Monday Minute: Rawr!

We have a little dinosaur puzzle that we bought for Drew ages ago. And by ages ago I mean he looked like this when we bought it...

At the Yellow Daisy Festival, September 2010

We go to an outdoor craft fair every year called the Yellow Daisy festival. He was obviously too young for the puzzle at the time, and it kind of got buried until recently as I've been sorting through things for the new baby. It just so happens that it matches his new big boy bed sheets perfectly so I thought it would be nice decor for his room for now, assuming the puzzle was still too advanced for him. Until the other day when I looked down to find him putting the last 2 pieces of the puzzle together, and I was pretty sure it had been in pieces before that. So I asked him to try again and got the camera rolling.

The videos are long... you may have to have some patience to watch (which Drew and I both lack... as I say, and prove, in the video- he gets his patience from me).



We obviously weren't getting anywhere at the end, so we took a break and tried again a little later...



I was impressed that he knew to turn the pieces over. It's something we've practiced with other puzzles- the kind where you put the motorcycle in the hole that's shaped and painted like a motorcycle, but not a puzzle with abstract shapes like this. And he's obviously starting to memorize which pieces go together, but even that surprised me because he would have only learned that through his own trial and error.

Moral of the story: don't underestimate what your child can do!

P.S. I do have to admit that he truly gets that impatience/frustration from me... I've been known to chuck hairbrushes across a room when frustrated with tangly hair, or rattle entire clothes racks when a hanger gets stuck. Funny thing is that was really more a childhood thing and I don't think I've ever done it in front of him, yet he does exactly what I used to do. It's also funny that it irritates me to see him act just like me. :P

He's definitely 2 now...

I read a blog that joked that their first daughter did everything perfectly, and when, one day, we can genetically engineer children, people would check under her daughter's name for how they want their child to behave.

That's pretty much Drew. I've had very little to complain about (which actually makes me fear our second child). He slept through the night VERY early on. People told me not to "worry", that that was just the newborn phase, but that phase sure has lasted a long time. He nursed like a pro, and though I worried and created my own stress from time to time, overall it really went great. Going to school, potty training, transitioning to the new bed... everything has been so easy!

EXCEPT for the terrible twos. Oh. My. Goodness. Perhaps it's the fact that I'm home all day, every day right now. Most likely at least part of it is due to pregnancy hormones. But all I know is that some days I am literally counting down the minutes until Jason comes home from work. I was completely blindsided by the terrible twos. I mean, when you have a kid who's done everything perfectly you really aren't prepared for that moment when he throws the ultimate temper tantrum because he wants to go potty outside on the front porch. Then, when you finally convince him that if he REALLY wants to potty outside, we can take the potty to the backyard, he throws yet another tantrum because he decides he wants to be inside eating grapes (where did THAT come from??) Today, after much MUCH more than what is described here, I completely gave up, took my book, walked upstairs and shut my bedroom door.

I've read plenty of books and articles on how to deal with toddler tantrums, and I do my best (when my hormones don't get the better of me). I try to make sure he doesn't get hungry (mistake #1 today) or over-tired (mistake #2 today). I understand that a lot of it is an inability to communicate what he wants so I try my best to listen. I've also tried to make sure we have plenty of things to do to keep us entertained and distracted. But I also know sometimes it's just going to happen and the only thing I CAN do is walk away. And pray for patience.

I was talking to Stacey yesterday telling her I'd love to come help her out for a few days as her husband returns to work and she adjusts to being home alone with a newborn. She told me she would love the help, but she worried that I need both rest and family time, too. I had to laugh. I'm pretty positive that chasing a toddler all day is no more restful than taking care of a newborn (who I don't have to feed!) during the day (especially when I can still go home and get a full night's sleep). And I honestly think a little break from home might do me some good. Of course, don't get me wrong, I LOVE my pumpkin, even if he makes me want to curl in a ball and cry from time to time, and I'm loving spending my summer days with him, but I think some patience might be restored if I get even a short break from the constant yes/no battle.

I know this isn't a Monday Minute post... just needed a chance to vent a bit and sort out some thoughts. Thanks for listening! :)

Corn and noodles

One of my goals this year was to do a Pinterest project, specifically either to make something for the home, or to do one of the many projects with Drew that I had thought would be fun.  With long summer days and heat that makes you want to hide in a walk-in freezer all day, I'm finding myself getting bored, bored, BORED of the repetitive things Drew and I do to entertain ourselves indoors, so I was happy to turn to Pinterest for some pinspiration.

I found this blog, Play Creat Explore, with TONS of fun ideas if you don't mind getting a little messy. I stole/adapted the following activities from there...

Pretend cooking!

Egg noodle ribbons, popcorn kernels, macaroni noodles, white chocolate chips, and marshmallows- for a variety of textures, sizes, etc.

Balancing!

This is easier...

Good practice with utensils

Looks like a yummy dinner!

Pretending to take a bite

Drew decided we need the "bwoom"

Some funny/interesting things:
1. I decided to make this a "no no-no" activity, as in anything goes. Apparently that's kind of hard. When he started trying to flick things out of the way and they were flying beneath the fridge I couldn't help telling him to be more careful. Then he decided he needed to go into a cabinet that he's not allowed to go in, so of course I start to say "no!" then I hear him saying "bwoom"... he wanted the hand broom to sweep up some of the stuff. Cute!
2. I also tried to refrain from guidance, as in "why don't you use this to move those" or "wouldn't it be fun to separate the noodles in the ice cube tray!". That was also hard, but it was SO fun to let him guide the activity. He of course wanted me to play, so I just did whatever he told me to do. He handed me a spoon and said "hold it!" then moved my hand towards a bowl. I started to stir but he said "no! bounce!". He wanted me to bounce the spoon on top of the marshmallows.
3. It was actually quite a ways into the activity before Drew realized he was pretending to cook. He stated "cooking! Cooking dinner!" and got a big grin. Then he started making me "sample" his dishes. :)
4. This kept him occupied for more than an hour!!

Noodle artwork

First we played with our supplies

Then we painted some glue on our paper

Added some corn and noodles...

Then we painted it

The we painted ourselves, of course

This again was more than an hour's worth of entertainment. A little more clean up, but worth it! I love to see him explore and create.

Finished product

Wordless Wednesday: Eek!

25 weeks with Floodlet

24 weeks with Drew

Were you praying?

I think you were!

Funny: I set an alarm in my phone to call my boss today so I could get a little more direct information about what is going on. My alarm went off while I was driving home from a doctor's appointment so I hit snooze for an hour. About 20 minutes after returning home, however, my boss called me!

I still don't have solid information, but currently it looks like I will be staying where I am. Unfortunately many of my coworkers have been laid off, though, so please continue to pray for them and their families.

I have been asked to come in and do a little work in preparation for the changes that will be coming, which is also good news. We had counted on a little extra income from me doing part-time work over the summer, which was canceled.

Thank you for your prayers! The power of prayer is truly amazing. :)

Déjà vu

As this second pregnancy progresses I've noticed some eerie similarities to the first. I don't mean in my symptoms, either.

1. Jason was injured/ill
When pregnant with Drew, Jason had a wreck on his motorcycle. Thankfully it was nothing serious and required only an after-hours doctor visit to treat some road rash, but it was quite scary. This time around he had an emergency appendectomy.

2. Good friends lost a parent
As I sat at a memorial service I realized that the last time I went to one was when I was pregnant with Drew (and any I attended before that I was too young to remember).

3. My job went up in the air
In the last month of my first pregnancy I found out that the school I had taught at for several years, to which I was very attached, would no longer be able to keep me on as a Spanish teacher. I was devastated and proceeded to have to endure interviews only days before my due date.

Looks like I may be there again... I have no official word yet, but I've spoken with a few people and it looks like our registration center will be shutting down. I hesitated to even post this as I really don't have any official news, but I wanted to request prayers.

When I lost my position teaching elementary Spanish I was truly devastated, but I trusted that God had a plan for me. I accepted a position at a high school even though teaching high school was the last thing I had ever wanted to do again; I simply trusted that if that was where God wanted me, that He would get me through. A series of events ended up leading me, instead, to my current position where I've worked for a year and a half. I love it dearly. I have thanked God many times, knowing that He was behind every detail that landed me there. It has been a perfect fit for my skills, interests, and needs.

So all I can say is I know that trusting God's plan will put me on the right path, but it doesn't mean I want to be here again. I am requesting prayers specifically that:

a) Our center is able to remain open (and that many who currently will be losing their jobs will not have to lose them!)
b) If God has other plans, that I will feel His hand guiding me and trust in the outcome. (And that God helps to provide for my coworkers who will lose their jobs).

I should note that, like last time, I have a signed contract so *thankfully* either way I have a job. It's just hard to let go of something you love (or even to imagine letting it go).

P.S. Should I consider not getting pregnant again? ;)

Alyson's Arrival

Today I got to witness a beautiful miracle, the birth of my best friend's baby girl Alyson. It was absolutely amazing to be on the other side, watching the strength and determination of a Mommy-to-be. Stacey gave birth to Alyson with no epidural, no pain medication, nada... and afterwards smiled as she said that it really wasn't so bad (not fun, of course, though). She was one of those that "made birth look easy" (even though I knew from experience that it's not) and gave me encouragement that I can do this again myself.

Alyson Dawn Wintemute, 8 lb. 5 oz., 22 inches long, arrived at 10:34 am after only 4 hours at the hospital.

Birth is such an amazing thing. It's so delicate, yet so powerful. So precious, but so strong. So ugly, but so SO beautiful! I can't wait to do it all over again!

Wordless Wednesday: Fun in a box

Monday Minute: Fun with letters

One of our favorite bath time games is to play "find the letter". We have these foam letters that stick to the wall and Drew loves to find the letter I call out and either put it in his bucket or stick it to the wall. Sometimes we play the other way around and he calls out a letter and I have to toss it into the water.

The first night we really started playing I thought I would just have fun and see how many letters he knew. I knew that he knew a few- A, W (for Wisconsin), D (for Drew)... but I didn't realize he knew so many! There were very few that stumped him, and when they did a hint like "find the green T" seemed to be enough, even if there were other green letters floating nearby.



I was even surprised one day when I was wearing a sweater from my sister that says "UCSF" (for University of California, San Francisco). Drew pointed and said "U!" then C, then F. He skipped the S and even still that's one letter he has a hard time with. Either way, I'm impressed he can both recognize AND name letters (in various settings, too).

Obviously games like our bath tub game help him learn and practice the letters, but I don't really know where he picked them all up in the first place. It's not like we sit down and study the alphabet... we don't even have any alphabet puzzles and most of our alphabet magnets are missing! In fact, I often think I ought to be better about spending time "teaching" him things. It's shocking what kids pick up just by listening and observing...I'm wondering how long it will be before we have to give up spelling out loud as a form of "secret" communication...

Nesting

As of the time I am writing this, Stacey is only 40 minutes away from her due date! As such her nesting instincts are kicking in and she decided she wanted to have some pre-prepped frozen meals ready before her little girl's arrival. I offered to help... I'm pretty bored these days and always looking for something to keep me and Drew occupied (Stacey has turtles in a tank that Drew LOVES, and Dan has mini guitars), and I love Stacey and am always happy to help where needed.

Little did I know.... what I expected to be a one day project of preparing maybe 5-10 meals ended up being a 2 day project (2 1/2 for Stacey) that produced approximately 35 meals (20 recipes altogether, but most of them divided into 2 meals).

We had... fun? I always love my girl time with Stacey... but put two preggos in a kitchen with multiple stove top burners and an oven going (and don't forget the Georgia summer heat with temps over 100), and keep them on their feet for several hours at a time... and... well... it's a shock baby Alyson hasn't arrived yet!

Drew snuggling Mommy while she works
(We did find excuses to sit when possible!)

Big hug... needs to be a lot bigger to fit around the belly!

She LOVES shelling and butterflying shrimp! ;)

Getting there...

THIS is the fun part (the part I got to leave behind!) :)

The funny thing is I actually enjoyed it and I'm already searching out my own recipes. I'm definitely stealing a few from Stacey, but overall our husbands have fairly different tastes so I'm on the lookout for some tasty freezer recipes. 

Does anyone else have experience with freezing meals or have any recipe suggestions?

Drew's 2nd Birthday in Pictures