The boys and Jo eating Christmas Eve dinner. Josie looks like she could care less.
The kids in their new Christmas pj’s. Aren’t those babies adorable!
We had a great Christmas. The best part for me besides seeing my kids to crazy with excitement was to just have my husband for a full day on Christmas. We drove to church together, and even came home together! It was a real treat.
Our church was hopping this weekend. In addition to the yearly crèche display that was taking place, our ward had also arranged for a rummage. At our rummage nothing is sold. Everything is free. What people don’t want we donate to goodwill. Great idea. Right? As mentioned, the crèche display was being held simultaneously, and I was asked to perform at it. I had gone over to the church earlier in the day to practice my songs, and while there I meandered through the rummage. If you know me well at all, you know that the chances of me picking something up and taking it back to my house were slim. I love to get rid of stuff, not accumulate it. True to form, I easily walked in and out without anything.
Flash forward a few hours. I’m back at the church, this time with my posse’. The crèche is a relatively reverent event, so I knew we were in trouble when the boys both started whining about being “so bored they think they might die” after only being there two minutes. Josh had the great idea of sending them into the rummage while they waited for me to finish. I made it through, and was seated at a table listening to Sis. Treter play beautiful viola music, when the big wooden doors to the gym creak, loudly, open and in walks Isaac with his arms brimming with treasures. I’m sure that my face showed exactly the horror I was feeling inside, when he quickly said, eyes wide, “What? It was all free.”
I nearly tackled him when he said he was going back for more.
If you are wondering what the blobs are, they are soap sponges that grow when you put them in water. A gorilla and t-rex. I touched them to throw them away and I think they gave me a rash. I’m just sayin’.
This year, the original plan for Thanksgiving was to go to my oldest sister’s house in Kentucky. With all the work that Josh is trying to get done, that kind of trip became pretty much impossible to do. Josh and I thought it would be fun instead to do a little mini vacation to Chula Vista. Then we thought, let’s make it a surprise!
So, on Wednesday afternoon I secretly got everything ready, and loaded up the kids to go get Josh at the lab so we could go to a buffet for dinner (something they love to do). We told them that we were going to a buffet that was pretty far away, so that they wouldn’t start whining when it took longer than fifteen minutes to get there. Surprisingly, we were at least an hour into the drive before Isaac started mumbling under his breath that he thought it was pretty dumb to go to a buffet that was so far away. Will didn’t seemed phased by the distance. Another 15 minutes goes by and Isaac starts complaining again. Josh and I decided to tell them at that point. It took a few minutes and hints before it really sunk in that we were indeed going to a buffet, and that it was at the Dell’s, and that we were staying overnight. The following picture captures that exact moment when the stars aligned for them.
Unfortunately, this is the last of the pictures from the fun getaway. I put the cameral in the glove box and forgot all about it. We stayed in one of their ultra nice 2 bedroom condos, that Josh got a screaming deal on at 90% off! Plus, he managed to land us our Thanksgiving dinner for free too! When we got in the room Isaac started hollering, “I never want to leave this place! This is the best place we have ever lived!”
Didn’t feel terribly Thanksgivingy, but I didn’t have to cook, so, all in all a pretty awesome time.
I never would have thought that we would have gotten so much use out of all the headbands Josie has. I was sure that by 19 months we would have moved onto barrettes and pony’s, but not so. She’s still pretty cute though.
A random bit, to everyone who wished me a happy birthday yesterday, thank you. 30 feels old, but my visiting teaching partner made me feel a little better. She remembered my birthday was coming up, and asked how old I would be. I told her 30 with my nose all scrunched up in disbelief that my 20’s were over, and she said, “oh crap! I’m more than twice your age!” My response to you, Jan, is I have twice the amount of kids as you, so that makes it a wash, right?
This is the typical scene whenever Daddy comes home. Really, an every day occurrence. Daddy dog pile. So fun.
This is also another classic daddy moment. He did it with Will, Isaac, and now with Josie, and each responds in a different way, but all love it.
“Down! Set! Hut! Hut!”
Will would run screaming (gleefully)
Isaac would attack him
Josie mirrors his position. It’s so funny.
Why the special tribute to fun daddy times? Well, because they are getting to be more of a treat with all the hours he has had to work lately. Josh met with his thesis committee last week, and we got the great news, that graduating with his PhD is pretty much a sure thing in June. Hooray! However, in order to make this happen he is working so hard. That is saying something, because he has been working really hard all along, but now it’s border line crazy. I know it’s so hard on him to not wrestle his babies every day, but I’m grateful for all that he does. Yay Josh!
Some other stuff…
Hey, Josie, do you feel the burn?
Oh yeah, mom, I’m feeling it!
If you look closely, you’ll see tears streaming down her face and her eyes are all red, but just try and take the chips and salsa away from her. I dare you. Trust me when I say that she didn’t mind.
At least I offered some relief.
I call the next series of pictures “Ooh, a little red light”
There aren’t many pictures of Jameson, because I’m always holding him while I’m taking everyone else’s picture, and you just read how daddy is shackled to the lab, but I did try the other night. He was so smiley and cute, but the red light on the camera got the best of him.
This was the closest I got to his normal face, and it isn’t very close.
A Halloween post is on it’s way, but this picture captures the essence of Jameson’s super squishy cheeks. They are perfect for smooching and nuzzling your nose in.
Halloween 2011
It’s a lot of pressure to be a mom, for many reasons, but one of them is the fact that we are the keeper of all of the magic come holiday time. It’s fun, but work. So, with that in mind, what is Halloween without pumpkins?
I carved with the boys and Josh manned the babies. It was great!
Wisconsin is such a goofy state when it comes to trick or treating. In general they hold trick or treating on the Sunday nearest Halloween, but even that isn’t set in stone. Each small town, city or village can dictate what day and what time. It’s amazing any of us get it right. My kids hit the trick or treating jackpot this year by attending of ward’s trunk or treat, then trick or treating at MCW, and then hitting a nearby “normal” neighborhood on Monday night. They had a blast, so I guess the hard work was well worth it.
My mom and dad are on a mission now, and even though we only saw them once a year before they were on their mission, I’m pretty sure my home sick little mommy would appreciate a few more photos of her family…even if we aren’t the ones she is really missing
I thought I’d take a picture of the boys before school on picture day, so I could have proof 15 years from now, when they are looking at their old school pictures and wondering why I let them get their picture done with a big dirt smudge on their nose, or food spilled on their shirts, that we didn’t…it was all them. When you left the house you were sparkly and neat. Join the club of those of us with bad school pictures. It’s like a rite of passage or something. In first grade I thought that I was completely able to handle my hair on my own, and upon arriving to school on picture day with my lumpy, crooked pony tail, I was greeted with pity and the question, “Oh no! Is your mom sick today?” I told you, a rite of passage.
If only they were always so fond of each other.
Now, switching gears…
Last week play group met at a cute little pumpkin farm. I gave Jo a pep talk, dressed her like a farmer, and still I got the “you must be crazy if you think I’m going to get closer to those smelly goats!”
“Crazy lady! I aint touching nothing that requires an immediate dose of hand sanitizer and a trip to a washing station! Put me back in the stroller before I get the bird flu or something worse!”
Finally,
As was illustrated in the pictures to the farm, Jo has attitude, and she is all grown up.
Notice her highchair in the background. She started out there, and then very scary-like climbed out and parked herself at the big kid table to eat her pancake. Nobody puts Josie in the corner.
See what I mean? One of the big kids.
Poor Jameson wondering, “doesn’t anyone have control over this girl?!”
My sweet Jameson, the answer to that is-- not really.
Wowee, look at how happy those kids are! I must be a spectacular mom!
Yeah right, this is a testament to how resilient they are, the fact that they can be so happy despite their challenged circumstances. Lately, I feel like I’m banging my head against the wall trying to parent my older boys. I’m going through a strange transition (at least it is strange for me) where they are getting old enough to think and do more for themselves, so in turn it requires me to relinquish some control—something I am NOT comfortable with. To illustrate what I mean, when we went for a walk the other day, Isaac yelled out, “Look! there is poop!” I immediately responded with, “gross! don’t step in it.” Isaac is five now and knows what poop is, certainly, he understands how undesirable poop on your shoe is, but I couldn’t help but warn him. As I pondered why I do this, it boiled down to the fact that I feel like if I warn him and then it happens anyway, not my fault! I told you! as if to wash my hands of the whole mess, but the truth is, whether I warn him or not, and he steps in a pile of poop the only thing I’m washing is the poop off of his shoe. Constantly telling them things that they already know causes weariness in me and frustration in them. More than frustration it causes the little stinkers to, dare I say it, rebel a little.
Some of our most trying conversations sound like this,
Me: “Will, you need to get your pjs on now and brush your teeth, or else no TV tomorrow.”
Will responds with: “oh yeah! (I know it already sounds ugly, doesn’t it?) if you take away TV then I’ll just be really loud and rowdy.”
Gasp.
Did he just threaten me?!
Me: “Oh no you didn’t! (long ugly rant follows)”
When did this happen? We are figuring it out, and while we do, I will take comfort in the idea that I still have two small babies who are completely happy with me calling the shots.
A few snip-its from our daily happenings.
Every day after school the boys rush home so they don’t miss a second of their favorite TV show. With this show a snack is expected,of course. Their excitement to see the show is equally matched by how excited Josie is to see someone other than me. So, here they all sit eating popcorn and watching Wild Kratts.
The careful observer may have noticed this ridiculous detail from the previous picture, but for those of you with an eye for the bigger picture…
Josie sports piggies now! Ok, there is pretty much more elastic there than hair, and still from the front, she is only kind of fuzzy, but it’s still fun, if not just plain silly. One day she’ll have hair. One day.
I used to think that my boys love for trains and automobiles was the enduring type of love, a love that would never diminish, but it has. They are all sports all the time. Unfortunately for them, there aren’t many kids around here for a pickup game of football, so some improvisation is needed at times.
This is Will in his “one man huddle”. His name, not mine. It’s so funny. He talks to himself and draws a play out on the grass and everything.
Isaac, zigging and zagging.
Often times, when asked nicely, they can even get Josie to come out and cheer for them.
Hmm…what’s missing? Sweet Jameson of course.
He had his two month check up. He is actually 9 weeks, but close enough. He’s getting round and squishy all over. He weighed 12lb even and was 23 in long. It was a pretty terrible appointment. Not for him so much, although he is the one that got the needles in his legs, but for poor little Jo, who upon entering the exam room was hysterical and insisted on being held and hiding in my neck the whole appointment. Of course, all of this with Jameson in my other arm. You would have thought the doctor would have come upon this and moved with a little haste, but it took just as long as always. By the end we were all exhausted, I was sweaty, and relief couldn’t come soon enough as I was able to finally put Jameson in his car seat and physically forced Josie into hers. Sure she was still screaming, but at least I wasn’t holding her anymore. She is at that lovely phase where unless you have something good to bribe or distract her with, every time I go to put her in the car I have to be sure that I’m well rested, hydrated, sure footed and up for a good wrestling match—motherhood aint for sissies.
I’m pretty sure that by 8 weeks old Josie had at least 6 posts just about her. I think Jameson has 1. This comparison should not be used in anyway to indicate how loved they are, but rather, how much more ridiculous life is around here now. I thought it long overdue that baby J get a post just for him.
Below are a couple of pictures that sum up what life is like for Jameson.
Notice creepy Will sneaking up in the background…
Notice Jo’s finger coming in to give him a swift poke while I try to take pictures of him on his special day…
There are more. So many more. It is rare to just get a picture of Jameson, and with that comes the rarity of moments alone with Jameson. Period.
A little about my 8 week old boy.
I don’t know how big he is, but he is definitely getting chubby. Just look at those cheeks. I don’t know how much Jameson would like some time to just chill on the floor or in his bouncy chair, because that can’t happen with Josie on the prowl. I’m not sure what he thinks of all of the craziness that surrounds him, but what I do know is that he has the squishiest, most kissable cheeks in the world. I know that one smile from him a day is all that I need to change as many diapers as he can produce, nurse him for hours on the couch as the other three tear my house apart, and bounce and walk with him for as long as he needs to help him fall asleep.
I was rushing around this morning, cleaning the house, and getting us ready to go to the store. I set Jameson down so that my hands were freed up, and I noticed after a while that he had quietly fallen asleep where I set him. I know that this should have made me feel great- A nap with no effort from me, but I felt bad. I feel like Jameson only gets attention when he is loud about it. To an overtired, overworked mom his drifting off felt like him giving up on getting noticed, and that broke my heart, so I stopped what I was doing and scooped him up. Josie was distracted pulling toys out and throwing them around the room, so it was the perfect time to just sit and snuggle.
We love you, little one.
