Wordless Wednesday: Adorable duckling

Monday Minute: Skillz

My boyz have skillz!

I never did post videos of James rolling. (Excuse Drew's noisy toys in the background- that would be thanks to the B.A.s, aka Bad Awnt Laura and Great Bad Awnt Sue!)





And now Drew's learning to ride a tricycle! Yes, it's pink and purple... our friends let us borrow it for a while because Drew really seemed to enjoy it and their daughter isn't quite big enough to use it yet. I think we may just have to get him one of his own!




(Notice that he knows it's not his bike- at the end he says he has to put Avery's bicycle away :)

Wordless Wednesday: 4 months!

Help me pick a fave from each set!

Plotting

Favorite hobby: lip-sucking

Just taking a break to get smiles going again

  

Choice 1

Choice 2

Choice 3

Those darn feet!

Dragon choice 1

Dragon choice 2

Dragon choice 3

Shoo fly

You don't have to know me very well to know that I'm scared of bugs. Not just girly-girl, ew I don't like them, but verging on a full-fledged phobia. It's irrational and uncontrollable.

Here are just two examples to highlight my point:

When Stacey and I stayed in Costa Rica we lived with a small family- a grandmother (between 65 and 70) and three of her granddaughters. Well, I woke up the entire family one night after waking up with a cockroach on my arm. Yes, a cockroach. On my ARM! The grandmother came in to my hysterical, sobbing shouts of "la cucaracha!" (Did you know that wasn't just a song?) There I was, nearly 20 years-old, standing on a bed and crying because of a bug.

Then this past year there was an incident at work. I was walking in early one morning, saying a friendly hello to a fellow teacher. My department is more-or-less separate from the school so I really only knew the teachers in passing. The gentleman and I parted ways as I walked into my office, turned on the light, and shrieked as a cockroach/large beetle flew across my path. I tried to duck past it then screamed bloody murder as it took flight again. My friendly colleague came running into my office asking if everything was all right. I had to embarrassingly explain that no, I was not being murdered, it was, in fact, only a bug. Relieved the man went to return to his classroom but I sheepishly had to ask him if he could please help me kill it.

These are just two examples. Almost everyone I know has a "remember when" story involving me and bugs (I guess normal people don't shriek and flail when they see something small and black moving?) and I have many MANY more tales I could share myself, most involving frantic flailing and tears.

I have tried, and failed, to keep this fear hidden from Drew, but as I said before, it's irrational and uncontrollable; a fly buzzes past my ear and I shriek and duck before I realize what I'm doing. I'm not even scared of flies, but my brain hears a buzz and apparently thinks my body is under attack. So it's no wonder Drew has developed his own fear of bugs; when you see someone you trust and depend on freaking out, I'm guessing you'd assume there's a pretty good reason to freak out. Problem is I'm afraid he's going to be even worse than me.

The other night at dinner I saw something tiny bobbing beneath our light fixture. "Is that a bug?" I (calmly!) asked Jason, not sure if it was a fruit fly or just a speck of floating dust (we've been ordering weekly boxes of fresh produce so it wouldn't have been a surprise if a fruit fly made it's way in with the harvest). "That?" Jason asked as he swatted at it. "Yes, it's a fruit fly." Cue wailing screams. We both turn, surprised, to find Drew, tears in eyes, on his way into full meltdown mode. "Shoot it!" he shouted."Shoot it! Shoot it!" he wailed. (No, he didn't actually mean shoot it. We taught him last summer, when he freaked out over flies, to just wave his arms and say, "shoo fly!"). We both looked at him in shock. I mean, I am the queen of flipping out over bugs, but here was Drew, outdoing me, over a fruit fly! Jason clapped his hands in the air, "there, I got it!" but Drew continued wailing, almost hyperventilating, "no, use that!" as he gestured towards our forgotten flyswatter. I got the flyswatter, waved it in the air a few times and proclaimed that the bug was gone and we were safe. "Where is it on that??" Drew worriedly asked until I pretended to dump the fruit fly off the flyswatter into the trash. For the rest of the meal Drew would talk and play then suddenly his face would go stone-cold as he would whip his head around to stare under the light fixture and ensure that there were no more flies.

As if that wasn't enough, Drew woke up screaming and crying that night. When I went into his room he was wailing, half asleep, "I don't like the bugs outside!". I had to wake him and reassure him that there were no bugs.

Okay guys... What do I do? I know from personal experience this is not something that can be rationalized away. I don't care how many times you tell me they're small and won't hurt me, it doesn't change the fact that I'm deathly afraid. Logically I know (most) won't harm me, and, of course, I'm much MUCH larger and smarter than them, and even some bugs are good, but I can't control my reactions (did I tell you about the time I nearly threw Drew when he was a baby because of an earwig on my arm?) so how is he supposed to control his? I don't want him to share my fear! I want to teach him bugs are okay; there's just no possible way for me to be near a bug (besides a fruit fly) and act normal.

I'm thinking of buying some fun books about bugs. Any other suggestions?

Have a healthy Valentine's Day!

I used to work very closely with the PE and music teachers when I was an elementary Spanish teacher. I actually learned a lot from these ladies, both in teaching, and in life in general (they were a big factor in me finding my way back to God; I've mentioned them before). One of the small things that has stuck with me from working with the PE teacher, though, is the childhood obesity issue. She, of course, taught exercise and eating healthy, but she also helped to make me aware of the fact that it isn't just what kids eat at home, or even at school, but how we treat food in our everyday lives. We celebrate nearly everything with candy and junk food- good behavior, good grades, birthdays, and holidays like Halloween, Christmas, Valentine's Day, and Easter. Many of the holidays, Halloween and Valentine's Day, for example, seem to only be celebrated for the candy. Teachers can be the worst, using promises of candy and pizza to get kids to cooperate. I stopped using candies and food as rewards in my class and started using stickers (you would not believe what a kid will do for a sticker!). I also stopped passing out candy at Halloween; we have passed out silly bands (remember when those were popular?) and Play-Doh (I actually had teenagers come BACK to my house to ask for more... who knew??).

So, when we got notes from Drew's teacher that they were having a Valentine's party and to please send  cards and/or goody bags, I knew I would NOT be sending candy. Healthier options, like pretzels, are great, but I still feel like kids can learn that "treats" don't have to be food at all! Thanks to Pinterest I had plenty of inspiration for finding a non-candy treat. This was our inspiration:

Peeling and cutting up crayons for someone who is slightly OCD (especially about things like pretty colors and school supplies) is like running nails on a chalkboard for any normal person, BUT these turned out so cute! I added my own touches to these Valentine's cards; I thought if we were giving out crayons, the kids needed something to color! So I printed out little pictures of dinosaurs and Hello Kitty on drawing pad paper (the kind that has a coloring book texture), cut them up, and stuck them to colored paper (I used a paper slicer with fancy blades to cut a wavy texture on the sides, and a corner rounder for the corners of the white paper). I stuck the cooled crayons on with rolled up glue dots (I had to roll them up to get enough "lift" because my crayons were a bit concave on the back). And voila (NOT viola), cute Valentine's cards that include a treat that is NOT candy!

I bought the ice cube tray/baking mold on Amazon for $4

They say, "Color your heart out, Valentine!"

On top of that, we were told the kids would be decorating cookies during snack time and asked to please send juice boxes and candy hearts for the party. I figured they would have MORE than enough candy and refined sugars, so I bought a watermelon, sliced it thin, and used a heart-shaped cookie cutter to make somewhat healthier treats for the class (to accompany the rest of the sugar).

This was actually my own idea, though I'm sure it's on Pinterest as well

And don't worry, I didn't waste the "scraps". Those are for us! Yum!

I am not the kind of mom who refuses to take my kids to McDonald's, but I try to make healthier choices as often as possible. Thanks, Jana, for teaching me to be aware of not only the meals I provide, but how I treat food in my house as well! I'm certainly not perfect, but I try!

If you're looking for more Valentine's day ideas, here are some others that I pinned on Pinterest:

If you don't feel like making something

Bouncy balls!

Aren't these adorable??

Without the lollipops, of course

Have a wonderful and healthy Valentine's day!

Trapped

I'm feeling a little trapped lately... James has reached the distractible-eater phase where he will NOT eat if disturbed in any way; any tiny amount of sound or movement causes him to pop off suddenly (ouch!). And he doesn't just pop off to observe what's going on then go back to eating, he pops off and gets MAD then refuses to eat again; he acts like the breast is offensive to him, screaming at it until I take it away (then he smiles). This makes feeding him anywhere other than his quiet room a problem. So basically, not only does James not let me get of the house without him (since he won't take bottles*), but now he won't let me get out of the house with him! I guess a second child has to do what he can to get mom's undivided attention...

Thankfully, I know this is only a phase. It's a pain that not only can I not get out of the house and I am often confined within my own house, but truthfully the biggest problem is what to do with Drew! The suggestions I've read for dealing with this phase include feeding the baby in a quiet, dark room, and trying side-lying nursing in bed. Great suggestions.... when he's your only child! But I have a toddler that is usually right at my side and keeping a 2-year-old quiet and still is like trying to keep your cat off your legs when you're opening a can of tuna. It's impossible.

These are some things I've tried (and the problems with them):

Strategy: Letting Drew watch Sesame Street downstairs while I feed James in his room upstairs (the TV is, of course, too much of a distraction for James). Problem: a) I am NOT okay with using the TV as a babysitter, and b) I am not okay with Drew being unsupervised for that long.

Strategy: Letting Drew play with the iPad. This is a normal "treat" that he only gets to do when I nurse James. Problem: the iPad is noisy and Drew generally wants me to help and interact with him while he's playing.

Strategy: Giving Drew a hands-on activity, like coloring or a Pinterest "messy" activity, to do while he's strapped in his booster seat at the table. Problem: he usually ends up screaming for me.

Strategy: Lock Drew in his room to play with his train table and books. Problem: Mommy guilt. This is actually one of the better solutions because he's usually quite content to play alone in his room, but I feel bad trapping him.

Please, other moms... what did you do during this phase? James has been waking at night; I think it's partially due to the fact that he's learning and practicing his rolling skills, but I've also read night-waking is not uncommon during this phase because the baby may not be getting sufficient calories during feedings throughout the day. I often can't get him to eat for more than a few minutes on one side only (and whenever he doesn't "finish" he leaves me worrying about getting mastitis again). I know moms of multiple children have to have things that worked for them- it's just not feasible to hole up in a room for every single feeding! All suggestions welcome (even if you're not a mom of more than one)!

* James is actually getting better with the bottle. Just yesterday he took 4 oz from dad while I went out to grab some groceries and get my eyebrows done (it is amazingly sad how much I enjoyed grocery shopping alone). I believe he eats more than that when he nurses, but at least I can trust that he won't starve himself if I go out for an evening (some is better than nothing)!

James after a bottle from Daddy

Sleeping sweeties

There's something so precious about sleeping children. Actually, sleeping anything- kids, cats, dogs, even my husband is cute when he sleeps! I probably have millions of pictures of Drew and James sleeping- I just can't resist! Here they are at the end of nap-time today...

You always have to start far away, so you at least get one photo (just in case they wake up), then you can creep closer and try and get a better one. James isn't as tricky at this point; he sleeps through anything- especially when swaddled! (I can NOT get him to nap without the swaddle still, though he sleeps through the night without it...)

I love my sleeping angels!

Sorry girls...

It's February and love is in the air!

As usual my boys are surrounded by lovely ladies! :)

But even though they may be "#1 with the ladies".... "Sorry girls, Mommy says NO DATING"!

My boys

Just some shots of my favorite boys. :)

Is it just me or does James look like he has reddish hair from time-to-time?

Please excuse that thing on Jason's face ;)

I decided I need to be better about getting pics of my favorite outfits
(since he's growing out of them so fast!)

Today Drew had a PJ Party at school

He got to bring a stuffed animal, had to pick between his two faves
(He ended up bringing the penguin)