M's party!!!

This weekend we held the Meet M party in Wausau with Will's family. It was a lot of fun and a good turn out. Leon and Kathy did such a great job with the party! The party was fun and I am so thankful that they worked so hard to throw such a great party. It was a great time for everyone and so good to see everyone again.

Afternoon out!

This weekend we got an afternoon out! Will's mom & dad watched E & M while we took a much needed day away. I love my kids but since brining M home we have been with them almost 24/7 and well we needed to get away. It was awesome. We bummed around downtown Wausau, cuter than I thought it would be, and got to actually talk to each other over a meal. It was a well needed break. We can't wait to do it again and have decided to squeeze money into the budget so we can do 2 date nights a month.....and even hire a babysitter if we need to.

Bodie....

So, we found out this weekend that Bodie is a Plott Hound. Will's uncle Joey, who used to own coon hounds and knows the hound breed pretty well, saw Bodie and asked what he was. Our reply was and hound mutt, and Joey said he looks like a Plott hound. Plott hounds traditionally hunt wild boar and bear. Will did some research and turns out he is completely a Plott hound and maybe mixed with a redbone hound. Looks like our Bodie is all hound! Check out the pictures attached below and tell me that isn't our dog!

Plott Hound

Redbone Coonhound

Officially a one car family!

Yep, we did it! We sold Will's car and he will be carpooling with someone and paying for the gas. It will be weird but I think we can do it. The payoff is that we save $2400 just in loan payments this year. It will help us out a lot, especially since we are living off one income and an educator's salary at that. We are definitely becoming a GREEN family!

Place your bets!!

Okay, we are taking bets on when Max will walk. He is already crawling and has been for a while. Now, he is climbing stairs and cruising between furniture. He will even stand unassisted for a couple of seconds. I don't think it will be long now. I will start a little pool on the side of my blogs and we'll see who is the closest!

Home again, home again!!

We have returned from our adventure in Ohio. We visited my brother Josh and had a great time. It was great to see him and the boys love their Uncle Josh. When we said goodbye E said I love you Uncle Josh.....it was so cute. He is such an adorable little boy....moments like that help me through the rougher times with E, he is all boy and boy oh boy has he started to share his demands. On more than one occasion on the trip E said, "just leave me here." He didn't want to do what we had planned and wanted to do whatever it was he was doing instead. It was an interesting trip for E and I think M thought we had moved into a small one-room apartment to live with Uncle Josh.

Summer is passing us by!

Yikes, is it August already. Before we know it Will will be headed back to work and life around here will become normal again, playdates will resume and summer life will be over. I miss summer but am also looking forward to some semblance of normalcy and routine. The family time will diminish and I will see all of my mom friends again....I haven't forgotten you just enjoy our family time. Let's see what is new with us. M is crawling, started solid food, and is holding his own with his big brother. E is having a blast with daddy home, is so smart, loves to sing and dance and his current favorite son is "Thank God I'm a Country Boy" (yep, John Denver....I blame Will). Someone help us please! I have a lot of cute videos to share but not enough time to get them up right now. I am working on starting a small LLC business called Comfy Baby LLC, which sells slings and reusable wipes and other things I think I can do well. I will keep you all informed of the progress of that. Will will be adding the Oregon Alternative School, whose actual name escapes me, to the list of his duties this year. We may become a one car family, Will would ride share and I would have the van. Yep, that is the only way that would work....scary but oh the money it would save us. I know, I know what a bunch of hippies....first cloth diapers, then CSA farm shares, then push mowers, now only one car! We'll keep you posted on that. Hmmm....we have had some pretty busy weekends. We were at and Ethiopia American camp last weekend and had a great time. I think the weekend caused the travel bug to come back to Will he is scheming as I write this. I think that's it we have just been really busy as a family doing a lot of stuff together.

Oo, oo, my sister is engaged, which is completely exciting. The date and location are set, May 23, 2009, Heidel House Resort in Green Lake, Wisconsin.

Funny things E says

I am so glad kids can be so hilarious. Sometimes it makes your whole day!

Today, at the farmer's market, E & M were riding in their side by side stroller and a woman oohed and aahed at them (a usual occurence with my boys). She asked E his name and he told her. She asked his brother's name and then asked him a question. With E's fist in the air as though he were making a proclamation he said, "Someday I am going to wear my big boy underpants!" He was so proud and she congratulated him on his great achievement. It was the funniest thing I have ever seen.

Ah, our son the budding politician.

On another note, we were talking about Aunt Christy & Uncle James getting married and E said, "Oh man, I want to get married too." We asked who he would marry and he said, "Aunt Christy & Uncle James." Since then he has wanted to marry a lot of people including, mommy & daddy.

Kids can be hilarious...good thing or some days would totally suck. They always know just when you need something funny.

Finally, more pictures...aren't they amazing!!! (my boys that is not my pictures!)

I will finally post some new pictures. There is a huge variety here. M is 7ish months and E is 2 1/2 years!!!! Yikes how time flies. I hope you like them....my boys are growing so quickly!

Dad & E

Mom & E

Cheesy!

Isn't he a sweetheart!

E destroying a sand castle

M basking in the sun

Fun in the water

Our cousin M!

Will & M!

Me & M!

M, looking oh so cute!

Our day in court!

Although it is just a formality here are pictures from our day in court. It was much simpler in Dane county than in Rock county.

The family & the judge

M & judge

It's official!

M is on the move. He is everywhere. He can pull himself up and walk along furniture. He will transfer between furniture and keep moving. He is crawling everywhere. He is still using his rudimentary crawl but he is moving a bit faster. Before we know it he will be walking. Yikes!!

Bodie is a handful!!!

Looks like we need to get Bodie a dog trainer. I just want a consultation on some of his behaviors. He isn't super naughty but he has some rough patches. He is great with the kids and usually with other dogs. I hope that tonight was just a stressful evening and that his behavior with Lily is a one time thing. Regardless I want to consult a dog professional and hopefully in the fall we can get him into obedience class. We adopted him to late to get him into any this summer. Looks like we will have a busy fall.

M is on the move....

Yep, M is crawling. He does one kneed crawl and pushes off with the other foot. He is now mobile, which changes my game completely! Yikes....2 boys on the move, that's scary.

Breastfeeding...

I am pretty sure I did not update anyone as to my status on my attempt to induce lactation. Things were going pretty smoothly before we left for Ethiopia. I had been pumping regularly and had seen a tiny bit of colostrum in both breasts. During the trip life got very hard. Schedules made it difficult to pump and I had limited success with the Supported Nursing System (SNS). I suspended pumping and nursing all together while we were there. I thought once we got back I would start up again and with M being home maybe that would push the process along. Well, we got back and about a week after we were home we found out M was lactose intolerant. There was a small note in his medical file from Ethiopia about it, which explains a lot about his disposition that first week as we were unaware of this. I know some babies can still tolerate breast milk but M couldn't. My SIL was also nursing at the time and producing so much more than her baby could drink that she gave me some of her frozen stash to try with M. Well, he was not tolerant of breast milk and spit up more than usual that day. Despite my best efforts breastfeeding did not work for us. Bummer but at least I can say I gave it my best shot.

Local Effort for 2 amazing causes! Please help out!

I am posting this for a friend to help in her effort to raise money for a good cause! Please see the information below.

I want to let you all know that my dear friend, Amber, is participating in the Madison Ironman Triathalon. Part of the event involves a charity challenge sponsored by Janus Funds. Amber is dedicating her charity efforts to Doctors Without Borders and Plumpy'nut distribution, with a particular emphasis on Ethiopia. The event is September 7, and we're hoping the win the top prize of $10K for Doctors without Borders! I'll be there with my "just arrived home" son, Zeke, cheering on Amber (this is her first triathalon!) , and cheering for Plumpy'nut! You can help us by passing on the message to local friends and family and by donating directly here: https://www.%20kintera.org/%20faf/donorReg/%20donorPledge.%20asp?

Or, you can read about the details on my blog: http://www.under-the-acacia-tree.blogspot.com/. If any of you would like to come out with your children and families to cheer on Amber, let me know! I'm going to have plumpy'nut T-shirts made with some sort of Ethiopian regalia on it!

Gratefully,Meghan

For extra information check on Plumpy'nut check out the following website:
Plumpy'nut (http://www.plumpynutinthefield.com/eng/index-eng.php)

Long time....yikes!

Wow, I haven't blogged in a while. Time sure flies in the summer. Well, let's see what's been going on. E continues to talk up a storm and now M is getting more vocal and just as loud. I can see it will be a loud house here. E has picked up the bad habit of screaming really loudly to get attention. We are working on using "excuse me" to get attention. He is getting so good at it. M is pulling himself to standing next to furniture and gets mad when you move him. It will be an interesting year, if M keeps up at this rate he will crawl and walk long before E ever did. What a summer we have had so far.

attachment....

We are going to take a break from visitors and outings with M for a while. Short visits don't seem to bother him but if people are around for an extended period of time then he has a hard time settling. So, we are scaling back a bit with his outings and visits. We are going to keep him close and wear him a lot and it should help him get reconnected and soothe more easily. Thanks for your support.

So Lucky!!!!

I am driving home from a girls night out tonight and I here a song on the radio, I don't actually know the name of the song but it was on Z104, a station I never listen too. It was a song that E was bopping to the other day in the car when we were picking his daddy up from work. It made me laugh so hard and then it made me feel so lucky! I can't explain it--the feeling just came over me. I think it is because Father's Day is coming and I have been thinking a lot about Will and the boys. It really hit me today just how lucky I am. I have a husband that would do anything for me. He is amazing helps out around the house, is an amazing father and husband. He loves me and the boys so much. He never complains and always is looking out for me. I know how amazing that is. I don't ever have to worry about the kids when I am gone because I know Will will do an amazing job. His boys adore him. I am so lucky to have found and fallen in love with a man like Will. I wish every woman could be so lucky. I know I am and now its time I did something to show him how lucky I am.

Pictures

Here are a couple recent pix of my boys. E is now 29 months and M is 6 months. They are so cute....of course I am biased.

E & M (mother's day)

M....oh so cute!

E & Bodie!

M again....just look at that face

Meet Bodie!!! (Boh-dee)

So, we settled on a name. It took us a little while to settle on that name we tried out a few and they just didn't fit. We are happy to say that he seems to be a calm and well-mannered dog. Despite his incident at Em & Jason's house...he is house-trained.