Only Wish There Were More Time

We had an awesome weekend visit with my parents. It was packed busy, but we were able to enjoy doing some really fun 1st's with the kids and allow my parents to particpate in some specials times with the boys. And although the weather was more chilly than normal this time of year, we still were able to enjoy some outside events.



A mommy friend of mine, Leslie, was able to score us some free tickets Friday night to Boo at the Zoo, the Birmingham Zoo's annual Halloween event. I was still finishing up Jack's costume on Thursday night but pulled it all together and the boys were in my humble opinion - ADORABLE! It really was worth every yard of yellow felt I had to cut and glue to a straw hat and the 45 minutes of constant stirring as I dyed the clothes a RIT "golden yellow". And to top it off, Duke's little swagger made a memorable monkey.

Curious George and The Man in the Yellow Hat

Saturday, we planned an easy at home day, since we spent most of Friday antiquing and running around. Plus we had a big day planned for Sunday, 25 kids and their parents for a birthday bash for both boys. I still had race car cookies to bake and the cake to pick up and Cory had to setup the trailer for the hay ride. We burned some of the boys energy off that morning playing on the hay trailer and Mom enjoyed seeing the "power of Cars" and watching the movie that afternoon. They got to experience such exciting and memorable moments as Duke's new style of wearing Yaya's hat backwards and givin' "lovin" and Jack's excitement at showing how well he does on the potty (not one of Dad's most exciting memories of the trip I am sure!) I think just being around Jack and Duke that day wore Mom and Dad out!

We capped off the weekend with an amazing birthday party Sunday afternoon. And after about 10 days of clouds and rain, we couldn't have asked for a prettier fall day. It was still cool, upper 50s, but the sun was shining and it was just what every parent needed to get the kids out to the country for an afternoon of fresh air. We had a Cars Moonwalk, the playset, the kids bikes, a hayride, hot apple cider for the parents, sugar and icing to deocrate racecar cookies, and a Lightning McQueen and Mater Birthday Cake for the big moment - #3 for Jack and #2 for Duke. Jack is still talking about having all his friends come to his house to play and Duke hasn't stopped asking to "jump!".

The entire weekend sped by too fast. I know Jack and Duke were so happy to have Mimi and Yaya visit. It will be something they will always remember and will so be looking forward to seeing them soon again!

God Knew

Whenever I share the story of how Cory and I started a family I get interesting comments, but mostly I think people wonder why we waited so long and then jumped in so fast. Not that I don't wonder it myself, but truly (as most of you know) we hadn't quite planned to jump in as fast as we did. Jack - well planned, much stressed over (WHEN?!!?) Duke - excuse me, WHAT is that second line doing there?!?!

Of course, I absolutely wouldn't want it any other way. I could not imagine my life without both of my little men, and never want to. But today, with another sick kid day - this time Jack - I got a small glimpse of what some of my friends have in their lives with just one child - or children that are a bit more spaced apart than mine are.

I decided early in the day I wouldn't stress myself about trying to get actual work done from home. I had a few things I needed to do, and did, but with Cory gone until Sunday, I knew I absolutely would not get anything done around the house tomrrow and so I thought I'd take the day and just get the house in order which was desperately needed (since it is not something I usually have time to do unless it's after 8:30 at night or Cory's got both boys out of the house and occupied for several hours which is also not a regular opportunity for us with his schedule.) So, after getting Duke to daycare, Jack and I came home and I went about the task.

And what I learned very quickly is that I can get a whole lot done without being interrupted, even with a 3 year old around, but add a 2 year old and forget it. This made me a little jealous, oh how nice it would be to have more than 2 seconds to breathe for anything. I can't imagine living a life with regular downtime. Everyone says, after the first year, it gets much easier - but honestly, this year - the second, was harder for me than the first. Naps are ending or greatly reduced, bedtimes are stretching longer, personalities are getting stronger...and I'm not getting any younger.


But after a little reflection, and upon returning home after picking up Duke and getting back home to attempt at making a meal and wrangling the two of them up for bathtime and bed I realized yet again.

God knew.

And he shows me each day in some little way how lucky I am and that's what keeps me going. I may be exhausted, but I'm happy!

Clare's Story

Quick post. Clare (my sister) is being featured today on the Live in our Skinz blog written by another survivor of melanoma. For those of you that are fans of Grey's Anatomy, you know how deadly melanoma can be. Click HERE for the interview and Clare's Cancer Story.

Duke and Mae are Smiling!

That's my Grandfather Duke & Grandmother Mae Dickert. Because today, their grandson, John Dickert, my cousin, just was elected to serve the city of Racine, WI as Mayor for the next 18 months. The reasons for the special election are not something I wish to share, but suffice to say, John will finally have the opportunity to do what God made him for. To lead and inspire through public service. Congratulations John! Racine is a better place with you leading the way!

YaYa's Visit

After listening for the past 4 months of all the extras my Dad has been able to do to help my sisters in their daily lives since semi-retiring, I decided it was my turn and flew him down to Birmingham for 5 days to experience this phenomenon. I may claim swine flu status and move his flight home back about 2 weeks!

Since his arrival on Wednesday night, he's helped me complete this year's round of landscaping, stained two end tables that I've wanted done for at least 5 years, got a few holes drilled in my redwing crocks and spent an entire day at the zoo with me and the boys (drenching rain at the start and all!). It has been an absolutely fantastic time having him here...and he even gets to have his own "man cave" at night in our office which doubles as our guest suite. I don't think it could have resulted in any more perfect a trip (other than of course his staying over for about two weeks!)

Here are some photos of the weekend so far. Tomorrow we have church, followed by a little more landscaping and probably capped off by another cookout with the neighbors and some time in the lake, this time in the form of a leisurely dip rather than a sudden drenching (Dad got a bit too close to the edge of the dock while helping Cory put the new water trampoline in on Friday!).

It's not going to be easy putting him back on a plane on Monday. Hmmmm, Clare and Ali, maybe you need to start bribing me now. I've got LOTS of frequent flyer miles still saved up!

Victoria - This One's For You!

We have many sweet neices...

Alyssa, our oldest and therefore the quiet, responsible one (much like her mother);

Haley, the only daughter of Cory's brother who is our fashion queen yet brainiac...what an awesome mix!;

Hannah, the child of animals, she has a gift with them - they speak to her and she speaks to them in a way no one else can match;

Caroline, the only niece on my side of the family, (can any more be said?), she is sweet and precocious and let's just say....she's Caroline;

and then there is Victoria...she's not the youngest (at least in the mix of grandkids), she's not the oldest, but boy does she have something! Victoria has the gift of living life to the fullest. We have become e-mail pals and she never ceases to amaze me with the wisdom she has beyond her years...(ok V, come down from the clouds for a minute... :) Honestly, I love to read other momblogs and one I love for her humor and insight is Mom-101 who I read about in Parents magazine about a year ago, and I was completely honored to have her post a comment to my blog one day and yet the idea for the post came from Victoria herself! (I secretly sometimes wish I was a NY brownstone living chick who worked in a high rise (or my NY apartment) and had the wit and humor to write my own weekly column!)

I like to think of Victoria was the 4th child in a family that was made to have 10 - always on the go and always crazy with this and that but with more than enough love to go around. She loves to laugh and tease and tell jokes (what's that one about the Mexican and the colors again?) and has a smile that will put you in a good mood no matter how your day went. And often, her e-mails do just that for me.

So, Victoria, you may have already seen this video from a few weeks ago on facebook (if your Mom let you have a peek) but if not...enjoy, this one is for you (because I think if you were here, you would have been on the slide right there with them!)

Sweet Caroline and her backup dancers

I've been meaning to post this video for over a month. Many of you have asked how the trip to Wisconsin at Christmas was with all the kids together. In my opinion, this video visually describes the pace.

Life in the House

I will try and get back to some order here. I really don't know if it's possible, because I am feeling very disoriented these days. Lots to share, can't remember what I've already shared with who and so on. So some of you may be bored and others may be on the edge of their seat (yea, right, like my life is all THAT!)

Anyway, as you can see I added a slideshow of pics from the Christmas Adventure in Wisconsin. It was truly a great time, but I can say I will probably enjoy it better when all the kids are walking up and down stairs on their own, none of them are in the "mine!" stage, they can all talk clearly to express their needs and wants, each can get in and out of their seat at the dinner table on their own and without wearing most of their dinner upon exiting the table. :)

Seriously, I have to hand it to my sister Clare. She single handedly pulled of the amazing feat of not just managing for all of us to have one all adult meal together the week we were there, but TWO! Table, set, food hot, wine flowing...it was fabulous! Even if we were greeted mid meal by Nolan who's favorite thing to do at the Mork's is run in a circle from living room to dining room to kitchen to hallway to living room around and around. (He's so cute you can't stop him!) She also topped the gift giving effort by coming up with an unbelievable suprise for my parents from all of us. She found a local artist that did a watercolor of their house (for an AMAZINGLY LOW PRICE!). We always try to do a special gift for those years we are together for the holiday, since it's not so often, and I can tell you, that was one of the highlights for sure.

Caroline was a gem the whole week and it was nice to have at least one child of the age that you could instruct to watch the others and YELL if something happens! Now, we did mostly have at least one set of eyes on the littler ones at all times, but it made it easier when it got to be one against 4!

That's probably why Alicia and I never complained to make the attempt to take over construction of a certain Play Mobil Hospital on Christmas Eve at midnight while the guys took a quick dip in the hot tub (crazy fools!) Of course, I did nothing more than snap together a few planter parts that were there to decorate the patient rooms and realize that under no circumstances would my children be exposed to that series of toys...you need an advanced college degree just to try and figure out the directions, which consist of pictures of about 10,000,000 pieces that fall out of 50,000 plastic bags. Clare was the wise one that sat back and cleaned the kitchen and then relaxed with her wine mostly (she did assist for a while but I think she saw the train wreck well before we did). Needless to say, the guys were in at the 1 hour time limit Alicia gave them "1 hour or as soon as I put this thing together"...and Josh spent the rest of the night until the wee hours finishing it for his daughter (on behalf of Santa of course).

I also now believe that regardless of the fact that I have 2 small children very close in age and life at times seems more difficult than I wish it to be, I've got nothing on my sisters having to be moms of small children in that ridiculous climate! Getting ready for an excursion out of the house on any day of the week from November to March is hassle enough to convince me that I now consider my home to be south of the Mason Dixon. Just as soon as you bundle them up it is inevitable one of the following will happen; a very distinct smell will eminate from the lower half of one of the kids which necessitates complete removal of clothing and a clean diaper or everyone is ready to go and only then do you realize that it will take 10 more minutes before the car is warmed up enough to risk strapping the kids into it, so you have to find a way to entertain a toddler or infant for 10 minutes inside a house without removing all their outer gear. UGGGGHHHH! I consider it a hassle to wear jackets at all down here, that is just insanity!

Overall we had a wonderful time, didn't get to spend as much time with my parents as I wished I had now looking back on the trip, but it was still wonderful to have a White Christmas (blinding, freezing, snowing the entire trip type of White Christmas!) And my biggest fear of the entire week was never realized; the drive up and back both went remarkably well considering it was 12 hours of car seat time for a 1 year old and 2 year old. While I am glad it will be another 3 years before we do take that long of a car ride again, I can say, it was well worth it!

Finally!

Ok, hopefully this will satisfy some of you for a bit since I've been so neglectful in sharing pictures! Stay tuned for video posts coming soon!

We had just seen Elmo Makes Music with Grandma and got this cute pic!

I just love this one of Duke, he is such a sweetheart!

Let me just say, this was snapped SECONDS prior to both hands plunging into the birdbath...shocking, I know!

Thanks for the break Grandma! California was too short, but wonderful!

GET SOME DISCIPLINE!

Ok, I know that I am NOT the best disciplined Mom on the planet. I cringe every time I "ask" Jack what he wants for breakfast, rather than just giving him two choices or putting it in front of him. We are not "No TV under 2" parents. Jack laughs at me each and every time I attempt giving him a time out. But I have to draw the line...what kind of people do they pick to be on SuperNanny? Does the application read,

"Do your kids walk all over you?"

If the answer is YES, you are our next spotlight family!!

Tonite, flipping through the channels as I filed away the month's paid bills (always a treat), I settled on seeing what the British Chick was facing with the latest family crisis in discipline. To my suprise (not really since the show seems to be "same thing, different day" for the most part), here is a 4/5 YEAR OLD they are trying to convince to get rid of her pacifier!

Now mind you, Jack was a paci baby, he cried, paci was there, at least up until he was a year old. Then it went to naps/night only. With Duke I've managed to be a "paci negligent" parent, meaning, no paci there when he cries, it's always been naps and night only. I do dread the paci breaking we will have to someday face, and would like to do it with Jack soon and probably should, but we've had the broken leg and since I do not have the dual bedtime routine together yet and I sometimes resort to stuffing that bedtime paci in Duke's mouth just a bit before he hits the crib I cannot imagine the anxiety it would create for Jack and just can't do that to him yet.

HOWEVER, this child was walking around all day at 4/5 years old with a pacifier. I am sorry that is just WRONG. And what did it take to get rid of it....they did a paci search of the house and everyone found all the pacis (like 10 of them) and put them in a bucket and the little girl threw them all out herself and that was it.

The real clincher to the show was the parents allowed their children to stay up until 10/11 at night (I think the three girls were around 10/7/4) and then when the middle child woke in the middle of the night she crawled into bed with her! Another sticking point with me. First, 10/11:00 is the parents bedtime, kids should be a minimum of 2-3 hours earlier for sanity sake and secondly, unless you are a breastfeeding mother of an infant, a child who is quite sick or on vacation in a hotel that your are trying to save money from renting two rooms - a bed is for sleeping...alone or with your married spouse!

So anyway, the show was again dedicated to fixing problems of parents that have no spine to begin with. How about us that have the backbone but 1/2 the time to enforce it!! Ok, so maybe I missed that episode...

A Wonderful Week

It's Saturday, the kids are in bed and I've got a few minutes to reflect back on a really fantastic week. It started last Sunday with the arrival of Cory's sister Natalie and her husband Patrick. All the rest of the grandkids were left at Grandma Rath's for the annual week long "Grandma Camp". Having driven all the way from Brunswick, Georgia, Natalie and Patrick were looking for an inexpensive get-a-way for themselves for a few days until they needed to head back to Tennessee to pick up Alyssa, Kevin, Hannah & Victoria. So we opened up the house - and the office/spare room/Cory's trophy room - to them. I would be working all week, the kids would be in daycare and hopefully they could get some peace and quiet and get a chance to meet Duke who hasn't had a Rath family get together yet. We really enjoyed their company (especially watching the Cardinals/Braves MLB games each night, and laughing at YouTube videos of comedian Tim Hawkins ("Cletus Take the Reel") FUNNY STUFF! I cannot wait for Thanksgiving this year in Tennessee and hope that the annual Nutcracker production the Eades participate in doesn't conflict with the trip this year! And I really cannot wait for the days that Jack & Duke can attend Grandma Camp and hope that the six parents of the grandkids can all take a joint trip somewhere during that week someday!


My work week was a little on edge, with Bill Douglas - my partner in crime - on vacation. Bill is 50% boss and 50% my Alabama Dad, and he's at the age at which taking care of aging parents is coming into play. We compliment each other very well and I've been blessed to be able to work with him for nearly 11 years. He's had a busy month at home and at work in July and I had hoped to keep the wheels turning while he was away for his annual beach trip. It got a little dicey on Thursday, I had about had my limit with a few incidents, but I made it through and will be glad to see Bill sitting in his office when I get there on Monday morning.


Today my neighbor Crystal stepped in and helped me out in watching Duke for the morning while I stole away for a few hours with Jack for his 4th of 6 swimming lessons with his friend Payton and her mom Leslie. We had a blast as usual and the rest of the day went smoothly up until about 5:30 after Daddy and Peter had called it quits for the day from working on the lake, when Jack was running aimlessly in the dirt and he got off balance and fell. Now, first of all, this is not a major event... at nearly 2 years old, he falls plenty and usually it's just a brush him off and on his way type situation. Apparently, tonite was not the case, though we initially treated it that way. I didn't notice anything peculiar at the start when he got up crying, other than he was covered from head to toe in dust and dirt, so Daddy hosed him off and I carried him inside to change him and make him dinner. It wasn't until I tried to set him down that he started crying again and favored one of his legs, holding onto the sofa for balance. So, here we go...the endless back and forth of...do I take him to after care at Children's Hospital and have it checked out, (surely to sit for hours on end in a waiting room) or do I give him Tylenol and some time to see what it really is about? Well, there was no bruising, no swelling, he let me touch his foot, leg, toes, and move them all around without any cries; but still if I asked him to walk, no go. So, I loaded him in the car and away we went. I made it 2 miles before calling Clare and asking her sage advice, and then turned around and went home. So, after an after dinner snack, bath and Tylenol, he went to bed just fine and we'll see what tomorrow morning brings. If we still have a problem, it's away to Children's we go, but for now I'm thinking the best reaction was calling Clare...her advice is always the best (for kid and mom!)


So that was our week, hope you've enjoyed reading about it and a BIG THANKS to all of those in it that made it wonderful! And if you didn't see the post from last night, be sure and check out Duke's pics!


We have about 4 more days left on the lake, but it's really coming along. I know it's hard to get a feel for it, but take a look at the follwing pics, the first shows the base of what will become the dam and the other includes Peter & Cory in it, might help you get a feel for the scale - coming around to about 4 acres right now.

Phew!

Well, what a few weeks it's been and it isn't over yet! Sorry for not having checked in (and thanks for the email reminders), but it's been a little crazy here. I feel like we are "close" to getting back into our routine, but I'm sure something will come up and toss it in the air again...oh well...

We had a great time in Racine for the 4th! Of course, talk about crazy!, but what can you expect with three little boys on the verge of 2 years old! Jack was in sheer heaven and awestruck by the houseful of toys that Quinn has access to everyday (thanks to mom staying home, something has to help her keep her sanity!) Duke played with his feet...seriously, everyone was a bit suprised at how chilled out of a baby Duke seems to have become. And they both did fairly well on the trip, other than the fact that I think we managed to bring a "southern stomach bug" with us, which eventually found it's way in some shape or form to Caroline, Quinn, Clare, Nolan, Ali, Josh and Charles (sorry guys!) If it makes any of you all feel better, two babies in Duke's class were sent home today with a new stomach bug and one baby with pinkeye and Jack's room is reporting similar symptoms and fussiness, so there is no telling what this weekend will bring.

All in all, awesome trip and so wonderful to spend time with my family! And the new hot tub at Clare and Josh's new swank pad wasn't such a bad bonus either! Better than a hotel in my opinion! Thanks to you two for opening up your place to us on such a short schedule of getting in there yourself. And while I'm at it, I must say little Nolan Gasser is quite the little stinker of the group. Now not really a stinker in the way of being a pest or anything...he just reminds me so much of his mother growing up it's scary! A little ham and I have a feeling will be quite the little clown in his day. Clare and I may have our hands full with two each, but Ali may have us beat with the nonstop-always on the go little guy in her house, good luck with that!

We had a week or so to adjust to being back and then Daddy hit the road for Vegas for a week and I'm starting to sense this isn't going to get any easier anytime soon. Actually for a while, when we were on the usual schedule of Daddy gone mid week for a few days, it really worked pretty well and we managed to avoid any major meltdowns. However, now that Daddy's been home a while since gas prices have had to readjust the travel schedule some, it has not been such a great week in Jack's world.

Don't get me wrong, the kid is a trooper for what little time he gets one on one with Mommy these days...but when push comes to shove and it's just Mommy and the boys, Duke takes the lead most times and poor Jack has to practice our new action word "patience". Not so smooth this week, but things did look up tonite when I broke down at lunch and bought him the Little People Airplane for a suprise. Since the trip to Wisconsin, AIRPLANE, has been the big word around here, (actually "airmay" and how cute is that!) and the idea was a good one, until it was time for bath, where the "airmay" cannot go... Between the "airmay" and the sudden attachment since Sunday to "Goodnight Moon" which now has to be read no less than three times before bed, and then a crying spell ensues regardless, it's been a loooooonnnnnggggg week for Mommy. I have a whole new appreciation for divorced and single mom's, let me tell you. At least us Mom's that have Daddy's travel have the hope of a short reprieve and sound sleep again!

So that's about it in our world this week. There's so much more, and I will try to do a better job this month of some short posts, but for now I hope you are entertained.

And just for the record:

Jack's latest words:
Bus (out of nowhere on the way to work today as we passed one and accompanied by an active rendering with the hands of "The Wheels on the Bus...")
Airplane (see above)
YaYa (been around a while)
MiMi (now recited following Mommy's prompt of "and who lives with YaYa")
Catepillar (sounds like "cacakiller", however not the bug, but for the very large yellow machine in our yard these days)
Granola Bar (don't even ask)
Mommy (yes finally, it seems I have a name other than "uh, uh")
and the one that beats all....ELMO! (heard over the baby monitor at 3am recently)

Duke's favorite pasttimes:
Sitting up
Playing with his feet
Not telling anyone he is awake in the morning, Mommy eventually has to assume by 8am that she needs to get him and feed him or he may stay in his crib all day entertaining himself!
Testing out Daddy's Saturday morning pancakes

Wisconsin Here We Come!

Well, by this time on Wednesday we will be all settled in and visiting with MiMi & YaYa, The Mork's and The Gasser's and WE CAN'T WAIT! How fun will it be with a 4 1/2 year old sweet girl, and four boys under 22 mos running around for the 4th! For those of you in Wisconsin that might have checked in and seen this post - we are arriving on Wednesday and hope to catch as many of you as we can before we head on back to Alabama on Sunday. We are really looking forward to our first Racine 4th of July parade in years and the first for the boys - we know Jack will have a blast. We are staying at Josh & Clare's new place, so give us a ring or send an email (I'll have my blackberry) if you'll be around!

Dad - this one's for you!

Time to Play

As you can see, I'm playing with some layouts, so don't be suprised if our blog seems different to you. Keep checking in. I hope to have a few more videos coming soon. Things have been a little crazy around here with a few of the usual run of daycare illnesses in the past week; pinkeye, hand-foot-mouth (which just sounds gross but is nothing but a virus), ear infection (poor Duke!) and now I think Mommy, Jack and Duke all have a bit of a cold coming on. We are all trying to get it out of the way before our big trip to Wisconsin in 2 weeks for the 4th. Hope to catch many of you while we are there!

On top of that, Cory and I have started a new routine (thanks to Cory my high energy morning person husband) of getting up at 5am and getting in a little exercise...(keep it clean people!) On the days he's in town, which are more than the usual these days with the price of gas, he runs or I walk every other day (one of us has to stay behind of course) and on opposite days we find other stretching, lifting, etc. exercises to do at home. So far so good...of course, he's been doing this for 2 weeks and I just started today, so not so tough so far! Let's see where we fall out in a month. (Really I think it's just his way to use his new iPod Nano the boys gave him for Father's Day!)

Seriously, things are going well here. Thanks for all the emails and I hope to get a moment to write back to many of you soon. I also have some catching up to do on baby book additions. Cory and I often wonder what we did with our time before we had kids...looking back, it wasn't very productive - well, maybe for the office!

I'm BACK!

Sorry friends, no excuses but life has been in progress and so blogging got put on the side burner! And of course, tonight is a special night for so many - MOTHER'S DAY!

Happy Day to all the mom's out there... so many I know and you are all wonderful. I hope you know without a doubt that you are special just because you are a Mom!

Really what I have wanted to blog about this past week is the new message series at our church, it's one everyone I know can learn and grow from...The Pursuit of Joy! Who doesn't need a little joy in their life? I have so enJOYed the 2 messages so far - so please, please, check out this link and listen to a great, uplifting message from our pastor at Church of the Highlands.

Consider this...are you happy? I hope so! But no matter if you are or if you have troubles, the real question is "Do you have JOY?" Happiness comes from your "happenings" and when those happenings aren't so great, what becomes of you? Do you want to know what it means to have Joy in your life...regardless of your current circumstances? I promise you, anyone that listens to this series will learn and grow. Check it out! More on this later...

http://www.churchofthehighlands.com/messages/

So Hard to Choose!

Have to brag on the sis and her family now. Lots going on with the Mork's, Josh gets the coveted transfer back to the midwest, they sold their house in NJ in 8 days, found an incredible house back in Racine and will be back near Mimi and YaYa in a short month or so.

While attending a festival at her friend Melissa's synagogue (her husband is the rabbi), Clare entered a few raffles just for the heck of it to support the effort and won a photo shoot with an NYC photographer. What a treat - or is it???? Now she has to choose which pics she wants to buy and I don't envy her that. They all turned out awesome!

Check out the slideshow here:

www.kriskenstudio.com/carolinequinn

Good luck Clare & Josh on this one!