Stages

We are in the toddler temper tantrum phase of life! Many little things will prompt a lay-down-freak-out-crying-kicking-screaming-arms-flailing tantrum. It's actually hard not to laugh sometimes! I made this and I'm thinking about posting this in my house just so anyone entering will be aware of how careful they need to be while at the house.



Anyone else need a copy?

Happy Birthday

Today is Jason's birthday, and it's a big one. The big 3-0. This is a big deal really only to me; he could care less that he's 30. I, however, love that he's turning 30 before me. I don't know why it's such a big deal, especially since I'll probably smack him if he makes a big deal out of my 30th. :)

We're going to celebrate quietly today. Ethan helped me make M&M cookies since Jason doesn't really like cake. I think I'll actually cook him a good dinner, maybe even with meat, potatoes, and a veggie. We're going to take Ethan to a movie tomorrow evening, and then the boys are having a sleepover at my parents so Jason and I can go out to dinner for his birthday and have a full night's sleep. That's right, I said it, a FULL NIGHT'S SLEEP. Now that is a true sign of the fact that we are aging.

So, happy birthday to my wonderful husband and an awesome father. We're thankful for the years God as given you and pray for many more celebrations to come. I love you, Jason!

Fire Safety Week

A couple of weeks ago we took the boys to our local fire station for Fire Safety Week. They have all the fire trucks opened up so the kids could see in them and climb in them. The also have a hose set up that the kids can use to spray and knock down the "fire" in the house. Ethan and Micah had a great time, and they love to wear the firefighter hats that they were given for spraying the hose. Micah liked putting on some of the firefighter gear, but Ethan wasn't too thrilled about it. I think that was mostly because the mascot was helping him put stuff on. I don't think the person in the mascot noticed Ethan's look of discomfort! At least he put everything on and kept it on long enough for a picture! We had a fun night!

Five gallons of disinfectant, please

I feel the need to disinfect my house from top to bottom. The boys are sick...again...and now I'm not feeling too well, so not much disinfecting is going to happen! They both have colds, and since they are kids and don't blow their noses, they swallow all the snot until their stomach is upset and they throw up. It's lovely, especially since they really only get upset stomachs in the middle of the night. Yes, Jason and I have become quite familiar with the hours of 2 am to 6 am. In the last two nights, I've been bathing a child at 2:00 in the morning. Not really high on my list of things to do in the middle of the night. However, I do think I got the better end of the deal last night. I was the first one to get to the child who was throwing up, so that meant that I had bath duty instead of cleaning up the bed duty. I have a wonderful husband. I won't go into any more details than that. My poor hubby is probably dry heaving just reading about this experience again. Anyone want to come live here?

Pacifier Hunt

In keeping with my recent post about Micah's love of his pacifier, I thought I would post a video of Micah on a "pacifier hunt" at bedtime. We have to check underneath his bed for any wayward pacifiers that may be under there. The other night he had himself totally under the crib while searching for one!

My disclaimer for this video...I know, I realized too late that I referred to Micah as Ethan while I was taping him. I almost didn't post the video simply because I didn't want to prompt teasing! However, it was too cute to not post it, so be nice!

New link

I've added a new link to my "blogs I love to read". Usually I don't do a whole post about a new blog I'm addicted to (mainly because I'm not going to admit to how many blogs I'm addicted to reading!). However, this one seems worth it to me, and I think it may be worth it for some of you out there. If not now, maybe someday. Anyway, today at my MOPS group, we had a woman named Karen Hossink come to speak to us. She talks about being an Irritable Mother. Specifically she talks about "confessions of an irritable mother" and how God is using the difficulties of mothering to challenge and shape her. I'm not going to type out her bio or go into great detail about her story. You can read about her on her website and blog. However, I do want to say that I have been challenged by her and encouraged by her. I didn't buy her book...but I have a friend who's going to let me borrow it to read it. I think it will be worth reading more than any fiction book I find. I guess what I'm trying to say is that despite the fact that many of the joys and fun parts of mothering get posted here by me, there are also other aspects of mothering that are harder to admit. The hard parts are real life, and those are (some of) the places where God is working in me.

Our little helper

Apparently our youngest son thought we needed a little extra help getting up in the morning. Sometime yesterday (when we weren't paying attention) he kindly set the volume on the alarm clock so that it was set to the level of "make mommy and daddy fall out of bed so they will really be awake". There's nothing like going from a deep sleep to sitting straight up in bed. Wow, what a start to the day. Note to self, get into the routine of checking the volume while turning the alarm on.

A little extra love

With Micah not feeling so well last week, we really relaxed on our "no pacifier unless you're going to bed" policy. Ok, so I really relaxed. Micah looked like he felt so crummy that it was nice to make him a little happier by letting him walk around with "pipey" in his mouth. His other "lovey" item is a diaper cloth, and those were dragged around quite frequently as well.



This is a "file" picture (from this summer) of him with as many pipeys and diaper cloths as he could hold. While I'm glad that a little extra pacifier time helped get us through last week, now our problem is getting through the tantrums that inevitably occur when we don't let him walk around with a pacifier in his mouth all the time. I'm starting to wonder if it's more difficult to break the child of the pacifier habit, or if it's more work to break mommy's habit of using it just for a little extra peace.

You know there's a toddler in your house...

-When you feel like someone should congratulate you on your ability to lay a flailing, crying, tantrum-throwing child on the floor without causing anyone in the area to get hurt.
-When you act like a parrot by repeating every noise, word, or phrase that comes out of your child's mouth.
-When you greet everyone in every store you're in because your child has either waved or said "hi" to them as you pass.
-When you know that a meal is done because food is thrown at you or being spit out of the child's mouth.
-If the most common word said by almost everyone in the house is "no".
-When you are happy because the word "truck" actually sounds like "truck".
-If you could (should) vacuum around your kitchen table three times a day becuase so many crumbs and pieces of food end up there.
-If you fear the light switches in your home will break because they are constantly being turn on...and off...and on...and off...
-If you love wet, slobbery kisses simply because they are kisses from your child.
-If you love hugs from tiny arms.
-If you stop to smell every "pretty" (aka flower) on your walk through the neighborhood.

Mission: Impossible

My mission, and since I posted it I'm accepting it, is to find the island in my kitchen sometime in the next few days (notice the vauge timeframe I've given myself). This means I will recycle the papers that need to be recycled, and put away all the other miscelaneous "stuff" that makes it look like a dumping ground. I plan to do this without simply moving all the piles to another part of my counter. :) However, I need a bit of advice...one of the piles is all of Ethan's papers and drawings from school. I can't decide what to keep and what to recycle! I know I don't need to keep it all...do I really need to save a picture of each letter that he learns and colors? I feel like I almost have to keep the picture of the butterfly, mostly because it will be funny to tell him about his parent's ignorance someday. I'm tempted to just get a big storage container and save it all...and then let him sort it out when he gets older. However, I suspect that he'll just dump most, if not all, of it. I did read an idea once about how one family took a picture of special papers and then kept it only in a digital "book". What to do!?!

Excuses, excuses

What excuse can I use for my lack of posting lately? I've been busy...I started working at my old job again...Micah's been sick with a nasty cold and has been extra clingy...writer's block...or maybe I've just been too lazy! Anyway, I'll try to play catch-up!

My birthday was a good day. I had to work in the morning, but I did get out earlier than I expected, so that meant I could spend more of the afternoon with the boys. Ethan helped my mom make a birthday cake. It was delicious, though one of my more interesting cakes since he chose blue and green frosting on the chocolate cake. His favorite colors are naturally mine! Jason and I put the boys to bed on time and then used a gift certificate to get take-out for supper. It was a delicious, peaceful dinner!

We've discovered something unique and comical about Micah. He's had a nasty cold lately, so his nose has been running constantly. The funny things is that he doesn't mind us using the nasal aspirator (the one from the hospital). He actually tries to use it on himself sometimes. He also doesn't freak out when we wipe his nose. We think it's kind of strange, but don't argue when he stands still for us! We're hoping his cold moves on soon!

I've figured out a new form of exercise. Ethan wanted to ride his bike yesterday, which is not something that he's wanted to do very often this summer. I think he's a little intimidated by the bike, so he just doesn't want to ride it. Anyway, yesterday he wanted to, so I loaded Micah into the stroller and figured I could give Ethan a few nudges, and he'd be able to ride with me following alongside. I was wrong. :) He pedaled the bike, but I pretty much pushed him the entire way. He kept randomly slamming on the brakes, so I had to get him started again. He started doing better on the straight stretches in the end. I was worn out after pushing him and pulling Micah in the stroller. I'm sure it was quite a sight for anyone who passed by us!

Ethan is loving school. He has a couple of new friends that he talks about all the time. Every morning he is excited to get ready for school and is usually standing by the door with his backpack on long before we need to leave. His class is working through the start of the alphabet, so we are starting to talk a lot at home about what letter words start with. I love to listen to the songs and rhymes that he come home with, too. We love to see him so excited about school!

Writer's block is kicking in again, so I'll have to post more later. Maybe I'll find some pictures to post of our recent activities!