Our Family...by Easton

I did not know he drew stick figures yet. I've been waiting for him to move from just heads to some bodies...and he has, finally (I realize he is "behind" many of your artistes):

He says that big circley blob at the top is a tree.

While leafing through that same coloring book I also found this one:

He explains that the one with the red head is Jesus and the horizontal figure at the bottom is who Jesus is working on and the others are "and this is the other Jesus and another Jesus". So, that part is a tad confusing to say the least but we just focused on being impressed with the figures and that he thought to draw a picture of Jesus healing someone. Awwwww.

In other news, a certain someone is very happy to have his cups and beloved milk back:


And yesterday I made bread. Jessica posted about a must-try recipe and I must say, I'm glad I tried it. I made it yesterday and it came out of the oven around 7 p.m. 24 hours later I polished off the last of it. It is goooooooood:

It's a very basic bread but the texture is superb for homemade bread. At least compared to recipes we've tried before. So for a plain white bread even Jason liked it okay, but he'd like something fancier for the trouble, I think.

Today we hung around the house in the morning. Jason and the boys played around on the Wii and such, I was busy on the computer. Around lunchtime we took off for our friend Little John's birthday party. Just like last year it was just his extended family (grandparents, aunts, and uncles) and us. But we really enjoy all of them and Easton and Dalton had a blast playing with all of John's stuff...old and new toys. Dalton had to skip his nap but it was all good. We stayed and hung out for about 3 hours or so and both boys crashed on the way home:


This evening we were all sooooo lazy. Well, Jason was productive working on building our new computer and it was the boys and I being lazy on the couch with a sleeve of crackers and the remote. :) Everyone but me had cereal for dinner. I had bread. The boys took a bath by the light of their glow stick party favors and then it was off to dreamland. I'm not too far behind them at this point!

Night!

Friday Check-In

Sorry I never did end up chatting at you guys yesterday. It was just one of those really busy days and somehow I don't have a lot to say about it at the same time. Nor pictures. Dalton and I took a few with my camera phone in the morning during our ABC breakfast and AussieROO but I haven't transferred those over yet so you're out of luck for now.

I spent most of the day out of the house, actually, and we finished with dinner at one of my least favorite places: Pappadeaux's. Blech. We brought stuff from home for the boys which worked until Easton shoved too much cheese in his mouth and puked onto the waiting bread plate I held out for him. Yuck. But Jason was happy. And that's why we went.

Next time, I get to pick as all I had was broccoli, salad, and bread. Boring.

Today has been a much more normal day. I started off with a shower as usual. I left the boys in front of Dora in my bed but came out to them training on the elliptical:




Little goobers. They were being so cute, though. I love when they play together and giggle. Brothers. *swoon*

We made our way downstairs before long and I made a fancy pancake and strawberry breakfast for the three of us. Whipped cream too! Mmmmmm. We then went out to run a couple of errands...the bank and Walgreens.

Dalton hasn't been drinking any milk. We've tried just about every vessel we can think of short of going back to the soft-spouted sippies and he's refusing. I even put milk in a clean drinkable yogurt container to trick him but he wasn't having any of it. So today is the 6th day...5 full days of no milk and part of today. I had to cave and buy him new soft-spouted cups. I cannot let another child of mine stop drinking milk. Especially if it's only over a friggin' cup. It's not like it's a bottle and he's "too old" for it or something. It's still a sippy cup. Sheesh. I'm somewhat afraid that he's lost his taste for milk by now, though. We'll see after nap, I guess. But the cups and free Hershey's chocolate bars was what our trip to Wags was about.

After our boring errands we headed out for some fun: playing at Max's house. We didn't stay too long because I needed to get D back up here for a nap but we had a nice little visit with Easton's oldest pal.

Now we're home, boys are in their rooms, my belly is fully of sandwich, and I think I might go read some more "Revolutionary Road". I love reading books that are movies. That's where much of my "To Read" list comes from: Hollywood. :)

And with that I'm off...

New Worker Wednesday

Let there be light. The electrician is the only one here today. He was here part of yesterday too...and part of the very first day of construction. Anyway, he's my favorite. The nicest guy we've had come through here yet. His name is Toby and my new theory is that you can't have a sweet name like that and be a dillhole. (Kelli, he reminds us of Jonathan!)

Except for this morning when Jason brought him upstairs a few times to discuss things he's been out of sight. I think he ate lunch in his little truck next to the house. I heard him leave 'round noonish and his truck turned on, idled for a bit, turned back off and he came in again. Poor guy sitting out there in the cold.

Anyway, we're having a nice day. It's Wednesday and you know what that means...

(He only sleeps downstairs when he first gets here and the whole rest of my house is still asleep. Then I move the Pack & Play up to my room.)

We had breakfast and some fun with Carson:




He is being a really crappy napper today, though. He's never been great but this is extra tough today. Ugh.

Not sure what the afternoon has in store for us after Carson leaves. Yesterday the boys and I went to play at a mall:




We should do something fun again today, I think.

That's all I've got...gotta go try to get Carson to sleep. *sigh*

Brrrrrrrr!

It's so cold here that our HD goes out. The cables or something contract and pull the dish ever so slightly out of whack which affects only the highly sensitive HD channels. And it has to be really cold for it to happen...we're talking single digits. Anyhoo, we noticed it as we settled in to watch The Bachelor last night (not even an HD show but on an HD channel). Bummer. We saw the last hour and fifteen minutes on the non-HD channel once we found out and we'll have to watch the first 45 online tonight. I hate when that happens. Jason is afraid it'll ruin the Superbowl.

So even though it was super cold yesterday, Easton could not resist the fresh snow and asked to go outside. I bundled him up and set him on the back porch only to discover that the dog that comes with basement dude was out there. And didn't want to share. I'd looked out the window but didn't see him, but alas, he was there. So then I stuck E in the front yard to play, freaking out the whole time. Basement dude nicely got his dog and put him in the truck (and drove off!) so I could relax a bit while my boy played in the back where he belongs:




At some point he took off his mitten, his hand froze, and he came in crying, done for the day.

We made cookies later:


I even offered one to basement dude even though he'd clogged our toilet earlier and still left the seat up. Eeeeeeeeeeeew! He declined our cookies and I was secretly glad. Even after plunging the potty he still did not wash his hands and I didn't want him anywhere near things going into my mouth. Blech!

This morning Easton had school. It was 4 whole degrees on the way there. Now it's up to a much more pleasant 20. But the kids didn't even get to go outside today. I don't blame the teachers, really but this was the one time I remembered to bring Easton's mittens so I was bummed that he couldn't use them. :)

He got a fundraiser thing in the mail today. Grandparents, I apologize in advance that they will send something to you. Please do not feel like you have to order or "sponsor". I don't even have a clue what he's selling. Just so you know...

While E was at school, D and I ran to the grocery store for a few things. Oh, and he's still not drinking any milk but you should see him guzzling water and those drinkable yogurts still. Gotta stay hydrated. He and I came home for breakfast and playing and he wanted to watch "Woody show" which is Toy Story. He loves Toy Story. It's pretty cute. Woody was E's favorite at first too. Now he's all about Buzz, of course, when it comes to the Toy Story characters.

We picked Easton up when his 3 hours were over and stopped by the library drop off and the Redbox...the kids don't have to get out of the car for either of those so it's a perfect chilly day thing to do. I think later we might have to go play at the mall or something. Easton's got some energy he needs to get out. That boy can go and go and go.

Refueling:

Those lovely peanut butter sandwich crackers I stupidly bought in the midst of the recall. It seems the Ritz Bits have stayed out of the outbreak.

And my Diddles filling up on crackers too:


Alrighty friends, gotta go coax Dalton into falling asleep for naptime. Sometime he gets so confused about what time of day it is. Goob!

Happy Year of the Ox!

It's the Chinese New Year today. Although, the nail salon where I get my brows waxed at told me it's not just a Chinese holiday. They (the Vietnamese) celebrate it too. And I realize it's not an American holiday, but I'm kinda surprised Google hasn't fancied up their page for today as they so often do.

Anyway...enough about that. I'm here. I'm feeling better and I think I can catch y'all up. Let's see what I can dig up here.

The basement dudes have been down to a singular dude the last few days. And on Friday he told me they'd likely be all finished with the framing by lunch time (a.k.a. naptime) on Monday. Well, he just got back from lunch, Dalton just went down for a nap and nope, not done. Oh well. Luckily Dalton has had zero trouble sleeping with the noise. I just hope they're done by the time Carson comes back on Wednesday.

We had a lazy weekend. Jason took the boys to the park in the freezing cold on their golf cart Saturday afternoon and then we went through two drive-throughs to gather dinner for the night. The boys both ate two chicken stars from Carl's Jr.! We love when Easton eats chicken. Dalton likes chicken just fine but he prefers if you call it "bok bok" (like the noise a chicken makes). He's more willing to take a bite if you say, "You want some bok bok?" rather than "chicken". Goober.

The four of us made it to church again Sunday morning. The boys were still hating the idea but we let them come in to do the music part of the service to start and then Jason took them both to class. I was glad he went because it made it a lot less stressful on me not to have their crying faces plastered into my memory. Jason said they actually did well though, that Dalton cried when he put him down but quickly stopped when he spotted a toy. Although he said he did start up again when he turned and notice Jason walking away. And Easton didn't cry at all! He whined and complained but didn't cry the whole time! We're getting there!!!

And now I have a random assortment of pictures. I don't even know where to start. It's been so long since I transferred any over to the computer that it took forever. We'll see what I can find...

So here's Easton eating graham crackers:


And Dalton showing off. When my mom comes over for dinner we put her in a folding chair so Diddles kept shouting, "Gramoo!" as he stood on the chair. Even though she wasn't here:




Diddlebug hanging out in the lazy susan:


This is what's been making all that racket...the framing:



Hopefully it's obvious where they will be putting the walls...the top picture is looking into the guest bedroom/music studio/office part of the space and the picture just above this paragraph is where there will be doors going into both the storage area/maintenance room and then the guest/music room.

Here is something I found when I picked E up on Thursday:

He didn't free hand that or anything...they do something with metal insets.

This is what we woke up to today and it was still coming down. And it was only 9 degrees:


We made it to Krispy Kreme and the post office all the same in the snowy, blowy weather. I'm so glad I have snow boots now.

We stopped by the Redbox on the way home for a Mario Brothers movie. Easton likes them from MarioKart so he was all over my movie choice. After it ended we did some PlayDoh:




So hard at work:


Easton asked me to build a snowman...so I did. Just not with the white stuff outside:


They were just so happy:




Till Dalton decided he wanted to play "Cookie Monner" instead but couldn't reach:


Kinda the wrong season for the Christmas tree but Easton said his snowman needed a friend:


After that it was lunch which they didn't eat and then on to their rooms where they are now.

Funny story from dinner last night...Jason has been wanting to get the kids (mostly Easton) to start eating what we eat. We started off parenting with that philosophy: that we weren't going to make separate meals for the children and that kids won't starve themselves...however our children will! When the nutritionist came out a few summers ago we definitely had to begin catering to Easton a little more and whaddya know...he finally put on weight! I asked E's doctor (with J's nudging) about going back to the old way and she said "you can try, but you have to give him a back-up choice (my choice) if he refuses. Your boys cannot afford to lose any weight." So last night I made the boys plates with our sweet and sour meatballs over rice. I gave them each a half meatball, a pineapple chunk, some rice, and some of the sweet sauce. Easton was all, "Why did you make me this!?!?" and when we urged him to try he cracked us up with a, "NEVER!!!" In the end he did try...and yakked on the meatball. So then I made them my back up choice of cheese and crackers and fruit with a side of Pop-Tart I'd promised him earlier in the day. These boys. Dalton tried every single thing without urging but didn't like any of it. And we threw out his last soft-spouted sippy on Saturday. So all day Sunday and all day today he's been begging for milk yet refusing it from any of the cups we're offering. He's had sooooooo many cups to choose from and he won't drink it at all.

After we got home from doughnuts he begged for some drinkable yogurt and downed two of them in probably 2 minutes flat. He's certainly thirsty and he'll drink water out of a glass but won't touch milk. I'm wondering how long it'll last. I'm afraid he'll lose his taste for milk before he's willing to try the cups. Ack!

Okay, now you're all caught up again. Till next time!

The 23rd and D's 23 Months

In ONE MONTH my BABY BOY will be TWO!!!!! And...

Who the heck knows when I'll squeeze out a regular blog again? It's actually quiet here right now...presumably the basement dudes are at lunch but I'm not feeling my best. A little cold it seems. My glands are all swollen up and my nose is a bit stuffy in between being a bit runny. And I don't feel much like eating or doing anything.

So the boys and I have not done anything today. Not at all. We had biscuits for breaky, played some "Wii Driving" a.k.a. MarioKart, read quite a few books, and now the boys are in their rooms.

I'm sure I have pictures or at least some movies to share but I cannot currently be bothered to upload them. Between this tiny cold and the salmonella scare (okay, it was just regular ol' diarrhea) that Easton and I had earlier this week it has not been the best health-wise around here. Sheesh.

TGIF and Jason (who still has a job even after Microsoft's layoffs) will be home with us.

Till next time.

Too Loud To Blog!

Sooooo noisy again. And Easton has been relatively awful since I picked him up from school. But school went well so that part was good at least. It's so hard having people here in my house. I feel like I can't discipline quite the same (almost like a public situation, ya know?) but on the plus side it keeps me from yelling. Not that yelling is really an issue but sheesh sometimes I just gotta raise my voice at that boy.

It's tough.

And Dalton can't sleep right now. Hopefully I can get him down but the same thing with poor Carson yesterday being unable to sleep with this racket.

I'm not even going to blog much today...I picked up a few new books at the library and I'm about to go hide upstairs where it's slightly less noisy and vibratey.

Bye!

More Challenging

So, I've got the three boys today. And I've got the basement dudes. And a dog in the backyard. And the dudes come up to use my bathroom. And they don't put the lid (or even the seat!) down (which we always do because of kids and cat and it's just more attractive and clean that way). And they don't wash their hands. So I follow behind them putting seats back down and disinfecting things they touch. Ick.

Today is slightly more challenging than days in the recent past. And we're mostly stuck at home because I don't have Carson's car seat.

When the guys came yesterday all they did was bring in their supplies. They weren't here long at all so I was able to get a little snooze while Easton watched a Buzz DVD next to me on the bed. That surely wouldn't happen today. No way would I nap with strange men here! I'm lucky even two of the three kids are asleep right now. It's not the quietest here. One of the guys just came up and said (loudly), "Whoa! Are they able to sleep with all this???" Apparently so. Thank goodness for us already having white noise going on in all the rooms for sleepers.

Anyhoo...back to this morning. The boys were very excited once again to hear Carson was here. They rushed down to see him in his Pack & Play and actually startled the poor fellow. But it is sooooo sweet to see them loving having him around. Dalton even gave me a hand with Carson's milk:


While Carson took a nap my boys and I worked on projects. I don't have pictures of the finished stuff yet but Dalton made a brontosaurs mask and Easton made a foam and popsicle stick aquarium:




Carson woke up and we planned to go to the park. Dalton took it upon himself to help Carson with his socks:


And then we were off. Carson in the front of the double stroller, Dalton in the back jump seat and Easton on his bike.

However Easton is not great on his bike, especially on a hill and it's slightly uphill most of the way to the park. So it was a little tough for us to all wind up there but we made it. My kids played for a bit...


...while Carson hung out in the stroller:


Then it was time to come home. Where it was going to be much easier for Easton because of the slight downhill part of our journey. Only he got going too fast and wiped out. He hurt his thumb and his knee and refused to try again so I had to put him in the back of the stroller with Dalton and push the bike while still pushing the stroller home. Somehow that was even easier than having to stop every two seconds on the way there to give Eastie "a boost".

When we got home every single kid was crying. Easton was crying over his injury and how he doesn't want his new bike anymore. Then over not wanting to wash his hands for lunch. Carson was getting hungry and tired. Dalton was mad I wouldn't let him stand on Carson. Even with 3 crying boys I was pretty amazed that I didn't feel overwhelmed, just embarassed about the guys in the basement having to wonder what the heck was going on up here. :) With some lunch everyone calmed down and Carson and Dalton went down for naps and Easton and I read before I left him for his quiet time. Now Carson is up at his 30 minute mark which I find so aggravating. My own kids did it, of course, but his parents approach it differently than I do/did which is part of the challenge. Rather than letting him become a more solid sleeper they're trying to wean off all kinds of things...stopping the pacifier, weaning off the swaddling. We swaddled Dalton till he was, like, 8 months hoping that he'd be a more solid sleeper. Oh well. We're all allowed to do it however we want with our own kids, right? And they're paying me.

But man it is so loud here right now. Pounding and banging and sawing and compressors and all kinds of ruckus. That is probably why Carson won't go back to sleep this time. Ugh. How many more weeks of this??? This is only the first real day!

There Are Dudes in My Basement

Kinda awkward sitting here and hearing men that I didn't let in my house be in my house. Supposedly I will hear them (obviously!) during construction but won't see them much. This should be fun. Right now they're just bringing in materials. The real work won't start until tomorrow.

Anyway...Happy Inauguration Day!


Dalton and I took Bubbs to school and then came home to watch:


I'm not sure I've ever actually sat and watched an inauguration before. And even though this guy wasn't my first choice, I can't help but feel most of the country's excitement and even got a bit teary eyed as I watched this morning with my Diddlebug by my side:


He is such a goober. He asked me to take a picture of him and made this face:


It's his "picture face" du jour:


Man, that kid made such a mess with his yogurt. There is a reason his father and I don't like to let him use spoons...yet, I guess he clearly needs the practice although mostly he's just a silly goose:


It runs in the family:


So yesterday was a beautiful day here. Especially in the morning but that is when we were out and doing stuff. After quiet time and nap we head out for the park and even though it was in the 60s it was so windy that we didn't stay more than 10 minutes or so:




Back in the car, away from the breeze and on our way to Target instead:




So yeah, that's that.

I stayed up too late last night chatting with Jason. Now I'm feeling like I want a nap but a.) there's all those dudes in the basement and b.) one of my kids doesn't nap. We'll see how it goes...