and nap (not necessarily in that order). Oh, and of course, get everything ready for Monday. That's about it. Hope yours is relaxing, too.

Tale of a Baby Human Boutique

Ok, this is a great store. If you have kiddos - check this out!

Run of the Mill...

Well, I haven't posted in a few days. And not because nothing has happened, but I've just been busy. But not busy with "too exciting to keep to myself, I must blog about" activities. Just "run of the mill, day in, day out" activities. The kind that would bore you into not checking in here ever again. Let's see what I can post about...

Well, I started my part time schedule this week and I really like it. I try to get up before Andrew does. Which getting up isn't the problem, it's the "before Andrew does" that is sometimes tricky. We are trying to get him to sleep in a bit, since he now needs to stay awake until after lunch. And let me tell you...about 2 hours after he gets up, he is READY for a nap. He turns into Mr. Hyde (or is it Dr. Jekyl) unless he has your constant entertaining attention....or food. But I want him to get on day care schedule. So...that's what we are working on.

Work is fine. Somedays is a absolutely, crazy, can't stop to get a sip of water, busy. Others...it D..R..A..G..S.....on forever. That was yesterday. Today was a good mixture. But I was there until 4:30 (not a problem) to cover phones again.

Well, I'm not sure what else. We are half way through our week and that means half way through our sitter issue. It's going fine so far and Andrew seems to be doing fine, thankfully - even though it's different everyday. Our evenings have been fine as well. Monday, Marc went fishing and we hung out. Yesterday the Stoll's came over and we grilled on our tiny charcoal grill. (except our fire kept going out, so dinner was at 8 - and we started well before that) But it tasted good.

Tonight is clean, clean, clean. We have our friends coming over to the house tomorrow and Friday to watch Andrew and well, since they are going to have run of the house, we need the place clean. Not just that part that everyone normally sees ('cause you know they just might snoop) :)

Ok, well, I need to get more done. Have a nice night.

This is what happens when you refuse to take your second nap. 

I know I said I was done with it, but...

AUUGHH! Click here and here. Sorry you have to hear about it again, but it's my blog and I can vent here if I want. :)

If you don't 'get' this post. Read here.

Remind me to breathe

I had to get a TB and an MMR shot today. OUCH! I totally understand why my toddler holds his breath (the nurse had to remind me to breathe), then lets out a scream followed by tears. IT REALLY HURT! And it STILL hurts. The MMR one, that is. I can't feel the TB one anymore. Hey, at least they were totally free. The ups and downs of working at a hospital.

I got to pop home at lunch real quick today and little man was napping. I was bummed, but didn't want to wake him. Well, about 10 minutes before I leave, he woke up. Which I think was actually worse than him sleeping. It made it harder for me to go back to work and harder on him to see me (but I was still glad I got to see him). :)

Today was CRAZYNESS at work. I was almost running trying to get everything done. I've been given a new responsibility at work. I will be covering the phones at BOTH campuses during lunch (12-1) everyday. Which is fine - it will be busy, but will be fine. But I also start my PT schedule next week. Which means, after I finished covering phones at 1, I will only have until 4 to complete the chart copies. It will be tight! At least I won't get bored and will get my exercise. Gotta keep those steps up. Did I mention many of my steps are stairs? Each of those should count for two steps. Then of course I come home and many of those steps are lugging around a toddler or pulling a wagon with a toddler. Those steps should count as two also. I'm at 11,100 now.

Well, Marc talked Ryan (who he stayed with in Detroit last night) to go fishing with him at Uncle Arts tonight. So, they drove back to our place to pick up the boat and headed down. That's two nights in a row, Marc's been gone. However, I think it will be great for the boys. First of all, Ryan is one of Marc's best friends and Marc misses him much since Ryan moved to Detroit. Second of all, Ryan's life is stressful since his wife is currently pregnant and on bedrest (she's already gone into labor once at only 25-ish weeks), so he's currently working and taking care of thier 16 month old (who was also was an early bird). So this will be nice for the both of them.

Well, now I am trying to watch a Legally Blonde, it's almost 10pm and little man is STILL CRYING since I put him down at 8:30pm! I've been up there many times, which quiets him down for about 5 minutes, then he starts right back up again. Ok, Have a great weekend.

Early bedtime for all.

Well, I made it another day and today was another busy day at work. It's 9:44 and I'm at 11,000 steps. And I'm tired. Marc has to be in Detroit tomorrow so he spent the night at the Sischo's house tonight.

So it was just me and the little man. We got a quick dinner, played inside for a while, played outside for a while, and took a nice walk with the wagon. So by 7:30 Andrew was so tired he was crying constantly over everything....he wanted something, so I would give him what he wanted, then he still wasn't happy. Nothing pleased him. So at 8:00 (an hour earlier than bedtime), I gave him his "B" and paci, and rocked him and he totally calmed down. We just rocked for about 15 minutes and I put him to bed. Hopefully he won't wake up tomorrow at 6am.

So, since I don't have much to write about here is a video I shot yesterday. It's choppy and don't turn the volume on since all you'll hear is loud popping, but still cute anyway.




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Well, I need to get to bed early. I have a 7am meeting so I need to leave at 6:30. Yikes! I pray my sitter (the same one I mentioned yesterday) remembers to be here early since Marc is gone.

Have a nice night.

Fireworks and Bubblebath

So - it's Wednesday and I get a call today from my sitter saying that she can not babysit for me next week. No "sorry", no "can you see if you can find someone else", nothing....just a "I just wanted to let you know that I can't babysit next week". AAUUGGHH!!! So guess whose been scrambling tonight to find care for Andrew. Fortunatley, I will only work part time (knock on wood) next week. I think I have the week covered, though. I just need to confirm with everyone. But still.... C'mon!

I thought that I would spoil Andrew a bit tonight and put a little bit of bubbles in Andrew's tub tonight. So I get the tub all already, get the little body all naked, and lift Andrew to put him in the tub. You would have thought I was attempting to put him in hot lava. He was terrified! So I finally get him in, but he is S.C.R.E.A.M.I.N.G. And this kid normally LOVES tubs!! So I crawl in the tub with him and continue to quickly wash him (because he truly did need it) while he is completely clutched to me.

That's two things this week that have totally freaked him out. Fireworks and Bubblebath. And he is not normally a kid who is scared.

Today was a decent day (other than the sitter issue). It was actually slow at work, which was actually kinda nice. When we got home, we had leftover roast for dinner and played outside for a while. Then there was the tub fiasco...another bedtime of Andrew having a hard time settling down at night. Other than that, pretty calm night. Marc and I are watching Law and Order, cleaning during commercials, and pretty much just getting ready for tomorrow.

I can't believe tomorrow is Thursday already!! Then the weekend is right around the corner.

More Importantly, Drink My Coffee

Did you have a nice long weekend? We did! It was really nice. Not too crazy, not too boring. Just a right mix.

Mom came up Saturday evening and we went to Applebees for dinner. Then we hit Meijer since we had less than one roll of toilet paper in our entire house. So we got a few things, got spoiled by Grandma a bit and headed home. We played outside until it was Andrew's bedtime, then mom and I just vegged.

Sunday, we played hooky from church (*sssshhhhhhhhh*) and just had a really nice day. We got up and played outside, and in the pool and took a walk and put Andrew's new wagon together and finally got his tricycle put together. When the guys came home, Kari and Andy came over and we all had a nice roast for dinner. We played outside until Andrew's bedtime then we broke out the poker chips and mom took us all to town.

Monday was more of the same...playing outside, playing inside, eating, etc.. However, toward the end of the day, some neighbors were lighting little firecrackers in the street. Andrew was terrified. Each time one would pop, he would stop playing, get this horrid look on his face, run over to Marc or I, and start crying until we pick him up. Then he would put his head on our shoulders and wrap his arms and legs around up and grib tight. Poor thing. I felt bad for him, but it was also nice that he was cuddly since this kid usually slows down for nothing but cheese.

Today was CRAZINESS!! Like I mentioned before, I was covering for the busy office this morning, by myself, after a long weekend. It was nuts. It would have been a super busy crazy day for the regular girl, let alone this newbie. I think I managed it ok and don't think I ticked off too many people too bad. :) But it seriously was so busy I didn't have a chance to stop and think, or more importantly, drink my coffee. I was exhausted by 1:00 when the regular girl came back. Then I had to eat in my car and head over the other hospital for my 'real' job. Which was also busy - due to the long weekend.

So needless to say, I pretty much just played this evening and didn't do too much. Marc grilled hambergers, so Andrew and I played outside. He had trouble going to bed tonight (might have been the fireworks still going on). So once we got him down (the first time), we sat out on our deck with rootbeer floats. They didn't last long, but it was nice still. Then it was time to get to work. We got Andrew down again (I think for the last time), cleaned up the house and got everything ready for tomorrow. So now I am blogging and Marc is playing PSII and talking on the phone to his folks. Now you are up to date on our lives. Not real exciting and if you have made it this far....I'm sorry there was nothing too earth shaking for you to read. Maybe next time.

Well, I need to shower and hit the hay. Have a nice night and don't forget to comment on the video below.

Video Test

This is a test to see if I can post videos here. My test video is one of Andrew shortly after he started walking. Leave me a comment to let me know if you can or can't see the video, how long it takes to watch if you have dial-up, etc... and any other comments. Thanks!!




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This is Crap!

I am SO blogging about this...

So Andrew takes a nice long nap this morning from 11-12:45. We hear him waking up and chatting to himself, so we don't rush right in there to get him. Finanlly he starts fussing, so Marc heads into his dark room, picked him up and sits in the rocker to rock a few minutes.

Then and only then did Marc realize that Andrew had no diaper on and had pooped. I hear a "HELP!" come from his room. I run into the room to see Marc holding Andrew out at arms length and a big ol' poop in his bed.

We lay Andrew on his changing pad and find poop all over his legs, feet, inbetween his toes, on his hands and yes, even a little on his face. So I picked up the poop in his bed, we used a trillion wipes to clean him off and Marc puts him in the tub. However, we then realize that Marc had poop ALL over him! We literally had to roll his clothes off him in order to not get it on him. And he had JUST got out of the shower, too.

So Marc is washing Andrew, and I am cleaning up the room. I start to strip the bed and find "it" smeared all over blankets, sheets, etc... THEN, I look down and find another big poop halfway across the room on the floor with bounce marks along the way. Apperently, this poop was a projectile at one point.

So I get all the clothes, blankets, sheets, etc... in the wash with a prewash, hot water, extra rinse and a touch of bleach. Little man gets out of the tub and starts playing not caring one bit that he just totally pooped everywhere and on everything. This funny this is, is that his diaper was not poopy at all, so he totally did it AFTER he pulled the diaper off.

Moral of the story: Do not a put a toddler down for a nap without shorts over his diaper. E.V.E.R.

TGI Fourth of July Weekend!

Today, I found that on Tuesday morning, from 8am-1pm I will be covering the desk ALONE at the MAIN HUGE hospital. AUGH! Not that the work is hard, but it is SUPER busy and

A) I still don't know who people are and what they do which a huge part of the job
B) I don't have my distribution lists set up on Outlook yet for paging which is another huge part of the job
C) we'll be coming off a long weekend, which means it will be even more crazy than usual
D) I'm sure there are 100 little things that could pop up that are not an "everyday" thing, therefore I did not learn them in my few days of training.

Pray for me.

So right now, my son is happily playing with a clean baby food jar and about a gazillion bobby pins he found from last weekend's wedding. Bobby pins in, bobby pins out, bobby pins in, bobby pins out. You get the idea. It's better than a few minutes ago when I first gave him the jar and put three pennies in it and tightened the lid. He would fuss until I took the pennies out. Then sit and work real hard for a while picking up the pennies from the hard wood floor, putting them in and closing the top all by himself....then fuss because he couldn't get them back out. Funny man.

And today is FRIDAY!!! Woo Hoo!! Funny - how when I was a stay at home mom, Fridays were really no different than any other day, but now....yowzers! It's FRIDAY! Now lets just pray that Andrew will sleep in for me as well as he's been sleeping in for the sitter and we'll be all set. Although I have a TRILLION things to do before tomorrow afternoon. And I don't want to do any of it. In fact, instead I made sugar cookies (Grandma O's - Marc's favorite) tonight instead of cleaning or grocery shopping. Why?! Because my desire for something sweet overrode my desire to clean. Go figure. But I am up to 9,685 steps today already at 8pm, (I told you today was busy), so I don't feel too guilty.

So tonight and tomorrow afternoon, we'll just hang out and clean. Tommorrow evening, Marc is heading to 3 Rivers where he will meet my folks. Mom will leave Dad with Marc and they will fish and spend the night in the cabin and mom will come on up to GR. Sometime Sunday, the guys will come up the rest of the way. They will stay until Monday afternoon. Although, we really have no plans while they are here. Just hanging out.

Tonight I had to run all the way out to Allendale after work with Andrew to switch cars with Marc. He and his neighbor are fixing both of our cars. However, when we got home and our normally good dog got into our trash and it was EVERYWHERE!! I had cleaned out the fridge yesterday, so apparently, our "too old to eat" leftovers were "too good to pass up" dog food. But boy, it was a mess!

Anyway, I think I'll veg/play for this last hour before Andrew goes to bed and then kick it in high gear then. I hope you all have a safe and wonderful holiday!!

Happy Independence Day!!