"One Mom's Trash..."

So last week we worked to set up the fall rummage sale to benefit our school's PTO. I have never seen so much stuff in my life! It was an interesting mix of "absolute crap" and "why would anyone want to get rid of this?" We snagged a great bunk bed set including the mattresseşand already have it set up for Zeke. Another year and Isaiah will be big enough for the bottom bunk as long as we put up the temporary side rail tht I also found at the rummage sale! The best find of the day was the bath seat. I started looking for one before Isaiah was born because I wish I had had one with Zeke to help with the slipperiness of babies. It was so funny when I saw it because I was so excited and the other mom's that were ther helping just laughed! What can I say? One mom's trash is another mom's treasure!

"Where, oh, where has my blogger gone?"

Wow, I can't believe it's been three weeks since I last updated! Isaiah is walking like a pro...who may have had just a little too much to drink, but a pro nonetheless! He is sticking to "momomomom", "dadadad", "whoa" and "uh-oh" for his vocabulary with the occasional growl thrown in for good measure. He really is just such a fun baby with lots of personality already.

Then there is Zeke, also jam packed with personality but comes fully equipped with a motor in the form of a mouth that only stops when he is sleeping! He has had some pretty interesting things to talk about. He has finally noticed that the tree out back is basically dead and asked me just exactly who tore all the barf---no that was not a typo---off the tree(because Adam told him once upon a time that if you tear off the bark it kills the tree). Last Sunday night he came down after being tucked in to tell me that he had taken his temperature and that he was pretty hot, his temperature was 5. "That's pretty hot, right mom?" "No, Zeke, it's not." "Actually mom, I meant 15!" "Okay, Zeke, but you still need to go to sleep. Goodnight."

I think I will close for now. Zeke is heading to bed in his new bunk bed. More to come about that later!

"ROAR"

Isaiah has started growling at me, and it is just too funny for words. He kind of sounds like a Gremlin and a Muppet all rolled into one! He is all over God's creation and I can't hardly keep up with him. Today he has gone through 3 outfits because of dribbling and spilling. Oh well, I do love to do laundry! Just kidding.

Step, step, step, "Uh-oh!"

So the last couple weeks have been busy for me with co-chairing the silent auction for our school's PTO Family Fun Festival. Lots has happened in the world of Isaiah but I haven't had time to blog about it.

He is taking his first steps, but crawling is faster. He no longer takes a bottle at all or a sippy cup to lay down with. He loves chocolate (the one part of me he inherited) and still sleeps 10-12 hours a night! He has also been saying some words like "uh-oh" and "whoa". If you hold your hand up and say "high five" he will lean his head into your palm, like he needs a blessing! His "mama" and"dadad" are more on purpose and he hates to be confined. He can go up the steps almost faster than me and is very intrigued with our kitchen cabinets. He really hates to have his hand smacked for touching things he shouldn't and really just is broken hearted when it happens.

Things are shaping up for the auction. I am ready for it to be over so I can focus on something else. The great thing about volunteering early in the year is come next week, I am DONE!

That's all for now folks. More to come!

Happy 1st Birthday!

Friday was Isaiah's 1st Birthday. At his well-child check he weighed 27lb 10oz and was 30 inches long. Once again the 95th percentile for weight and less than 75th percentile for height...that's my short fat baby!

Dr. said he looked good and he showed off by walking around everything, standing still without holding on and shaking his head while saying "nuh-nuh-nuh!" We popped over to check in with Dr. Menendez since she delivered him. He has come a long way since 6lb 3oz!

We hung out at my friend April's for a while that day and he fell asleep on my lap, so I just let him sleep there for over an hour. Time is running out for me to be able to do that!

We had his party on Sunday and lots of people came, including one of his god-mothers. Julia and her daughter Lauren drove up from Columbia and spent the day. We had a really nice time and as soon as I figure out posting pics I will do so!

"Paging Dr. Matthews to ER, stat!"

So the week started off pretty mild. Zeke had a good day Monday with no major incidents. Tuesday I asked him how his day went and he said, "Well, kind of good and kind of bad." I said, "Tell me about the good part first." His response? "I didn't get in trouble for the rest of the day!" Me..."Okay, so tell me about the not so good part." "Well, on the way back from Computers, I was playing with (little girls) hair, and she didn't want me to, so she turned around and punched me!" I told him that if he kept his hands to himself she wouldn't need to punch him!

Wednesday I dropped Isaiah off at Margaret's for a few hrs so I could work on Silent Auction stuff at the school after I dropped Zeke off. In the rush to get Zeke in with book bag and lunch box as well as all the stuff I needed, I left my phone in the front seat of the van. I was working on emails when the school phone rang, but the secretary was already on one line, so I answered. It was Margaret and I could hear Isaiah screaming in the background. She said that he had had an accident and his finger got smashed in a cabinet and the tip was just barely hanging on. I rushed over there, and she wasn't kidding. His right index finger tip had been nearly severed from the cuticle and ripped back like the top of a pop can, and was literally hanging by a centimeter of skin. And of course there was blood everywhere and I felt so bad for Margaret. I just gave her a hug before we left and told her I would call and update her. I had already called Adam to meet me at the ER and Isaiah and I headed that way. I held him on my lap because I was afraid to put him in the back by himself and have him tear the tip the rest of the way off. I also called the ER and let them know we were on our way so we could just walk in, which we did. I was so glad to see "Grandma Jackie" there. She was a very good friend of my mom's, is a good friend of mine and an awesome nurse! Dr. Matthews came in right away and we got Isaiah situated in the papoose (which I think was more traumatic than the procedure itself) and Dr. started sewing. He lost his nail completely and has two dissolving stitches in the nail bed and 5 regular stitches around the outside of his little finger. They ordered x-rays to rule out bone involvement and they looked good as far as that was concerned. He came home, ate lunch, took his medicine and went to sleep for 2 1/2 hours. Poor baby!

This morning went pretty well, he slept good and we got him to Margeret's and she was happy to see him. Her husband fixed the cabinet so the doors can't be opened at all so hopefully something like this won't happen again. Just an accident between two boys under the age of 18 months. I totally see how it happened. Isaiah was standing there and got his little finger worked in on the hinge side and the other little boy shut the door and it latched. It stinks, but it happens. In fact, Dr. Matthews said "Children tolerate this type of injury pretty well." Hmmm, I guess Isaiah wasn't his first case like this!

Isaiah turns 1 tomorrow. I bought him a little onesie that says "Birthday Boy" and I can't wait to put it on him in the morning. We are spending the day together starting with a trip to Dr. Golightly for a follow-up from his ER visit as well as his well-child check! Then we are going to visit Grandma Jackie and show her new Mary Kay stuff.

More later!

"Everything I Need to Know I Learned in Kindergarten"

So Zeke started Kindergarten on Tuesday at my elementary alma mater, St. Gregory's, in Maryville. I have already posted on his first day adventures and how I couldn't do anything right for a couple days. Today I am going to share some things that Zeke has learned so far:

1. If you lay down on th carpet during circle time you don't get to play on the computer during free play.
2. You have to participate in every single class no matter what, (when it was time to go downstairs for computers he told Mrs. W that he didn't want to go because he's "just not really into that!").
3. It is not polite to sit on a classmates' head...even if said classmate was acting like a puppy and burrows up under you. If this happens you have to sit out part of recess!
4. If #3 does occur (or anything else that warrants lost recess time) Mrs. W will wait with you at walker/rider time so she can talk to your mom directly.
5. When your dad tells you to have a great day and reminds you to act right at school or you will get a spanking when he gets home, believe him, he's not lying! Also that waiting for dad to get home for the spanking is worse than the actual spanking itself!
6. Finally, when at mass sometimes Fr. Martin asks the children questions during his homily. When he asks the question "During this school year, what kind of treasure are you hunting for, what do you hunger for?" The answer is "knowledge or wisdom" and definitely NOT "I think hunting for squirrel is a pretty good treasure!" Yep, that was Zeke's response in front of 60 other children, 10 faculty and several older parishoners!

All in all it has been a pretty Zeke focused week. Isaiah is doing wonderfully. He is on breathing treatments due to allergies and kind of has snot everywhere, I think he might be working on some teeth as well. He is getting really good and walking around things and has been letting go to stand alone as well. Just a few more weeks and I bet he will be off and running!

"Stop Following Me!"

Zeke got right up and around this morning with no trouble for his first day of Kindergarten. He wore new shoes, new socks and new underwear! I did remember to take a picture of him all put together with his backpack on before we left the house. It will be fun to compare those pictures as we go through his life. He seems so big now compared to two years ago when he started preschool but I know he will look so small compared to how he will look when he starts 8th grade!

So he begrudgingly allowed us to walk him into school today but apparently I wasn't clear that I would be walking him to his actual classroom. This explains why he turned abruptly at the stairs and said, "Stop following me!" And again I wasn't clear when I said, "Zeke, I am walking you to your room!" which is why he looked at us again when we got to the door of his room and said, "Okay mom, have a great day!" And finally it was my fault again when I said, "No, Zeke, all the way into your room to make sure you have everything you need" and he said to me "Okay mom, but tomorrow I'm doin' all this by myself, right?" So obviously the problem was with my communication abilities, not his, right?

He had a great day, ate all his lunch and even went back for seconds. Then he repremanded me for not sending his lunch with him today. Apparently I have hit the "I can't do anything right stage" with him. Last week it was my choice of jewelry (for myself), over the weekend it was my driving, and today it was school. Sheesh, when will I get my poop in a group for him?

Tomorrow I head to see my business mentor and future National Sales Director Kay Dickerson in North Central Missouri. I am thrilled to be in this business with her and can't wait to have the opportunity to strategize with her tomorrow.

I think that's about it for today, I am sure there will be more Zeke-isms to come with the adventure of school.

Summertime Blues

So here it is the last Sunday of summer before school starts. Here are some thoughts about this time:
1. My oldest child starts Kindergarten in two days. He is super excited and since he has gone to preschool I don't think it will be too hard on me. However, he did tell me the other day "You know mom, you can just drop me at the door on the first day of school. You don't need to walk me in." Silly boy, he isn't taking that away from me!
2. My baby boy will turn 1 in less than two weeks and I have no idea what I am doing for his birthday. I think it is on the 31st, I am sure there will be cake, and I hope our family will be able to make it!
3. My brother-in-law Tim is leaving in September for a tour of duty in Iraq. He is stationed at Ft. Hood in Killeen, TX and is married to a great gal named Erin and they have two beautiful girls, Jadelin who will be 8 in October and Maddie will be 6 the last week of August.
4. It feels like the summer both crawled and flew by. I am the type of gal who hates a schedule but desperately needs one in order to accomplish anything productive. I guess I am looking forward to the schedule of school, not really mine but I will take what little help I can get!
5.I am the product of a full time stay at home mom. My mom was the neighborhood mom, homemade snacks after school, laundry always done, home cooked meals almost every night unless it was a really special occasion. I am not a stay at home mom, I am a work from home mom, there is a huge difference. We eat out a lot or go frozen, our laundry is very rarely completely done (though I have often said that unless you do laundry naked, laundry is never really done!), my dishes pile up daily, and I won't even go into what the rest of my house looks like....although currently the bathroom is pretty much spotless. Isaiah is independently mobile which for all those non-parents out there, that means he can no longer be left in a room without supervision. Zeke is 5 which means that he considers me his main avenue of entertainment so between the two this summer was filled with more stay at home than work from home, yet somehow we managed to still be behind on cooking and cleaning!
6.It's time for me to finish up as I doubt very many people are going to see this post anyway. If you are reading this, thank you. Stay posted, there will be more to come.

Welcome to my life!

This is my inagural blog. Just one of those things that I thought would be kind of fun to do. As the wife of one, mother of two and sister of three I feel like I have plenty to say and surely there are people out there who want to hear it. If not, just nod your head and humor me! I don't want to blog too much the first time just in case I screw something up and have to redo it all, wouldn't that stink! Until next time, whenever that might be!