Chocolates for Breakfast

I'm getting reprimanded for not posting. Apparently grandmas are suffering. So I’ll make this post about the boys… mostly.

Andrew – he is doing well, but turning into a perplexing preschooler (3 years old in only 9 days – *sniff*). There is no blatant disobedience, but it’s like it takes us repeating our requests 5 times before something sinks in. And even then, his memory seems short lived when it comes to ‘rules’. However, many things aren’t ‘rules’ per se, but things that he should just know better. Like: don’t kick open your door while AJ in there sleeping. Don’t get up before mom, sneak downstairs and eat half the remaining box of Valentine chocolates for breakfast. At bedtime, don’t wait until your brother is sleeping, flip on the lights so AJ is wide awake and pull books into bed with you for an hour before mom catches you. And the list goes on and on and on. Of course you already know about the writings on the wall. But – he is doing so well with potty training. I am so proud. In fact, as a reward (and extra motivation, but they were just needed) he just got CARS undies. Yes, lately he’s been in a Lightening McQueen state of mine. But he is the sweetest kid and will be the first to tell you he loves you and will help you at the drop of hat. He is just… um… at a challenging age.

AJ – is currently under the weather a bit. The teething beast has got him and therefore we are all not sleeping well. He’s been running a fever, chewing on fingers like mad and drooling something fierce. He just wants snuggled – which he is my snuggle boy anyway on a good day – so I’ve just been wearing him much of his waking hours. But overall, he is great and sweet. He is babbling up a storm. Lots of dadadadas and ggggggggggas. And, as of Monday, he is now walking behind Andrew’s big trucks.

And for anyone else who might be interested in the rest of the family (Marc and myself). Marc had a very busy big day yesterday at work that went well, thank you Lord. I’ve been fine – just keeping busy with my whirlwind and cuddle bear, keeping up the house (which most of the time I fail miserably), and running errands. Nothing too exciting. However, I did have a brilliant mom moment today, when I dumped the entire can of syrup from pears onto the floor. Then I proceeded to clean it up with Windex instead of our floor cleaner. And of course, this all happened while we had company. I’m sure the Windex probably raised an eyebrow or two.

My New Toy

Sunday afternoon and the kids are sleeping. Ahhhh. We are getting dump on with snow, but that's fine - we have no where to be. Church this morning was great, but we got gabbing and got home really late. Late lunches - late naps. But overall the boys did great. Andrew even stayed dry throughout his class and told me at church that he had to go potty. Thats a first.

I feel like these last few days have been busy. An amazing Bible Study on Thursday, and errands and grocery shopping on Friday, along with keeping up with busy boys and house work. We did get spoiled a bit last week with warmer weather than allowed for outdoor time. But by Friday, it was too cold again. We did hit the small mall hoping to burn some energy in their play area - but I think every other mother had the same idea.

Saturday, I got to run around and do a little shopping all by myself. I picked out my fleece for my tag blankets. I am getting excited about them. I was able to get them all cut in the afternoon thanks to a new 'tool' I got that I wish I would have bought a LONG time ago. It is worth it's weight in gold.

Friday & Saturday night we had some friends over for dinner and games and just a nice time watching the kiddos play together.

Well, I am going to go try to read the paper before the boys wake up. Have a great week.

Maybe Proctor & Gramble will hire me as spokeswoman...

Guess what somebody was doing instead of napping...

You think that was bad?

The next day, instead of napping, he did it again.... with lipstick.

I was too mad to take pictures the second time. It was much worse, it was everwhere.

Hand, Hand, Finger, Thumb.

Last night Marc and I had a much needed Date Night. Some friends were in town without their kids, so we got our sitter and went out with them sans kiddos. I even put on make-up. We were gone for a longer, later stretch than normally when we get our sitter, but she is truly a blessing and she and boys did great. Us couples went out to Red Lobster and a movie. It was a really nice night. We went and saw the "Night at the Museum" - pretty much out of default - we hadn't heard of anything else playing. We were pleasantly surprised.

Yesterday we had MOPS in the morning. It was cancelled due to weather last time and it seemed like forever since we’ve met. The boys did good and there were no signs of contagious diseases on their bodies when we got home. I did, however, sign up to be a vendor for a MOPS fundraiser. If you make/sell something or provide a service, etc…. you can bring it, sell to the other ladies and donate 10% to MOPS. So… I am will making a boatload of tag blankets in near future. I am hoping to go out this weekend and pick my material. But really, I will be selling (ssshhh… please don’t tell) to the ideal demographic - mothers of small children who know other mothers of small children or soon to be mothers. This will sound super geeky, but I even have a business plan drawn up. G.E.E.K.Y.

This morning, we had library story time. We went early so Andrew could play with the Thomas train table they have set up. Afterward, all the kids run for it and it’s impossible for everyone to play happily. Instead, afterward, we hit a thrift store. Andrew has outgrown all his warm tops. He’s got more t-shirts than we know what to do with, but with winters the way they are around here, he was wearing the last long sleeved shirt that fit him every time we left the house. So, I was able to pick up 4 nice shirts for him and a sweater for me all for $5. (it was 50% off clothes day). One of his “new” shirts has the superman logo on it and he’s been ready to change into it all day. It’s weird buying for him since we’ve been very blessed to get so many nice hand-me-downs or gifts that we have never really had to shop for him. But Andrew is now the same size (if not bigger) than the boy he normally gets his hand-me-downs from, so that’s a huge source of clothing gone. At least AJ should be set (poor kid).

The boys are doing well. AJ now knows how to wave (the open and close handed wave)... except he doesn’t do it on cue and only waves to himself. He just stares in awe at his hand as his fingers open and close with the look that says, “Did you guys have any idea the power I hold in my fingers. I mean, just look what I can do!” And Andrew is a clown hilarious. If you laugh at something he does – expect to hear/see it again and again for the next couple days. His latest (as you may see in the clip below) is a thumbs up sign while exclaiming, “Perfect!” Yep, a clown… or a politician.

Are they different?

Bad, Kelli. Bad.
Don’t write such bad things. Turn on that filter between your thoughts and your typing fingers.

Here's just a bit of my everyday.

Dashing through the Snow...

Pull Faster, Dad!

Andrew wasn't sure right at first but was won over quickly.

We even got AJ involved.

I really do have things I should be doing.

But I am getting addicted to this digital scrapbooking. The more I am learning, the more I realize I need to learn.

Sweetest faces

I went to the Beth Moore Conference this weekend and it was a-maz-ing. Beth Moore, by the grace of God, is amazing. The funny thing, is that logistically, everything that seemingly could have gone wrong did. We got lost every time we got in the car, the hotel had major issues, etc… But the company was great and conference was great and that made up for it all. It was especially challenging for me because it was a packed weekend. Every minute seemed busy and yet I had to sneak in pumping sessions and then constantly think about containers and how to keep them cold. But I managed – even though I was really ready to come home near the end and see my family. What sweet faces they have.

Marc and the boys did ok while I was gone. Actually Marc is getting a good cold and not feeling great. And AJ wouldn't really take a bottle and was extra fussy and not sleeping well for Marc. So - they were ready for me to come home too. Of course, now the little stinker is sleeping fine and happy as ever.

One of the amazing aspects of the weekend was an incredible session about spending time with God face to face. And what do you think our sermon was about this morning at church? Spending time with God face to face. I wanted to look around and catch the other ladies eyes to imply "Are you kidding me?!"

I have a boatload of things to get done around the house today and this week is our busy one with MOPS, library and Bible Study. Have a great week.

I'm getting schooled.

Thanks to my friend, Rebecca, I am taking a free online digital scrapbooking class. The class itself is pretty basic so far (no cool tricks that I really want to learn), but I am picking up a few things here and there. And if nothing else, it's renewed my interested in digital scrapbooking (or even scrapbooking for that matter). Since the kids and blog came along - all my pictures and thoughts are easily typed in a post and my scrapbook stuff doesn't see the light of day too often. No, I take that back - it still comes in handy when Andrew and I get crafty.

Anyway - I am on Lesson 2 of my class and below is my homework. As a reader of the blog, the pictures won't be anything new, but I hope you enjoy them anyway. And thanks, Becky!

February = Boredom

Did you have a nice Valentine's day? Our's was nice - nothing super exciting - but that's fine. I did get some flowers and a card from Marc. And we had a nice dinner of enchaladas. We found out that AJ also loves enchaladas. So, I figure - the way my three guys eat those things, when they are teenagers (Marc thinks sooner - like when they are 10), I will have to make two pans for just one dinner. Yikes.

Marc then had to leave for the east side of the state. He had an early meeting there this morning. It doesn't make sense for him to have to get up and out at 4:30 am. So he stayed with a friend last night. The good news is, my boys had their best night so far. They both slept in thier beds and I didn't hear from either of them until AJ's 6am feeding. Then Andrew actually slept in a bit (of course it was the day that AJ decided to get up early - but that's fine).

Today, we are getting snowed on pretty good, so I am just working around the house, getting things ready for when I am gone overnight tomorrow, and trying to keep Andrew from boredom. Not that I wish AJ would grow up any faster than he already is, but Andrew could sure use a playmate. I even brought up a different bin of toys that had been stored for while hoping the 'new' toys would be exciting. But he still just wants my attention round the clock. And most the time, I don't mind... but I feel like today - he's just bored. That kid needs warm weather in a bad way! I am thinking after nap, maybe we'll make some Kool-Aid playdough.

Allright - the boys are sleeping and I have mountain of things to do before my little attention seekers wake up.

Happy Valentine's Day!

Andrew helped me make Valentine Cookies for Daddy.

He told me that Daddy would share with him.

AJ had to taste test them also. Isn't he sweet in his red shirt?

Our Valentine card for Daddy.

Love it when...

...I run the oven self cleaner for the first time tonight (the oven is only a couple years old) and we have to have the fans going, have the windows open (in really cold weather), have to fan the smoke alarm a few times, have our eyes are burning, etc… I was reading the manual and it did mention that first time the self cleaner is run, it will burn off some manufacturing fumes or something like that, but holy smokes!

“The health of some birds is extremely sensitive to the fumes given off during the self-cleaning cycle of any range. Move birds to another well-ventilated room."

Quoted from our “Use and Care Manual” for our gas range.

Scrambling from Naps

I wanted to let you all know that we did make it to Bible Study on Thursday. Andrew seems to be just fine. We kept Tylenol in him for a day along with the antibiotics, but now the antibiotics seem to be doing the job. He's been his happy talkative self lately.

And so has AJ. Believe it or not, for the most part, we are all healthy and happy. And.... please don't let this jinx it.... sleeping fairly well!! AJ in his bed, Andrew in his, both in the same room and no one on the couch. We've been able to resume our lives once again.

Friday night we ran some much needed errands after being stuck at home for that long stretch. Saturday, I ran a few more errands in the morning before we all headed out after lunch to go look at a house for sale. We're not really ready to move, but it was in the area that we would like to move, so we always keep an eye open for potential homes. We stopped in quick to some friend’s house for a few minutes before heading home for much needed naps. Apparently we all crashed hard, because the next thing I knew, Marc is flying through the house, waking everyone one yelling that we are supposed to be leaving the house in 5 minutes to be at some friends’ for dinner. Um.. yea - we were late. But it was a nice visit. They have one sweet little petite girl a year younger than Andrew. And you can tell they were not used to a whirlwind of a boy tearing through their home.

Sunday, we finally made it church in the morning. We decided to go to the late service which is nice for us since we see more people we know, but horrible for the kids. They were a wreck by the time we left at 12:30. They both crashed on the way home, which meant lunch was out of the question. So, we put my crock pot roast on hold, picked up Taco Bell and headed home. Once again… we all napped and had to scramble to make it out of the house on time. We were again, hitting an open house, then visiting some other friends for dinner.

Between the naps and activity, I feel like the weekend was a blur. So today – with everyone felling better – I was able to get a lot done around the house. So it’s now back in some sort of order. And we had a nice roast for dinner.

The rest if the week is pretty quiet… just the library on Wednesday. Then Friday, I am heading to my first overnighter away from AJ (*sniff* pray for me). I will be heading to a Beth Moore Conference across the state with my Bible Study ladies. Should be great.
Ok, I wrote way too much. Stay warm.

Hmmm...

I found out that 'Go Diego Go' is coming to our town in April! I may have to investigate further. I know a little boy who has a birthday coming up who loves Diego and tells me on a very regular basis that Diego is his friend. I have already been thinking about making a Diego birthday cake for him. I have less than a month to plan his day...because my baby big boy will be turning THREE YEARS OLD! *sniff*

Thumbtastic!

When it rains... get meds.

Good news: We got out of the house today for the first time in a long time (over a week).
Bad news: It was to go the doctor's office. Andrew has a hum-dinger of an ear infection.

He woke me up this morning around 5am whining that his ear was itchy and asking me to rub it. This fitfullness & ear rubbing went on until around 7 when he became a complete and total wreck. My normally happy 'superfast' little man was crippled by tears on the couch. So very sad (and frustrating). But Tylenol seemed to work wonders and by the time we got the docs, he was back to happy self and I was questioning the real need to be there. But my suspicious were true and now he is on meds.

We also took the leap tonight and put Andrew back into his room with AJ. And other than Andrew going from happy/sleeping to miserable the second the Tylenol wears off, they are both sleeping well... together... in the same room. It's only been a couple hours, but hopefully, with more Tylenol ready to go - the night will go smoothly.

And, Lord willing.... we will make it to Bible Study tomorrow.

10 Months

Adam Jay Reed turned 10 months old today. And really, in the last week or two, his personality has kicked in. And boy, is he a sweetie. He's so mild and happy, that with his torpedo brother running around, you just might forget about him (not literally forget - don't call social services).

He is very rarely demanding and loves to be smiled at. Loves it. Lives for it. He definately has an air of smugness to him. He communicates with those eyes. We're thinking that when older, he will be the one to pick on Andrew on the sly, and Andrew will be the one to react in a big way, therefore getting Andrew in trouble - even though it will be AJ's instigating. And I know I've said it before, but he is a Daddy's boy. He will follow that man around as soon as he enters the room - either with his eyes or with his hands and knees.

AJ has also done a really great job sleeping lately. Thanks so much for prayers. The last couple nights, have been great for him. I am so hoping it lasts - especially whenever we decide to transfer Andrew back into the room.

He recently discovered banana bread and now that's is by far his snack of choice - over his Cheerios Toasted Oats cereal. Although the bread pales in comparison to the huge bite of peanut butter/oatmeal/chocolate chip cookie that Andrew decided to share with him today. (But they were warm out of the oven - so could you blame him?) And it was sweet of Andrew to share since I know how much he was loving the cookies. I did learn today that he doesn't like cottage cheese. Not even a little.

AJ knows Andrew is a sucker for sharing his food and is super excited for the snow ice cream.

My AJ. Mommy and Daddy and Andrew are so blessed by you and your smiling eyes everyday.

Home again Home again...

Due to our weather, we are once again, home. MOPS was cancelled this morning along with most schools. It is cold artic outside. So, other than work/play around the house, I am not sure what we are going to do today. Marc bought Andrew a sled that they have yet to use.

I really need to stop complaining about the weather since we had a 50 degree December. It's really the home-boundness that's getting to me. I may have to get out when Marc is done working just by myself for a bit. I would like to hit Goodwill or the like. Andrew needs warm play clothes to wear around the house like sweatpants and sweatshirts. He wears his monkey bed pants everday (he has two pair). Maybe I'll take Andrew with me and get him out a bit, too.

I did give Andrew another hair cut last night and it is much better. Not as short as I like it, but I wanted to play it safe in case we needed to get it 'fixed'. But it's really not too shabby and looks much better than the mop he had before. Sorry, I don't have any pictures.

Sleep update: AJ had another really good night last night. And Andrew's night went well also. Although, I kept catching him in our bed. I would put him down in his bed (in our room) and next time I would go up - he would be in our bed... complete with his own pillow and blankets. So after three times, we just left him. Goofy kid.

Alright - this post is all over the board and full of rambling. I will wrap it up and get busy around here. It's almost time for 'Go, Diego, Go', so that's 30 minutes I can work around the house pretty much uninterrupted.

Not party worthy, but better than before.

Thanks for the prayers. Last night was a better night. AJ, in fact, had his best night ever. He went down around 7:30/8:00pm, woke up and fussed off and on for about 15 minutes around 10:30pm, then slept until 6:30am! At that time, I got up with him, fed him and laid him back down... and he went back to sleep. It is currently 8:30 am and he is still sleeping!

Andrew had an ok night. Not great, not the worst. His mattress is still in our room, so hopefully we can get him sleeping well and back into his own room soon without jeopardizing AJ's sleep. Alright, it's Monday morning and I have a mountain of things to do.

One main priority todady is to stay warm - it is currently -9 with a windchill of -24 in our area. Yea, we are NOT going anywhere again today. Marc's boss even called and told him to work from home instead of driving to Kalamazoo.

Keep up the prayers and have a great warm week.

The real problems of a two year old...

When Andrew was given a piece from the middle of the pizza he asked me, "Where do I hold it?"

If there ever is a reason to party...

I have nothing to post about because we've done nothing. I mean it. Nothing. We are feeling better all around which is good news. However, we were hit with a monster blizzard and can't go anywhere anyway. So another 3 days stuck at home. All the schools are already closed for tomorrow.

We did have some friends over tonight for the SuperBowl. It was a really nice break from our every other day. Plus, it made us get our house in order. With me being very much under the weather, only the bare minimum was getting done each day. And by bare minumum...that meant the boys were fed and changed. That's about it.

I want to please ask for your prayer (again) for sleep in our home. Someday, a time will come when both of my boys will sleep in their own beds in their own rooms all night and neither of us parents will be on the couch and we will all wake up refreshed and happy. Someday. And when that day comes - I'm throwing a party!

I knew all the white stuff was good for something.

What do you make when and have milk, eggs, sugar, salt and vanilla on hand and you live in West Michigan buried in what feels like moutains of snow?

SNOW ICE CREAM!
1/2 cup milk
1 (14-ounce) can sweetened condensed milk
3 large eggs
1/4 teaspoon salt
1 cup granulated sugar
1 tablespoons vanilla extract
2 gallons (or more) very fresh, light, fluffy snow

Over medium heat, bring first 4 items just to a slight boil wisking the entire time. Remove from heat and add sugar and vanilla. Cover and chill. Mix with snow.

(Warning - this makes a lot! I made the whole batch, but only mixed up half of it with snow and got a lot of ice cream! But since we are currently under a Blizzard Warning, we may have no problem using it all up.)

Shannon, Shannon, Bo Bannon.

I have this friend named Shannon. I have this MySpace account that was empty and ugly. I am not real familiar and comfortable with MySpace like I am Blogger. In fact, I had the MySpace account pretty much solely to check her MySpace account. The ugliness of the account was getting to my friend named Shannon... so I turned her loose.

And check out the amazing job she did!

Now, I am still a MySpace novice and will need some educating on what to do with it, but it sure does look cool! Thanks, Shannon!!

Who's winning?

The shredded apple and cheese

or AJ (in his ugly pjs)?

The Rainbow Connection

The Bad Things:

• Colds: I've got a cold that is knocking me out. Not the merely inconvenient cold, but the kind where you are confident your head will explode and your nose will rub off. It's pretty much wiped the mat with me yesterday and today. AJ still has his cold also. So he is happy, but drippy and hoarse. (which is actually pretty adorable - a hoarse little cry).


• Since I've been up for nothing yesterday, I've let the kids watch more TV than I like to. Their little brains will be fried.


• We are getting d.u.m.p.e.d. on with snow. And it keeps coming down. I don't think we would be going anywhere even if we weren't quarantined to the house.

The Good Things:

• Andrew's chicken pox (through tripled in count) do not seem to be bothering him in the least. He finds it amusing when I count them.


• AJ's scabs are getting better by the day and for the most part, my happy boy is back, praise God.


• We've been keep up with Andrew's lessons well lately. This week's theme is rainbows and prisms. We are also learning the color red (along with the octagon shape), the letter F, the number 6 and "Fear not, for I am with you" verse. The verse is especially good, since Andrew seems at an age where nighttime can be a bit scary.

Our rainbow jello (tooks us days to make it).