Dry As a Bone!

These are the first words out of Duke's mouth each morning since he started staying dry at night about 2 months ago.  I am blessed.  I am also trying to allay the concerns of a 4 year old brother who is not and will not be for a while I suspect and who notices this. 

However, things have turned a bit.  Not necessarily in my favor.  Jack is still having some daytime "leaks" as I call them and that's not so cool.  Not terribly concerned but enough to bring it up in the next visit if we are still dealing with it.



Anyway, since Duke is not used to doing anything before Jack, he now notices these things happening on the days we stay home.  The result, he now thinks he needs to change his underwear each time he goes tee tee even though he's "dry as a bone!" as he calls it and thus my laundry pile grows with each trip to the bathroom.

Why couldn't it work just work the other way?

Highlands Kids Here We Come!

Saturday while Cory was spending the late afternoon in one of the deer blinds waiting to see what might visit his newly planted apple orchard and I was cooking up one of our last family meals before the holidays ended and our daily work/daycare schedule started up again, the boys were getting their "sillies" out.  We managed nearly an entire day home without turning the TV on so far and I was stretching it out to see how long they'd go before I needed the break of 30 minutes of Curious George or The Gruffalo.

What happened next was something that made my heart leap for joy.  At least leap for hope of joy.

As a family we've been members at Church of the Highlands for going on 9 or 10 years now I think.  Those of you close to us know it was the vehicle that probably the biggest influence in changing our lives.  (And that's BIG).  From Dinks to 40 with preschoolers faster than Earnhart and Gordon race around the oval at Talladega.  And although I grew up Catholic, for me it was this place and the people we have connected through it that brought me to a relationship with God.  It's not just the awesome messages given by Pastor Chris, but the place it has taken in our everyday lives.  (Of course any of my co-workers will tell you I still have a ways to go, but improvement is better than nothing!)

While we attend Sunday services, the kids get to participate in their own activities in the Nursery-Duke's in The Fire Station and it's the PreSchool "Clubhouse" for Jack.  I used to be on the Dream Team and work video back in the early days of the church but since the move to the Grants Mill campus and having the kids, it's not been feasible for me to get back yet to helping on Sundays.  I've often wondered what really goes on for the kids, other than just playing and puzzles and the L'il K and Veggie Tales videos.

Well, apparently they sing too - at least in the Clubhouse, where there is a stage and chalkboard, and the kids sit in the "audience".  I should have picked up on it, but it took some music to make it click for me.

As I'm cooking away in the kitchen, suddenly I hear Jack telling Duke to "get in the audience" as he climbs up on the fireplace his "stage".  Then out of the mouths of babes I hear, well, you can hear it yourself...

For those of you that are wondering, it's Hillsong Kid's "One Way (Jesus)" and I knew I recognized it when Jack first started singing it but as soon as I figured it out, I was grabbing for my iTouch and iTunes and downloading it for the car. 

And the feeling I had as I listened to them ask me to play it for the 10th time was...finally, I'm doing something RIGHT!   They are ready for Worship time at Highlands!

note to viewers: The "dots" in Duke's pants are two flashlights they got for Christmas.  I apologize for the graininess from the poor lighting.  But Duke's moves near the middle are entirely worth watching the full 1:36, that kid has some flexible joints!!

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.

It Gets Easier After the First Year....Hmmm Not So Sure

Ok, so there are times it's easier. I'm not a walking zombie who's up 3 times a night to nurse a newborn and still needing to function for a 15 mo old too. I only have to make one meal for all of us, no special foods, no bottles to make, no pumping. I'm close (not quite there yet, but close) to being to the point of both kids being able to walk while holding their hands into stores, daycare, etc. instead of toting 25lbs on one hip while having a death grip on the other and leaning down to guide him where I want him to go (and usually NOT where he wants to go).

However, tonite was one of those exceptions. I really am not one to complain when Cory's out of town and I play single Mom. It's not the ideal lifestyle, but I've still got it better than lots of women raising kids and often, it can be easier when it's the three of us. Don't ask me why, but we have a rhythm after so much time on our own and so, it just can be. I guess there is no power struggle as to who has to do what, because I'm pretty much it. (Although Jack can set the table on his own now - placemats, silverware, cups and he can feed the dogs all by himself - "I did it!" - dadgum adorable!)

But back to tonite, not one of those times it's easier when Daddy's not home.

It all started with Jack, as it often does. We aren't full on potty training, but when the kid asks to go, I'm certainly not going to tell him no. So, he decides he wants to sit on the potty, and since he asked to and did sit on the potty at school today as well, I was all for it. Plus, he actually seemed to the point of needing to go #2, so hey, let's see what happens! Only problem, containing Duke during all this is not the most simple task now that he is fully mobile on two feet and speeding up everyday.

So, a visual image for you:

Jack's on the potty and Duke is climbing all over the bathroom while Jack is screeching "Noooo Duke, No No Duke!" And I'm trying to encourage Jack to relax and calm down and "tee-tee" in the potty in between requests for stickers and suckers (don't ask, I set myself up and will pay for the one bribe/reward used when he actually did tee-tee the one time, weeks ago) in addition to blocking Duke from climbing on top of the step stool and practicing the "balancing" act on the first step (above our not so keenly thought out concrete floors, very practical, not so cushy for falls).

Mommy brilliance, we are in the bathroom, it's 15 minutes early, but let's start Duke's bath! Containment! Perfect....for about 5 minutes. Then disaster.

The kid on the potty, not pooping, the kid in the tub...pooping.

Stop laughing, really it was not that funny, at least not for me. Well, not really, well, kind of.

Let's just say, Jack got his sucker and stickers for doing nothing other than getting off the potty, keeping quiet and staying out of Mommy's way while she got Duke out of the tub, scooped out the poop, bleached the tub and all the toys, rebathed Duke and put him to bed. Only to start the bedtime routine all over again with Jack.

Yep, some days it really is easier when Daddy is home.

Humor Needed

I must preface the following by saying that Cory continues to be a GREAT Daddy and helper to me in all things home related, however, I just had to post this for all Mother's everywhere!

_______________________________________________

THE NEXT SURVIVOR SERIES

Six married men will be dropped on an island with one car and 3 kids each for six weeks.

Each kid will play two sports and either take music or dance classes.

There is no fast food.

Each man must take care of his 3 kids; keep his assigned house clean, correct all homework, and complete science projects, cook, do laundry, and pay a list of 'pretend' bills with not enough money.

In addition, each man will have to budget in money for groceries each week.

Each man must remember the birthdays of all their friends and relatives, and send cards out on time--no emailing.

Each man must also take each child to a doctor's appointment, a dentist appointment and a haircut appointment.

He must make one unscheduled and inconvenient visit per child to the Urgent Care.

He must also make cookies or cupcakes for a social function.

Each man will be responsible for decorating his own assigned house, planting flowers outside and keeping it presentable at all times.

The men will only have access to television when the kids are asleep and all chores are done.

The men must shave their legs, wear makeup daily, adorn himself with jewelry, wear uncomfortable yet stylish shoes, keep fingernails polished and eyebrows groomed.

During one of the six weeks, the men will have to endure severe abdominal cramps, back aches, and have extreme, unexplained mood swings but never once complain or slow down from other duties.

They must attend weekly school meetings, church, and find time at least once to spend the afternoon at the park or a similar setting.

They will need to read a book to the kids each night and in the morning, feed them, dress them, brush their teeth and comb their hair by 7:00 am.

A test will be given at the end of the six weeks, and each father will be required to know all of the following information:
each child's birthday, height, weight, shoe size, clothes size, doctor's name
each child's weight, length and time of birth and length of labor
each child's favorite color, middle name, favorite snack, favorite song, favorite drink, favorite toy, biggest fear and what they want to be when they grow up.

The kids vote them off the island based on performance.

The last man wins only if...he still has enough energy to be intimate with his spouse at a moment's notice.

If the last man does win, he can play the game over and over and over again for the next 18-25 years eventually earning the right,

To be called Mother!


After you get done laughing, send this to as many females as you think will get a kick out of it and as many men as you think can handle it.

Just don't send it back to me.... I'm going to bed!

Just a Warning!

I know, I know you all have kids and have gone through it...but, I'm sending out an early warning since we are headed to both Tennessee for Thanksgiving and Wisconsin for Christmas...we have entered the Terrible Two's.

We love Jack, we just don't love the being that occaissionally overcomes our sweet, tenderhearted child. And lately, that being has been making an appearance on a more regular basis.

We have stepped up the discipline, and although we feel we have been consistent in our parenting "techniques" and he has been getting the "benefit" of regular time-outs in his chair in his room (and in the hallway at daycare among other places), we still have some learning going on - both on his part and ours as we muddle through the method. He reacts quite well when told he must calm himself down before he can come out. And although he always ends his fits with, "All done crying, I sorry", which is quite endearing, we are both slowly learning this "baby" is a lot smarter than what we have been giving him credit for.

However, do not be dissuaded. He is definitely a toddler, and a stubborn one at that. He can still drive us both to the edge of our nerves and we are not perfect parents. So please be prepared for some awkward moments as we all get together over these next few months. We are figuring out day by day what works to quell the fits, but each day brings a new challenge.

Today for instance, his teacher shared that he would not sit in his chair when directed to do so for lunch. Nothing new for him, he just didn't want to. So, after a few attempts to get him to respond, he was put in time out, sitting in a chair facing a wall. And, true to form, he began to kick the wall. His teacher told him to stop, he did not, she told him a second time, he did not. She moved him further from the wall so he could not kick it. He pointed his toes as far as he could toward the wall and looked straight at her and smiled. Reminded me to share with his teacher that at 15 mos, when his teachers told him to "stay on the carpet" (a common instruction for the kids to remain in a certain play area in the room), he would walk right up, his toes just touching the end of the carpet/start of the linoleum, look up at them and smile as if saying "C'mon, say it again and I'm gone!" Let me just say, he does not get this from his mother.

And for the final blow for me today, with Daddy on a trip since Monday and after a few long nights with Duke up with a cold and ear infection, he decided that he could not walk out of daycare but rather must throw himself on the ground and scream to be carried. Needless to say, since I cannot possibly carry both children at one time, and there is only one me and I cannot very well leave one child in the car to go back and get another or some parent would probably call Child Protective Services on me, I had to figure out how to coax him from a flailing, kicking, screaming fit out of the building and into the car.

After 30 minutes of ignoring, walking away, and other such attempts, I was finally rescued by one of the staff who offered to take Duke with her to the front desk while I calmly (but wanting to pop him like you wouldn't believe!) picked up Jack, buckled him in his seat in the car, gave a quick recap on why he would not be watching any DVD on the way home as he screamed now for Elmo, and went back, got Duke and drove the lovely rest of the 45 minutes home. Suprisingly, he whined for Elmo for only another 5 minutes before he got the point, it wasn't going to work. And then, an angel the rest of the night. Hmmmm...consistency works, it's just not working fast enough for me and Daddy!

So, consider yourself forewarned.

You can stop laughing now.

(And trust us, a popping will happen eventually, we just can't see how he would make the connection quite yet :P)

See you all soon.

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...

PICS OF THE WEEK

I haven't put many pics up lately so I thought I'd share a few off the camera from this past week. And as an update the next month holds for us several exciting things -

Tropical Storm Fay came on through this weekend and has dumped quite a bit of all day rain on us so far, expecting more, which is not a good thing since we are still trying to finish up the lake. Today it's been sunny and windy so hopefully the path has altered and things will dry out by the weekend since we only have a few days of work left and we can be done! Then we'll just need another one to come on through and fill it up!

Jack's cast comes off on Thursday, and pending any abnormalities on the xrays, he will be able to have a real bath for the first time in almost a month!

Work has been 100 miles a minute, but I am bound and determined to make this week a record for getting things cleared off so I'm able to unload some of that stress. I have done virtually no travel since Jack's been born, but on the 18th I head up to Pittsburgh for the day for a meeting at Dick's Sporting Goods and Daddy will brave his first full day alone with both boys. Actually, they will be at daycare, but he will have all morning, dinner and bedtime on his own. I have no doubt he can do it, but it will be good for me to get out of the way and let him :)

At the end of the month, a close work friend (Congrats Minoru & Shiori!!) is getting married in Huntington Beach, CA, so Grandma Ruth has arranged to take a few days and come down so Cory and I can fly out to attend. It's a Monday wedding, special circumstances based on the fact that 50% of the wedding party are professional fisherman that have tournaments every weekend, so we are only going Sunday-Tuesday, but either way, will be a nice break for us to be together!

Finally, the boys have managed for the past few weekends to coordinate napping at the same time so I have actually had a little "me" time in the afternoons which has been amazing! Praying that continues!

We just wrapped up one of the best message series at Church of the Highlands as well today, so if you listened to last weeks message online, you will definitely want to listen to the final! It was POWERFUL again! It's too early for me to post the link here, but just go to the website on my Favorites on this page and click on Multimedia - Current Series. It should be uploaded by sometime tomorrow.

Duke transitioned a few weeks ago to a new room at daycare, but we had to highlight this pic of him with his "Aunt Kay". She took care of Jack as well in his first 6 months at Odyssey Early School and we LOVE HER!

While trying to find some "other" things to occupy us while Jack recouperates from his break, one of Cory's prostaff and his wife are nursing a fawn who lost it's mother. Since Jack's very first word was "deer" (shocking I know), we thought it would be fun for him to get up close to one. We've been able to watch them from the house on occaision as they wander along the fenceline behind the house, but this was WAAAAY more exciting.

Many of you probably remember when we first moved here, my comments about the size of the "bugs" as compared to what I'd experienced in Wisconsin. Well, over the past several weeks, we have had a visitor on our patio...a Black & Yellow Garden Spider, Argiope auranta. At first, well as per usual I FREAKED OUT as this is not just a normal sized spider, as you might be able to tell based on the comparison to the TV remote sitting near the top of the picture. This "little" fella measures about 4" long. But after getting online and reading that it eats a LOT of BUGS, and since we couldn't really make use of the patio while Jack was recouping, since his favorite thing to do is run through the sprinkler, and his cast cannot get wet, I figured I'd let the guest clean out the yard of all the pesky flying critters he could. Friday however, Cory and I decided to grill some steaks after the kids were in bed, so Mr. Argiope auranta now resides somewhere in the back woods where Cory re-located him. (Call us "green" we figured having him and some of his friends around is better than spraying pesticides all over long as they aren't right outside my backdoor!)

Thought I'd save the best for last! We broke out the ball pit on Saturday, since the rain kept us all inside. Duke is obsessed with balls these days, and Jack enjoyed throwing them all out of the pit (still working on putting them back!) Was also a good opportunity to teach some additional lessons on sharing with Duke, which has not been a strong point now that Duke is mobile and can get to just about any of Jack's toys that he wants too!

THE TWO'S HAVE BEGUN???

I have a sneaking suspicion those terrible two's are sneaking ever so faintly into my little Jack's personality. Now, it's really nothing THAT terrible. He's just realized that he can start using his words enough to let me know what he wants and that's a powerful thing in his world. This week, it seems that "french toast" is the favorite. And after a long 30 minutes Tuesday morning of trying to convince me that he really should be able to eat his breakfast on the couch vs. at the table, I am discovering my little bugger is a little smarter than I had previously given him credit for. (I won that battle of wills by the way, however he did eat french toast for 4 out of 5 breakfasts this week and as a snack before bath/bed one night. You have to know which battles to fight and which to concede :))

So on that note, the September issue of Parents magazine had a "Memo to Mommy" that I thought very appropriate based on our world these days:

• Love me, even when I'm naughty. I'll only be this age once.
• Be pateint, I do everything for a reason, but I don't know enough words yet to give you an explanation.
• Stop freaking out about the mess! There's always time to clean-but how often do we get to make mud pies? (I'm actually pretty laid back with respect to this one already!)
• Let me do it. I know you can do it faster and better but sometimes experience is the best teacher. (Want to guess how long it can take for a 2 year old to buckle his own car seat when you are already running late for work/church/grocery shopping?)
• Don't expect too much of me. I want to do what you ask and make you happy, but I'm still little.
• Keep your promises. It's all about trust. When I'm a teenager, you'll understand why it's so important. (Note to self, think hard about what you OFFER to let him do before you offer it!!!)
• Don't try to reason with me when I'm having a tantrum. Trust me-I can't hear you over my own screaming.
• Don't keep asking me if I've been good. I'm not even sure what that means, but if I was bad I'd never admit it!
• Don't let me think that you're perfect. I feel a lot better knowing I'm not the only one who makes mistakes sometimes.
• Set limits. I can't actually eat a whole box of cookies - I just want to see if I'd get away with it.

I've got this taped to the bulletin board on the way out the door - serves as a great reminder everyday!

And, not to forget little Duke...he's had a big two weeks! Last week he started crawling - everywhere - at 100 miles an hour. Jack's getting a big kick out of this, except now Duke can actually grab any of Jack's toys no matter where he thinks they are out of reach! And this week, it's all table foods and no bottle - just taking his formula out of a straw cup. So HOORAY for us! Very few separate meals/feedings now and as soon as Jack is out of the cast this Thursday it's back to dual bathtime too! (And boy, does he need one! Phew!)

Our Little Lame Duck

Here he is...

...and he's doing just fine. I'm actually amazed at how quickly he learned how to walk and balance on the cast and walking boot. We ended up at the pediatric orthopedic doctor yesterday late afternoon where they took more x-rays (not fun) and Dr. Mayberry concluded that the film just wasn't very conclusive. But because he was still limping when he tried to walk without the splint and acting as if there was pain or tenderness, she wanted to err on the side of caution and put on a walking cast for 3 weeks. (Note: when asked what color he'd like, I told the Doctor nothing but camo would make Daddy happy, and guess what, they make camo!) So on August 28th we go back, take it off, take more film and if she sees healing bone, we'll know there was a break, and if not, we haven't lost anything in the process. If it is confirmed there was a fracture, I don't know if he'll be in it for another few weeks or if that's it...but I'll cross that bridge when we come to it.

For now, we get sponge baths, no playing in the sandbox or mulch play area (can't get any in his open toe), swimming lessons are over with and it's going to be a few very inventive Saturdays for Mommy (thinking good time for haircuts, shopping, maybe we'll spend a day at the zoo...)

Today he was back at school, playing and happy and glad to be back in his element. The teacher's have been briefed and have actually had a child at 1 year old with a cast too, so they've experienced this before. My main fear today was of him getting around too many kids at once and having someone fall on him. But Kasey and Beckee assured me they will be extra watchful. And after going to school today for his "graduation" party, and watching him with the kids myself, I feel even better about everything. He moving to a new room on Thursday with two new teachers, and I am confident they will be great too.

So...Burgess Sisters...we got to be the first, but I have a feeling this will not be the last ;-)

Double Post Tonite

Ok, after a long day, this made it for me! Here is the link to view Duke's online gallery proofs from our photography session this week.

I don't even want to think about choosing!

www.heatherswannerphotography.com/rath

The online gallery is only active for 14 days so be sure to check it out!