On the way to work this morning, we realized that we left William's blanket at home. William was upset and wanted me to turn around, but I refused. Then Seth said, "You can hab my bwanket Wee-yum" in the sweetest, most earnest voice.
I asked Seth what blanket he would use, and he said, "My schoow bwanket!" He has a backup that we keep at school. So problem solved. William said, "That's very nice, Sef," and he gave Seth his bouncy ball as a token of appreciation. I was very proud of my boys!
So as you can see, Seth is better, they're back at school, and all is right with the world. I leave for Vegas tomorrow and despite the fact that I'm stressing because my wardrobe is sooo not Vegas-suitable, I can't wait. Of course, I'm already missing the boys and I can't wait to pick them up from school on Monday afternoon. But in the meantime, I'm pretty sure I'm going to have an AWESOME weekend.
Thursday, September 30, 2010
Tuesday, September 28, 2010
This Seems to Be a Regular Thing
Seth came down with a fever in the wee hours of Monday morning. His fever went up and down yesterday and he still had a fever this morning (Tuesday). Needless to say we stayed home yesterday and we're home again today. Ed is coming home later this morning after a meeting so I can go in to work. I took Seth to the doctor yesterday, thinking maybe he had an ear infection. But his ears looked great and he doesn't have Strep. The doctor said it's probably a new virus on top of the cold he's had for 9 days now. That's pretty much the norm for Seth--a runny nose and an unexplained fever.
He was pretty miserable yesterday, but when the Motrin or Tylenol kicked in, he would start to feel better. It rained all day, so we were stuck inside. But since Seth mostly wanted to watch TV, it was okay. And William was thrilled to watch so much TV. Here's some serious TV watching going on:
We did have moments of playing in the basement. Seth sets his laptop up on Ed's desk and does his "work." William builds with blocks and plays with trains and trucks and construction equipment. Seth has also gotten interested in playing with trains, and it's super cute to listen to him playing, shouting, "Whoo-whoo" in a high-pitched voice as he moves the train around the track. We have a train table, but we built a pretty big track on the floor around the train table and that's what Seth prefers to play on.
At least he wasn't sick over the weekend. We spent Saturday running errands and doing chores and playing at home. On Sunday morning, we visited the Smithsonian Natural History Museum. We had planned to go to the zoo, but it was raining in the morning, so we switched to the museum. As usual, I chased Seth around while William looked at exhibits and watched the different movies. It was fun but after 2 hours, Seth was done. We headed home and Seth went down for a nap while Ed took William for a long walk around the neighborhood. When Seth woke up, we played outside. Overall, a pretty good weekend. I took my little camera to the museum with us, only to realize the batteries were dead when we got there. So I pulled out the iPhone. Pretty bad pictures, but they captured moments.
He was pretty miserable yesterday, but when the Motrin or Tylenol kicked in, he would start to feel better. It rained all day, so we were stuck inside. But since Seth mostly wanted to watch TV, it was okay. And William was thrilled to watch so much TV. Here's some serious TV watching going on:
We did have moments of playing in the basement. Seth sets his laptop up on Ed's desk and does his "work." William builds with blocks and plays with trains and trucks and construction equipment. Seth has also gotten interested in playing with trains, and it's super cute to listen to him playing, shouting, "Whoo-whoo" in a high-pitched voice as he moves the train around the track. We have a train table, but we built a pretty big track on the floor around the train table and that's what Seth prefers to play on.
At least he wasn't sick over the weekend. We spent Saturday running errands and doing chores and playing at home. On Sunday morning, we visited the Smithsonian Natural History Museum. We had planned to go to the zoo, but it was raining in the morning, so we switched to the museum. As usual, I chased Seth around while William looked at exhibits and watched the different movies. It was fun but after 2 hours, Seth was done. We headed home and Seth went down for a nap while Ed took William for a long walk around the neighborhood. When Seth woke up, we played outside. Overall, a pretty good weekend. I took my little camera to the museum with us, only to realize the batteries were dead when we got there. So I pulled out the iPhone. Pretty bad pictures, but they captured moments.
The last picture is Seth's version of "cheese."
Let's hope Seth gets better soon, especially since I'm heading to Vegas on Friday. (Woo-hoo!) It's another girls' weekend, and while I will only be there for 48 hours, I think it will be exactly the break I need. No doubt I will be tired when I return, but hopefully it will be a good tired. In the meantime, we're just trying to get through the week.
Friday, September 24, 2010
Phone Photo Friday
Since my posts this week have been all about me, I thought this was a fitting way to end the week. So this one's for you, Laura!
Thursday, September 23, 2010
Randomness
I had planned to write a blog post last night, but once I forced myself to do my Shred workout (3 nights in a row--27 to go!) and got things ready for this morning, it was late and I had brought home a project from work that I needed to work on. So I never even turned on my computer.
So I will try to briefly throw out some random thoughts that I don't want to forget.
Hmmmm. Like . . . well . . . uh . . .
Instead, how about a snapshot of my day. I started my morning by checking email. Here's my setup:
The blue box on the left holds an elaborate photo album of President Obama's inauguration. (Don't really know what to do with it.) The piece of paper taped to the shelf is this year's list of senators whose terms expire on Jan. 3, 2011, with notes on who is retiring, who has been defeated in primaries, special elections, and seats that might be changing parties. Everything else is pretty self-explanatory.
Exciting, huh? I'll check back in later when I start working on something else. How fun--a post-as-you-go day!
It's 10:30 and I'm hungry so I just went downstairs to our carry-out cafeteria to get some breakfast. I finished editing the hard copy of the oral history and now I'm making the changes on the computer.
I almost forgot--before I went downstairs, my office manager asked about our list of senators who have won the Golden Gavel Award. The Senate has a presiding officer, which is officially the vice president of the United States (the president of the Senate). The VP used to preside regularly over Senate sessions, but that hasn't been the case since the 1950s, when Nixon was the VP. When the VP is absent, the president pro tempore (which is an elected officer of the Senate--usually the most senior member of the majority party) officially presides. But the PPT almost always appoints someone else to preside in his/her absence. And that someone is almost always a freshman senator. In the '60s, they started giving Golden Gavel Awards to senators who had presided for 100 hours in a Senate session--sort of a reward for something most senators don't like to do. Anyway, I checked our list to make sure it was up-to-date.
It's almost 1:00 and I'm still working on the oral history transcript. I just took a break to take some forms to the boys' daycare center. It's about a block from my office, and it's so nice to be able to get there at a moment's notice. There are drawbacks, of course--mostly the long commute and the fact that I'm almost 100 percent responsible for their drop-off and pick-up. But being involved in their school and being able to participate in school-day events and even being able to take the boys to lunch from time to time makes it all worth it.
This is my walk to the daycare:
It's 2:00 p.m. and I finally finished editing the oral history. Whew! That took a long time. Now I'm moving on to one of my election lists--Incumbents Reelected or Defeated. Here's my bible when it comes to Senate elections:
I'm going through each election year and taking the class of senators who were up for election that year (the Senate is a continuing body--only one-third of senators are up for election every two years; thus, they are divided into "classes") and noting who retired, who was defeated, and who won reelection (or election in the case of appointed senators). We have lots of lists with numbers, but it's good to be able to look at a certain election year and know exactly what happened.
Now it's 5:09 and I'm wrapping up. By the time I get the boys and get on the road, it will probably be 5:45, and we probably won't get home until 6:30. And so it goes. Tomorrow will be much like today. My boss just told me we need to work on a project tomorrow to find examples of various scenarios for when terms began. So that's how my day will start. For now, I'm done!
So I will try to briefly throw out some random thoughts that I don't want to forget.
Hmmmm. Like . . . well . . . uh . . .
Instead, how about a snapshot of my day. I started my morning by checking email. Here's my setup:
(Does the screen look familiar?)
Then I started picked up where I left off with an editing project--an oral history. Our office conducts a lot of oral histories with long-serving Senate staff (and sometimes senators). The historians transcribe the interviews and then I get to edit them, which can be challenging, depending on the interviewee. Normally, I'll edit them on the computer, but sometimes I print them out and edit the paper copy (the old-fashioned way, I guess.) It definitely gives my eyes a break from the ubiquitous computer screen. Here's my desk setup.
Exciting, huh? I'll check back in later when I start working on something else. How fun--a post-as-you-go day!
It's 10:30 and I'm hungry so I just went downstairs to our carry-out cafeteria to get some breakfast. I finished editing the hard copy of the oral history and now I'm making the changes on the computer.
I almost forgot--before I went downstairs, my office manager asked about our list of senators who have won the Golden Gavel Award. The Senate has a presiding officer, which is officially the vice president of the United States (the president of the Senate). The VP used to preside regularly over Senate sessions, but that hasn't been the case since the 1950s, when Nixon was the VP. When the VP is absent, the president pro tempore (which is an elected officer of the Senate--usually the most senior member of the majority party) officially presides. But the PPT almost always appoints someone else to preside in his/her absence. And that someone is almost always a freshman senator. In the '60s, they started giving Golden Gavel Awards to senators who had presided for 100 hours in a Senate session--sort of a reward for something most senators don't like to do. Anyway, I checked our list to make sure it was up-to-date.
It's almost 1:00 and I'm still working on the oral history transcript. I just took a break to take some forms to the boys' daycare center. It's about a block from my office, and it's so nice to be able to get there at a moment's notice. There are drawbacks, of course--mostly the long commute and the fact that I'm almost 100 percent responsible for their drop-off and pick-up. But being involved in their school and being able to participate in school-day events and even being able to take the boys to lunch from time to time makes it all worth it.
This is my walk to the daycare:
It's 2:00 p.m. and I finally finished editing the oral history. Whew! That took a long time. Now I'm moving on to one of my election lists--Incumbents Reelected or Defeated. Here's my bible when it comes to Senate elections:
I'm going through each election year and taking the class of senators who were up for election that year (the Senate is a continuing body--only one-third of senators are up for election every two years; thus, they are divided into "classes") and noting who retired, who was defeated, and who won reelection (or election in the case of appointed senators). We have lots of lists with numbers, but it's good to be able to look at a certain election year and know exactly what happened.
Now it's 5:09 and I'm wrapping up. By the time I get the boys and get on the road, it will probably be 5:45, and we probably won't get home until 6:30. And so it goes. Tomorrow will be much like today. My boss just told me we need to work on a project tomorrow to find examples of various scenarios for when terms began. So that's how my day will start. For now, I'm done!
Tuesday, September 21, 2010
It's a Start
I have struggled to work exercise into my life and have never found something I can stick with. In my pre-teens and early teens, I took ballet which I enjoyed. And I swam on a summer swim team from age 8 to about age 14. In high school, I played volleyball my junior year, but that was it for organized sports. In college I tried running, but I never got into it. I took ballet and tap my senior year and enjoyed getting in shape again. And when I moved to DC, I lived with girls who worked out regularly so I dabbled in the gym a bit. For a while I took a Jazzercise class. And then I joined Curves. I liked them both, but they both lasted about 3 months before I quit. I enjoyed (and still enjoy) walking, but never formed a consistent habit. And now with kids and full time work, it seems impossible to include exercise into my routine.
But I can't stop trying. Up until now, I've been very lucky that my genes and my metabolism have kept me thin. I gained a lot of weight with both pregnancies (35-40 lbs), but lost the weight quickly with no true effort on my part. And while my weight and distrubution have fluctuated over time, it's never really been an issue. But over the last several months, I've put on weight that doesn't seem to want to fluctuate. And more important than my weight is my health, my energy level, and my stress level. Not to mention the fact that I am a role model for my kids.
So I am trying again. I tried joining the gym at work and working out during lunch, but that didn't work for many reasons. Getting up early might be an option later, but right now, I barely get enough sleep as it is, so I figured it would be self-defeating to give up more sleep for exercise. That leaves the nighttime. During the summer, it sometimes worked to take a walk right after the boys' bath--usually with William. But now that it's getting dark at 7:30, the evening walks don't work. It would be great to have a treadmill or elliptical machine in our house that I could use. But I can't spend that kind of money when I've never been able to sustain an exercise routine. So my new effort involves a workout video. Specifically, Jillian Michaels 30-day Shred. It's 20 minutes a day, for 30 days.Start small, right? I can do it at 9:00 at night, and I can do it just about anywhere that I can carry my laptop. It's a little premature to claim success, considering I'm only on day 2. But it feels good to sweat, to have sore muscles, and to have overcome my inertia.
So wish me luck and cheer me on. Hold me accountable. Maybe this one will stick.
But I can't stop trying. Up until now, I've been very lucky that my genes and my metabolism have kept me thin. I gained a lot of weight with both pregnancies (35-40 lbs), but lost the weight quickly with no true effort on my part. And while my weight and distrubution have fluctuated over time, it's never really been an issue. But over the last several months, I've put on weight that doesn't seem to want to fluctuate. And more important than my weight is my health, my energy level, and my stress level. Not to mention the fact that I am a role model for my kids.
So I am trying again. I tried joining the gym at work and working out during lunch, but that didn't work for many reasons. Getting up early might be an option later, but right now, I barely get enough sleep as it is, so I figured it would be self-defeating to give up more sleep for exercise. That leaves the nighttime. During the summer, it sometimes worked to take a walk right after the boys' bath--usually with William. But now that it's getting dark at 7:30, the evening walks don't work. It would be great to have a treadmill or elliptical machine in our house that I could use. But I can't spend that kind of money when I've never been able to sustain an exercise routine. So my new effort involves a workout video. Specifically, Jillian Michaels 30-day Shred. It's 20 minutes a day, for 30 days.Start small, right? I can do it at 9:00 at night, and I can do it just about anywhere that I can carry my laptop. It's a little premature to claim success, considering I'm only on day 2. But it feels good to sweat, to have sore muscles, and to have overcome my inertia.
So wish me luck and cheer me on. Hold me accountable. Maybe this one will stick.
Monday, September 20, 2010
Menu Plan Monday -- September 20
Last week I took a pass on menu planning since Ed was gone all week. We had mac-n-cheese one night, pizza one night, went to Target one night, and ended the week with chicken nuggets. Score!
But now I'm back and raring to go. Well, maybe not raring, but trying to stay on top of things.
Sunday: Fried chicken (drumsticks), green beans, biscuits (The boys ate this up. I'm so glad the boys like fried chicken! It stinks up the kitchen, but it's worth it every once in a while.)
Monday: Spaghetti, salad (William is now eating spaghetti with sauce. Woo-hoo!)
Tuesday: Broiled salmon, asparagus, dinner rolls
Wednesday: Chicken enchiladas (William won't eat these but Seth will; I'll offer William chicken nuggets instead.)
Thursday: Pork schnitzel, broccoli, muffins
Friday: Hamburgers, tater tots, salad
But now I'm back and raring to go. Well, maybe not raring, but trying to stay on top of things.
Sunday: Fried chicken (drumsticks), green beans, biscuits (The boys ate this up. I'm so glad the boys like fried chicken! It stinks up the kitchen, but it's worth it every once in a while.)
Monday: Spaghetti, salad (William is now eating spaghetti with sauce. Woo-hoo!)
Tuesday: Broiled salmon, asparagus, dinner rolls
Wednesday: Chicken enchiladas (William won't eat these but Seth will; I'll offer William chicken nuggets instead.)
Thursday: Pork schnitzel, broccoli, muffins
Friday: Hamburgers, tater tots, salad
Sunday, September 19, 2010
Where Have I Been?
Just busy doing other things. Ed was out of town last week, from Tuesday morning until late Friday night. Things weren't too bad while he was gone, but I was tired. I had a really hard time getting us out the door in the mornings, but that was more because we all slept a little later rather than because Ed wasn't there. Once the kids were asleep and the house cleaned up, I spent my evening time reading and zoning out on Facebook, rather than blogging. There really wasn't much to blog about.
And there still isn't a whole lot to blog about. But I hate going too long without posting because then it gets too easy not to blog. And while there are a lot of reasons why I blog, mostly I want to remember. Even the stuff that seems so mundane and boring today will be something I will be glad to read 20 years from now. So with that in mind, I will do my usual weekend report.
We had a busy, busy weekend. On Saturday morning, we all went to Taekwondo together. After that, William and I had dentist appointments (we were supposed to go on a Friday, but they rescheduled on a Saturday--I'll take it!). William did great, as usual. Seth watched him for a little while and then went back to the waiting room and hung out with Daddy. He came back in towards the end, and after William was done, the hygenist asked Seth if he wanted his teeth cleaned. Seth said yes, climbed into the chair, and put on the paper bib, but when the hygenist started to get the toothpaste ready, he had second thoughts and immediately wanted down. I guess that's a taste of things to come!
Anyway, when William was done, Ed took William to a birthday party (in the same shopping center as my dentist's office--how convenient is that?) and Seth stayed with me for my appointment. He kept wandering in and out of the room, though, so it was kind of a hassle. I had to get up to go after him a few times. I noticed that the hygenist started cleaning my teeth really quickly about halfway through the appointment. LOL! After I was done, Seth and I joined William and Ed at the birthday party. After spending the afternoon at home, we headed to a family party to break the fast for Yom Kippur. William had a FIT about having to wear a nice shirt. "Nice" meaning a polo shirt, from which I had removed the buttons. (He still has a thing about buttons.) Seth, meanwhile, was thrilled to wear a shirt like Daddy, along with a belt. He wanted everyone to see his belt. Too cute. Once we got to the party, both boys had a great time, and William conceded that wearing "nice" clothes wasn't so bad after all. ('Till the next time I have to dress him up, I'm sure.)
Today was grocery shopping, laundry, cleaning, washing cars, and playing at home. Last week I bought Moon Sand for the boys to play with, and I opened it on Saturday. Holy messy. We moved it outside to the deck, where they played with it quite a bit today. Today I pulled out my 15-year-old lap top computer for the boys to play with. All day, Seth kept saying, "I need to check my computer." He pronounces it, "compooder." It's so cute. While Seth napped, William lugged the laptop (that thing is heavy!) into his room and sat in his bed doing "work." They crack me up! William and I also made a dream catcher with a paper plate, yarn, beads, and feathers. I might do the project with his class at school if it fits into their curriculum. William will tell me a lot that he doesn't want to dream, so I thought a dreamcatcher might ease his mind.
Well, that's about it. Work is getting busier and busier with the elections approaching and all the crazy-ass people running for the Senate. I maintain a whole bunch of stastistical information about the Senate, including elections, and we're getting lots and lots of questions about things like record number of incumbents defeated, record freshman class size, special elections and when terms start, etc. etc. So needless to say, I'll continue to be busy for a while. I love it, though--the crazier, the better! In the meantime, I'll keep working on being more organized at home, which starts with a little more prep work the night before for the morning crush. So that's what I'm going to do. Hopefully I'll find more inspiring fodder for blog posts this week!
And there still isn't a whole lot to blog about. But I hate going too long without posting because then it gets too easy not to blog. And while there are a lot of reasons why I blog, mostly I want to remember. Even the stuff that seems so mundane and boring today will be something I will be glad to read 20 years from now. So with that in mind, I will do my usual weekend report.
We had a busy, busy weekend. On Saturday morning, we all went to Taekwondo together. After that, William and I had dentist appointments (we were supposed to go on a Friday, but they rescheduled on a Saturday--I'll take it!). William did great, as usual. Seth watched him for a little while and then went back to the waiting room and hung out with Daddy. He came back in towards the end, and after William was done, the hygenist asked Seth if he wanted his teeth cleaned. Seth said yes, climbed into the chair, and put on the paper bib, but when the hygenist started to get the toothpaste ready, he had second thoughts and immediately wanted down. I guess that's a taste of things to come!
Anyway, when William was done, Ed took William to a birthday party (in the same shopping center as my dentist's office--how convenient is that?) and Seth stayed with me for my appointment. He kept wandering in and out of the room, though, so it was kind of a hassle. I had to get up to go after him a few times. I noticed that the hygenist started cleaning my teeth really quickly about halfway through the appointment. LOL! After I was done, Seth and I joined William and Ed at the birthday party. After spending the afternoon at home, we headed to a family party to break the fast for Yom Kippur. William had a FIT about having to wear a nice shirt. "Nice" meaning a polo shirt, from which I had removed the buttons. (He still has a thing about buttons.) Seth, meanwhile, was thrilled to wear a shirt like Daddy, along with a belt. He wanted everyone to see his belt. Too cute. Once we got to the party, both boys had a great time, and William conceded that wearing "nice" clothes wasn't so bad after all. ('Till the next time I have to dress him up, I'm sure.)
Today was grocery shopping, laundry, cleaning, washing cars, and playing at home. Last week I bought Moon Sand for the boys to play with, and I opened it on Saturday. Holy messy. We moved it outside to the deck, where they played with it quite a bit today. Today I pulled out my 15-year-old lap top computer for the boys to play with. All day, Seth kept saying, "I need to check my computer." He pronounces it, "compooder." It's so cute. While Seth napped, William lugged the laptop (that thing is heavy!) into his room and sat in his bed doing "work." They crack me up! William and I also made a dream catcher with a paper plate, yarn, beads, and feathers. I might do the project with his class at school if it fits into their curriculum. William will tell me a lot that he doesn't want to dream, so I thought a dreamcatcher might ease his mind.
Well, that's about it. Work is getting busier and busier with the elections approaching and all the crazy-ass people running for the Senate. I maintain a whole bunch of stastistical information about the Senate, including elections, and we're getting lots and lots of questions about things like record number of incumbents defeated, record freshman class size, special elections and when terms start, etc. etc. So needless to say, I'll continue to be busy for a while. I love it, though--the crazier, the better! In the meantime, I'll keep working on being more organized at home, which starts with a little more prep work the night before for the morning crush. So that's what I'm going to do. Hopefully I'll find more inspiring fodder for blog posts this week!
Tuesday, September 14, 2010
What Time Is It?
Seth: "What time is it, Mommy?"
Me: "It's 6:38."
Seth: "That's a long time!"
We have this conversation often and it cracks me up every time.
Me: "It's 6:38."
Seth: "That's a long time!"
We have this conversation often and it cracks me up every time.
Monday, September 13, 2010
And Life is Good Once Again
Thank you all so much for your comments on my last post. It really meant a lot and helped lift my mood. I thought of the irony of my post title, "Coming Up Empty," considering how full my life is. I am blessed beyond belief and even when it's hard, my struggles pale in comparison. So much so that to call them struggles is even laughable. It's all relative, right? Anyway, a low-key weekend and lots of time with my boys (all three of them) has made the world right again.
We didn't do anything special--lots of errands and hanging around the house. Seth accompanied me to the grocery store. William accompanied me to Target. The boys helped Ed cut the grass and rake. Seth helped me dust. On Sunday we met Ed's mom and aunt at the mall. While Ed and his mom took the boys to the play area, I went to Nordstrom's and got fitted for bras. Who knew a bra-fitting could make me feel so elated! After that I met the family at Build-a-bear, where Ed's mom indulged the boys. William picked out the candy corn bear and a Darth Vader costume, and then he named his bear "Sarah." Seth picked out a frog and a fireman costume. We named him "Froggy." William is crazy about his Darth Vader Sarah. She's a good guy, according to William. And Seth just likes to take Froggy's fireman outfit off. Too funny.
So that was basically our weekend. I got a little bit of dusting done. And I vacuumed one room. I changed the sheets on our bed. And I did laundry. I've made peace with my cleaning efforts. I've learned to accept that piecemeal cleaning works best for me. And it helps that my standards for cleanliness have gone way, way down. I'll clean out a toilet here and a sink there. Vacuum a room here and dust something there. The house is hardly ever clean all at once (unless we're having company) but it doesn't matter. Thanks to Ed, things are neat and tidy. And maybe the kitchen floor isn't as clean as it should be, but the dishes go in the dishwasher and the counters stay relatively clean. It's good enough. When we move into a house, I will definitely look into budgeting for a cleaning service. But we're getting by just fine without one.
Next weekend will be busy. Dentists appointments and a birthday party and breaking the fast for Yom Kippur at Ed's mom's cousin's house. I can't get over how quickly the middle of September has gotten here. How are we already talking about apple picking and Halloween costumes and which fall festival we want to attend? I love the fall though, so I'm okay with it. Just like the summer, though, I want to make sure we make the most of it. Easier said than done, right?
We didn't do anything special--lots of errands and hanging around the house. Seth accompanied me to the grocery store. William accompanied me to Target. The boys helped Ed cut the grass and rake. Seth helped me dust. On Sunday we met Ed's mom and aunt at the mall. While Ed and his mom took the boys to the play area, I went to Nordstrom's and got fitted for bras. Who knew a bra-fitting could make me feel so elated! After that I met the family at Build-a-bear, where Ed's mom indulged the boys. William picked out the candy corn bear and a Darth Vader costume, and then he named his bear "Sarah." Seth picked out a frog and a fireman costume. We named him "Froggy." William is crazy about his Darth Vader Sarah. She's a good guy, according to William. And Seth just likes to take Froggy's fireman outfit off. Too funny.
So that was basically our weekend. I got a little bit of dusting done. And I vacuumed one room. I changed the sheets on our bed. And I did laundry. I've made peace with my cleaning efforts. I've learned to accept that piecemeal cleaning works best for me. And it helps that my standards for cleanliness have gone way, way down. I'll clean out a toilet here and a sink there. Vacuum a room here and dust something there. The house is hardly ever clean all at once (unless we're having company) but it doesn't matter. Thanks to Ed, things are neat and tidy. And maybe the kitchen floor isn't as clean as it should be, but the dishes go in the dishwasher and the counters stay relatively clean. It's good enough. When we move into a house, I will definitely look into budgeting for a cleaning service. But we're getting by just fine without one.
Next weekend will be busy. Dentists appointments and a birthday party and breaking the fast for Yom Kippur at Ed's mom's cousin's house. I can't get over how quickly the middle of September has gotten here. How are we already talking about apple picking and Halloween costumes and which fall festival we want to attend? I love the fall though, so I'm okay with it. Just like the summer, though, I want to make sure we make the most of it. Easier said than done, right?
Thursday, September 09, 2010
Coming Up Empty
My mind is filled with all sorts of things to blog about. But I can't seem to move any of it past my fingertips. I want to blog about inertia and how I am finding it impossible to fit exercise into my day and how this is a HUGE problem because I am gaining weight at an alarming pace and how I'm trying really hard to be more patient with the boys and to enjoy them more instead of feeling exasperated all the time and how much I LOVE the boys and how quickly they're growing and how I love all the cute and funny things they say and how my house is filthy but I don't care anymore because the boys want me to play with them and not dust or vaccum or scrub toilets and how work is good and how I'm really feeling my age lately and it scares me and how I didn't go to my 20th high school reunion and how discouraged I'm feeling about finding a house and how awesome the weather was today and how we played outside when we got home while I grilled chicken and how Seth pedaled the tricycle on his own and how I used up 8 biscuits and heavy whipping cream making delicious bread pudding and how I really miss happy hours after work with friends and how everthing seems to be swirling around me in a state of constant motion and yesterday was Tuesday and now it's Friday and sometimes I just need to stop and catch my breath.
So that's what I'm doing, catching my breath. I didn't know that parenting would make me so crazy and I never expected it to stress me out as much as it does. In some ways, I feel disappointed in myself that I don't love every minute of it and that I'm not better at it. In high school and maybe even college, I saw myself as a stay at home mom and thought I'd love to have five kids. I have two and most days, I want to tear my hair out by the end of the day. Am I more stressed because I work full time? Or would I be more stressed if I stayed home full time? It's hard to know the answer to that. But my gut tells me it would be harder for me to stay home. I'm not disciplined enough to do it well. Regardless, my life is my life and I would not want it any other way. Well, that's not entirely true. I'd rather be working part time. But the point is, I am where I want to be. I just have to keep striving to be better at it. It's a journey, not a destination. A process. I didn't expect it to be so hard, but I also never knew how much love and joy a family would bring.
I guess I had something to say afterall.
So that's what I'm doing, catching my breath. I didn't know that parenting would make me so crazy and I never expected it to stress me out as much as it does. In some ways, I feel disappointed in myself that I don't love every minute of it and that I'm not better at it. In high school and maybe even college, I saw myself as a stay at home mom and thought I'd love to have five kids. I have two and most days, I want to tear my hair out by the end of the day. Am I more stressed because I work full time? Or would I be more stressed if I stayed home full time? It's hard to know the answer to that. But my gut tells me it would be harder for me to stay home. I'm not disciplined enough to do it well. Regardless, my life is my life and I would not want it any other way. Well, that's not entirely true. I'd rather be working part time. But the point is, I am where I want to be. I just have to keep striving to be better at it. It's a journey, not a destination. A process. I didn't expect it to be so hard, but I also never knew how much love and joy a family would bring.
I guess I had something to say afterall.
Tuesday, September 07, 2010
Catch-up Post and Picture Overload
Things got better over the weekend. I'm not nearly as discombobulated as I felt last week. I'm sure that most of the depression I was feeling last week is related to a certain time of the month, but it's really weird because I have not felt moody like that since my college days--not since I started on birth control. Stupid hormones and getting older. I'm still on birth control, but it doesn't seem to be the anchor that it used to be. I think I'm going to try Mirena. But anyway, this is not what I usually talk about in my "mommy" blog, so onto better things . . . our weekend!
The weather was gorgeous this weekend and we tried to make the most of it. On Friday, I got out of work early (3:00) so I took the boys straight to Pirate's Cove--the water park with the kiddie pool and bubbly fountains and the sand play area. William, my little crab, spent almost the whole time in the sand area. Seth, my little fish, alternated between the little pool with the little slide and fountains and the big pool with the big slide and fountains. We swam and dug in the sand until 6:00 p.m. and then headed home. On Saturday, after morning errands and a early nap for Seth, we headed to Ed's parents for a sleepover. Ed and I got to have a date, which would have been nicer had I not been in such a foul and emotional mood. But it happens.
On Sunday morning, we went to Great Falls, a national park along the Potomac with great views of the rapids and lots of great trails. Because it was a holiday weekend, and because the weather was so gorgeous, it was packed. But the boys had fun running around, climbing on rocks, and watching the kayakers in the river below. On Sunday afternoon, we played outside. On Monday morning, Ed got up bright and early and headed into DC to get tickets for the Washington Monument. I got myself and the boys out the door and we met Ed at 9:30 and finally got to go up to the top. William enjoyed it, although I think it was somewhat anticlimactic for him. After that, we went to the Air and Space Museum and then to the American Indian Museum. William was really into all the exhibits and the videos. Seth, however, was not. His goal was just to keep moving. It was fun, though, and fun to walk around the Mall and enjoy the weather. We ended Monday with a walk to the local school playground. We definitely maxed out our outside time and took advantage of the weather. And I'm glad I didn't worry too much about cleaning and "getting stuff done" around the house.
And now for pictures!
The weather was gorgeous this weekend and we tried to make the most of it. On Friday, I got out of work early (3:00) so I took the boys straight to Pirate's Cove--the water park with the kiddie pool and bubbly fountains and the sand play area. William, my little crab, spent almost the whole time in the sand area. Seth, my little fish, alternated between the little pool with the little slide and fountains and the big pool with the big slide and fountains. We swam and dug in the sand until 6:00 p.m. and then headed home. On Saturday, after morning errands and a early nap for Seth, we headed to Ed's parents for a sleepover. Ed and I got to have a date, which would have been nicer had I not been in such a foul and emotional mood. But it happens.
On Sunday morning, we went to Great Falls, a national park along the Potomac with great views of the rapids and lots of great trails. Because it was a holiday weekend, and because the weather was so gorgeous, it was packed. But the boys had fun running around, climbing on rocks, and watching the kayakers in the river below. On Sunday afternoon, we played outside. On Monday morning, Ed got up bright and early and headed into DC to get tickets for the Washington Monument. I got myself and the boys out the door and we met Ed at 9:30 and finally got to go up to the top. William enjoyed it, although I think it was somewhat anticlimactic for him. After that, we went to the Air and Space Museum and then to the American Indian Museum. William was really into all the exhibits and the videos. Seth, however, was not. His goal was just to keep moving. It was fun, though, and fun to walk around the Mall and enjoy the weather. We ended Monday with a walk to the local school playground. We definitely maxed out our outside time and took advantage of the weather. And I'm glad I didn't worry too much about cleaning and "getting stuff done" around the house.
And now for pictures!
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| Digging in the Sand at Pirate's Cove |
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| Climbing at Great Falls |
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| Great Falls |
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| Viewing the rapids at Great Falls |
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| Hear no evil, see no evil |
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| Ed's signature shot |
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| View from the top of the Washington Monument |
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| Fountain at the Hirshhorn Museum |
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| The cool shades and the pacifier are such a great combo! |
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| Water play at home |
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| This is not going to end well |
Thursday, September 02, 2010
How Is It Already September?
I'm in a treading water, can't-seem-to-catch-up phase right now. The morning scramble has been such a hassle lately. I can't figure out why I go through phases where the mornings run smoothly and we get out the door pretty early, and then phases where it seems to take FOREVER to get out the door, and by the time I get in the car, I'm exhausted and stressed and spent. I guess the good thing is, it's a phase!
In other news, well, there isn't really any news. Work is busy. We've got one more week of recess where I get to leave work early, and then it's back to later days. Boo for that. It's been nice to come home and play for a while with the boys before starting dinner.
We're still house hunting, but Ed is pretty convinced that prices will start falling again, so we're taking a wait-and-see attitude. We saw a house that we LOVE in a neighborhood not far from us. It's in a good school district, but the boundaries are pretty strange, and all the houses around it feed into a different school. So the area could easily be redistricted in the future. The schools that it could be redistricted to aren't bad--not quite as good as its current schools, but not bad--so that's not a deal breaker. But they've got the house listed way too high. It's the second-most expensive house in the zip code, and the most expensive in the neighborhood. We're not making that mistake again. And since we really want to be closer to Ed's job, and this house is not, we're going to keep looking. If they dramatically lower the price, we may consider it. The house is exactly the kind of house we want, and we won't find a house like this in neighborhoods closer to Ed's job. But, for now we'll wait.
The boys are doing well. I feel like I referee all day, but I guess that's part of the Mom job. For the most part, they get along well, so I shouldn't complain. And I'm not even around them all day most days, so I really shouldn't complain!
This will be the last weekend that the pool will be open, so I want to take advantage of it. I had planned to take the boys back to the pool with the water fountains, slides, and sand area this weekend. But the weather is supposed to turn cool on Saturday and Sunday. So I'm taking them tomorrow instead. I get out of work at 3:00, and even though we won't have a whole lot of time to play, at least it will be something. On Sunday or Monday, we might head into DC and try to get tickets to the Washington Monument. William has been wanting to go inside ever since he could identify the monument, but it's a pain to get tickets. You can reserve them online, but the "free" tickets end up costing $1.50 each and they sell out really fast. So instead, you can go to the ticket booth at 8:30 a.m. and get timed, same-day tickets. So that's what I want to do. But the annoying thing is that the museums and other attractions don't open until 10:00 a.m., so you have to kill some time. But DC is a beautiful city and it's pretty to walk around. So we may aim to do that on Sunday or Monday morning. William also wants to go see the tee-pees at the Native American Museum, which is right next to Air and Space. So we will have plenty to do.
Wow--this post got boring fast. That about sums up my life right now. I'm feeling this need to make major changes in my life, but my lack of motivation and total inertia just keeps me spinning the wheel. Ugh. For now, I'm just trying to get through each day. I need to think baby steps. Well, that, and more sleep would probably help. On that note, I'm going to bed.
In other news, well, there isn't really any news. Work is busy. We've got one more week of recess where I get to leave work early, and then it's back to later days. Boo for that. It's been nice to come home and play for a while with the boys before starting dinner.
We're still house hunting, but Ed is pretty convinced that prices will start falling again, so we're taking a wait-and-see attitude. We saw a house that we LOVE in a neighborhood not far from us. It's in a good school district, but the boundaries are pretty strange, and all the houses around it feed into a different school. So the area could easily be redistricted in the future. The schools that it could be redistricted to aren't bad--not quite as good as its current schools, but not bad--so that's not a deal breaker. But they've got the house listed way too high. It's the second-most expensive house in the zip code, and the most expensive in the neighborhood. We're not making that mistake again. And since we really want to be closer to Ed's job, and this house is not, we're going to keep looking. If they dramatically lower the price, we may consider it. The house is exactly the kind of house we want, and we won't find a house like this in neighborhoods closer to Ed's job. But, for now we'll wait.
The boys are doing well. I feel like I referee all day, but I guess that's part of the Mom job. For the most part, they get along well, so I shouldn't complain. And I'm not even around them all day most days, so I really shouldn't complain!
This will be the last weekend that the pool will be open, so I want to take advantage of it. I had planned to take the boys back to the pool with the water fountains, slides, and sand area this weekend. But the weather is supposed to turn cool on Saturday and Sunday. So I'm taking them tomorrow instead. I get out of work at 3:00, and even though we won't have a whole lot of time to play, at least it will be something. On Sunday or Monday, we might head into DC and try to get tickets to the Washington Monument. William has been wanting to go inside ever since he could identify the monument, but it's a pain to get tickets. You can reserve them online, but the "free" tickets end up costing $1.50 each and they sell out really fast. So instead, you can go to the ticket booth at 8:30 a.m. and get timed, same-day tickets. So that's what I want to do. But the annoying thing is that the museums and other attractions don't open until 10:00 a.m., so you have to kill some time. But DC is a beautiful city and it's pretty to walk around. So we may aim to do that on Sunday or Monday morning. William also wants to go see the tee-pees at the Native American Museum, which is right next to Air and Space. So we will have plenty to do.
Wow--this post got boring fast. That about sums up my life right now. I'm feeling this need to make major changes in my life, but my lack of motivation and total inertia just keeps me spinning the wheel. Ugh. For now, I'm just trying to get through each day. I need to think baby steps. Well, that, and more sleep would probably help. On that note, I'm going to bed.
Monday, August 30, 2010
Welcome Back
After an entire week off from work (which I haven't had since maternity leave with Seth), I have to admit that I woke up this morning with some small sense of dread. My "vacation" was pretty nice, if you leave out the part where I had a raging sinus infection all week, but it was also a bit exhausting. The thought of the morning scramble and dropping the kids off at school and picking up where I left off at work--well, let's just say I wanted to pull the covers over my head and not have to face anything.
But instead I went through the motions and only yelled at the boys three times before we even got out the door and only choked back tears once, when Seth had a total meltdown when I dropped him off, and only avoided one task at work that I've been avoiding for two weeks. So not a terrible day, really. What I need to do now is go to sleep, but I thought of some things I wanted to write about, before I forget entirely.
But instead I went through the motions and only yelled at the boys three times before we even got out the door and only choked back tears once, when Seth had a total meltdown when I dropped him off, and only avoided one task at work that I've been avoiding for two weeks. So not a terrible day, really. What I need to do now is go to sleep, but I thought of some things I wanted to write about, before I forget entirely.
- I've been on antibiotics, Sudafed, and ibruprofin for my sinus infection since Friday, but I'm still in pain. On Wednesday night, the night we stayed in the hotel, I was in so much pain, I thought I might have to go to the ER. I slept upright in a chair while Ed slept on the pull-out couch and the boys each got their own double bed. (They both slept great, btw--and they both ended up sleeping horizontally on their bed.) I finally started feeling better at 4:00 a.m. Since then, I've had a lot of pain in my ears, teeth, and facial bones. I'm SO tired of feeling awful!
- Seth has started stuttering. He just does it when he first starts a sentence. His teacher said it's common when kids experience a language explosion. Their brains work faster than their mouths. It's pretty cute, actually, but we're keeping a close eye on it, too.
- Seth is still using the potty off and on. He hasn't asked to wear underwear, but he has no problem pulling his diaper off. Mabye this weekend I'll put him in underwear and see what happens.
- Ed and I got a babysitter again on Saturday night so we could go out for Ed's birthday. We saw a movie (Switch) and ate Thai food. We had a nice time.
- I'm trying to get back on trace with menu planning this week. I stocked up on meat at the grocery store over the weekend, so I have plenty to work with. But I've been pretty lazy about prepping the night before. I've also been a little lax on the food waste. Tonight I threw out some leftover steak and chicken that we never finished, some bacon that we didn't use up, and half a bag of salad that we didn't finish. That's a lot of waste!
- On Friday I was planning on taking the boys to a lake about 2 hours from our house, but I went to the Minute Clinic in the morning for my sinus infection and the day got off track. So instead, we went to a local pool that has fountains and slides and a sand play area, and the boys LOVED it. We stayed there for almost 5 hours. I may take them again this weekend and drag Ed with us.
- I've already started thinking about Christmas and what Santa will bring the boys this year. William is so easy to shop for and Seth is so hard. Seth is really into art so Santa may have to bring him an easel. William found a Polar Express train set and I think he's talked his grandmother into buying it for him. I think Santa might bring William some more blocks and a viewfinder. But there's still plenty of time!
Thursday, August 26, 2010
We Survived Sesame Place
We survived! And we even had fun. I don't even know where to begin. I'm exhausted, I think I have an ear infection in addition to a sinus infection, Ed says he has a sore throat. But the boys? They're awesome. They had a great time. But in hindsight, I don't think an amusement park is really for them. They're not crazy into rides. In fact, on most of the rides we stood in line for, either Seth or William bolted at the last minute. The only rides Seth went on were the teacups, the rambling river (which he did not really enjoy), and the slimey chutes water ride. William enjoyed the dry rides, but he wasn't interested in all of them. He rode the roller coaster twice (it's tiny--very mild), but put his head down and closed his eyes the whole time. He bolted at the slimey chutes ride. But he loved the rambling river (floating in innertubes along a waterway). They both loved the bounce house, and they loved this area that had huge punching bags that they could run through like a maze. They loved the spray park. And William's favorite spot, where he spent a good hour or more today, was this area filled with sand for digging. He could have stayed there all day.
But backing up a bit, the drive there took much longer than anticipated--4 hours rather than 3. When we got there, the weather was overcast and cool, but lots of people were still doing the water rides. We didn't wear our swimsuits to the park, though, so we stuck to all the dry stuff on Wednesday. At first we kind of meandered around, aimless. The park was not crowded at all, which was really nice. The lines for rides were not long at all. We saw a few characters (Bert, Cookie and Telly, Zoey, The Count) and William loved having his picture taken with them. Seth wanted nothing to do with them, except when we were walking away, and then he'd wave at them madly and shout "Goodbye Bert Bye Zoey!" At 2:00 we watched the parade. At 3:30 we saw a live show, Elmo Rocks. By this time, the boys looked almost comatose, so we talked about leaving and going to see Megan and Sam and Seren and Wyeth. William was gung ho. But then we passed by the merry-go-round and the boys wanted to ride on it. Then we passed the big play area, and the boys perked up, and that was it. They wanted to stay, William wanted to ride more rides, Seth wanted to climb in the nets. So we had to bail on Megan and family. I was bummed, but in hindsight, I'm glad we stayed because the boys had a blast playing and I felt like we really got our money's worth. We finally left the park at 6:45 that night, but not before getting more pictures with Elmo and Abby Cadabby.
Today's weather was beautiful--sunny and highs in the mid-80s. We put on our swimsuits and sunscreen and headed to the park. We got there before it opened and stood in line. LOTS more people were there today so lines were long. We did the rambling river and slimey chutes today, but that was it. We spent the rest of the time at the splash pad and the sandy beach area. We finally left the park for home around 1:30 and got on the road at 1:45. Seth was alseep before we hit the highway and he actually slept for about 2 hours, which I have never seen him do in the car. William fell asleep, too, for about an hour. We hit rush hour traffic between Baltimore and DC (great timing) and didn't get home until 6:00 p.m. (great timing, huh?), but we survived! We had fun. The boys had lots of fun. And next time, we'll just go to the beach. :-)
So now, pictures. Note Seth's buzz cut. I took him on Tuesday after school and asked the guy to cut it short. Yikes! He looks cute, though. The rest of the pictures are self-explanatory.
But backing up a bit, the drive there took much longer than anticipated--4 hours rather than 3. When we got there, the weather was overcast and cool, but lots of people were still doing the water rides. We didn't wear our swimsuits to the park, though, so we stuck to all the dry stuff on Wednesday. At first we kind of meandered around, aimless. The park was not crowded at all, which was really nice. The lines for rides were not long at all. We saw a few characters (Bert, Cookie and Telly, Zoey, The Count) and William loved having his picture taken with them. Seth wanted nothing to do with them, except when we were walking away, and then he'd wave at them madly and shout "Goodbye Bert Bye Zoey!" At 2:00 we watched the parade. At 3:30 we saw a live show, Elmo Rocks. By this time, the boys looked almost comatose, so we talked about leaving and going to see Megan and Sam and Seren and Wyeth. William was gung ho. But then we passed by the merry-go-round and the boys wanted to ride on it. Then we passed the big play area, and the boys perked up, and that was it. They wanted to stay, William wanted to ride more rides, Seth wanted to climb in the nets. So we had to bail on Megan and family. I was bummed, but in hindsight, I'm glad we stayed because the boys had a blast playing and I felt like we really got our money's worth. We finally left the park at 6:45 that night, but not before getting more pictures with Elmo and Abby Cadabby.
Today's weather was beautiful--sunny and highs in the mid-80s. We put on our swimsuits and sunscreen and headed to the park. We got there before it opened and stood in line. LOTS more people were there today so lines were long. We did the rambling river and slimey chutes today, but that was it. We spent the rest of the time at the splash pad and the sandy beach area. We finally left the park for home around 1:30 and got on the road at 1:45. Seth was alseep before we hit the highway and he actually slept for about 2 hours, which I have never seen him do in the car. William fell asleep, too, for about an hour. We hit rush hour traffic between Baltimore and DC (great timing) and didn't get home until 6:00 p.m. (great timing, huh?), but we survived! We had fun. The boys had lots of fun. And next time, we'll just go to the beach. :-)
So now, pictures. Note Seth's buzz cut. I took him on Tuesday after school and asked the guy to cut it short. Yikes! He looks cute, though. The rest of the pictures are self-explanatory.
Tuesday, August 24, 2010
Case of the Crazies
Blogging has taken a back seat to life. My minor cold turned full blown and yesterday, I was miserable. Thank goodness I already had the day off from work. I took the kids to school and came home and slept for three hours. But my plan to clean the house from top to bottom went out the window. Instead, I swept and mopped the kitchen floor and vacuumed the main level. Good enough.
I'm home today, too, and feeling much better, but I'm a teensy bit stressed because I'm trying to get us ready for our trip to Sesame Place tomorrow. We're planning on leaving bright and early, at 7:00 a.m. But because nothing can ever go quite as smoothly as we would wish, the weather tomorrow has decided not to cooperate. It will be rainy in the morning, overcast and cool all day. Which is actually kind of great for amusement park weather. Except when the amusement park is mostly water rides. By cool, I mean mid-70s. I think it will be too cool to want to play in the water. Plus there could be scattered showers. My fervent hope is that the park will be very uncrowded, it will be overcast, but it won't rain, we will have fun on all the dry rides and won't have to stand in line, we will see the parade and a live show or two, and then we will leave the park in the late afternoon and then will get to see Megan and Sam and Seren and Wyeth for dinner, and then on Thursday, the sun will come out, we'll go back to the park for the wet rides, and we'll head home in the afternoon, exhausted but happy. Is that too much to ask?
Now the big question is, what the heck do I pack? I had been planning to go to the park in bathing suits, water shoes, and coverups. But that's not really going to do now. I guess I'll put the boys in shorts and t-shirts with a light jacket. And we'll just bring swim suits and towels just in case. And maybe on Thursday, we'll want to wear the swim suits to the park. I did get snacks and drinks and will make a picnic lunch for us to eat tomorrow. I've read so many reviews of the park, it makes my head spin. But almost all of them say the food is super expensive and not very good. So why waste the money? As for the plan to see Megan and Sam and family, I really really hope it works out. But not knowing how long we will want to stay at the park, and not knowing how the day will go and how grumpy the boys might be, we are playing it by ear. Megan and Sam have been gracious enough to plan for us to come, but to understand if we don't make it. (Thanks Megan!)
As for the rest of my life, the boys are doing well. Seth is still randomly using the potty, both at school and at home. It makes me wonder if I should try to put him in underwear this weekend and see what happens. Can't really hurt, right? I'm just not sure I have the energy for it. William has been super obnoxious lately--lots of potty mouth and saying "stupid." We'll see how he does on the trip. Last weekend was a bit crazy--two birthday parties, a baby naming ceremony for one of Ed's friends, an open house for a house that we all loved (but we are a bit gun-shy and do not want to move too quickly), me getting sicker each day, and no naps for anyone. On Saturday morning, I drove the boys to William's taekwondo class, only to realize that it was closed last week for summer vacation. Then we drove home and then to William's birthday party, only to realize that it started 30 minutes later than I thought. So no taekwondo for William, no Zoom Around the Room for Seth, and way too much car time for mom. On Sunday, William and Ed went to the baby naming ceremony and Seth and I stayed home (since I sounded horrible, by this point). But then we had to meet Ed and William at the lunch later so that we could switch cars and kids, and I took William to the birthday party and Ed took Seth home.
So that should bring you up to date. Hopefully I will return with tons of great pictures and stories about what an awesome trip we had. On Friday, I was hoping to take the kids to a local lake to give them a chance to dig in the sand and play on a "beach." Not the same as a real beach, but the next best thing, right? I guess we'll just play it by ear. In the meantime, send us good weather vibes and wish us lots of luck!
I'm home today, too, and feeling much better, but I'm a teensy bit stressed because I'm trying to get us ready for our trip to Sesame Place tomorrow. We're planning on leaving bright and early, at 7:00 a.m. But because nothing can ever go quite as smoothly as we would wish, the weather tomorrow has decided not to cooperate. It will be rainy in the morning, overcast and cool all day. Which is actually kind of great for amusement park weather. Except when the amusement park is mostly water rides. By cool, I mean mid-70s. I think it will be too cool to want to play in the water. Plus there could be scattered showers. My fervent hope is that the park will be very uncrowded, it will be overcast, but it won't rain, we will have fun on all the dry rides and won't have to stand in line, we will see the parade and a live show or two, and then we will leave the park in the late afternoon and then will get to see Megan and Sam and Seren and Wyeth for dinner, and then on Thursday, the sun will come out, we'll go back to the park for the wet rides, and we'll head home in the afternoon, exhausted but happy. Is that too much to ask?
Now the big question is, what the heck do I pack? I had been planning to go to the park in bathing suits, water shoes, and coverups. But that's not really going to do now. I guess I'll put the boys in shorts and t-shirts with a light jacket. And we'll just bring swim suits and towels just in case. And maybe on Thursday, we'll want to wear the swim suits to the park. I did get snacks and drinks and will make a picnic lunch for us to eat tomorrow. I've read so many reviews of the park, it makes my head spin. But almost all of them say the food is super expensive and not very good. So why waste the money? As for the plan to see Megan and Sam and family, I really really hope it works out. But not knowing how long we will want to stay at the park, and not knowing how the day will go and how grumpy the boys might be, we are playing it by ear. Megan and Sam have been gracious enough to plan for us to come, but to understand if we don't make it. (Thanks Megan!)
As for the rest of my life, the boys are doing well. Seth is still randomly using the potty, both at school and at home. It makes me wonder if I should try to put him in underwear this weekend and see what happens. Can't really hurt, right? I'm just not sure I have the energy for it. William has been super obnoxious lately--lots of potty mouth and saying "stupid." We'll see how he does on the trip. Last weekend was a bit crazy--two birthday parties, a baby naming ceremony for one of Ed's friends, an open house for a house that we all loved (but we are a bit gun-shy and do not want to move too quickly), me getting sicker each day, and no naps for anyone. On Saturday morning, I drove the boys to William's taekwondo class, only to realize that it was closed last week for summer vacation. Then we drove home and then to William's birthday party, only to realize that it started 30 minutes later than I thought. So no taekwondo for William, no Zoom Around the Room for Seth, and way too much car time for mom. On Sunday, William and Ed went to the baby naming ceremony and Seth and I stayed home (since I sounded horrible, by this point). But then we had to meet Ed and William at the lunch later so that we could switch cars and kids, and I took William to the birthday party and Ed took Seth home.
So that should bring you up to date. Hopefully I will return with tons of great pictures and stories about what an awesome trip we had. On Friday, I was hoping to take the kids to a local lake to give them a chance to dig in the sand and play on a "beach." Not the same as a real beach, but the next best thing, right? I guess we'll just play it by ear. In the meantime, send us good weather vibes and wish us lots of luck!
Friday, August 20, 2010
Phone Photo Friday
Seth has continued to use the potty off and on during the day. Sometimes he wants to wear underwear, sometimes he wants a diaper. He's happy to wear underwear over his diaper, which makes things much easier for us. (Sort-of, unless he constantly want to pull off his diaper to use the potty.) We're just following his lead and we'll see what happens. I shot this picture two nights ago when he wanted to see himself in underwear.
And because I don't want to leave William out, I thought I'd mention his love of blocks. He LOVES to build with blocks. If I could only keep one of our toys, it would be our set of blocks. Here are two of his recent creations:
Sometimes he builds a parking garage, sometimes it's an apartment building. The one above was a train station. My SIL gave this set of blocks to William as a gift. They were hand-made by a neighbor of hers, who doesn't make them anymore. I'd kill for another set!
And because I don't want to leave William out, I thought I'd mention his love of blocks. He LOVES to build with blocks. If I could only keep one of our toys, it would be our set of blocks. Here are two of his recent creations:
Sometimes he builds a parking garage, sometimes it's an apartment building. The one above was a train station. My SIL gave this set of blocks to William as a gift. They were hand-made by a neighbor of hers, who doesn't make them anymore. I'd kill for another set!
Wednesday, August 18, 2010
Thanks, I Needed That!
Ed had to work late tonight so I was solo for the evening routine. Normally this isn't a big deal, but I feel like crap and was NOT looking forward to the evening. The boys, however, were close to perfect. When we got home, Seth painted with dot paints while William alternated between playing in the playroom and the family room. I put dinner together between helping Seth put paint caps back on and helping William do whatever it was he was trying to do. They watched a Backyardigans episode and William did his nebulizer treatment while I finished up dinner, and then we sat down and ate together. After dinner we did bath and books without any drama. And both boys were in their beds asleep by 8:00 p.m. Such a relief!
Our other big news of the day was that Seth pooped and peed on the potty at school today! He told his teacher he needed to go, ran to the bathroom and pulled down his shorts and undid his diaper, and proceeded to use the potty. That's huge! When he got home, he used the potty again, and then wanted to put on underwear, so I let him. He peed on the potty several more times throughout the night. He's still very young, so I'm not deluded into thinking that he's close to being PT'd. But this is pretty big progress. I'm not convinced he can really tell when he needs to go, but maybe I'm wrong. In the meantime, I'll keep encouraging him and letting him wear underwear whenever he wants. The prospect of no more diapers makes me giddy! Of course, then there's the thoughts of accidents which brings me down to Earth again. I guess there's always a light at the end of the tunnel, though!
Our other big news of the day was that Seth pooped and peed on the potty at school today! He told his teacher he needed to go, ran to the bathroom and pulled down his shorts and undid his diaper, and proceeded to use the potty. That's huge! When he got home, he used the potty again, and then wanted to put on underwear, so I let him. He peed on the potty several more times throughout the night. He's still very young, so I'm not deluded into thinking that he's close to being PT'd. But this is pretty big progress. I'm not convinced he can really tell when he needs to go, but maybe I'm wrong. In the meantime, I'll keep encouraging him and letting him wear underwear whenever he wants. The prospect of no more diapers makes me giddy! Of course, then there's the thoughts of accidents which brings me down to Earth again. I guess there's always a light at the end of the tunnel, though!
Tuesday, August 17, 2010
Home Again, Home Again . . .
William was still running a low fever yesterday so I stayed home with him today. Seth stayed home, too, since daycare is 20 miles from here. William was better today. Still coughing, but not the seal-bark cough, and no fever. So if he has a good night, he'll go back to school tomorrow. Today he said he misses school. I miss it, too. Especially considering William's favorite words of late are stupid, poop, pee-pee, and penis. Lovely!
We didn't do very much today. We went to the library and then made a quick grocery stop for milk, OJ, apple juice, and diapers. We made oatmeal flax cookies that didn't turn out very well (imo). The boys seemed to like them, so we'll see if they get eaten. I figure they'll be good for breakfast. Other than that, the boys watched TV and played. It was too hot to play outside. But we did manage to take a family walk to the water fountain after dinner.
Seth is starting to really get engaged in imaginative play with William. Today they were running around the house pretending they were on a space shuttle. Then they built a space pod with the couch cushions. When we made cookies, one was licking the beater and one was licking the spoon and they started sticking the cookie dough on each other's faces and hair, and they giggled hysterically.It's gratifying to see them playing together. That's not to say they get along particularly well, though. I don't know if they fight any more or less than average siblings, but William gets physical with Seth very quickly when Seth doesn't listen to him. And Seth doesn't have much respect for William's space. So it's inevitable that I break up fights every day. William sometimes says that he's not going to be Seth's brother anymore. Or he'll tell me he doesn't want a brother anymore. But then I'll catch William giving Seth a hug and saying, "I love you in the whole wide world!" So I guess they're okay. I tell them often that brothers are friends and that brothers take care of each other. We'll see if that sticks.
I'm off to bed. I'm afraid I've caught the croup bug. So far I just have cold symptoms, so let's hope it stays that way. We have a big week next week with our Sesame Place trip coming up. I guess it's good to get all the sickies out of our systems now!
We didn't do very much today. We went to the library and then made a quick grocery stop for milk, OJ, apple juice, and diapers. We made oatmeal flax cookies that didn't turn out very well (imo). The boys seemed to like them, so we'll see if they get eaten. I figure they'll be good for breakfast. Other than that, the boys watched TV and played. It was too hot to play outside. But we did manage to take a family walk to the water fountain after dinner.
Seth is starting to really get engaged in imaginative play with William. Today they were running around the house pretending they were on a space shuttle. Then they built a space pod with the couch cushions. When we made cookies, one was licking the beater and one was licking the spoon and they started sticking the cookie dough on each other's faces and hair, and they giggled hysterically.It's gratifying to see them playing together. That's not to say they get along particularly well, though. I don't know if they fight any more or less than average siblings, but William gets physical with Seth very quickly when Seth doesn't listen to him. And Seth doesn't have much respect for William's space. So it's inevitable that I break up fights every day. William sometimes says that he's not going to be Seth's brother anymore. Or he'll tell me he doesn't want a brother anymore. But then I'll catch William giving Seth a hug and saying, "I love you in the whole wide world!" So I guess they're okay. I tell them often that brothers are friends and that brothers take care of each other. We'll see if that sticks.
I'm off to bed. I'm afraid I've caught the croup bug. So far I just have cold symptoms, so let's hope it stays that way. We have a big week next week with our Sesame Place trip coming up. I guess it's good to get all the sickies out of our systems now!
Monday, August 16, 2010
Menu Plan Monday -- August 16
I did a mini-run to the grocery store this past weekend instead of a big shop. But instead of going back to the store this week, I'm going to try to get through the week with what's on hand. We don't have much in the way of fresh fruit or veggies, but there's enough to get by.
Sunday: Frozen pizza and grapes
Monday: Steak, corn on the cob, broccoli, biscuits
Tuesday: Breakfast for dinner (french toast, waffles, bacon, eggs) with fruit
Wednesday: Lemon mustard chicken tenders, green beans, stuffing
Thursday: Meatballs subs (with turkey meatballs)
Friday: Shells and cheese, broccoli (I think I'll make boiled shrimp for Ed and me)
Saturday: TBD--hopefully seafood but maybe more chicken
Sunday: Frozen pizza and grapes
Monday: Steak, corn on the cob, broccoli, biscuits
Tuesday: Breakfast for dinner (french toast, waffles, bacon, eggs) with fruit
Wednesday: Lemon mustard chicken tenders, green beans, stuffing
Thursday: Meatballs subs (with turkey meatballs)
Friday: Shells and cheese, broccoli (I think I'll make boiled shrimp for Ed and me)
Saturday: TBD--hopefully seafood but maybe more chicken
Sunday, August 15, 2010
Another One Bites the Dust, and a Very Happy Anniversary
This time it's William. He now has croup (I'm assuming it's croup) and after reading Lindsay's blog, I'm really hoping it's not strep! I thought we were out of the woods because it's been two weeks since Seth was sick and William hadn't shown any symptoms. But on Thursday night, William didn't sleep very well and he felt warm. But he was okay on Friday morning--good mood and no fever. So he went to school. His teachers said he had a great day, but when we got home, I noticed he felt hot and sure enough, he had a temperature of 101.
He has been great though--you wouldn't know that he was sick. On Saturday, we had to skip the blueberry/raspberry picking with Ed's family (Ed's sister and their 3 boys are in town) which was soooo disappointing. Ed and Seth went, but we didn't tell William that they went picking because I know he would have been so upset. This morning, William started with the seal-bark coughing, and I was worried that we might need to take him to the ER for steroids. But after some ibruprofin, he seemed a lot better. He mostly laid low and watched TV all day. Ed went to his family's in the afternoon for crabs and burgers while I stayed home with both boys. We didn't tell William where Ed was, and decided to keep Seth home, too. It sucks that William didn't get to see his cousins. But what can you do. Ed will stay home with William tomorrow and take him to the doctor.
Although William was sick, Ed and I still went out for our anniversary dinner. We had a great evening and a really good meal and a really expensive, but totally worth it, bottle of wine. We didn't even finish the bottle and I was more than a bit tipsy. We corked the bottle and brought it home, so we'll be able to enjoy another glass sometime this week. I didn't even manage to write a special "happy anniversary" post to Ed, but the sentiment that I feel every year on our anniversary is still burning bright. He still makes me laugh, he still inspires me, I love the father that he is to our boys, and I love the partnership that we have become. Thanks for six amazing years, sweetie! I can't wait to see where the next six will take us. I love you!
He has been great though--you wouldn't know that he was sick. On Saturday, we had to skip the blueberry/raspberry picking with Ed's family (Ed's sister and their 3 boys are in town) which was soooo disappointing. Ed and Seth went, but we didn't tell William that they went picking because I know he would have been so upset. This morning, William started with the seal-bark coughing, and I was worried that we might need to take him to the ER for steroids. But after some ibruprofin, he seemed a lot better. He mostly laid low and watched TV all day. Ed went to his family's in the afternoon for crabs and burgers while I stayed home with both boys. We didn't tell William where Ed was, and decided to keep Seth home, too. It sucks that William didn't get to see his cousins. But what can you do. Ed will stay home with William tomorrow and take him to the doctor.
Although William was sick, Ed and I still went out for our anniversary dinner. We had a great evening and a really good meal and a really expensive, but totally worth it, bottle of wine. We didn't even finish the bottle and I was more than a bit tipsy. We corked the bottle and brought it home, so we'll be able to enjoy another glass sometime this week. I didn't even manage to write a special "happy anniversary" post to Ed, but the sentiment that I feel every year on our anniversary is still burning bright. He still makes me laugh, he still inspires me, I love the father that he is to our boys, and I love the partnership that we have become. Thanks for six amazing years, sweetie! I can't wait to see where the next six will take us. I love you!
Friday, August 13, 2010
Phone Photo Friday
William's class has a listening station where kids can listen to stories and follow along with the book. In the mornings, Seth loves to go upstairs to William's classroom first, before going to his own classroom. When he discovered the listening station, he made himself comfortable. I sometimes think Seth has no idea that he's actually younger than William.
Wednesday, August 11, 2010
Summer's Not Over Yet, and Small Victories
Although we all feel summer winding down, it's not over yet. Since I get to leave work early, we left work/daycare today and headed straight for the pool. I had gotten everything together this morning and put it in the car, including snacks for dinner. We had a great time. We spent a lot of time in the big pool, and Seth jumped from the side of the pool, holding onto my hands, and went completely under the water, over and over again. He loved it. William watched him, and asked him if he liked it. And he even told Seth he was proud of him. But William is still very scared of getting his head wet. On Sunday, he slipped and accidentally went under the water and it scared the crap out of him. He didn't freak out, and we talked about how it wasn't a big deal, and he was fine. But today, he was especially cautious in the big pool, afraid that he would slip again.
Anyway, I'm super excited that Seth will happily go under water. And I'm going to try to get to the pool as often as possible in the next few weeks. Slowly but surely, my kids will learn to love to swim.
In other news, yesterday was our monthly daycare board meeting, and I scored a little victory. We did our annual budget in June and one of the benefits we offer staff is a Metro subsidy (for those who take public transportation). Somehow, we missed increasing that subsidy in our 2010-2011 budget, despite the fact that Metro fares have increased over 20% in the last six months. One of the teachers said something to me about it and I felt really bad. So I asked the president and treasurer if we could make that addition to the budget, either supplementally or worked into the budget we already passed. The treasurer was not in favor of it, and I didn't get the feeling that the president was gung-ho about it either. But I presented my case at the board meeting and the rest of the board agreed with me. We increased the current subsidy by $10/month. It's the first time I've really led the fight on something--not that it was really a fight or anything. The treasurer was just worried about the budget impact, should more teachers decide to use the subsidy. But my argument was that the teachers that use Metro do so because they have to, and the increases hit them hard. I couldn't imagine living on the salaries that they live on, so I certainly think our Center can afford to come up with that extra money, especially when we've been running surpluses for the last 3 or 4 years. Anyway, I think it only really affects two teachers who spend more than the subsidy, but I think it shows the teachers that we care about them and that we're doing our best to be responsive to their needs.
Man--how is it already 10:00? Time for bed. This lap top makes it way to easy to stay up late and waste time!
Anyway, I'm super excited that Seth will happily go under water. And I'm going to try to get to the pool as often as possible in the next few weeks. Slowly but surely, my kids will learn to love to swim.
In other news, yesterday was our monthly daycare board meeting, and I scored a little victory. We did our annual budget in June and one of the benefits we offer staff is a Metro subsidy (for those who take public transportation). Somehow, we missed increasing that subsidy in our 2010-2011 budget, despite the fact that Metro fares have increased over 20% in the last six months. One of the teachers said something to me about it and I felt really bad. So I asked the president and treasurer if we could make that addition to the budget, either supplementally or worked into the budget we already passed. The treasurer was not in favor of it, and I didn't get the feeling that the president was gung-ho about it either. But I presented my case at the board meeting and the rest of the board agreed with me. We increased the current subsidy by $10/month. It's the first time I've really led the fight on something--not that it was really a fight or anything. The treasurer was just worried about the budget impact, should more teachers decide to use the subsidy. But my argument was that the teachers that use Metro do so because they have to, and the increases hit them hard. I couldn't imagine living on the salaries that they live on, so I certainly think our Center can afford to come up with that extra money, especially when we've been running surpluses for the last 3 or 4 years. Anyway, I think it only really affects two teachers who spend more than the subsidy, but I think it shows the teachers that we care about them and that we're doing our best to be responsive to their needs.
Man--how is it already 10:00? Time for bed. This lap top makes it way to easy to stay up late and waste time!
Tuesday, August 10, 2010
This and That
No organized thoughts here, just some things I want to write down.
- I'm still working on the exercise thing. Last week, I think I managed to walk twice, and William and I went out last night and tonight for a walk. Hoping to make it happen at least 2 or 3 more nights this week.
- The boys are sleeping pretty well. William no longer pitches a fit about not getting milk before bed. And amazingly enough, he'll drink water if he's thirsty without complaining. He hasn't leaked in two weeks, and although he's still not consistently dry in the mornings, I'm not too worried about that.
- On our last visit to the library, William checked out 9 books on space, including 3 or 4 specifically on Apollo 11's mission to the moon. I can now describe to you in great detail how we sent men to the moon. I think I'm going to reread The Right Stuff.
- Is it just me, or has everything gotten just a little bit more expensive over the last several weeks? I shop at Safeway, and they made a big deal about lowering all these prices several months ago, but now they're all inching back up. And I tried to get a bunch of books at Amazon, but I ended up getting them at Barnes & Noble online because they were cheaper.
- William loves camoflauge. He has two paris of camo shorts that he wears all the time. He has two shirts that include a camo pattern that he wears all the time. I think I'll be buying lots of camo for the fall.
- Seth loves scissors. I had gotten a pair of kids safety scissors for William, but Seth immediately claimed them as his and carried them around for 3 straight days. Now he keeps them in the same kitchen drawer where I keep the regular scissors, and he gets them out all the time. Luckily, they're safety scissors and hardly cut paper, much less anything else. But it's only a matter of time before he gets ahold of a real pair of scissors. (I did remove the real scissors from the drawer, btw.)
- Ed and I will celebrate our 6th anniversary on Saturday, and after exhausting our list of family and friends, I broke down and hired a babysitter. I got one of the teachers at our school, which is awesome. But they're sooooo expensive--$20/hour, with a 4-hour minimum. The babysitter will cost more than dinner. But it's only money, right? And time alone with the hubby to celebrate our marriage will be well worth it in the end.
- I feel like I have a lot more to say, but now my mind is blank. It's just as well. There's only so many boring things I can talk about. Plus, Ed and I need to finalize plans for Sesame Place. I'm getting excited for that trip and hoping that it feels like a vacation, even though it's going to be a short trip. (I might be even more excited that I'm taking the whole week off, and while the boys are in school on Monday and Tuesday, I'll be cashing in my Mother's Day gift--a spa day!) So I'm off to plan!
Monday, August 09, 2010
Menu Plan Monday -- August 9
Last week's menu plan was pretty flexible. We didn't end up eating the chicken on Wednesday. For some reason that I can't remember, we met Ed at Firehouse Subs instead. We had the hamburgers on Thursday instead of Saturday; on Saturday night we had halibut and broccoli. So the lemon oregano chicken got moved to Sunday, and we'll have the shrimp scampi on Tuesday.
Sunday: Lemon oregano chicken, green beans, dinner rolls
Monday: Tacos
Tuesday: Mahi mahi, corn on the cob, broccoli
Wednesday: Breakfast for Dinner (waffles, French toast, bacon, fruit)
Thursday: Shrimp scampi
Friday: Pork schnitzel, broccoli, biscuits
Saturday: Ed and I are going out for our anniversary; kids will probably eat mac-n-cheese or chicken nuggets
In other news, I'm the proud owner of a new laptop. I'm still breaking it in, but I'm pretty happy. In other, other news, Seth is better--just a bit of a residual cough. We had a good weekend--taekwondo, birthday party, grocery shopping, swimming, chores, and playing at home. I can't believe how quickly the summer is winding down. Seth is transitioning to the Two's room this week, so I'm pretty excited for him to move up and take on new challenges. William's friends from the 3's room are joining him in Pre-K now, too. We finally made it to recess (when Congress takes their August vacation), so things are much quieter. We get to leave work an hour earlier, too, which is awesome. That's about all for now.
Sunday: Lemon oregano chicken, green beans, dinner rolls
Monday: Tacos
Tuesday: Mahi mahi, corn on the cob, broccoli
Wednesday: Breakfast for Dinner (waffles, French toast, bacon, fruit)
Thursday: Shrimp scampi
Friday: Pork schnitzel, broccoli, biscuits
Saturday: Ed and I are going out for our anniversary; kids will probably eat mac-n-cheese or chicken nuggets
In other news, I'm the proud owner of a new laptop. I'm still breaking it in, but I'm pretty happy. In other, other news, Seth is better--just a bit of a residual cough. We had a good weekend--taekwondo, birthday party, grocery shopping, swimming, chores, and playing at home. I can't believe how quickly the summer is winding down. Seth is transitioning to the Two's room this week, so I'm pretty excited for him to move up and take on new challenges. William's friends from the 3's room are joining him in Pre-K now, too. We finally made it to recess (when Congress takes their August vacation), so things are much quieter. We get to leave work an hour earlier, too, which is awesome. That's about all for now.
Thursday, August 05, 2010
I Think I Fried My Motherboard
I tried adding new memory to my computer last night but I was a little too rash and didn't pay quite enough attention to the different types of memory and I put the wrong type of memory into my PC and I think I fried my motherboard. So I am computerless at home. Thank goodness for my iPhone. But I feel a little naked without a computer to jump onto whenever I need to. If I did, in fact, fry my motherboard, then I will have to get a new computer. (Ed thinks I did it on purpose because I've been wanting a laptop.) That doesn't exactly mesh with my financial plan for this summer/fall, but I think I can still pull it off. I can get a cheap laptop that has way more capacity and memory than my current PC, or I could get an even cheaper desktop. I'm leaning towards a laptop. Stay tuned!
In other news, my baby is also fried. Seth is home again today. He has a full-on ear infection and he started wheezing last night. So his upper respiratory infection turned into a lower respiratory infection. Poor guy. He was awake from about 2:30 a.m. until almost 5:00 a.m. I gave him ibuprofen because he felt hot. But the funny thing is, he wasn't fussy or cranky. He was chatty and happy, ready to play, and WIDE awake. He wanted to watch something, so we finally gave in when we nebulized him at 4:00 a.m. (once I became convinced he was wheezing). Hopefully the antibiotic and a few days of nebulizer treatments will fix him right up. Thank goodness he's a pleasant patient!
In other news, my baby is also fried. Seth is home again today. He has a full-on ear infection and he started wheezing last night. So his upper respiratory infection turned into a lower respiratory infection. Poor guy. He was awake from about 2:30 a.m. until almost 5:00 a.m. I gave him ibuprofen because he felt hot. But the funny thing is, he wasn't fussy or cranky. He was chatty and happy, ready to play, and WIDE awake. He wanted to watch something, so we finally gave in when we nebulized him at 4:00 a.m. (once I became convinced he was wheezing). Hopefully the antibiotic and a few days of nebulizer treatments will fix him right up. Thank goodness he's a pleasant patient!
Tuesday, August 03, 2010
Menu Plan Monday (on Tuesday, again) -- August 2
Last week, we went a little bit off the menu plan. We skipped the quesadillas on Tuesday and I made waffles and breakfast for dinner. On Wednesday, I went to Harris Teeter during lunch and got Mahi Mahi for dinner. It was good and both boys ate it. On Thursday, I made the stromboli but the boys didn't eat it. On Friday, I hadn't cut up the peppers and celery and onions for the dirty rice, so instead, I made French toast for William and a hot dog for Seth. And I made the dirty rice on Saturday night. The boys wouldn't touch it, though. Live and learn! So, on to this week's menu:
Monday: Spaghetti and turkey meatballs (Seth ate spaghetti and sauce and William ate plain spaghetti with butter and Parmesan cheese; neither one would eat the meatballs; they both ate grapes)
Tuesday: French dip sandwiches with fruit and salad (Seth will actually eat salad)
Wednesday: Lemon oregano chicken breasts, broccoli, dinner rolls
Thursday: Shrimp scampi, green beans, dinner rolls
Friday: Homemade pizza (using the pizza dough from this recipe)
Saturday: Hamburgers and hot dogs with fries and fruit
Monday: Spaghetti and turkey meatballs (Seth ate spaghetti and sauce and William ate plain spaghetti with butter and Parmesan cheese; neither one would eat the meatballs; they both ate grapes)
Tuesday: French dip sandwiches with fruit and salad (Seth will actually eat salad)
Wednesday: Lemon oregano chicken breasts, broccoli, dinner rolls
Thursday: Shrimp scampi, green beans, dinner rolls
Friday: Homemade pizza (using the pizza dough from this recipe)
Saturday: Hamburgers and hot dogs with fries and fruit
Monday, August 02, 2010
Visit to the ER
Seth and I got to spend 4 hours at the ER on Sunday. On Saturday his nose started running, and by the afternoon, he had started running a fever. Then overnight, he started the seal-barking cough. He has croup, and by Sunday afternoon, his breathing had started worrying me a lot. I had hoped we could wait until Monday morning and visit our pediatrician, but knowing how fast breathing can deteriorate, I took him in. They gave him an oral steroid and two epinephrine breathing treatments. The breathing treatments didn't seem to have a big impact, but once the steroid kicked in, we got to go home. He was really good at the hospital. He mostly watched videos and played games on my iPhone. By the last hour, he was clearly feeling better so he started walking around, getting to know the nurses and techs in the ER. He can be quite charming when he turns it on.
Here's a picture he took of me. I think he shows a lot of talent!
His fever broke in the wee hours of the morning, and he hardly coughed at all overnight. He was pretty hoarse today, but otherwise, he was in a good mood. He hardly napped, which is not like him, but if that's the worst of it, I can't complain. William was happy to have a stay-home day today, and we made the most of it. We went to the library and then to Barnes & Noble. After Seth didn't nap, we went to the soft playroom at the rec center where he takes his "Zoom Around the Room" class. The boys got to run around and jump and flip and go nuts for an hour. After that we played on the outside playground for a while, and then headed home. Seth was asleep by 7:15 and William was asleep by 8:00. Hopefully we will all get a good night's sleep. Lord knows I need one. Now if we can just get through the week without William getting sick, I will know that we dodged a bullet. Seeing as how his nose was running a little bit today, somehow, I think that's asking too much. Oh well--a girl can dream, right?
Here's a picture he took of me. I think he shows a lot of talent!
His fever broke in the wee hours of the morning, and he hardly coughed at all overnight. He was pretty hoarse today, but otherwise, he was in a good mood. He hardly napped, which is not like him, but if that's the worst of it, I can't complain. William was happy to have a stay-home day today, and we made the most of it. We went to the library and then to Barnes & Noble. After Seth didn't nap, we went to the soft playroom at the rec center where he takes his "Zoom Around the Room" class. The boys got to run around and jump and flip and go nuts for an hour. After that we played on the outside playground for a while, and then headed home. Seth was asleep by 7:15 and William was asleep by 8:00. Hopefully we will all get a good night's sleep. Lord knows I need one. Now if we can just get through the week without William getting sick, I will know that we dodged a bullet. Seeing as how his nose was running a little bit today, somehow, I think that's asking too much. Oh well--a girl can dream, right?
Friday, July 30, 2010
I Tried, and A Breakthrough
I finished NurtureShock, and one of the chapters that got me thinking the most was the one on kids playing. The authors spend a lot of time explaining a curriculum developed by two psychologists called Tools of the Mind that helps develop executive function in kids. There's a lot more to it than I'm able to explain here, but one of the tenets is planned play.
"The plan consists of children describing the roles and actions they will engage in during the first few minutes of play. This initial plan is used to help children act purposefully. Children modify and change their plans as they play with each other during center time."
So based on this idea and what I read from the Tools of the Mind Web site (I thought the Parents info was very helpful), I thought I would try to create a play plan for last night when we got home. I thought it would be great to play restaurant. We could make dinner and then make menus and then role play as waiters or customers and eat dinner.
Rule number one: Play plans should come from the kids, NOT the parents. LOL
In the car on the way home, I asked the boys, "Do you guys want to play restaurant when we get home?" They both enthusiastically answered, "Yeah!" So we talked about how we could make menus and be waiters and someone could be the chef. Then William said, "Can I watch Backyardigans when we get home?" I said, "What about restaurant? Don't you want to play restaurant?" He said, "Well, I don't think so. I just want to watch TV."
Hmph.
When we got home, I did not turn on the TV. But William still didn't want to play restaurant. Seth wanted to be the chef, though, so I got out the dough for the Stromboli. I asked William if he wanted to make the menus. He said no. Mind you, by now, the whole concept of the "play plan" has been completely dashed. William did take interest in the Stromboli for all of, oh, 2 seconds. Then he said he was too busy to play because he needed to work with his cranes and build a building.
Looks like I'm going to have work on this. Actually, William has NO problem playing, using his imagination and using objects in symbolic ways. At a very young age, he started taking various large utensils out of the kitchen drawers and using them as digger controls. He'd stick them between the couch cushions and say, "Look Mommy! These are my controls for my backhoe." Anything can become anything in his world. He's always inspired by what he sees on TV or reads in books. If he watches a show on space, he'll get up to find his rockets and space shuttle. If he sees a construction video, he goes to find his construction toys. Seth, on the other hand, doesn't really play like William plays. He is more literal and hands on. I think he would benefit from a little more guidance and prompting. He definitely uses his imagination, but he's just not inspired by toys as much as William is.
At any rate, as I've already said, the book has given me so much to think about. I'm going to go back and re-read some chapters. I'm going to pay a lot more attention to the books we read and the TV that we watch. I'm going to take a more active role in teaching the boys. I feel like I've missed some important opportunities to really work with the boys in their cognitive abilities. I've been somewhat lazy, relying on the awesome teachers and curriculum at daycare to take care of that stuff. I thought that a lot of intelligence is innate, and the boys will be who they are. But after reading the book, I think I've fallen through a bit in that part of my job as a parent. I'm not beating myself up, and I know that Ed and I do a lot of things right. We read to the boys every night and often in the morning and many times on the weekends. We talk to them, respond to them, ask a lot of questions, answer a LOT of questions, we provide appropriate toys and take them to lots of different places. But overall, I think there's more I could be doing to help develop their little brains. Fortunately, they're both still young, and it's not too late!
Switching gears here, I mentioned a breakthrough in my title. William still wears a pull-up to bed, which I really have no problem with. He very very rarely wakes up dry, and for some kids, it just takes a lot longer than others. So no big deal. For the last few weeks, however, William has been peeing so much in his pull-up that he's had leaks almost every night. And these are the overnight, heavy-duty pull-ups. I realized that the problem is that once he has the pull-up on, he feels free to unload in it, whether he's sleeping or not. So he'll use it before he falls asleep, instead of getting up to use the potty. And he uses it in the morning when he wakes up, instead of using the potty. So we've made some changes. We've stopped doing chocolate milk right before bed. He has it with his dinner and has to finish it by 7:30. After that, if he's thirsty, I'll give him water. But that's all. (And since he doesn't like water, he won't drink very much.) Next, I don't put him in the pull-up until right before bed. So he wears underwear while we're reading stories. And finally, in the morning, as soon as he wakes up, I take him in the bathroom and take his pull-up off and put him in underwear. He hasn't had any leaks for the past 4 nights. And last night, for the first time, he woke up around 2:00 a.m. and got up and used the potty. (Of course, he woke me up so I could "help" him, but I'll take it!) I don't really want him to wake up in the middle of the night every night to use the potty. So I'm assuming that he still can't hold it all night, and that the pull-up will remain for the near future. But if I can get him to get up and use the potty when he's AWAKE, I think that's progress.
So, that's our breakthrough. I'm glad it's Friday, and I'm definitely looking forward to the weekend! It seems like it's been a long week.
"The plan consists of children describing the roles and actions they will engage in during the first few minutes of play. This initial plan is used to help children act purposefully. Children modify and change their plans as they play with each other during center time."
So based on this idea and what I read from the Tools of the Mind Web site (I thought the Parents info was very helpful), I thought I would try to create a play plan for last night when we got home. I thought it would be great to play restaurant. We could make dinner and then make menus and then role play as waiters or customers and eat dinner.
Rule number one: Play plans should come from the kids, NOT the parents. LOL
In the car on the way home, I asked the boys, "Do you guys want to play restaurant when we get home?" They both enthusiastically answered, "Yeah!" So we talked about how we could make menus and be waiters and someone could be the chef. Then William said, "Can I watch Backyardigans when we get home?" I said, "What about restaurant? Don't you want to play restaurant?" He said, "Well, I don't think so. I just want to watch TV."
Hmph.
When we got home, I did not turn on the TV. But William still didn't want to play restaurant. Seth wanted to be the chef, though, so I got out the dough for the Stromboli. I asked William if he wanted to make the menus. He said no. Mind you, by now, the whole concept of the "play plan" has been completely dashed. William did take interest in the Stromboli for all of, oh, 2 seconds. Then he said he was too busy to play because he needed to work with his cranes and build a building.
Looks like I'm going to have work on this. Actually, William has NO problem playing, using his imagination and using objects in symbolic ways. At a very young age, he started taking various large utensils out of the kitchen drawers and using them as digger controls. He'd stick them between the couch cushions and say, "Look Mommy! These are my controls for my backhoe." Anything can become anything in his world. He's always inspired by what he sees on TV or reads in books. If he watches a show on space, he'll get up to find his rockets and space shuttle. If he sees a construction video, he goes to find his construction toys. Seth, on the other hand, doesn't really play like William plays. He is more literal and hands on. I think he would benefit from a little more guidance and prompting. He definitely uses his imagination, but he's just not inspired by toys as much as William is.
At any rate, as I've already said, the book has given me so much to think about. I'm going to go back and re-read some chapters. I'm going to pay a lot more attention to the books we read and the TV that we watch. I'm going to take a more active role in teaching the boys. I feel like I've missed some important opportunities to really work with the boys in their cognitive abilities. I've been somewhat lazy, relying on the awesome teachers and curriculum at daycare to take care of that stuff. I thought that a lot of intelligence is innate, and the boys will be who they are. But after reading the book, I think I've fallen through a bit in that part of my job as a parent. I'm not beating myself up, and I know that Ed and I do a lot of things right. We read to the boys every night and often in the morning and many times on the weekends. We talk to them, respond to them, ask a lot of questions, answer a LOT of questions, we provide appropriate toys and take them to lots of different places. But overall, I think there's more I could be doing to help develop their little brains. Fortunately, they're both still young, and it's not too late!
Switching gears here, I mentioned a breakthrough in my title. William still wears a pull-up to bed, which I really have no problem with. He very very rarely wakes up dry, and for some kids, it just takes a lot longer than others. So no big deal. For the last few weeks, however, William has been peeing so much in his pull-up that he's had leaks almost every night. And these are the overnight, heavy-duty pull-ups. I realized that the problem is that once he has the pull-up on, he feels free to unload in it, whether he's sleeping or not. So he'll use it before he falls asleep, instead of getting up to use the potty. And he uses it in the morning when he wakes up, instead of using the potty. So we've made some changes. We've stopped doing chocolate milk right before bed. He has it with his dinner and has to finish it by 7:30. After that, if he's thirsty, I'll give him water. But that's all. (And since he doesn't like water, he won't drink very much.) Next, I don't put him in the pull-up until right before bed. So he wears underwear while we're reading stories. And finally, in the morning, as soon as he wakes up, I take him in the bathroom and take his pull-up off and put him in underwear. He hasn't had any leaks for the past 4 nights. And last night, for the first time, he woke up around 2:00 a.m. and got up and used the potty. (Of course, he woke me up so I could "help" him, but I'll take it!) I don't really want him to wake up in the middle of the night every night to use the potty. So I'm assuming that he still can't hold it all night, and that the pull-up will remain for the near future. But if I can get him to get up and use the potty when he's AWAKE, I think that's progress.
So, that's our breakthrough. I'm glad it's Friday, and I'm definitely looking forward to the weekend! It seems like it's been a long week.
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