Tuesday, June 30, 2009

no pics, or not

Sometimes I hate my Kodak software. It doesn't always want to work. I was ready to give up when it finally opened. Or maybe it's my old computer. I got my computer when I was in college. I'd love to have a new laptop, but that's not in the budget right now. There's a lot of things I'd like to have that aren't in the budget.

We're considering getting the kids a big play set for their birthday this year. That's definitely stretching the budget some. My parents said that if we do, they'd give us money towards it instead of buying the kids clothes. That would help, we'll see. I want something that they can grow into and get several years of use out of, but at the same time it kind of scares me to have a playground that's fun for a ten year old in the back yard when I have what will be 2 three year olds and a 2 year old, especially since Bam is rough and tough and fearless. For example, something like this would be great, something like this would be a dream, but too expensive. I couldn't believe how much some of them cost when we went to look at them the first time. Some of them are over 10,000. I find that a bit absurd.

We we have two power wheels up and running and a third will be ready in the next few weeks, we had to order a recal item for it. They love them. Sugar is the best at driving, Sweet is getting better, and Bam is Bam. He's just happy to be driving and doesn't care what he runs into.
The first night, we only had one going, and it's an old pink one. Bam was not happy that it was pink and wanted the red or white ones working. He hauled the red one out to sit in and wouldn't ride the pink one. When the other two ran into his red one, he wasn't too pleased, so I had to get a pic. Bam is much happier now that the red one is up and running. Sweet refers the the pink one as her princess jeep.










Friday, June 26, 2009

Touch a Truck

Today we went to a local event, Touch a Truck. They had firetrucks, police cars, police motorcycles, army trucks, big rig tow trucks, tree trimmers, professional mowers, etc. The kids loved it. Sweet was a little unsure of some of it, big trucks, lots of people, and they were letting kids blow the horns so it was loud. I hope they're never in the back of a police car once they grow up. It's cute now, it won't be then. Afterwords we spent some time with our family member who just got out of the hospital. After dinner we played outside and had some fun. Bam is still incredibly jealous that he doesn't have a bike yet. Overall it was a pretty good day.

I need to start teaching the kids about strangers. Sweet definitely tends to be leery of new people anyway and Bam's in a shy stage right now. I'm not sure of how to go about it since I don't want to make them afraid of new people that we introduce them to. Trying to teach a 2 year old how to distinguish between a good new person and a bad new person should be interesting. I guess I'm just not sure of how to go about it other than don't talk to anyone that you don't already know unless known adult says it's ok. I'm thinking about it lately because there's been 4 atempted abductions recently about an hour away from us. People are really sick and cruel. Thankfully they haven't been successful yet. I hope they can catch the guys before they're able to take kids.




















Thursday, June 25, 2009

Healthy Family Please?

So our extended families haven't been healthy in awhile. One relative just got out of the hospital for an infection which was a complication of surgery and now has to have a PIC line for quite some time. One relative just went back to the hospital yesterday for an infection. This relative is also undergoing experimental treatments for the dreaded C. Plus another relative found out yesterday that last year's surgery didn't take and needs to have it redone, oh and this time it will be more invasive. It seems that everyone around us is falling apart. While I'm thankful that it's not my children that are ill, it still stinks.

The weather here is too hot. It's in the nineties and horribly humid. I hate being cooped up in the house with the kids, but it's miserable outside. So we go out to play in the pool in the evening. Today it's storming on top of the heat and humidity. Maybe we'll run errands tonight since we can't go out and play.

The good news lately is that one of our friends who we met up with at the zoo gave us their old power wheels and Chuck found one today at a garage sale. We need to get a battery for one and a charger for the other, but that's a lot more affordable than a new power wheel. We also have a little motorcycle that my parents gave us, it doesn't have enough traction/power to drive in the grass, but they have fun with it on the driveway. We had another power wheel that a family member had gotten used for us, but it shorted out, we'll have to see, maybe we'll rewire it if it's not to complicated. I'm not sure that I'm ready for multiple motorized vehicles going in different directions, bicycles are bad enough.

Wednesday, June 24, 2009

The Wonderful World of Sleep

My kids are good sleepers. They are in bed at 8 and sleep through the night. Plus they take a 2-3 hour nap a day. The only problem is that no matter what time they go to bed (on rare occasions they are up later) they always wake up at the same time or earlier and don't take a longer nap to catch up. That is until recently.
The last couple of days have been wonderful. I know I'm probably jinxing myself by writing this. The boys have been sleeping in past 7. Sweet's slept past 9 the last two days. This means that I get to wake up when I'm ready to, instead of getting a wake up call from a child before 6. It makes a huge difference.
Yes, nap times are shortening some, but really I'm ok with it if I get to sleep longer. Anyone who has ever been deprived of sleep for any length of time (let me remind you that Bam didn't sleep for a whole night until 5 months) will tell you that sleep makes the world a better place.

Tuesday, June 23, 2009

Weekend in Review

Who decided that it was a good idea to have a children's dance recital last like four hours? Who ever it is, is an idiot. We left after the intermission (an hour and forty minutes into it). Lets say that my kids were very well behaved for their ages, there weren't any fits or tears, but they definitely were not going to sit still for that long. Thus we were all more than ready to leave at intermission. Sorry that we didn't get to see my nephew dance in the second half.

The weather was awful on Saturday and our bake sale was a bust. At least someone benefited from it. We donate the left overs to project MUNCH. So baking in the heat was not in vane.

Sunday was sad. Our pastor's last sermon was good, as always and hit home. We started going to our church when we were looking for a church to get married in. We fell in love with our church and the pastor. He hasn't been a pastor his whole life. He held a "normal" job before that. I think it gives him a little different approach to his sermons and people. Plus he knows us and our story. He baptized the kids and myself. He talked about changes in his sermon and part of why he thinks that they're so hard is that we have to start over and tell our story to someone else. He's right. He knew us before we were married, before we had kids, through the adoption, through the pregnancy, and all the other challenges. It's hard to start over.
That said I do welcome the new pastor. I hope that I enjoy listening to him as much as Steve. I hope that he brings a new perspective and style. I hope he fits well in our church.

Monday was wonderful. I very much enjoyed getting to see my college roommate and her family and one of Chuck's college buddies and his family. We had a great time at the zoo, Columbus did just get ranked #1. It was nice to go somewhere other than Akron or Cleveland. The weather was beautiful, but hot. The kids loved it and were so good that it was unbelievable. We got our first taste of having the kids in the car for a long stretch and they did very good. They didn't nap much though, especially Sweet so after dinner we went out to play in the water.




















Sugar has also entered that "why?" stage. He has a why for everything. It doesn't matter how many times you answer the question why. There's always a why for your response. Tonight I finally said I don't know. He said oh hmmm why mommy? I ended it with a laugh and you're a goofy child, which made him giggle.

Marty

This deserves it's own post.
Saturday I found out that a family friend had passed away. He was ill and is in a much better place right now, but I am still deeply saddened by his passing. I am deeply saddened for his family also. He was ready and it was expected, but somehow it just doesn't seem to matter. It doesn't make it any easier. Today was the funeral so I hope that it brought some closure, but I know that there's still a long road of healing ahead and I wish his family the best.

Thursday, June 18, 2009

Week in Review

Hmm lets see. We went to the zoo on Monday and it was awful. The traffic trying to get into the zoo was atrocious. They had record attendance. We normally let the kids walk around at the zoo, but not with that many people, so no it wasn't as fun as normal for anyone. Didn't think about the fact that monday is free the the residents of the county, just thought it might be a fun day at the zoo. Why didn't we turn around or go to a neighboring zoo? Dinosaurs. We had already told the kids that they would be seeing them and to not see them would have been devistating to them. So at least we got to see the Dinosaurs and it wasn't packed there. The kids absolutely loved them too.
Upon leaving the zoo we did have a rather unpleasant experience. I've gotten lots of questions, comments, and looks since bringing the kids home. It comes with the territory. I'm used to it and most of the time I'm happy to educate and answer questions. But I had never been stared down by someone of Latino/Hispanic ethnicity. A group of people were sitting in the parking lot glaring at us while we loaded the kids and stroller in the car. Talk about infururating. Get over it. Yes some of our kids are different ethnicities. Yes our kids are loved more than anything. Yes our kids are very well cared for. I'm sure it's just the first of many times that it will happen, just like the rude comments.
I will never forget the first rude comment. I was obviously pregnant with Bam and checking out with Sugar and Sweet at Walmart. The cashier looked at me and said I guess you should have waited a little longer huh. At the time I was so taken aback that I didn't reply. Currently I could think of probably 20 quick reponses. Like yeah I guess the other line are longer for a reason like if you want an intelligent cashier. Or how dare you comment on my family when you don't know me. Or I wouldn't have it any other way or I couldn't imagine my life without any of MY children. Ignorance.
Back to the kids. Sugar is in this phase of putting things in his mouth again. It drives me nuts. He's old enough to know what should not go in his mouth. He hasn't put things in his mouth (until recently) for a really long time. It really grosses me out and he's really determined to do it no amount of time outs, lost privlages, etc seem to persuade him to stop putting things in his mouth.
Bam is doing pretty well trying to get more words all the time. I'm not sure why I was so excited about him learning to talk, since he's already learned how to talk back and fight with mom. Not really so excited about his verbal skills anymore. He's also suddenly become emotional. Telling him no suddenly breaks his heart and leads to sobs. This is new and not really something that I'm fond of, although it is amusing at times.
Sweet is starting to occasionally resist bed time. This is something I've been dreading. They've always gone to bed willingly. They've even asked for bed before. Now on occasion she tries to dely bed time with extra potty trips, or longer talks, or trying to lenghten the bed time routine in anyway. She's beginning to sleep less at night. I'm not ready for this yet and I hate having her wake up before six, regardless of if she's up late or not.
Tomorrow we have my nephew's dance recietal to go to. Saturday I have a bake sale for the group I volunteer for. Sunday is our pastor's last sunday with us so we have a pot luck after service and then of course father's day festivities at my parents' house. Monday I am very much looking forward to. We are going to meet up with my college roommate and her family, and one of Chuck's college buddies and his family at a zoo we've never been too. It should be a wonderful day. I'm hoping for good weather.

Thursday, June 11, 2009

Long Time

It's been a long time since I posted and a lot has changed.
Sweet is now in a big girl bed and loves it. The transition could not have gone any better. She likes to crawl in and pull her blankets on, most of the time. Occasionally she wants mommy to still put her in bed. She still wants picked up out of bed when she wakes. She still waits in her bed for me to come get her when she wakes up too. I sleep in a big girl bed is now the first thing that she tells new people. It went so well and everyone was so jealous of her big girl bed that Sugar transitioned to one a few days later.
I was more nervous about Sugar making the transition, but it also went flawlessly. He also still cries or calls for me to come get him when he wakes. The biggest issue with him has been he doesn't know if he want to be put in bed or climb in bed which has led to a few breakdowns, what decisions! Mom has instituted the rule that he has to climb into bed and then I will give him another kiss and hug after he's in. That seems to have rectified the situation for now.
Bam loves the big kid beds, but I am no where near ready for him to have one even though I did catch him trying to climb out of his bed the other day. Lovely. Sweet and Sugar only tried to climb in their cribs, not out of them.
We have also gotten rid of the high chairs. Everyone's now in a booster seat at one table. It really kind of nice to have a family dinner. Plus the extra space is wonderful. Our house looks so much bigger.
Bam is finally starting to talk a little more. I'm relieved that he's finally starting to talk, but at the same time, I'm not completely looking forward to having another mouth constantly running. Speaking of, Sweet never stops talking or singing. When she runs out of things to say, she narates by pointing out everything in the room or who everyone is or what everyone is doing. It's gotten to the point that Bam now covers his ears at times to block her out. Her new question is what time it is? Sometimes she does read the numbers off of the clock to me, which I am very impressed with.
Bam is in a bit of a shy stage and suddenly doesn't want to play at the playground (indoor, outdoor is never a problem) half of the time. He's very cuddly and reserved around new people, which is very different for him.
Sugar is rather ornery lately. I think it's the 3s that everyone keeps talking about. He just is getting there a little early. I hope it disapears fast. He's back to throwing huge dramatic fit, taking, instigating, talking back, etc. I miss my sweet little boy and hope he returns soon.
Sweet has also mastered her bike. She does pretty well. She struggles every once in awhile on our driveway since it slopes, but does great on grandma's. I do think that if just may be her favorite thing to do.
Sugar hasn't mastered it yet. I'm not sure if he's strong enough to push up our driveway.
Bam wishes that he was big enough to reach to peddles. He loves to sit on Sugar's bike and be pushed around.

Sweet is also really into dressing up. She's always loved to put extra things on so it should come as no supprise. Grandma has costumes and Sweet likes Cinderella (she's suddenly into princesses even though she doesn't watch the movies) but the clown is by far her favorite and is what she's almost always in at Grandma's house.






And now here are some cute pictures.