Total Set Up

Because Andrew doesn’t yet seem to have the capacity to understand when throwing things in the house is ok and when it isn’t ok… we just have a “no throwing” rule. Which Andrew gets scolded for breaking several times daily. However, one of his favorite games is basically ‘fetch’. So, today he brought the ball to Marc and asked him to throw it so he could run after it. Marc told him several times that “we don’t throw in the house”. But after hounding… Marc finally gave in a tossed it across the room. Andrew watched the ball until it stopped then immediately turned to Marc and said sharply, “No throwing, Dad!”

I lost it.

Random Photos

Andrew brought me the cereal on the right one morning to tell me that it was "sad".

Andrew wanted the potholders on his ears so that he could be an "elephant".

This morning we were taking a popsicle stick to make towers with cereal and glue (peanut butter)

AJ checking out Papa H.

AJ would give his cereal a 2...

...on a scale of 1 to 10. With 1 being an old sweaty sneaker and 10 being a warm brownie topped with homemade vanilla ice cream.

The Cat's Out...

The official notice went out today – so now my entire department knows that I will be leaving my job. Everyone was very sweet about it and said how sad they were to see me go, but how happy they were that I was taking the opportunity to stay at home with the boys. I am glad the word is finally out, so it’s not like I have to keep a big secret anymore. I will also be glad when everyone is done responding to the notice and I can stop explaining myself over and over again. I really do work with a good bunch.

Jackpot

When I become a stay at home, I wanted to make sure I kept up Andrew's education. He is too young to for me to think of it as homeschooling, but I wanted to make sure we took a few minutes each day to intentionally 'learn' something. And because I have an infant, when I say a few minutes, I really mean a few minutes (plus, have you witnessed Andrew's attention span?).

Anyway, I found a PERFECT website today that breaks down little mini lessons for ages 2-4 year olds that works on themes, vocab words, letters, numbers, colors, shapes, songs, nursery rhymes, etc... And it makes it really simple for the non-educators like myself. It even provides links to appropriate color pages, images, etc... And it's all F.R.E.E. I am thinking within a week or two after I quit (we will all need time to adjust to the new schedule first), we will start these lessons. And I'll have the cutest class around.

You can't handle the tooth!

But AJ can!

ok, I know - that was lame.

The poor guy's been working hard on his very first tooth and it's been giving him fits these last couple days. Sure enough, I felt around tonight and it finally poked through. Well, currently, it's still just flush with his gums... but it's a sharp one. I would be cranky too. It's his bottom front left one. He'll be ready for ribeye in no time.

Overheard...

Daddy! I need my feet fingernails cut!

-Andrew

Pearly whites are hard work.

Well, for the most part, we are all healthy. I say that because I think AJ is teething. For 3 nights now he’s slept horribly until we give him some Tylenol (so we are a tad on the sleep deprived side) and he’s been warm and cranky.

Other than that, things have been going well around here. Friday night, my folks came up. So Marc and dad did some fishing, Mom and I (ok, just mom) made INCREDIBLE apple pies (which are gone already). I even tried my hand at some homemade applesauce. And of course, the kiddos got plenty of attention.

I don’t feel like I have much exciting to post about. Marc is currently at a buddies watching Monday Night Football and I am preparing to pay bills. Fun stuff. Both boys are down and I am praying has a better night.

Have a great week.

Four out of five days this week.

Well, we are becoming Rainy Day regulars.  Andrew is there today... he had a cough...again.  This time it is coupled with sneezes as well.  And the thing is, is that he doesn't know he's sick except for at night.  He's his happy playful self...with coughing.  But if I were the parents of other kiddos in his class, I wouldn't want him coughing and sneezing all over my kid.  So - to Rainy Day we go.  But when we got there his buddy, Myatt, was up there also and they were already running around playing ball before I even left. 

 

Nighttime is another story, through.  The poor kid could not sleep last night.  I don't even know how many times he was up.  And even when he was in bed, I know he really wasn't sleeping hardly at all.  He just coughed and coughed. 

 

So, I am not sure if he just picked up the cold that AJ had earlier this week or whether this is just his bimonthly coughing spell.  Here's hoping once the boys are out of daycare, they won't get sick quite as often, cause at this rate, we should buy stock in couch meds.

My Promotion

One month from today is Friday, October 20th, 2006.  That is the day my title officially changes from Administrative Secretary to Stay at Home Mom (or for the online world, SAHM).  That is the day my job becomes harder, but more rewarding.  It was/is a very bittersweet decision to leave my company.  It really is a great place to work and I spend my time there with really great people.  And, of course, I could go on and on about how great the daycare is.  But this decision we've made is the right one and the timing continually proves itself to be best as well.  Pray for us during this time of transition.  And so the countdown has begun. 

Don't you just hate Mondays?

My poor poor husband had it so rough yesterday. He had to spend all day shmoozing business folk on the golf course. Then he had to have a nice dinner with them. Then he had to go to his buddies place to watch Monday Night Football kid-free. Then he had to stay up too late and play video games. Oh, wait… did I mention that he won the raffle at the golf event and is now $300 richer? (For years now he’s wanted a dish so he can get the NFL ticket… this might be his purchase. Plus tivo doesn’t sound bad to me either – I hate commercials. We’ll see).

How would you like a giant sucker up your nose??

Well, last night was horrible with a capital H. On the good note, Andrew seemed to feel better last night, got his appetite back and slept pretty well all night. Now… AJ is another story. He has a simple cold and since he doesn’t have the basic ability to blow his nose, he couldn’t sleep, eat, use his pacifier, etc, since he could breath out of his nose… Did I mention that he didn’t sleep? And the few minutes he did, he sounded like an 80-year-old man snoring. I spent the night in the rocking chair because it just wasn’t even worth it to crawl back into bed for mere minutes. Finally, Marc thought to have AJ sleep in his car seat so that he could at least be upright a bit and once we got him down, I did get about 1.5 hours of uninterrupted sleep.

Needless to say, I took him to Rainy Day today. His first visit to Rainy Day. And he gets to go back tomorrow. Poor thing. To an adult, this cold would be a minor inconvenience… pop a few Sudafed and grab a box of Puffs Plus and you are set. But to an infant who is very limited in the meds available and really only has the option of getting his nose sucked out by a giant blue bulb syringe… colds stink!

When God answers, “No”.

Last night was awful. Both boys were up pretty much all night, which means Marc and I were up all night and therefore extremely tired this morning. We pretty much wrote of church in the middle of the night. However, the boys were up at 7:30, so I was up at 7:30 and figured, we are up… let’s go (and let Marc sleep). So, with an already short fuse, I am trying to get both boys and myself ready for church in 30 minutes. All the while, Andrew is a wreck… just whining/crying up a storm. I am tired, frustrated, rushed and he is not cooperating in any way whatsoever. I know my tone and patience where sharper than usual and everything that could to go wrong his morning did.

Finally, I got the boys loaded up into the car and my seatbelt wouldn’t work. This was the last straw and I confess that an ugly word slipped out of my mouth. At that point, I stopped, took a deep breath and prayed in the front seat. I felt under attack all morning, and I really did want to make it church.

Much calmer, we started off. I tried to cheer up my still whiny/crying Andrew by talking about the railroad track we get to go over and the choo-choo we get to drive by and the bridges we get to go under all on the way to church. And how he will get to play with his friends while there. About 8 minutes from home, we are stopped at the stoplight… and I hear Andrew puke everywhere. Lovely. “Ok, I guess we are going home”. Of course, that is when my whiny child decided to speak clearly, “No, I want to go to church”, as he is covered in nastiness. When the light changes, I turned into a parking lot rather than going straight and check on Andrew. With no way to clean him up, I just drive home.

He is now cleaned up, sitting in just a diaper and blanket on the couch, watching Mickey Mouse. I have laundry going and just got AJ down for his nap after several tries. Ugh.
I need a nap.

A complete 180

From 80's hair bands to Church Brunch/Bible study. Today I had a women's minstry brunch at church. I have to admit that I wasn't dreading it, but I wasn't super excited about it. But I am so thankful I went. It was really great. The food was good, the company was nice and the speaker was amazing by the grace of God. And I am now signed up for a Thursday morning Bible Study by Beth Moore. It's 12 weeks and I've heard nothing but great things about the study. Plus, I met the other ladies in my group and they really seem great. All with young kiddos as well. So I am looking at this as not only a way to get in the Word, but also meet some great ladies as well as get more connected into the church. Win Win. PLUS, it will give Andrew some socialization time during the week. Woo Hoo.

Let's get Rocked!

I am normally not a concert person. In fact, 99% of my radio time is spent listening to the calmest music on the dial. However, Def Leopard and Journey are coming to town. Both Marc and myself’s eyes got huge when we saw the commercial that they were coming. How FUN would THAT be!! Tickets are pricey of course and I doubt we will spend the money, but talk about a potential great date night!

Additional Confirmation.

Let's see... in an answer to prayer, Marc is currently attending Promise Keepers (for free) here in town with an old buddy. However, he just called an said that there is a good chance that he may be bringing two guys back to our home to crash tonight before heading back to the second session tomorrow. (They had hotel problems and with PK in town.... hotels are are packed.) But... our house is in no shape or form for visitors. And I hate that. Because I really want it to available at anytime for anyone. It's frustrating. Not that they may come, but that I am not ready for them. So... I really need to sign off and get to work.

My Two Zoo Monkeys

Phew...

Let the countdown begin...

Working for the weekend...

It's been a bit of a stressful one. Can't wait until it's over.

Isn't she pretty!!

My new niece, Klaryssa Grace.

Smooth Sunday

We had a nice Sunday in our home.  We started out at church where they announced who our new worship pastor would be (I am so pleased with the decision!).  Then the service was awesome again... that is until I got called out for AJ.  Little man just would not settle down for the nursery.  We hit Sam's for a quick diaper stock-up before heading home to a roast dinner.  We had homemade baked fries with our roast and Andrew exclaimed, "Mom!  There tato on my french fry!"

 

Then it was naps, and read the paper, and of course football was on all day.  Marc made pancakes for dinner which I think Andrew might have out-ate me, and Marc (with Andrew's help) made popcorn for our evening snack.  It was just a nice day.

 

And we found out today, that yesterday our new niece was born to Marc's sister. Can't wait to meet her!

I won't forget...

...I promise.

30 Months

Today is the day.  My toddler is 2 and a HALF.   That’s a big HALF.  That means he is on his way to being THREE!    Here is a quick run down of his favorites right now:

Singing – Cartoon themes (Veggie tales, Blue Clues & Little Einsteins), Deep and Wide, Happy Birthday, and his favorite… the Itsy Bitsy Spider
TV - Veggie tales, Blue Clues & Little Einsteins
Places - The Airport, the store (the kid wants to go grocery shopping every day), outside
Food - Hamburgers, raspberry yogurt, and spoonfuls of peanut butter
Phrases – “I have an idea”, “Mine hunee”, “where’s TB buttons?”
Activities – Running, running, running, jumping, running, jumping, playing with Kool-Aid play dough, jumping, running, running, playing with his salt tub, and jumping.

So happy half birthday to Andrew, my boy who currently loves his bubble baths, has Band-Aids on each elbow, and just can’t quite seem to reach his tricycle pedals just quite yet.  

One won’t start and one won’t stop.

AJ is now 5 months old.  Technically he got the green light to start eating cereal at four months.  At the time I thought…JACKPOT.  He was going through a growth spurt, daycare kept asking that I send more milk, and frankly… I was stressed trying to keep up.  However, since then he’s done a 180.  I took in one frozen bottle to keep in the daycare freezer so I didn’t have to bring three bottles each day.  And now I only bring two ‘fresh’ bottles daily.  But about half the time, he only takes one bottle while there and they have never touched the frozen bottle. (Needless to say, my freezer stash is growing…yea!)  I’ve also tried cereal a couple times since I got the go with no luck.  He is in no way shape or form interested and it just makes him infuriated that you would even suggest inserting such a foreign substance in his mouth.  I do believe that I do have a reverse-cycler on my hands.

In contrast, I have Andrew who tonight, we could not fill up.   He kept saying he was hungry and kept eating snacks, meals, and drinks.  We kept tell him he was going to get a bellyache, but it was like he had a hollow leg.  Plenty of cereal for breakfast, TWO hotdogs for lunch, yogurt and peanut butter crackers for snack.  Chicken and rice for dinner, and in shell peanuts with daddy before bed.  And he drank water like he’d been on a desert island the first 29 months of his life.  If this is a glimpse of what’s to come… I may have to figure out how to make my garages sales more profitable.

Last Minute Fundraiser

This morning, I took AJ and we spent the first half of day at our friends putting on a very impromptu garage sale.  Each year there is an art fair by her house, so the streets are lined with cars.  Many houses put up garage sales to take advantage of the traffic.  So on Thursday of this week, we decided to do the same.   Since we did the zoo on Thursday and had a dinner get together Friday, I didn’t have much time to really pull things together.  But I took about 3 boxes worth of stuff and came away with most of it gone and $38.50 richer.  I could buy this or this or even this.  But alas, I had restraint and put the majority of the profits in our “date night/babysitting” stash.

However, right now I am kicking myself because I had this Marilyn Monroe bottle of wine that I just looked up on eBay and it is currently selling for $99.99.  Um… I sold it for $1.  ONE FREAKIN’ DOLLAR!   And of course, it was the FIRST thing that sold. Someone out there is rejoicing in my naivety.

Oh, they would put me in the zoo if they could see what I could do!

I only had a three-day workweek this week.  Nice.  Due to a scheduled then canceled meeting at work, I decided to take today off.  And a good day it was.  The morning started out how it usually does each day.  Then I gave Andrew a little bit earlier lunch and nap so…

… We could go to the ZOO!!

Yup, both boys and myself went to the zoo this afternoon.  And although out local zoo itself is nothing (and I truly mean nothing) to write home about, it was a nice afternoon.  Because school is back in session, we really had the place to ourselves.  We took our time with plenty of breaks (snacks, potty, nursing, etc…), even hit a few things twice (wooden train Andrew liked to play on), and were still done in 3 hours.  Which is just about the right amount of time for a 2 year old and infant.

I took the stroller and the sling and alternated between AJ riding/Andrew walking and AJ in sling/Andrew riding.  We took water and snacks.  The weather was perfect.  It was empty enough that Andrew could run a bit and not have to “hold on” all the time.  I think he really enjoyed it.  

However, at the aquarium, he found “Dory and Nemo”.  And when he saw Nemo, he got this sad look on his face and said that Nemo was sad.  I asked him several times why and with a look like he was ready to cry Andrew just kept answering, “Because he is.”   We really don’t let him watch Finding Nemo, since he has gotten upset/scared the few times he has seen it.

But we saw monkeys and turtles and penguins and flamingos and wallabies and other animals from all over the world.   But when I got him in the car the following conversation took place.

Mom: Andrew, did you have fun at the zoo?
Andrew: Yes.
Mom: Did you see lots of animals?
Andrew: Uh huh.
Mom: What was your favorite animal?
Andrew: Jippy.

…Jippy (Andrew’s pronunciation of “Jiffy”) is the name daycare gave any squirrel that they happen to see.   A squirrel that we saw crossing the walking path seemed to have made the most impact on my son’s trip to the zoo.  Goofy kid.

Month Count: Cinco

My baby turned 5 months old yesterday.

He is cooing and smiling often, and has become a master at blowing raspberries.
He’s found his feet with his hands, and can reach out for his toys on his playmat.
He is officially sleeping in his crib now (at least for the first part of the night).
He loves his brother and thinks he is the funniest thing.
He loves being outdoors and calms instantly when nothing else seems to work.
He is a pro at spitting up… nailing us each and every time after he eats with a large volume of loveliness.
He still has his defined bald spot on the back of his head.
His favorite time of the day is first thing after he wakes up in the morning, but he’s almost equally happy right after each nap.
He is adorable as all get out.

And I love him. Bunches.

No, you are.

While in the parking lot where we leave our car for work/daycare, the shuttle bus was waiting for us as usual and I was trying to get AJ out of his carseat when Andrew asserted, "Hurry up, Sweetheart!".

We don't mess around...

Get this... our dinner last night consisted of:

 

Marinated Teryaki Pork Tenderloin - Grilled

Grill Green Peppers

Baked Potato Fries

Corn on the Cob

Homemade Rosemary-Parmesan Rolls

 

...Granted it took us all evening to pull it together and we didn't eat until 7:30, but it was good!

Our day off in a nutshell

It’s been a nice Labor Day weekend.  Sunday morning, Marc was still on his fishing retreat, so the boys and myself went to church.  Again, it was amazing.  I admit I really struggled with whether I could drag us there that morning, since the night before was awful.  A.W.F.U.L.  Between the boys, I was up and out of bed at least once each hour throughout the night, not to mention being awake while in bed.   Sleepy was I.  But, 7 o’clock rolled around the next morning and we were all up, so… might as well go to church.  But I am SO thankful we went.  It was really great and worship was incredible! That afternoon was naptime and just hanging around the house sprinkled with a few walks.  

Today once we got up and around, we packed up, grabbed some lunch and ate at the airport.  This made a very happy two year old.  (And a very happy mama since we got Quiznos).  We got home in time for us all to take naps.  Then we packed back up with the intention of eating dinner at the lake, but decided last minute to take ice cream sandwiches and drop in on our friends.  So after a nice quick visit, we hit Meijer for much needed diapers and milk.  A cart full and $104 later, we headed home.  Both boys then fell asleep on the way home.  Now, we put the grocery away and we are just chilling out on the couch.  Me-typing.  Marc – eating his new favorite food, in shell peanuts.

Will anyone pay minimum wage to a two-year-old truck pusher?

Speaking of Toddler Tastes, I think it’s Andrew’s turn to go through a growth spurt. For the last month or so, getting him to eat was like pulling teeth. I would ask him if he was hungry and he always answered no…too busy to stop and eat. And when we would sit him down… he would just pick at bites here or there. However, these last couple days, literally every hour or so, I hear, “My hunee, mom” (I’m hungry, mom). And each time he eats… and eats well. We’re going to have to start putting him to work.

Toddler Tastes

Today, during AJ’s naptime, Andrew and I made Kool-Aid play dough.  We actually played for quiet a while this afternoon with our play dough.  We made handprints and feet prints, and hotdogs, and birthday cakes and cutouts and pizza.  While making the pizza, I asked Andrew what he wanted on his.  His response: “Chicken and Watermelon”.

What?!

Gordon from Sesame Street, aka: Trash Gordon is on Law an Order!

Man of Steel

Our long weekend started off on a good note. Friday night, Marc and I had a long overdue date night. Since we didn’t celebrate our anniversary last month, we are counting this. We got a sitter and went to see Superman Returns in the IMAX Theater with 3D scenes. And it was….A.W.E.S.O.M.E! I don’t know if it was the low expectations to begin with, the novelty of 3D and a HUGE screen, or the incredible music that was so nostalgic, but I was glued and enjoyed every minute. (And the new Superman looks really like Christopher Reeves). When it was over, we realized that we still had over an hour before midnight, when we told the sitter we would be home, and since we hadn’t eaten since we fed Andrew at 5:30, we were starving. And Chili’s was right there. We love Chili’s fajitas… Good night.

And come to find out, the boys did incredible for the sitter as well. Granted we didn’t leave until almost their bedtime. So on one hand, she only really had to watch the boys for about a ½ hour. On the other hand, bedtime can be the trickiest time of the day. But Andrew went down right at 8:30 and AJ at 9 and both were still out when we got home around midnight. My little angels.

Today, we just hung around the house. We cleaned before the sitter came over, so we were able to be more productive today. Marc got the crib up, I got 3 mac & cheeses, 1 pan of baked oatmeal and 7 mini banana bread loaves made for the freezer. Marc then packed up and headed south to meet my dad for an overnight fishing retreat at Marc’s uncle’s cabin. I think both guys were really looking forward to it. So, it’s me against the boys again tonight. But so far so good. We took a nice walk, and had dinner and now both boys are in bed. So I am flipping through crappy TV, while surfing the net, putting off cleaning my messy kitchen from today’s frozen assets.

Tomorrow the plan is to get to church (always a challenge with the boys by myself), lunch, naps, etc… Marc will be home early evening. And then…. then…we still have ANOTHER day off! Right now we are thinking of taking just a morning trip to a little tourist town about an hour away, walk around, have lunch and be home by naptime. Nothing too exciting, but I am not complaining. Have a great Labor Day!

Inaugural Night in the Crib

Well, almost five month old and this weekend we FINALLY got his bed up.