Phone Photo Friday

Keeping the feature alive while Laura is out of town!

Here's Seth earlier this week, engaging in his new favorite activity. He stands on a chair next to the drawer where I keep all my measuring cups and measuring spoons and spatulas and whisks, and "cooks" to his heart's content. I give him a bowl or two and he goes to town. Sometimes I have to pull up another chair so William can join in, but that is usually short-lived. It's definitely Seth's thing! And it keeps him happily occupied while I make dinner.

The Contents of My Purse

Heather at Pieces of Me wrote a funny post detailing the contents of her purse after a long day of errands. I thought I'd share the contents of my purse. This is in the order that I'm pulling things out. (And please note that my purse is relatively cleaned out at the moment. I usually have way more stuff than this!)

Out of the side pockets (my purse has two interior small side pockets, and one interior zip pocket--which is surprisingly roomy!)

1. iPhone
2. Senate I.D.
3. Six Safeway coupons that expired on Tuesday that I forgot to use when I went grocery shopping on Sunday (Doh!)
4. Safeway receipt from Sunday's shop
5. Bath and Body Works Gift card (have no idea if there's money on it or not)
6. Ann Taylor Gift Card
7. Toys R Us Gift Card
8. Appointment reminder card from dentist for August 31--William's first trip to the dentist!
9. Stamps
10. Eddie Bauer "FRIENDS" card with Member number (have no idea what this is for, but I guess it doesn't matter now, right?)
11. Expired Costco membership card

In the interior zippered pocket:
12. Pool membership badge
13. Old Senate I.D. that I lost but then found and keep forgetting to turn in
14. Blush compact
15. Two pacifiers
16. Syringe medicine dispenser
17. Three tubes of lip gloss
18. One lipstick
19. One Burts Bees Lip Shimmer
20. Small blush brush
21. Barette
22. Seashell (scallop)
23. Shark's tooth
24. Dime
25. A French 20 centimes piece (when I went to France many many years ago, before they switched to the Euro, I brought back a bunch of French change, and at some point, William found said change, and somehow, said change made its way into my purse)

In the main black hole compartment of my purse:
26. Wallet
27. Travel pack of wipes (The resealable tab no longer reseals, however, because of all the goldfish and cracker and God-knows-what-else crumbs stuck to it)
28. Envelope with $10 cash--collected from infant room parents for a final gift to the teachers
29. Schedule of events for the 4-H Fair at Frying Pan Park this weekend (slightly damp on one side because something clearly spilled or dripped in my purse--probably the sippy cups that I carry in my purse in the mornings and afternoons)
30. Instructions and phone numbers for the babysitter we had hired for last Saturday night, but who had to cancel at the last minute.
31. Coupon for $2.00 off Infusium shampoo
32. Check book
33. Confidential Estate Planning Questionnaire, printed from the Web site of the law firm we plan to use to make our will--also slightly damp (No--we haven't done that yet. Yes--we really need to get on that!)
34. Dried out wet wipe (maybe that's why the papers are damp)
35. Small paper bag of jelly beans
36. Wadded up napkin
37. The top to a toy
38. Jump drive on a lanyard
39. My old cell phone charger for the car
40. A black pen, a red pen, and a green sharpie
41. My keys
42. Two pairs of kids' socks (that are damp and have crumbs stuck all over them--gross!)
43. A Macy's gift card
44. My CVS ExtraCare card
45. A small red disk that goes to the same toy as the top that I mentioned in number 37
46. A set of purse size emery boards (looks like a match book)
47. A piece of paper with a grocery list on one side and this week's menu on the other side
48. Four pieces of purple, lined paper from a notepad, now crumbled and damp (wonder what happened to the note pad?)
49. Target receipt from last week
50. Car seat clip
51. Hand sanitizer
52. $.18 (American) and 2 Francs, 65 centimes
53. Crumbs

Here's a shot showing the interior, with the side pockets, and the crumbs at the bottom:

Well, that was fun! Who's next?

Hovering

I think one of the biggest parenting challenges is knowing when to back off--when to let go. As the boys get older, and more independent, it's hard to remember that at some point, I have to start letting them do things themselves. Granted, some kids have more of an independent streak than others. William would be perfectly content for me to dress and undress him for the rest of his life! But that's all the more reason to encourage (and often insist!) that he do things by himself. This is one area where having the boys in daycare is so helpful. They gently let parents know when to start letting go, and when to back off and let kids do things for themselves. There have been many times when I've discovered that William and Seth can do things at daycare that I had no idea they could do!

Anyway, last week, as I was getting dinner ready and trying to keep Seth from pulling every.single.thing. out of the kitchen cabinets and pantry, William started playing with the puzzles. I've never known him to be very interested in puzzles. The two of us have sat down together many times to put puzzles together, but it usually involves me laying the pieces out and suggesting which pieces might go where, and maybe he should turn that one over or upside down, etc. etc. I think I just assumed that he couldn't put a jigsaw puzzle together all by himself. I didn't think he had the patience.

So as I prepared dinner, I hardly paid any attention to what William was doing. He was chatting it up while he worked, talking mostly to himself. And then I heard him say, "Look Mommy! I did it!" I looked over, and sure enough, he had finished a 12-piece puzzle entirely by himself. I hadn't helped him at all! I was floored that he had the patience to figure it out, and felt more than a little pleased. And I also felt slightly ashamed that I had underestimated him so much--that I assumed that he needed my help with such a task.

It was a good lesson in parenting--a reminder that our job as parents involves a lot of letting go. It's a delicate balance--encouraging, but not pushing. Letting them get frustrated, but not defeated. Helping, but not hovering. When the kids are so little and needy, it's hard, no doubt. But it's obvious that parenting only gets harder as they get older. Yes, independence can be a very good thing. But trying to raise confident, smart, nice, thoughtful, responsible, conscientious, hard-working, happy kids--it's daunting. I hope we are blessed with lots of wonderful teachers along the way, because we will need all the help we can get!

Power Sunday

We had an awesome weekend. The highlight was William using the potty all weekend! Although he had several accidents, he totally figured it out--telling me when he needed to use the potty and holding it until we made it to the potty. Today was huge for two reasons--first, because he pooped in the potty. (I swear this will be my last blog post with so much potty detail--until it's Seth's turn, of course!!) He started to freak out about it, so I called upstairs for Ed to get a diaper as William hovered over the potty. But before Ed could get downstairs, William did it! He was so proud of himself. What a relief! I'm really proud of him, too.

Second, today was huge because we went to Old Town, Alexandria, to walk around. (Old Town is a cute area with shops, restaurants, art galleries, and a waterfront area.) This was one of our first public ventures in underwear (other than the grocery store and other quick, one-destination locations), and we were going to be walking around outside, without quick and easy access to bathrooms. So as soon as we got there, I scoped out a Starbucks and took William to use the potty. Except he really didn't have to go then. So that was no good. So we walked down by the river and watched the ducks and the boats and the people, and then walked back to a plaza with a big water fountain. When we got to the water fountain, William said he had to go. Crap! Nowhere near the Starbucks! Nowhere near anywhere but sit-down restaurants and shops that don't let the public use their restrooms. Luckily, it was late-afternoon, after lunch and before dinner. So we sneaked inside a restaurant and dashed upstairs to use their bathroom before anyone saw us. And William held it until we got there!

So needless to say, I am beyond ecstatic that it finally clicked for him. I'm sure there will be many more accidents in the near future, but I feel this huge burden lifted from my shoulders. So one down, one to go.

Anyway, in addition to taking the boys to Old Town today (which was really nice, btw--the boys loved being by the river and seeing all the sights!), I made two quiches and two homemade macaroni-and-cheese dishes for the freezer. That was a butt-load of work! I also made a shrimp and asparagus with angel hair pasta dish for dinner, with butter, garlic, lemon juice, and basil. It was really good, although William didn't eat the shrimp. But that's okay. I made enough extra angel hair pasta to mix with leftover spaghetti sauce, so I have lunch for the next two days. And I'm making french dip sandwiches in the crock pot tomorrow.

I also went grocery shopping this morning (with both boys), folded laundry, and cleaned out the litterbox. Definitely a power Sunday! But I'm not sure how much freeze-ahead cooking I can really try to do in a weekend. It is definitely going to take a while for me to figure out a system that works. But I have to admit that I enjoyed the cooking. The boys played all around me, with Ed and on their own, and I loved listening to them and interacting with them and hearing them play with Ed. Definitely a great day!

Phone Photo Friday

Although Laura is out of town right now, I thought I'd play along with her initiative, since I didn't get a chance to last week.

I took this a few days ago. Seth had fallen asleep, and when I looked back, I noticed that he and William were holding hands. So sweet! It's a crappy picture, because I was driving, but it captured the moment all the same.

Diaper Dilemma

Well this is a new one. After we got home from work and daycare today, William said several times that he needed to poop and he wanted to use the potty. So he sat on the potty, and sat and sat and sat, and nothing came out. During his bath, he said he needed to poop again, so I got him out and put him on the potty, but again, to no avail. So after bath I put his diaper on him and expected him to poop before he fell asleep. But that didn't happen either. He fell asleep around 8:30.

A few minutes ago (it's 9:30 now) I walked by his room and noticed his butt up in the air. I went into his room to check things out and caught a not-so-pleasant whiff of something in his diaper. He was awake and when he noticed me there, he immediately got upset and said, "No Mommy! You go back to your room!" I asked him if he wanted me to change his diaper and he got very upset and said no. So I told him to let me know when he was ready for me to change him, and I walked out.

I told Ed what happened so Ed went upstairs. I followed him, but William got upset at us again. "No Mommy and Daddy! You can't change my diaper because I'm sleeping! You can't come in my room!" Come again? The child that begs us to lie down with him? The child who wants twenty kisses and forty hugs and three cups of chocolate milk before going to bed? The child who wanders into our room 3 or 4 nights a week? This child is yelling at us to get out of his room?

Ed and I both cracked up at William yelling at us. But it does create a bit of a dilemma. The poor kid has poop on his butt. I can't let it sit there all night. Do I wait until he's fallen back asleep and then try to change him? I'm sure he'll wake up, though, and then he'll be furious. But my only other option is to leave him in poop all night. Gross! And his poor butt will be in agony by the morning. Hmmmm. This is not a situation I ever foresaw myself being in when I envisioned this whole potty-training thing.

But the good news is, he actually wanted to poop on the potty! Now we're getting somewhere.

[ETA: I went back to check on him and he was still awake. So I negotiated more chocolate milk for a diaper change. All's well that ends well!]

Why Can't I Get Out of Target Without Spending at Least $100?

What is it about that store? And why is it that when I go there without the kids, I feel compelled to visit every single section of the store? EVERY. SINGLE. SECTION! "Hmmm, I better check out the hardware section, in case I need something. And I definitely need to go up and down all the makeup aisles, even thought I don't even wear makeup. And luggage! I should definitely see what they have in the luggage aisle." Are you kidding me? It's like a giant black hole, whose mission is to suck away my money!

Okay, vent over. I feel better. I had to go buy diapers and wipes. This may very well be the last time I have to buy diapers for William! I was planning on waiting until I felt like William was really and truly, 100% potty trained before blogging about it. But it looks like that may take a long time. A long, long, long time.

So here's the progress report so far. Last Thursday (one week ago), William woke up and said he wanted to wear big boy underwear. So I obliged. He was going to daycare, so what do I care? I was not expecting much to come of it. I've tried several times to have him wear underwear, but I've quickly given up after he peed in his pants many, many times in a row. It never seemed to dawn on him before that he should stop and use the potty. At school, however, he did great. He used the potty all day, even initiating a few times. He stayed dry during his nap. And he had no accidents. On Friday he had one accident at school, but only because he was outside and didn't make it inside in time.

Home, however, is a completely different story. At home, he does not bother to tell me that he needs to use the potty. He just pees in his pants. I've been making him use the potty every 30 minutes to an hour, and he protests, but he does it. On Saturday and Sunday, he didn't even want to wear underwear at all. He wanted to go back to diapers. But that was not an option. I told him he was a big kid now and big kids wear underwear. Then I asked him which underwear he wanted to wear, and he quickly chose Superman.

This week, it's been the same story. No accidents at school. Lots of accidents at home. But I'm sticking to it. He'll figure it out eventually. I'm hoping it's sooner rather than later, but whatever. I'm in for the long haul.

Of course, we're only talking pee at this point. He has not pooped on the potty, and has no intention of pooping on the potty. He's pooped in his underwear twice (I'll spare you the story of the rolling poop and the mad dash to keep Seth from picking it up!) and has waited until he gets his diaper on for overnight a few times. But definitely not on the potty.

As for overnight, most nights, he's dry in the morning. But he doesn't want to use the potty first thing when he wakes up. So for now, we're sticking to the diaper overnight. One step at a time, right?

So that's our potty update. Not quite as easy or clean as I had hoped. But it's a start. Anyone taking bets on how long it'll be before he's really, truly potty trained?

Crazy Cooking Ahead

I've been spending lots of time lately perusing freeze-ahead cookbooks and finding freezable recipes online. Once-a-month-cooking (OAMC) certainly has huge advantages, but it's really not practical for me. First of all, I don't have the freezer space. And second of all, I don't want to spend even one Saturday or Sunday a month cooking ALL DAY. But spending an hour or two here and there making freezable meals, or prepping a meal for the next day, are things that I can definitely do.

The problem with a lot of the OAMC and freeze-ahead recipes are that they take too long to prep and cook the day of (the day you cook and serve the meal). As a working mom, I need a meal that can cook in less than 30 minutes. There also must be very minimal prep work the day of. I'm also at a bit of a disadvantage in that neither Ed nor William like casseroles very much. So that pretty much limits my possibilites.

Tonight, however, I rocked the freeze-ahead cooking. On Sunday I had gotten 4 lbs. of ground beef and almost 3 lbs. of chicken breast on sale at the grocery store. So tonight, after the boys went to bed, I made 1 lb. of taco-seasoned ground beef, 8 seasoned hamburger patties, and chicken cutlets in two different kinds of marinades. And I froze the last pound of ground beef for future use. All of it went into the freezer, which will hopefully make my life easier in the weeks ahead.

For the chicken, I made cutlets by cutting each breast in half horizontally and then pounding each half to about 1/4 inch thick. I ended up with about 3 cutlets per chicken breast. By making them cutlets, I can shorten the cooking time to just minutes, whether I'm grilling them or sauteing them on the stove. I'm a little worried that the marinade will end up being overpowering, but time will tell.

Meanwhile, I plan to keep notes about what recipes work for me and what tricks work. I really want to write a cookbook for working moms--moms who don't get home until 6:00 p.m. and literally have less than 30 minutes to get dinner ready while simultaneously needing (and wanting) to spend time with their kids! It will be a combo of freeze-ahead, prep-ahead, and super-fast meals--the kind you can make on the fly. And it will not include a lot of casseroles made with cream-of soups and processed ingredients. There are plenty of those out there, so no use reinventing the wheel, right?

Now, of course, I'm exhausted, but I feel good that got so much done tonight. And if you have any tips or recipes or recommendations, send them my way!

Something New

Things have gotten a little crazy in the Hahn household. I'm really venturing outside my comfort zone. I normally do all my laundry over the weekend, starting Saturday morning, and finishing most of it by Saturday night, with one last load saved for Sunday. Last week, though, for some reason or other, I did a load of laundry after work, during the week. That's right, people, DURING THE WEEK.

It wasn't that bad, so I did another one. I even got both loads folded and put away. And then when the weekend came around, I only had about two loads of laundry to do. It felt so liberating to not have the huge pile of laundry staring me down! I always used to hate the idea of doing laundry all week. It's the chore that never. ever. ends. I thought laundry every day would put me in the nut house. But a load here, a load there--it's definitely not as overwhelming.

Actually, I've been doing other chores this way--piecemeal--for a while now. Clean out a toilet here, wipe out a sink there, mop a floor here or there. I hate that I never have a completely clean house all at once (unless we're going to be entertaining). But it's certainly a LOT easier to keep up with that way--especially when you work full time and you don't want to spend three hours cleaning your house on the weekend.

So see--just when I think I have myself all figured out, I learn something new. I can do laundry during the week! Who'd a thunk it?

Boys

Ed's sister and brother-in-law and their two boys were in town this weekend. Z is 6 years old and J is 4 years old. And Ed's sister is pregnant with her third, and guess what she's having? That's right--another boy. We were all thinking of how chaotic and loud it will be two years from now with five boys between the ages of 2 and 8. But also, how much fun it will be. Their family lives in North Carolina, so we only get to see them a few times a year. But I hope William and Seth will always look forward to seeing their cousins, and that as they get older, getting together will always be a part of summer vacation.

Of course we tried to get pictures of the four of them together, and of course, it was pretty much a disaster. But that's okay. If the point of pictures is to capture moments, then these moments pretty much sum up the weekend!

Looking Back: The State of the Hahns 2009

I'm quickly approaching my 500th blog post, and I've been looking back at some of my drafts--the posts that I left unfinished and never published. There were several during the month of February, when I was really struggling, and my State of the Hahns address was one of them. Now that things are better--now that I feel like I have things under control (for the most part) and things have gotten easier--I want to post this, so I can remember when things were not so great. We've all been through these rough patches, and I think it makes us all feel reassured when we share. So here's my 2009 State of the Hahns address. I never quite finished it, but I think it ends well enough.

State of the Hahns, 2009

It has been almost two weeks since my last post, and while I have several drafts of posts, I have not finished any of them, and have not felt inspired to blog much at all. In fact, I feel very uninspired at the moment. I'm sure part of my problem has been the very unwelcome return of a certain monthly visitor who I have not had to "entertain" since August 2007, when I got pregnant with Seth. So I'll cut myself some slack for that. But more than that, I've just had this vague sense of disappointment in myself for not grasping the bull by the horns, for not taking charge of my life, for not being the person I want to be. I'm letting life overwhelm me, and I'm missing opportunities to feel joy.

I think part of the reason I haven't wanted to blog is that it's hard to be negative in a blog. You don't want to give the wrong impression, you don't want people feeling sorry for you, you don't want to be Debbie Downer. And when you look around at the blogosphere, you see lots of happy, life-couldn't-be-better posts, and you want to "keep up with the Joneses." I see lots of people who are in the same circumstance as me--work full time, two young kids, long commute, etc. etc.--but they sure seem to be handling things a lot better than I am. But this blog is for me, first and foremost, and I need to be honest--with myself and everyone else who reads my blog (all six of you! LOL). Right now I'm in a funk. Things are not great. Things are hard. I'm not at my best. I'm struggling. But if I can use an overused metaphor, I know this is just a dip in the roller coaster of life. I know it's okay to be in a funk. And I know that despite this temporary state of mind, life is really really good. And deep down, I'm happy, content, and this is the life I want, no question about it.

So, with that said, I will tackle my annual State of the Hahns address. I might not be as cheerful as I'd like to be, but that's okay. Our national outlook is not very cheerful right now anyway, so it's probably fitting. And if you missed them, you can read my '08 State of the Hahns, and my '07 State of the Hahns.

The state of the Hahns is challenged. It has been a challenging year, without a doubt. We have become a two-kid family--a four-person family. Logistics have changed, finances have changed, routines have changed. We have adjusted, and readjusted, and readjusted again, and it's hard! There has been lots of sickness, and more demands at work--two conditions that don't coexist very well. There has been a more demanding 2-year-old which brings with it the added pressure of parenting "right." Discipline and consistency and guidance are so important at this age, and yet so hard to effectively carry out. There has been the stress of putting our house on the market, waiting for an offer, the seemingly endless open houses and walk-throughs, and then, with the relief of a good offer and settlement, the stress of finding a new place to live, and of course, the pending move. And there has been the unfortunate outcome of two parents giving everything to their kids and their jobs and their sanity, and not giving enough to each other.

But with each challenge comes an opportunity to make things better, to see things in a new way, to become a better person. So while the state of the Hahns may be stressed and tired and, yes, sometimes even bitter, these "states" do not define us. They are temporary, forcing us to find new ways to cope, to bond, to forge ahead. Forcing us to look beyond the here and now, to see how truly fortunate we are.

Although becoming a family of four has brought many challenges with it, it has brought far more joy and happiness. Seth is so cute and sweet and happy. He adores his big brother, content to bask in William's attention, no matter how rough it may be! William adores Seth right back, full of attention and hugs and laughs for his little brother. Sibling love and affection is a power to behold--uplifting and comforting, making everything worth it. And as Seth gets older, things are getting easier. The real challenge facing me when it comes to family logistics and routine is to become more organized--especially when it comes to meal planning. Being organized saves time, effort, and angst. I accept the challenge!

Although sickness and more demands at work are a bit out of my control, how I react to those things is completely in my control. My kids are prone to respiratory illnesses and they will need to stay home and I will need to stay home with them. But as long as I stay productive and focused at work, do my job and do it well, and make my presence felt, rather than missed, my career self will not suffer. While Lysol, Clorox Anywhere, and hand-soap (and their use) have become essential at home, my essentials at work are tackling projects head-on (rather than procrastinating), prioritizing while also making progress on more than one project at a time, and--like at home--staying organized, so that I am not spending unnecessary time and energy doing so later. I accept these challenges!

Parenting an almost-3-year-old, and parenting well, is perhaps the biggest challenge of all, but also the most important. I make a renewed commitment to practice patience, be consistent, and control my anger. (It turns out that I have a pretty short fuse.) I will read more books on parenting, and Ed and I will talk about what works and where we want to improve. And we'll tackle it together. I accept this challenge!

While having our house on the market has been stressful, and the prospect of packing and moving makes me tired before we've even begun, the opportunity that this provides for us is exciting. If we can find something closer to the city, thus shortening my commute, our quality of life may drastically improve.

We will pass our own Recovery Act, effective immediately.

The state of the Hahns is fortunate.
The state of the Hahns is hopeful.
The state of the Hahns is resilient.
The state of the Hahns is strong, even if I don't always feel strong.

Our personal Recovery Act seemed to work, as we are in a pretty good place right now. I'm still struggling with discipline, with meal planning, with organization, with finding me time and couple time. But I'm not overwhelmed, and that makes all the difference. I'm sure there will be new lows in the future, but at least I'll be able to look back and remember that there is always a light at the end of the tunnel. Always.

Home Again

Seth was still running a fever off and on yesterday and last night, so I stayed home with both boys again today. Seth was much better today. I thought he felt hot when he woke up from his nap this afternoon, but his temperature was just at 100, and it didn't go up. So we're in the clear to go back to school tomorrow. Thank goodness! I'm eating up a lot annual leave, since I burn through sick leave faster than I can accrue it.

Anyway, today was okay with the boys. I got pretty angry a few times and yelled. I hate that I am a yeller. I hate that I lose my temper. But I am trying. I think it's a very, very good thing that the boys are at daycare all day! Anyway, we did have some good moments. I made sure to get down on the floor and really play with William when Seth was napping. I gave him my full attention, and just followed his direction. We played with some toys that we can't really play with when Seth is around. He has a Playmobile street sweeper that came with a million, teeny-tiny "rocks" that the sweeper can sweep up. It's a total PITA, but William loves doing it, so that's what we did. Then we did a bunch of puzzles.

After playing with blocks and cars for a while, we decided to make homemade dinner rolls. Of course, Seth woke up when we were about halfway through them. So I decided to make a "sensory table" for the boys. I got a large cake pan out and put flour in it and William loved it. Seth, surprisingly, wasn't all that into it. But for William, we added water and he made a ball of "dough." Then we added more flour and he rolled some of his cars through it. Then we took it outside on the deck and he pumped more water into the pan from his pumper fire truck. Then he wanted to step into the pan with his bare feet, so I let him do that, and then we were done with the sensory table.

After lunch, we did art. We opened the sidewalk paint William had gotten as a birthday gift and the boys painted the sidewalk. Then I turned on the sprinkler and let them get wet. It was fun, but a bit short-lived.

That was about the extent of my "structured" activities for the day. The rest of the day was filled with independent play, TV watching, whining, ignoring Mommy, and then crying. Fun stuff.

To top off the day, I got an email from William's teacher about transitions to the new classroom. After reading the letter, I burst into tears. I don't know why, because of course, I've known that William will be moving to the new room. And I've been talking to William about it, too. But I know that William does not want to leave his teachers, Ms. Janet and Ms. Sara. Ms Janet has some kind of magic spell cast over William, and has from the moment William met her. When we first went to visit her classroom last October, my shy, reserved, cautious, timid boy went right up to Ms. Janet and hugged her. And the rest is history. Now he's moving to the "big kid" classroom upstairs. I hope, like most things, the anticipation turns out to be way worse than the event. The whole class is transitioning together, so he already knows all the kids. I think that makes a big difference. But still, will he start crying again every day when I drop him off? Will he love Ms. Andrea too? Man, I hope so.

Seth, of course, is transitioning too. But I know he's ready. And he already loves his new teachers. Change is good. Transition is hard, but change is good. So that's our news. I guess I should also mention that Seth is regressing on the going-to-sleep-by-himself front. He now screams and cries when I put him to bed, and he's been waking up quite a bit at night, too. For the last several nights, it's because he's been sick, but it's been going on for several weeks--since his last ear infection. The crying when I put him down for the night, though, is new. I hate hearing him cry like that. But I have thicker skin now than I did with William. And Seth doesn't last as long, either. Still, I hope we get through this phase quickly.

Green Cleaning

So I'm a little behind the curve in the whole "going green" movement. I'm embarrassed to even think about my carbon footprint, or whatever my personal impact on the earth is. But everyone's got to start somewhere, right? So I'm starting with household cleaning. Since research shows how dangerous most household cleaners can be--especially to children with respiratory problems--I figured that would be a good place to start.

My neighbor is a Shaklee distributor. Shaklee makes household cleaning products, vitamins and nutrition supplements, and personal beauty products (including a new line for kids). Their products are all-natural, biodegrable, safe for the environment, and safe for the body. They've been around for over 50 years, and their products have a good reputation. So I decided to give the vitamins and home cleaners a try. They make a basic cleaning solution that you can mix in different concentrations and use a thousand different ways. So far I've been using it in my kitchen, to clean counters and different surfaces, the floor, and I've even tried it on clothing stains. My neighbor also gave me a sample of their germicide which does not contain any chlorine, phenol or glutaraldehyde. I used the germicide in my bathroom--on the toilet surfaces, on the sinks and counter, and on the floor. I also sprayed it in the shower where I noticed some mildew and pink mold. It got rid of most of the mold, but not the mildew.

So then I started researching natural home cleaning products--all of which I knew about in some vague way. Basically, baking soda, vinegar, lemon juice, hydrogen peroxide, and borax are the powerhouses of natural home cleaning. I had baking soda, lemon juice, and vinegar on hand, so I gave those a try in the bathroom. And they worked really well on cleaning the sinks, polishing surfaces, and even getting rid of some rust spots in the bathtub and shower floor (both fiberglass, I think). I did some more research on disinfecting naturally, and killing mildew, and it looks like tea tree oil might worth a try. You can mix it with vinegar, water, and borax and spray it on surfaces and leave it on for a while and then rinse it away. You can also spray the tea tree oil and vinegar and water mixture on surfaces and leave it on. You can add baking soda and make a paste or scrub. I guess it just takes some experimentation. That and a little elbow grease.

Although it sounds a little corny, it felt good to "clean green" this weekend. It's almost like a little challenge--to see what works and how I can get things even cleaner without resorting to chemicals. And it's put a little bug in me to try to make some other small changes to help the environment. First of all, we generate a LOT of trash. And since we've moved to the townhouse, we haven't been recycling. (I'm ducking now while you're throwing all of your recycleables at me!) We just haven't figured out how to get a recycling bin and who to call and all of that. No excuse, really. Just been lazy. So my goal is to set up recycling this week, and to work on reducing our trash. And I'd also like to work on running the dishwasher a little less often. They're little things, but I guess all those little things add up, right?

Anyway, if you have any green cleaning tips, send them my way!

The Sick and the Injured

I was all set to write up an exciting post chronicling our fun-filled and productive weekend. And then sick happened:

And then injured happened:

(The picture doesn't do the goose egg justice!)

So much for a good weekend that ends badly. Seth started running a fever yesterday afternoon and it was up and down all day today. William was running around at home today and slipped in his socks and earned the big 'ole goose egg on his forehead. So I did my job today--I kept them alive--but just barely.

Thank goodness the weekend wasn't a total loss. I got lots done over the weekend, including laundry cleaned, folded, and put away, sheets changed, toilets and tubs/shower cleaned, kitchen floor mopped, meals cooked, groceries shopped for, and library books returned. We had friends over on Saturday. And on Sunday, I took the boys to a water park with a great baby pool with bubbling fountains and a huge sand play area with a water table in the middle. We met a friend and her daughter there and the boys had a blast.

Today was obviously not so great, but such is life. Ed will stay home with Seth tomorrow and William will go to school while I go to work. I have no idea what's wrong with Seth--maybe Roseola. He has no other symptoms--just the fever. It hasn't been too high, though--103.5 at its highest--so I could be wrong. Hopefully he'll be fine tomorrow and can return to school on Wednesday. For the most part, his mood has been fine--his normal, happy state--except when his fever spikes. Once the Motrin kicks in, though, he's fine. He'll probably have a great day tomorrow with Ed. And hopefully, William will have a happy and injury-free day, too.

Seth's Words

Seth has had a bit of a vocabulary explosion in the last couple of weeks. His words to date are:

Mommy (Mom-mom-mom; mama; mom-MEE)
Daddy (Da-da; dad-DEE)
Clark (Gok)
Banana (Nan-na)
Up
Ball (BAA!)
Book (Buh)
Balloon (A cross between baa and buh)
Hot (haaa)
Eat (eed)
Sit (si)
Helicopter (copt) (we live close to an army base, so we see a lot of helicopters at our house)
Bye-bye
Night-night
Quack (cack)

He also pants when he sees a dog, and blows his lips together for a horse.

He knows the signs for eat, more, milk, and please. I definitely need to work on more.

I'm still waiting to see what he ends up calling William. I find myself calling William "Brother" a lot, as in, "Give Brother the truck, Seth." Or, "Where's Brother?" I don't really like it, but it's a weird throwback to my Southern roots, I guess. My father's generation had lots of kids that were called "Brother" and "Sister." And even William refers to himself as Brother sometimes.

Other than new words, Seth is about the same. He hasn't been sleeping well for a few weeks now. Don't know if he's teething, or his ear infection has come back, or if he's just in the habit of waking up now and being tended to. Tonight he barely ate his dinner, so I may try to take him to the doctor tomorrow. I have a feeling it's related to teething, but I've been wrong before.

No big accidents to speak of over the last several weeks. But now that I said that OUT LOUD, I'm sure we're doomed. In any event, he always keeps us on our toes with his devilish grin and fierce temper. I'm sure it won't be long before he learns the word, "Mine!" But on the flip side, he's also become adept at kissing and hugging on command. And he makes the cutest little fishy kissy face you've ever seen! What's not to love when the kid loves Oreos as much as I do?

"Brother" thinks he's pretty funny, too.

New Tactics

As everyone knows, when something isn't working, you don't keep trying the same old things. You have to switch tactics--approach the problem in a new way. For a few months now (maybe since the time change?), William hasn't been falling asleep until around 9:00 p.m., and sometimes as late as 9:30 p.m. He's usually in bed with lights out by 8:00 p.m. But he'll talk, play, and call for us until he finally falls asleep. On the weekends, we've pretty much abandoned the nap, so he's usually wiped out by 8:00 p.m. But on weekdays, he takes a two-plus-hour nap at daycare. So weeknights are when we are having the problem.

We've tried the tactic of going to bed earlier--trying for lights out by 7:30 or 7:45. But this hasn't helped, plus it's really tough to do on weeknights when we have to cram a lot into our evening, and we don't get home until as late as 6:00 p.m. some evenings. So I decided that I should be taking advantage of this awake time by spending some one-on-one time with William. He's wide awake, so why make him roll around in his bed for an hour? Although it leaves me with a little less time in the evening to do my chores and read and spend time with Ed, the trade off of getting more time with William is well worth it.

My original plan for tonight was going to be for William and me to head to the library right after bath, around 7:30. But the library has summer hours now, and it closes at 8:00 p.m. Bummer. So instead, I got out the Candyland Castle game that William got for Christmas (or maybe it was his birthday). We played several rounds of the game and William enjoyed it. Then we read stories, and I trimmed his fingernails, and we talked while I treated some laundry stains. When I finally kissed him goodnight and turned off his light at 9:00, I didn't hear another peep from him. I think he fell asleep the minute his head hit the pillow.

This might not be an every-night occurrence. I'll just have to play it by ear and see how tired or not-tired he acts. When he does stay up later, I'll stick to quiet activities we can do together, like games or coloring, or maybe just a few extra stories.

Now if I could just get him to sleep later than 5:45 a.m.! And Seth, too. They're killing me!

The Rest of Our Trip

Once our friends picked us up and we got to their house, everything was great. The weather was beautiful the whole weekend, so we spent lots of time outside. They have a great driveway and lots of ride-on toys. William tried out a scooter for the first time.


Seth was in heaven with their large collection of balls.


William was partial to the BMW Roadster.


Until my friend ME pulled out the big guns--this battery powered Corvette! Both boys loved it.

They also spent lots of time in the backyard, on the playset. Seth assumed he was just as big as the big kids and didn't hesitate for one minute before trying to climb up the ladder. He eventually found the ramp and Ed and I took turns following him, with one hand holding on to him at all times, up the ramp and then down the slide. It was a disaster waiting to happen, but lucky for us, no accidents!

William was even more impressed with JE's playroom. JE is my friend ME's five-year-old son. His playroom was filled with cars and trucks and airplanes and helicopters and army tanks and Transformers and superheros. Seth discovered the bin full of balls, and the castle slide. He tried hard to impress ME's eight-month-old daughter, KE, by climbing up the slide by himself.

After all the playing, both boys went down pretty easily for the night. William had the option of sleeping in JE's room, but he chose to sleep in the bed with me. Seth slept in the pack-n-play in the same room, and Ed chose to sleep in a different room altogether! Lucky him, huh? At any rate, both boys were alseep by their usual time, which gave the grownups plenty of time for fine wine and great conversation. As much as I loved being with the kids, my favorite part of the trip was hanging out with ME and CE, talking, laughing, and reminiscing. ME and I have known each other since we were 11 years old. We went to junior high and high school together. And we've known CE since 9th grade. He went to high school with us, too. Lots of great memories!

The trip home was better than the trip there. ME drove us into the city to catch our train. Once we boarded the train, Ed found us great seats in the back of the train. We had a whole row of the seats that face each other, which gave us plenty of room to spread out. William played with toys, watched videos on my iPhone, and looked out the windows.

Seth played with a water bottle for a long time, putting the top on and then taking it off. Then he played with some old (and spent) gift cards he found in my purse (putting them in and taking them out of the backpack's side pocket). When he got a little restless about halfway through the trip, Ed got up and walked around with him, and he fell fast asleep.

He slept the rest of the way home. Overall, it was a great trip, and even though Seth is at a tough age for traveling, I'm very very glad we went. It was so nice to spend time with ME and CE and their kids. And it was great to see their gorgeous, mac-daddy house. It definitely felt like being at a vacation resort. ME and CE are the consummate hosts! Hopefully we'll do it again in the not-too-distant future. Thanks again ME! I'm so very grateful for our friendship.

Weekend Trip, Part 2 . . . . Will Have to Wait

It's after 11:00 p.m. and I'm too pooped to post. I had to go to the grocery store tonight, clean out the fridge, make pizza for tomorrow night, and cut up fruit and do breakfast/lunch prep for tomorrow. So the rest of the trip recap will have to wait for tomorrow night. (Way to drag it out, right?) I'll at least post a picture, though, taken outside Penn Station. Seth had just woken up so he was a little confused!

Weekend Trip, Part 1

I wrote the following post on Friday afternoon, from the Metro North train, heading up to Mount Kisco. Friday was a long day, but once we got off the train and our friends picked us up, everything was awesome. (It helped that we found a fantastic pizza place right by the train station. We sat in a little park and the four of us shared two slices as we waited for our ride. Definitely some of the best pizza I've ever eaten!) I'll save the rest of the trip details for tomorrow night, but I'll post this tonight, and add a few pictures. The trip was great, but it's good to be home!

We're on the second leg of our trip--the train ride to the suburbs. The trip from D.C. was, um, tiring. William did great for the most part. He loved the train, the experience, all the different sights. He asked two gazillion questions (most starting with "Why?" but that's just par for the course.) He got a little cranky and watched Martha Speaks on my iPhone. But then he rallied, eager for the next part of our adventure.

Seth, on the other hand, was challenging, to say the least. He fell asleep on the way to the train station, and woke up right before we boarded the train. I don't think he sat down the entire three-hour ride. Ed and I took turns walking up and down the aisles, from train car to train car. He dumped his fruit on the floor. He antagonized William every chance he got. He shrieked and kicked for us to put him down. All with a big grin on his face. He also charmed a lot of passengers by smiling and waving and saying hi.

When we arrived at Grand Central (after a quick taxi ride through the city),

I put him in the little umbrella stroller we brought, and he thankfully fell asleep almost as soon as we got on the second train. Ed and William are sitting by the windows while I sit with Seth in the handicap seats. It's a nice little breather.

So at least I can say we made it! But I can definitely tell you that we won't be traveling with Seth again for quite awhile! (Other than the car.) I'm already dreading the trip home!

[Postscript: After writing this post, I peeked over at Ed and William, only to find them both asleep. All three of my boys, wiped out!]

Embarassing Things I Don't Blog About

One of the reasons I love having my blog is that it helps me remember when things happened. I know exactly when William started wheezing for the first time. And the second time. And the third time . . . well, you get the idea. I know when Ed and I went out of town or how many "date nights" we've had. I know when the boys started walking and when they got their first teeth. So tonight, when I needed to figure out when something happened for an insurance claim, I immediately checked out my blog. Except what happened is something I didn't blog about. That's probably because it happened to me!

Our house has a storm door that is pretty heavy, and I have to hold it open with my foot as I try to corral the kids inside or outside along with all the stuff I'm usually juggling as I enter or leave the house. One morning, the storm door managed to bang on my foot as I struggled to get everything outside. It hit me pretty hard, and in such a way that the corner of the door left a small wound on my foot. But I didn't really think much of it. I probably muttered a few choice words under my breath, and went on about my day.

As the day wore on, however, my foot started hurting more and more. I started limping. By the time I drove home, it was throbbing. When I got home, I hobbled around to the passenger side of the van to get the boys out of the car. I got William out first and then Seth. I held Seth and went to step up on the curb in front of our house, but when I put weight on my foot, it completely gave way and I fell--holding Seth. It was a horrible, awkward fall as I tried desperately to protect Seth. I managed to put my hand between Seth's head and the sidewalk as I performed some kind of roll-and-tuck maneuver, scraping up my pinky finger in the process. Of course, as luck would have it, a woman was walking by with her child in a stroller, right when I fell down. I was so embarrassed, but I was also so shaken up, and in so much pain, that I didn't really care.

I sat on the ground for a few minutes and made sure Seth was okay. I assured the woman I was fine, and tried to explain about the injury and how strange it was. But I'm sure I just sounded like a babbling idiot. I got the boys inside and sat on the couch and tried not to cry because it hurt so bad. I was sure I had broken my foot. I called Ed and choked back tears and he said he was on his way home. After about 15 minutes, I started feeling much better, and hobbled my way around the kitchen putting dinner together for the boys. When Ed got home, it didn't hurt nearly as bad, but Ed insisted that I go to Urgent Care. So I did. My foot wasn't even swollen by this time, though, and while I waited in the ER, I started feeling really stupid. The doctor examined me and pushed on my foot in various ways asking, "Does this hurt?" And I'd say, "No." "Does this hurt?" "No." "Does this hurt." "Ummm, no." "Yeah--so what's the problem again?" They nicely gave me a foot brace and said it could be a deep muscle bruise and told me to take Advil for pain. By the next day, my foot felt totally fine (although I wore the foot brace just in case). Really weird, and the whole thing was just embarassing from start to finish.

But now I can't remember when it happened. Was it three weeks ago? Two months ago? I have no idea? I think I've become so dependent on my blog that I can't even put events into context. I can't seem to create a timeline of my life without my blog! I don't think this is a good thing. But I guess this means I need to blog about everything from now on--the good, the bad, and the ugly! Maybe I should change the name of my blog!