Is it Christmas now?

It's been a long wait for E. He has been ready for Christmas for a while the week prior to Christmas he was so hyper. I thought we weren't going to make it to Christmas with all of our hair. He gets so amped up that you can't even calm him. It's been a rough couple weeks. Christmas eve came and you could see him mellow. Christmas day came and he relaxed even more. Then, the 26th came (we celebrated this day as our little family unit and Santa came late to our house on Christmas night) and E said to daddy seeing all the presents under the tree, "Is it Christmas now daddy?" Will laughed and said, "yes." E has been himself ever since.

Finally Will has his wish....

Yep, he finally has a daddy's boy. M runs to daddy instead of mommy on all occassions. Will is so pleased he has wanted that since bringing E home and E was such a momma's boy. It is nice to see M so close to his daddy but now I know why he was so jealous.

My fear....update

Nap time has been reinstated. We are back to rocking to sleep but I will take that any day over him coming out of his room and claiming, "quiet time is over." Yep, I will give up 15 minutes to get a couple hours of peace. Besides he still badly needs quiet time.

"No Mom"

The first words of my 1 year old...yep that's it. "No Mom."

E's first word was "doggie", which sounded like goggie.

I'm not sure which is better, to be trumped by our beloved family pet or to hear "no mom" as a first word? Hmmmm....I will have to think on that.

Oh the fear.

Yikes it's been 3 days of refusal, nap refusal by E. Yep, 3 full days of me putting him down to nap and not napping. Not only was he not napping, I think he was attempting to wake his sleeping brother. Here was how it went.

E...I don't want quiet time.
Mom...You don't have to sleep you just need to be in your room quietly reading or playing.
E...I don't want to.
Mom...I just need you to be in your room for a little while, if you don't sleep then you can come out.
Mom put E in room. He doesn't lay down, just sits briefly on his bed. Mom leaves and E begins to play. No biggie, I can handle playing I just need to be alone for just a little while. Just a little peace is all I need. Then E begins the shouting & the crying. Mommy can't leave him in there to wake his brother so we try to rock on the pink chair (our lovely mauve recliner in the living room). He sits quietly for about 5 minutes and then begins the squirm. Mom tries him in bed again and he is quiet for about 15 minutes. Then the shouting begins and out he comes. Clearly he is not currently tired but he will be soon or so I hope. No luck for me. He is up all afternoon for 3 straight days and on all 3 days he practically falls asleep while eating his afternoon snack between 4 & 4:30. Yep, so much for his usual 8 pm bedtime.

Please tell me he isn't weaning himself from his nap. He needs them so badly and so do I. I admit it everyday I look forward to that time when they are both asleep and I get a little me time. A little peace in the house never hurt anyone either. I hope my biggest fear is not coming true....I need that nap!

To Ohio we go!

Yep, the boys and I, minus Will because he has to work are driving to Ohio with my family. Will thought I was completely crazy and now I agree. Who ever thought that driving to Ohio for 2 days there was a good plan. Granted my brother is graduating from graduate school but still I think he would have understood had I said no of all people. On Friday, weather permitting, the boys (E & M) & I, my parents, my sister and 1 of my brothers are headed to Ohio in 1, yep 1, minivan. We must be crazy, 5 grown adults and 2 children in car seats all in one car.

Boring, boring....

....now I know why I was never going to be a creative writer. I just don't have the knack for it. I read my friends blogs and they are hilarious. Mine, not so much just mundane and boring. So sorry for those of you who read it! I will see what I can do about that.

What a day!

Today we celebrated M's 1st birthday. It was nice to gather all those people near and dear to our hearts to celebrate our little boys 1st year. I think everyone had a great time, even the birthday boy. That is a feat in itself since E spent his 1st birthday with a rash and asleep most of the party. Luckily on child number 2 I got smarter about the timing of the party and chose a time that worked better for our children. M was awake and alert the whole time. His first cake experience was funny. He felt no need to put it into his mouth he just enjoyed smashing it. It wasn't until his Nanna fed it to him that he even attempted putting it into his mouth. Of course the wrapping paper was a lot better than any of the gifts in them. As usual the ending of the party triggered a melt down in E. He just couldn't keep it together. After numerous attempts to put him to bed Will finally brought him out to the recliner to rock him. E declared, "I don't want parties. I don't want cakes. I don't want anything." He'd had enough. Two minutes later the phone rang and the birthday party we were to attend tomorrow was cancelled. Hmmmm....was it really a sick child or the curse of E! We'll never know.

Christmas is almost here.

I can't believe that Christmas is literally 20 days away. That is so crazy. This year we cut way back on gifts but I still have some light shopping to do. At least I have all the boys gifts done. I have Will done too which is usually really hard. I have some great ideas but know that my budget is too slim for all of them. I am starting to dislike what Christmas has become. With the economy in such turmoil and so many people out of work this whole Christmas season is really bothering me. The consumerist American way is also driving me crazy. It's like you aren't worthwhile until you accumulate the right amount and type of stuff. It just really is starting to get to me. It's a bummer that this holiday season makes that whole idea so much better.

My baby is 1!

I can't even believe it. It seems like just yesterday that we brought him home and now he is 1. Yikes how time flies. The funniest part about the day was the question E had. We were talking about how M was 1 and how big he was. E's question was, "Now can he talk?" Completely hilarious to think that in his mind he figures you turn one and just suddenly the words appear.

Hard time keeping up

November has been full of travelling. I feel like every weekend we live out of a suitcase and during the week we launder and re-pack adn do it all again. Among all the travelling I have had a hard time keeping up with my life. I have not been on fb in so long and not blogged until ... well today. I can barely keep up with my email. I am looking forward to the lul that comes after the holidays. Unfortunately that means my babies will be older still and I am so sad to see them growing so fast. I can't believe my youngest is almost 1! Yikes...time flies. It's almost Thanksgiving.

Halloween 2008! (I know it's kind of late)

The amazing costumes were compliments of my mom, Nana as E & M call her. She has a gift...thank goodness!

Voted!

This morning we got up early, gathered the boys, the stroller and anything we thought would help the wait in line. We rolled out of the house at 6:30 and arrived at our polling place shortly after. We arrived to find about 30 people ahead of us and boy were we happy we took the time to get going. There we sat, the 4 of us, E in the stroller watching his Cars DVD and M toddling around until the polls opened at 7. I was really happy that it was not a cold morning...it may have been a different story had it been cold. Once the polls opened it was smooth sailing, we cast our ballots and were back in the car by 7:19. Will went off to work and the boys and I went home. I meant to take a picture of the boys in their stroller on election day but I forgot. Bummer, that would have been cute in years to come.

2 nights and counting...

It has been 2, count it again...2, gorgeous nights of uninterrupted sleep. My baby M has slept through the night 2 times. Of course both nights I got up because I swore I heard him and well I didn't, I was just dreaming, but luckily drifted right back to sleep. I hope this continues because it sure is nice and makes my days go so much better.

The bedtime weening...

Okay, okay so I know we should have weened E from falling asleep with us in the room a long time ago but we didn't and so now we have decided it's time. We are finally putting him to bed, reading books, listening to one song with him and then kissing him and saying good night. Here's how it has gone so far:

Day 1 (Wednesday night)

• Talking up the big change!
• E to bed
• Daddy kisses goodnight and leaves
• about 1 minute of crying
• off to sleep.

Day 2 (Thursday night)

• Again with the talking it up.
• E to be
• routine
• Daddy leaves
• about 40 minutes of crying
• Mom goes in to settle him
• kisses good night and leaves
• more crying
• E comes out of room
• gets a drink of water
• Daddy puts him back in bed
• listens to 1 song
• E falls asleep during that song

We'll keep you posted!

It's finally over!

Hooray....the hand foot and mouth illness that started last Sunday is finally coming to a close. The boys are free of their Tylenol & Motrin addiction and happy. Also, finally sleeping without interruption because their throats hurt so much. Yep, since Sunday I have had little sleep and Will took a day of Monday, half day Tuesday and a couple hours on Wednesday all to let me sleep or him if he didn't sleep well either. Last night M, finally slept until 3 AM on his own and in his own bed. He is feeling much better. I can finally breath a sigh of relief.

My little M

He is getting so big...I can't even believe it. Lately, his favorite thing is to wrap his little arms around my neck and then pat my back with his little hand. It is so sweet, just makes me want to keep him small forever. Oh how fast they grow and how quickly you lose your little babies.

on again off again

Yep, that's our potty training story. I only get irritated because I so want to be done changing E's diapers. It's selfish I know but oh how I despise the diaper wars at our house. He hates diaper changes and won't pee on the potty consistently. I know he will be ready when he's ready and I am not pushing him but oh how happy I will be when he is ready. I think deep down he's just not ready to be a big boy yet.

M walking 9-20 some early steps!!!

Oops its been a while....

Yikes I didn't realize it had been so long. I have some new photos and videos I should post. Also M is completely mobile. He is walking like a champ (I have video proof as well).

Here's whats new with us....

M is mobile & E is adjusting to him getting into everything & being a proud brother of a walking M!

I ran into an old college roommate yesterday when I took M to the doctor (again!) We have been there 4 times in the last 8 weeks. I think the doctor is getting tired of us and I am tired of only getting real answers once. It's not her fault just frustrating as I am tired of not sleeping and it is very stressful when M gets up in the middle of the night and just cries and cries. Nothing I do helps. It is stressful....I was just hoping for a medical answer.

We got to see one of my good friends Jenissa and her son (T) and daughter (J). I will have to post some pictures of that. We visited a childhood favorite of mine (Jenissa & family live near my parents). It was a good time but I think Jenissa and I were both thankful that Ben and Meegan happened to join us as Ben could chase T & E. Jenissa and I both had babies strapped to us. Next time I will bring the stroller.

We've seen other family friends as well and have plans to see them more often. I am working hard at keeping in touch as I just tend to run out of time.

Will and I celebrated our 4 year anniversary! Wow, I can't even believe it's been 4 years. Next year is 5 and we plan to do something big....like go somewhere for a weekend and have the grandparents stay for a weekend! Yippee!