Quick Recap

My past couple weeks have been… interesting… personal… and busy. But I know there are a few people who would love to know what we've been up to. So I thought instead of blogging myself I would just jot down some of the things I journaled in our family calendar this week! The pictures are un-edited and I doubt I will spell check very carefully. This is the third or fourth time I've tried to do this and the computer keeps giving me problems. So this is my last attempt! Have a great weekend!

Monday: Your first day at Pebbles, the city park district's two-year-old class. There are five kids in the class and your teachers are Ms. Pam and Ms. Rachel. You were sad to leave them and asked for more as soon as we walked out the classroom door. I think you'll like it. All you want to do is play. Forget that you need to do stories and crafts! Later at home, you were pretending to make super at the side table in the living room—you brought me my coaster "plate" and told me to "Hep u sef, Mom me."

Tuesday: A day to watch Kate. Later that afternoon when I helped you change your pull-up, you patted my shoulder, looked at me and said, "Ew pity gull, Mom me." Who taught you such manners!

Wednesday: We left you with Mr. Norman at his house while Daddy and I went out to lunch. You had great fun!

Thursday: The first day of Fall! And would you believe it is almost 90 degrees outside! Unusual even for our neck of the woods. Since Daddy and I moved here, Fall takes on new meaning every year. I make French Onion Soup. You played with Kate today while I cried over six pounds of onions. I feel quite accomplished now that it is done. Daddy and I made a list of things we wanted to be sure and do this Fall. Making this soup and pulling out my Gail Pittman bowls he got me four years ago would be one of them. Today, you read one of my "how to be a mom" books and you said, "Take uh-paw-k." I said, "Oh? The book says a good mom takes you to the park?" You smiled a silly smile and said, "Ya!"

Friday: Daddy had to go to teach his weekend class—and I tried to make it extra fun so that neither one of us would go crazy. We went and picked out something to eat. You got macaroni and I went with Chinese. We watched cartoons and had a good night. We planned a pajama morning with bakery donuts—but nothing at all is near as enjoyable without Daddy.

September

It's September 1^st. Isaac woke up in the middle of the night, and surprised me by crawling into bed with us. Sneak attack. Never heard it coming. Lucky for him my karate moves were a little dull that late at night. He crawled up under the blanket (Mind you, Stephen still doesn't know this happened… remember the garbage truck sounds… dead to the world!) and put his head right under my chin. And once he was there I could tell why he was up. He was so congested and could hardly breathe. He tossed and turned, but finding no relief I finally just carried him off to the arm chair to let him sleep up right. That helped. I've got him propped up pretty high now for his nap. September 1^st. I thought maybe once this day arrived I would be ready for the Fall season. I heard a great challenge from someone who was already decorating for Fall (very subtly) a couple weeks ago: You don't think the first day of June is SPRING do you? No, it's summer!

The school buses going by our house herald the beginning of a new school year. And everywhere, summer is on clearance and Fall is definitely the "in" thing. I'm just still not feeling it. I still feel the doom of Fall simply being the death of Summer and the looming predecessor to Winter. I'm not usually like this… I think it's because I'm pregnant! I'll say it's that. So now I am thinking that the day after Labor Day will really begin to start feeling like Fall. I do want Fall to come early, because the earlier it comes, the longer I can enjoy it and put off bad thoughts of Winter. So, in honor of the first day of September I lit an Autumn Harvest candle. I figure something everyday will help us ease into the Fall spirit. Stephen is ready for it… I am trying not to feel betrayed. He said that is the last thing he wanted me to feel when he said it (must be the pregnant hormones). Isaac… well… I think if he knew that Fall means Winter and both mean less days at the park… he'd probably be on my side. Baby "Dotch," on the other hand, joyfully awaits the passage of Fall so we can go on into December and he can meet his doting family. Two against two, I guess. Wait… wait… it's not a war (pregnancy hormones kicking in again!)…. no it's not a war…. "you are not my enemy"… We'll enjoy it. One day at a time.

My Simple Daybook

For Today, Sunday, August 29, 2010

Outside my window...

the sun is just rising and looking very similar to yesterday's gorgeous cloudless day. However, looks can be deceiving. And I am thinking that perhaps this beauty does not hint that the temperatures we are supposed to be reaching in the next couple days. Except I was thinking about last year too. Our village has a city wide garage sale once a year. One half of the main road does it one weekend, and our half the other weekend. And I remember being pretty hot walking around those weekends too. Although 90's was probably not in the forecast then… that just seems a little extreme.

I am thinking...

my sinuses are about to drive me crazy. I remember having this problem when I was pregnant with Isaac, but not to the point where I couldn't safely drive or want to sleep all the time. I think it's my allergies, which normally I would take some great medicine for. Medicine that I cannot take while pregnant, plus being pregnant is supposed to aggravate some peoples sinuses anyway among many other things it does to your former self. Some people enjoy being pregnant and they glow, radiant joy… I would prefer to skip the nine months of chaos raging over my body, mind and emotions. Should you see me with those strips over my nose, dousing water down my throat every five minutes, while chewing gum or a throat lozenge… and waving a tissue wildly through the air while sneezing… that's just me… trying to breathe and live somewhat of a productive life.

I am thankful for...

a wonderful, restful, real night's sleep while Stephen was away teaching his weekend class. Normally I stay up super late because I can't sleep, and then once I wear myself out I go to bed, only to wake up frequently to the creeks and bumps that come along with a house. But I made myself go to bed early last night when Isaac went down… and the small Tylenol PM I took probably helped too. Except I take half of a half of a half… so it's like nothing really. What percentage of that would be the actual recommended dose? I just think that my brain thinks it has some help, so I just go to sleep! I am glad. Very glad!

From the kitchen...

are the remains of an assembly line of sandwich and lunch making line. We made several sandwiches, and Isaac and I decorated bags for the kids that are here to help out with the Hispanic rally Stephanie planned. We figured they'll sleep a lot on the ride back to Indiana or be really bored, so we found some little toys to keep them busy. So it's our own version of a Happy Meal… times 25.

I am reading...

Finding Peace for Your Heart still… I keep putting it down every once and a while because once she got past the basic salvation message, she's branching out into… "different" interpretations of certain aspects of the Christian life and ways of belief. I'll finish it this week though because I have several other books that are waiting to be read. I keep finding ones that look interesting or are recommended! I love reading… when I can find the time.

I am hoping...
Stephen is able to rest after he preaches today. I "worry" about him sometimes… It's my job right? To keep an eye out for my boys. He's worked super hard the past few days teaching, traveling, visiting, doing different things for a church rally last night and today, and getting things at church ready (including his sermon). I hope he enjoys a nice nap this afternoon and we'll look forward to having him home a day or two with us since we missed him so much. Last night when we came home from picking up his overheated car after the rally I kept asking Isaac if he was glad Daddy was home and he would climb over to his daddy and give him big hugs and kisses and say "ya." You should have seen how excited he was when we first went to pick up Stephen since he couldn't finish driving home. And when Stephen had to walk away to transfer his suitcase and other things from his car to our car Isaac just dropped his head into his little hands (drama) and cried and cried (thinking Daddy was not staying with us).

I am creating...

fso many things! The creative bug has bit… probably because I am realizing the baby will be here "soon" and my list to get things done between now and then is extremely long. The number one thing to get done this week are some… "happies." And that is all I will say about that until I blog about them later. It's for a particular holiday and season coming up soon… and I don't want to give to much away. I will say that it is not finished yet because it involves glitter… as much as kids love glitter… I despise it. So that is why I am putting this project off as much as I have.

I am hearing...

the following quote ring through my head over and over, "Ew goo mommy." Not solicited, but a random bit of praise for all my mothering efforts during a building block session on the carpet yesterday.

Around the house...

we are in transition. Stephen's bags are still needing to be unpacked since we didn't have time last night, and lots and lots of bagged lunches are sitting everywhere… waiting to be organized and carried over to church.

Isaac is…

learning to be such a big boy! Yesterday morning we had to get ready to go to the store. I have all his clothes in bins, awaiting appropriate labels, and he picked some pants and shirt. I helped him get dressed, but he likes to try by himself. I step in during the part where he can't get his big head squeezed through the hole…. always a scream during that part. I try not to laugh. Then I was shocked when he walked in my room with his shoes on!!!! The boy was ready! I like big kid stuff! I was sad to lose the baby-ness… but this big kid stuff is going quite well. He was doing so well using his little toilet at the beginning of the week without my prompting!!; but we hit a snag which will be overcome in a short time I know.

Our second child…

is going to be a newborn. A newborn… a newborn… I keep telling myself. I'm going to have to hold his head, he won't automatically pull his arms through the right holes in his shirt. He will cry, he will not tell me he would like a cracker or more juice. He will be a newborn. I'm trying to prepare myself. Except, I have been thinking about Isaac's first year. And getting excited that I will not daily have to make sure I have extra diapers, extra clothes, enough food, wipes, lotion, rash cream, extra formula, clean blankets, labels on everything, all compacted nicely in one bag so that I can still maneuver a baby carrier into the daycare. And then come Saturday do all that plus put a highchair, bowl, extra food, extra water, toys, clothes, blankets, wipes, and more all my the door for traveling to church Sunday. This will be a completely new, newborn experience. And perhaps, I will not spending the first year giving him four to six breathing treatments a day, perhaps I can sleep more because he will not be sick, coughing, having difficulty breathing, because he cannot get better with all those other kids around. Yep, this will be new.

He's moving in on Isaac's space in his room. He has his own basket of little clothes we are working on getting clean and making room in the dresser for. One morning I told Isaac to go in his room and get a pair of pants. I didn't tell him whose pants, which I guess I'll have to start clarifying. He walked about and said, "Uh Doch's panz." He has named our baby one of his favorite Bible characters (Joshua), which was also almost his name! (It was that or Isaac.) And sure enough, these puke green and dark brown size 0 pants were being wiggled over his foot. (Puke green is cute in baby clothes.) Okay.

One of my favorite things...

Sitting in one of our new thrift store chair early in the morning, just in view of Isaac's bedroom door. And hearing him crawl out of his bed, turn off his sound machine, and trot over to his door. He slowly opens his door, sees if I'm sitting here, swings it wide open and comes running with big arms open to give me morning hugs and snuggles. There are huge benefits to this big boy stage!

A few plans for the rest of the week…

-Blood test for any sign of diabetes.

-Babysitting another child two days a week for this semester.

-Catching up on lots and lots of sleep.

My Simple Daybook

For Today, Monday, August 23, 2010

Outside my window...

There is a beautiful clear sky and almost full moon. I can't believe it, but I even think I saw a STAR when I went out there to usher the ladies home from Bible Study and bring my boys back in.

I am thinking...

I cannot be friends with everyone on Facebook! And also… I need to go to bed really, really soon!

I am thankful for...

Wonderful, wonderful days with my family this weekend downtown.

From the kitchen...

Is complete darkness, but clean table and dishes. Ready for tomorrow.

I am reading...

My blog reader right now. Gotta get caught up on those when I can.

I am hoping...

I can sleep in tomorrow!

I am looking forward to…

Today Aug 23Sunny 82° 65° 10% precipitation
Tue Aug 24 Mostly Sunny 84°/62° 10% precipitation
Wed Aug 25 Mostly Sunny 77°/ 58° 10% precipitation
Thu Aug 26 Sunny 74°/ 58° 0% precipitation
Fri Aug 27 Sunny 78°/ 61° 0% precipitation
Sat Aug 28 Sunny 82°/ 64° 0% precipitation

I am creating...

This post.

I am hearing...

Stephen clicking away on his own keyboard. Trying to make up for all the time "lost" on our days out.

Around the house...

Things are really, really clean because the ladies came over for Bible Study tonight! Yea!

Isaac is…

Sleeping. But I really thought the past two days that he looks so old! He is so tall… and skinny. Like a real little boy. Can I possibly be old enough to have a real boy for my own son? And his words… he just woke up Sunday morning speaking full sentences (still needing interpretation… but long sentences.) I'm left to wonder frequently these past couple days… Who is this kid?

Our second child…

Is breech according to the doctor. So he's going to see how things keep going the next couple months. He's not worried, and I'm not either. I guess this can be common for second births because my petite, girlish tummy is gone, and there's just too much space for that wee little lad to float around right now. Wait till he gets a little bit bigger.

One of my favorite things...

Bedtimes!! Especially after really, really, really long days!

A few plans for the rest of the week…

Do I have to think about that right now? I just need to sleep. I'll figure out the rest of the week tomorrow… or Wednesday even. Weekends for us are exhausting… glad Monday night is here and tomorrow we rest!

Checking In

That was a pretty dismal post yesterday. Haha. But I just felt like I had to explain why I could not do my normal "daybook" post. Today is a new day… and a gorgeous one too! Since I've been writing Jon it seems like posting and updating here has been easier. So I thought I would just include a snippet of what I just wrote so that yesterday's post isn't left on the top here:

I've got all the windows open and enjoy hearing the summer critters and my wind chimes outside the front door… and there's a wonderful breeze coming in and around the house. Just beautiful! After all that blistering heat we've had THIS kind is just amazing! We played out in the sprinkler today, enjoying some good ol' summer fun, came in, had lunch, read books, brushed teeth and put a certain lad down for a nap. I was prepared for a long fight again. Last night took over an hour and a half until he finally stayed in his bed. It was 11 o'clock before he stayed in and fell asleep… Then this morning I heard little bare feet on the floor at 6:30… and a cautious little head peeking into my room, wondering what to do. Needless to say, after so little sleep, so much fighting, and then playing… he's tired and really needed the nap. Thankfully this time he only climbed out of bed once and then fell asleep within seven minutes! Yes, I was shocked. Not sure how long he'll sleep… I hope a while so he can catch up on some of that sleep he's missing!

Like I told him… I'll sign off for now and do a few other chores around here before I hear those bare-pigs on the floor again!

Day is Done

It has been a really, really long day. But it is over now…almost. As soon as I can finish writing and wind down a little bit. But I so happy to report that I can now flush the toilet without fear! I can (one day, when all the backwashed grime is gone) take a long, long shower. (Exactly how many scrubbings will it take to get the bathtub clean again?) And Isaac is good for one more year before having another maintenance check-up. Today's was long (I said that, right?)… very long. I am so thankful for a husband who went through this entire day's trials with us. A large sacrifice of time on his part, hours and hours…including taking care of Isaac while I had Bible study to night. I think right now I hear him getting back into the ticking groove on his keyboard.

Isaac is 37 and a half inches tall, and 25 pounds. Extremely skinny for his age, and exceptionally tall. The doctor did not consider the bruises a testimony to any type of child abuse thankfully; even casually overlooking the bruised bump that conveniently found itself on his forehead right before we had to go in today of course! By the dirt collected under his finger nails and between his fingers from admiring the plumber's rotating machine in the front lawn today for over an hour and by the popsicle stain running down his arm… she came to the conclusion that he was active. But little did she know that drama leading up to the appointment. I overcame the feeling of being belittled because… there is just really nothing you can do when the housing plumbing is beyond your control. Thankfully she didn't see the stains on my own shirt from those same popsicle-hands and muddy fingers, that were much dirty before I was able to get them somewhat clean before we got in the car. I just don't even notice things about my own self when I am trying to get my own child looking decent. There are days I get to our destination and wonder if I put my shoes on, or did I even look in the mirror to fix my hair? Or… what am I wearing?

It's been a long… LONG day!

Kenosha

Before the summer got away from us and the busy-ness of our Fall schedule begins, we wanted to take a little vacation together. And by "little" I mean one night. Two days, one night away. And for each of us, it was just the right amount of time. We enjoyed each other's laughs and giggles, relaxed, played, didn't worry about doing dishes, cleaning up toys, or staying up too late (because we were exhausted). It was nice.

We drove about an hour and ten minutes out of the city and up to Wisconsin, right on Lake Michigan. Thanks to Priceline we got an amazing hotel, and felt luxurious. We left before lunch and stopped off at Trinity, taking a grand tour of the new facilities they have just put up there. We enjoyed seeing where Stephen goes to school and works, and met many new friends we had only heard about this past year since we have been gone from that area. After that it was only a few minutes until we were unloading at our hotel, and then taking our picnic lunch to the beach. The first day we were there was overcast, but still warm. By the water, we were a tiny bit chilly, so we put our blanket a little ways up the shore. The water was ice, but thankfully when we went back at lunch the next day, we found a different beach that actually had sunshine and sand… and had a much warmer experience. But both were extremely fun and relaxing. Can't go wrong with a beach-y day, sun or clouds, in the middle of summertime!

After the beach and late lunch we took a tour of the city, found the lighthouse, and several other places of interest. We went back to the hotel, washed all the sand off of us, and turned in early. The next day we enjoyed a yummy breakfast and went off to tour the Jelly Belly Factory. It was pretty cute… and I learned so much about jelly beans!! Amazing stuff! When we left the factory, the sunshine was calling us back to one more trip to the beach before we headed back home late in the afternoon. We stopped off at one of our favorite places for a very late lunch, and then meandered our way back home.

This scrapbooking design created with Smilebox

Long Week

On Tuesday I knew I was in trouble when I actually felt like the next day should be Sunday and I would be starting my week all over again. That is just how much stuff we had already packed into two days. I think I must be in over-drive mode with a major nesting instinct now that we know the baby is a boy. That mixed with high temperatures and hormones makes for a very long day, which turns into a very long week. I have been buzzing around trying to finish projects, start new ones and get everything settled before Christmas. I have been working on Christmas. Working on planning a little "school year" for Isaac and now I am onto Fall. I know I'm the one "in charge" of all this family stuff, and I know if it doesn't get done now, it won't get done. I did get a lot done, but each completed activity lead to a feeling of something else that needed done next… and this morning I am just exhausted. And I have a two year old who is ready to do something and all I want to do is relax. Oh well. We'll manage through and I will go to bed early.

I did get a chance to journal in my family calendar everyday and take pictures, so I thought I would just share from that since I did not get a chance to blog a lot this week.

On Monday we got around to adding the green tomatoes to our menu. We just got some more handed to us on Thursday, so we are eating those too and letting them ripen on our window sills. Isaac always, always wants to get into what I am doing. Today (Saturday) it feels like I have a Siamese twin attached to my hip. Some days it is extremely tiring. But this day he did okay and I had the patience to work with it, thankfully!

He also got his hair cut that night before taking his bath. It wasn't too long, but it was thick and furry on top of his head and I was ready to take it off! He did so well with the trimmer, no videos, no nothing. Just sat there. Towards the end we did need to call in the reinforcements and Daddy came in to read a book while I finished trimming up with some scissors.

The next day (Tuesday), Stephen took the morning off and we checked out a local Children's Museum. it was a lot of fun. It had several play areas upstairs, and we didn't have to pick up after ourselves (we did-- but it's not the same as having to do it at your house). I thought it extremely funny that we go out and all Isaac wants to do is play with the trains... we could have stayed home and done that. We had fun with several experiments on the first floor. Like trying to roll a ball down a slope at just the right height and speed to get it into a bucket that was spinning around at the bottom. Probably our favorite was the wind tubes. It was so funny watching Isaac's face as he watched them go around and waiting to come out on him.

The next day (Wednesday) was our day to go to see our new Baby Boy. Isaac did well. He was glad to go to the doctor for our "bay-ee." He lasted halfway through the ultrasound before Stephen had to take him out, but they were in their to find out he was a boy. When we were driving home we told Isaac we had to pick a name now, what should it be? He said "Jaw." As in Josh and the Wall, a favorite bedtime Bible story. So we are running Joshua through several different middle names to see if it works for us. Once we got home I tried taking him to a Splash Pad since it was extremely hot and we could not just play outside without dieing! But he had nothing doing with that, which disappointed me a little. We'll try again another day.

Thursday was grocery day, an all day affair for us since I go shopping every other week. Getting so many groceries I have to re-stock and re-organize my shelves and prep stuff before it goes bad, but I enjoy doing this all on one day rather than several days through out the next few weeks. Between stops we stopped off to register Isaac for the Park Districts two-year-old program. One hour a week, every Monday, Isaac will be a little "Pebble." (The pre-school program is called "Stepping Stones" so that makes him the one underneath.) That will be fun for him.

And yesterday we had a wonderful day at the park. The sun was hiding behind clouds, making it quite bearable to be outside, dare I say actually enjoyable! And what is not to enjoy with an adorable two year old sliding down slides and pretending the rocks below are water, as he wiggles his body all through the dirt to get to the safe grassy area to the other side (his imagination is beginning to be quite active, it's a lot of fun).

That's our week so far. I don't know what will be written for today, but I have to start the day sometime. Maybe a little sweet tea will help... it always does!!!

2009 in Pictures

It's a large file! I made it for a DVD, so it has so many pictures and music on it. It may take awhile to load or play through. Looking forward to more happy memories together in 2010!

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