All by himself

7 months old

Conversations with Little Man

While riding in the car today, after leaving Joy School.
LM: I wanna go home!
Me: We're going to have lunch with Zee. She has a new job and it's far away. We won't be able to see her for a little while.
LM: No, Mommy! I go far away, you go home. That's your choice.

Upon arriving at McD's.
LM: Look! It's the Chicken Man (the ronald mcdonald statue)! Look! Look! (changing his voice to a whisper) He's friends with Jesus.

Uncle Matt and the boys

Oink, Neigh, Moo

We went to a Barnyard Party for my friend's little boy this weekend. I forgot the camera and was so glad to have a camera phone. This is why:

The moon bounce with SLIDE!

The petting "zoo". This is the bunny pen and the kids were allowed to climb in and play with the bunnies. The goats are in the next pen. Little Man loved feeding them, but he wouldn't stand still for a picture. He kept telling me that the goats "kickled" his hand.

The pony ride! Beenie took a picture on her phone, so I'm hoping that I'll get a better copy of this one. This was his second ride on the pony and he didn't want to get off.

Bug was having a great time. He was playing on the tarp by the moon bounce. He would leave his toys in the middle of the tarp, crawl as quick as he could to the edge and stuff rocks into his mouth. He's not happy because we took all the rocks away. You can't really tell here, but his chin, chest, forearms and legs were cover with gravel dust.

About five minutes after I took the picture of Little Man on the horse, it started to pour. It only lasted about 15 minutes and the kids went right back outside. The moon bounce was still up and they went straight for the slide. It was full of rain water and the kids were soaked. Soaked. I didn't bring a change of clothes, so I put Little Man in a clean diaper and reached a new level of hick. My kid was the naked kid with his shoes on. But he was happy and exhausted. He fell asleep on the way home and Zee got some pictures of him passed out on my shoulders. It was a great day.

Thanks, Kori, for including us and Happy Birthday, Beanon!

I'm trying to be excited. Really. I am.

Possibilities

Zee and I (much to Wil's dismay) have been discussing Halloween costume possibilities for us and the boys. They need to be cheap and cute. So last night I pulled out the bin of Halloween stuff and here are some of our choices:

Bug as Frankenstein

Monkey as a Doggie

Monkey as a Lion or a Tiger...

but you should know that the Tiger costume looks like this.

Bug could also be SuperBaby (as modeled by Monkey in 2006)

Monkey as Monkey (picture from 2007)

Bug wearing my costume

Monkey as Lightening McQueen

Available for purchase for Bug: a Bug (well, spider.)

Temptation

You REALLY need to check this out!

World's Largest Ice Cream Social

Celebrate the 7th Annual World's Largest Ice Cream Social and Support the Make-A-Wish Foundation® with Cold Stone Creamery

Throughout the month of September, Cold Stone Creamery will be selling Make-A-Wish wall stars to benefit the Make-A-Wish Foundation, an organization that grants wishes to children with life-threatening medical conditions. Be sure to visit your local Cold Stone Creamery to try two new flavors, Nutter Butter^® and Marshmallow, and the very special “Make-A-Wish Creations” inspired by Jack and Emily, two Wish Children.

• Jack's Creation - Marshmallow ice cream with OREO® Cookies, Chocolate Chips and Fudge
• Emily's Creation - Nutter Butter® ice cream with White Chocolate Chips, Kit Kat® and Yellow Cake

To cap off this special month, don't miss the 7th Annual World’s Largest Ice Cream Social at participating Cold Stone Creamery locations nationwide, a special night to join together and share the simple pleasures of life with a FREE ice cream and family fun. On September 25th from 5:00 - 8:00PM, guests will be treated to a 3 oz. serving of Jack or Emily's Creation. All donations will benefit the Make-A-Wish Foundation.

Just in case...

you don't read my sister's blog, she has pictures up of the boys from this weekend. Check here and here.

Also, I added followers on the sidebar. If you have reader, click through and add yourself to the list.

Thanks for the . . .

Today is the 3rd Monday at the new gig. I really like my coworkers and the job I am doing. I like the work place [2 blocks from the White House] and the general feel of things.

I just wanted to take a moment and thank my wife [Lauren] for her support and patience as her husband spent time looking for a job. I want to thank Heavenly Father for helping me find a place where I feel I fit in. I want to thank my family and Ward for the prayers and encouragement. I want to thank Grandma & Grandpa for their support, we are renting their garage apartment, and their love of the grand kids. I want to thank Mimi & Papa for the eternal perspective that they have helped me to develop.

I also want to thank Dave & Heidi for their prayers and say, "Maybe, next time Utah will be in the cards". I also want to thank Elder & Sister Grant [and Elder Sapp] of the DC LDS Employment Center for helping make the network connection that got me the interview.

Last of all everybody else that I may or may not have known was thinking or praying for us during the last 3 months.

w.

um. gross.

We were driving to Bowie today for a HUGE yard sale. I kept feeling something scratchy on my leg and couldn't figure out what it was. Just as I said to Zee, "I think there's a bug in the leg of my jeans." I leaned over grabbed the seam of my jeans and squished a crunchy black bug between my fingers.

Word

This post is for me. Mostly because my memory sucks and Little Man's words crack me up (except for the one that would lead you to believe his mother is a trucker). The current list:

op-a-cus = octopus
heppa-copper = helicopter
be-boom = bedroom
joom = spoon
gink = drink
goggie = doggie
char-lulls = charles (one of the guys that works with my brothers. often referred to as uncle char-lulls)
Gay-bug or Gake = Bug
lellow yoader = yellow loader

I know I'm forgetting some. Zee? Wil?

For Zee... because we love her

The First Week

Monday started early and I had no idea what my boss of the other members of our group looked like. I arrived at the office about 2 hours early so that I could get a lay of the land and be there early to meet the team before we had our first meeting with the clients.

The week was busy and full of exploration and work, lots of work. I learned my way around the building and a few blocks. I found a garage to park in and places to eat when I need to pick up lunch.

Early mornings with quiet and traffic. Long days on the Metro, some without music. Learning to edit someone's work and keep the meaning and context of the paper.

I look forward to the challenges and growth.

Oh no!

I just put Bug in the bassinet insert of his pack & play for an afternoon nap. I walked into the next room to get his blanket and he crawled over to the corner of the bassinet. I then watched my SIX MONTH OLD pull himself up on the side of the pack & play. He was STANDING UP at 6 months. I'm scared. Of course when I tried to get it on video, he would only go up on his knees. And yes, I took the bassinet insert out.

Naptime Wars: A new development

The naptime wars have calmed down considerably this summer. I started enforcing quiet time instead and Wil was home to help fight the battle. But in the last couple weeks the tables have turned... I HATE it when Little Man takes a nap now. He has gotten adjusted to having his own play time and will play by himself in his room for a couple hours without complaint. Especially if he thinks he's supposed to be sleeping and is sneaking out of bed. The best part about this is the early bedtime. The kid wakes up by 6:30am no matter what time he goes to bed, so we've moved his bedtime to between 7 and 7:30pm. (cue angels singing!) It's wonderful. He's much happier and I still have some time in the evening to relax (or get something done). The problem comes when he has gone 3 or 4 days without a nap and is exhausted. I'll tell him it's playtime and he'll get in bed on his own and sleep for 2 or 3 hours. The peace in the afternoon is great, but I pay for it dearly in the evening. Last night he was up until 10pm... when I took Bug into bed he had been standing behind the door in the dark. I'm ready for him to settle into one or the other. The transition is too much for this tired mommy.

An unexpected visit

Our friends, Jonas and Berry, were in town with their little girl a couple weeks ago. I started to blog about it and got sidetracked by all the job stuff. We only had a couple days, but we had a great time. Wil and I met them for an evening baseball game at Camden Yards and then we spent a day in DC. We went to the Air & Space Museum, the Castle and the Jim Henson exhibit. The kids were exhausted, but surprisingly well behaved. Here are some pics of our adventures:

self portraits at camden yards

happy to see the airplanes

monkey and his friend



(Aug. 28th and 29th, 2008)

Poll

For those of you who use google reader, there's a poll up in the sidebar.

Back to Reality

11:00pm - bedtime
11:41pm - monkey's toy alarm clock goes off in our room. spend 5 minutes trying to figure out what the noise is and how to turn it off.
3:337am - my husband's snoring wakes me up.
4:31am - bug is screaming. not sure why.
4:55am - garage door under our room opens and closes.
5:06am - wil's alarm clock goes off.
6:27am - bug is awake.
6:30am- my alarm goes off so i can get a shower before the boys wake up. try to sneak out of the room, but bug sees me from the pack & play. (he never made it back to the crib.) make a bottle and hear monkey stirring. grab his milk too.
6:40am- put bug in his crib with his bottle. monkey in his bed with his sippy cup and some dry kix (HUGE mistake) and put up the gate. get in the shower, leaving both doors open. by the time the shampoo is in my hair i can hear monkey climb into bug's crib. when i get to conditioner bug is crying because monkey is in his crib. monkey is crying because he wants back out of the crib.
7ish- get out of the shower. wrap up in my towel to calm the screaming children and find kix everywhere. spend 5 minutes trying to get monkey to help clean them up. 5 more cleaning them up. watch monkey dump them on the floor again. clean them up AGAIN. (i know there are still kix under the crib. too tired to care.) put bug in his bouncer and turn on thomas so i can get dressed. throw on clothes. turn on blowdryer to stop hair from dripping. print out handbook training for my 9am meeting.
8:06am- put bug in his hairchair and try to get breakfast ready before the screaming escalates. add milk to the kix (yes, the ones from the floor.) and put monkey in his chair. sit down to feed bug. clean up bugs face and let him play with the wipe. stop to eat a banana. monkey takes half of it. put toast in the toaster. clean up adam. change diapers and get both boys dressed. start a load of laundry. check bag to make sure i have all the essentials. fix a bottle for later. remember toast. eat it cold with spray butter and take meds. check binder for my meeting. grab a bottle of water. put bug in his seat.
8:42am- out the door.

i know that it's going to take me a little while to get used to being home without wil. and don't get me wrong, i'm VERY happy that he has a job again. i did not expect the first morning to be quite so rough.

for those of you who have two kids sharing a room... how did you do it? any suggestions on how to make the transition? things to avoid?

Where, oh where?

In the year after Little Man was born, quite a few of my friends had babies. All, except ONE, had girls. Hooray for Yaks! Unfortunately, Yaks lives in Utah. There is one other boy in Little Man's primary class. One other boy in Music Makers and he's 2 years older than Little Man. No other boys at Joy School. A friend of mine blogged about her daughter's 2 year old pre-school class - 10 girls and 1 boy. Sometimes I feel bad that he doesn't have anyone to play trains or cars with, but then I'm happy that he enjoys playing with dolls or his cousin's pretend kitchen.

Mostly I feel for the girls. Right now they don't know the difference, but in 15-20 years they will. Who will they date? Is there a community somewhere full of 2 year old little boys?

For now, it makes me feel even stronger about teaching my boys how girls deserve to be treated.

Hi-Ho Hi-Ho, Off to Work I go

Okay, that is true starting on the 8th 15th of September! After about 4 months of looking for a job one found me. I will be working for a contractor in Washington, D.C. - sorry Rob.

I will have an okay commute it seems and I will be doing something different from System/Network Administration. I will be a technical writer, translation - I will turn Geek and Engineer into English, which I have been doing verbally for some years now and I have been doing as part of my jobs in the last 4 years.

It am excited for the prospect, I will be starting on a fresh new contract which will be a new experience for me. It also means that if I behave myself I may find time to work on my MBA too.

w.

Updates...

If you haven't yet heard, Wil is going to be starting a new job on the 15th. He'll be working in DC on a government contract. It's a brand new contract, which means 4 years of job security. If you see me this fall, don't be surprised if I'm carrying this:(I still can't decide which one I like the best. I've narrowed it down to two.)

And if you have seen this post yet, be sure to pick a number. I know there are more than 6 people who read this. There are. Really. Remember, it can be something easy... like emailing me your favorite healthy recipe.

Bug. He's growing up too fast and this post is more for me than anyone else. I have a bunch of videos to upload, but the new versions of our software that Wil installed are so different from the previous version that I have yet to figure out how to condense a video. In the meantime you should know that Bug has two teeth, can scoot himself from the living room to his bedroom (especially if there's a matchbox car in sight). On Saturday, he crawled for the first time but hasn't done it again since. He refuses to play with his toys if Monkey's are in sight. He does not like green food. AT. ALL. If you try to give him green food, he makes the scrunchie nose face or the angry face you see in the slide show below. The scrunchie nose face will also tell you when he's done with what ever you might be trying to get him to do... a bottle, food, teether, you name it. He's sitting up on his own for longer periods of time and can sit up by himself. He has not yet figure out how to get out of a sitting postion, this has resulted in a bruise on his forehead from our wood floors (the night before family pictures, of course.) He's very goal oriented and if the desk is in the way of the toy he wants, he pays no attention until he's wedged underneath it. He L.O.V.E.S. his exersaucer and jumping. The little phone on it is his favorite. He loves his brother, but does not like being sat upon, wearing hats or bowls that are being used as hats or being pulled across the floor by his feet. He also loves bath, especially in the big kitchen sink. He will kick until everything in sight is soaking wet, with big belly laughs at all that he's accomplished.

I'm sure I'm forgetting something. But I need to feed him and go to bed so they don't have to photoshop out big dark circles from the family pictures.

Bug's funny faces

Storytime Part Two

Once upon a time there was a lellow gagon. And a yittle girl. The yittle girl was scared. Scared of the lellow gagon. Her mommy came. She shooed him away. Go away lellow gagon.

- Little Man

An apple a day

In January, about 6 weeks before Bug was born I had to find a new family doctor. Our insurance had changed and my doctor didn't accept the new plan. So I looked at the doctors in our network, picked up the phone and said, "please give me an appointment with someone, anyone, who is taking new patients." I know that this is probably the worst way to find a new doctor, but I was really pregnant, happy with my ob and just needed someone who would say, "yes, you do have a sinus infection. let's get you on some antibiotics."

I met with my new doc and she said just that. I was in heaven. I've been back to her 3 times since, each time with a sinus infection.

We have been without insurance for the last two months and have been very healthy (thank goodness). Until this week. A nasty sinus infection has taken up residence in my head causing all kinds of fun. This morning I decided that it was worth the outrageous amount of money I would have to pay to get on some antibiotics. How much was that outrageous amount? $4. Yep. Four dollars. I told the nurse on the phone about our current lack of insurance and my history of sinus infections. The doctor called in the prescription without making me come in to the office. I couldn't believe it. The sigh of relief was audible.

And then... the Health Department called to say we are approved for medical assistance.

Storytime with Little Man

Yesterday I was laying in bed trying to get some rest to kick this nasty sinus infection and reading Princess Academy. Little Man couldn't decide if he wanted to play next to the bed or cuddle. At one point he climbed up onto the bed, grabbed my book and said, "I read to you, Mommy." This was his story.

Little Man: Once upon a time.
Me: What happened?
LM: There was a castle and a gagon (dragon).
Me: What else?
LM: A yittle boy.
Me: What happened to them?
LM: The gagon eated the yittle boy all up.
Me: Wow, then what happened?
LM: The yittle boy went with the gagon. (Little Man then tries to snitch my book and run from the room.)

Shannon Hale would be proud of the changes to her story, don't you think?

Because my husband loves me

I am listening to the Dr. Horrible Soundtrack to the Motion Picture!

I [heart] Weight Watchers....

... but it doesn't [heart] me.

Since Wil has been out of work I've gained 11 pounds total, but I've also lost 5. Zi pointed out that I've just maintained a 5 pound range. That didn't really make me feel better. My jeans are tight again and I feel gross. Even so, I'm not motivated. AT. ALL. Ice cream? Bring it on. Cookies? More please. It's ugly. And to make matters worse, Bug has stopped nursing. In WW lingo that means I've lost 10 points a day. TEN. Almost a third of my allowed points for a day. That's a lot... basically all of my treats. Which means that on top of not feeling motivated, the quest for the skinny pants just got a LOT harder.

This is where I'm hoping that you'll pitch in. I'm stealing Heidi's idea and asking my friends and family to give me something to work toward. I have 12 pounds to go to hit my Weight Watchers short term goal and another 13 to reach my personal goal. That's 25 total. So pick a number and come up with something fun. It doesn't have to be expensive or difficult, I just need goals to inspire me to pass up having seconds.

Who's in?