Little Dipper

Joey loves to dip any food that he can...french fries, grilled cheese sandwiches, chicken nuggets, etc. He dips in ketchup, mayonnaise/mustard dip, ranch, and he new dip "bye-guh-boo" sauce. Yes, that is barbeque sauce! He also knows that when grilling, the bye-guh-boo is hot!

He likes to watch the preschool aged cartoons on the Disney channel, and one of his favorite shows is Handy Manny. It's about a handyman and his tools who help out their friends around town, fixing things. The tools are Turner (a flat head screwdriver), Felipe (a Phillips head screwdriver), Rusty (a wrench), Dusty (a saw), Squeeze (pliers), Stretch (measuring tape), and Pat (he's a hammer). Joey will play Handy Manny around the house. He has a wooden tool set and when he uses a particular tool, he'll say, "A screwdriver like Turner." The other day, he started talking about "Oh leapin'" and I couldn't quite figure out what he was trying to say. Finally he said, "A screwdriver like Oh leapin'!" He was trying to say Felipe! I got a good chuckle out of that one. At least now I know.

I don't want to jinx myself, but Baby Nick has been sleeping through the night for about a week now. He starts out laying on my chest, and when he is asleep enough to move, I transfer him to his bassinet. He is turning out to be a tummy sleeper like his brother, which is funny because he still doesn't like being on his tummy when he's awake. But it seems to be working during the night. When he starts waking up in the morning, I can usually put him back on my chest and he will give me another hour or two of rest! One of these nights I will try walking him into his bedroom and laying him in his crib to see if he will still sleep through the night.

Stand Up

Most of you know that my kids are some of the most precious, angelic kids that you can know. However, Joey is two and a half, and with that comes some normal behavioral quirks. Let's just say that he is very good at being two!

This video has no sound, so I will explain. This is what we go through every night trying to get Joey dressed for bed. Nick is asking Joey to stand up in order to put his pants on.....it takes several tries!

Translation

If the picture is still too small to see Aubrey's translation, this is what she said:

Jesse's translation (just in case!):
"Hi my name is Jesse. I like you Trinity and you are a joy to be around." The dashes are spaces and he is a little confused about his new favorite symbol "&". He doesn't quite understand that it replaces the entire word "and".

Precious Words

I had a good birthday. My kids were fairly good, my husband and I enjoyed our time out, and I got to talk to Megan, Mom, Aubrey, Grandma Dooley, and my Dad (Scott). This morning, Megan was the first to call...she called about 9:00am (which was 10:00am her time) and said that she called as soon as she woke up! Oh, the wonderful memories of sleeping in until 10am! Just as we were getting off the phone, my Mom called. I only got to talk to her for about a minute, because Aubrey was ringing in on the other line!

So I talked to Aubrey for awhile and she told me how all weekend she had been telling her kids that Aunt Trinity's birthday was on Monday. Then yesterday, she told them that my birthday was tomorrow. So this morning, Sarina tells her mom that it is Aunt Trinity's birthday today! How sweet to be remembered!

As we were leaving to drop the boys off at Randy and Cheryl's, we stopped at the mailbox and I got a sweet card from Aubrey and her family. I posted it so you can read what Jesse wrote. It will be easier to see if you enlarge the picture (double click on it). And if necessary, Aubrey provided a translation in the upper right hand portion of the card. Sarina also wrote her own message, and even though Aubrey didn't offer a translation, I can tell that she wrote "Happy Birthday Aunt Trinity. I love you and miss you. We are not going over to your house anymore." What a sweetie!

House of Goof Balls

We are a house of goof balls. Nick tries to claim that I am the biggest goof ball, but I think that in his short life, Bubba has far surpassed me! Last night, Nick was in the other room with Joey, when Joey came in to deliver a message. He looks at me and says, "Mommy, I'm a goof ball." I was chuckling at him when I heard Nick yell from the other room, "No Joey, you're supposed to say Mommy's a goof ball!" Well, I guess Joey knows best!

Baby Nick is getting so strong. He is working on rolling over from his back to his tummy. It might still be awhile, but he is getting closer. He arches his head so it seems as if it may touch his back, and will roll over almost all the way on his side. It is only a matter of time before he gets all the way over.

I get to go on another date tonight! This will be the second date since Bug was born, and it hasn't even been four months. That is pretty impressive. Tonight, Nick and I are going to see a movie for my birthday. We got two tickets for our anniversary from Randy and Cheryl, so we thought we would use them for my birthday so we wouldn't have to spend any money. We are going to see The Santa Clause 3. I love Christmas movies. Because it is my birthday, I get to choose the movie, and Nick has to happily see whatever I want to see! He's good about seeing movies that I want to see.

Bug just woke up from a nap, and Joey just fell asleep in the recliner, so I better put Bug down and carry Joey upstairs.

The Verdict Is In...

Joey has pneumonia. Just a little. So he was given an antibiotic that he has to take for ten days. I don't know if it was the medicine, the orange drink he had with his Happy Meal, or a combination of both, but he was bouncing off the walls until well past midnight tonight. It is so nice to see him feel better. It's as if he wanted to make up for all the playing he missed out on in this one night.

We'll still keep an close eye on him over the next few days, because the doctor said he may run a slight fever tomorrow as he is starting to heal, but if he still has a fever by Sunday they will want to see him again. She also wants us to keep an eye on his breathing. Right now, he is breathing faster than he normally would, but she wants us to look for him struggling to breathe, as they would want to see him then too. So far, I have been very impressed with this pediatrics office. We saw Dr. McCartherr tonight, not our pediatrician. In the course of the conversation, we found out that she is from Eugene and did her residency in Oregon! Both doctors that we have seen have had an Oregon connection.

Hopefully, Joey will be able to sleep better than he did last night. Once we all laid down, it didn't take more than five or ten minutes for him to fall asleep. I wish I could do that. But, once again, all my boys are sleeping and I am wide awake aching to be able to sleep.

Happy Thanksgiving

I hope everyone had a great Thanksgiving. We have so much to be thankful for. I know that this year, I haven't done my best at thanking God for what I do have...I have been much better and being bitter about what I don't have; my family nearby. Forgive me.
Here are my handsome sons, whom I am forever thankful for. Their outfits are courtesy of Grandma Mary. Thank you so much Mom. I missed you this year, missed making an apple pie for you.

Poor Bubba has had a cold for the last week. This one is really bad. We are taking him in to see the doctor this evening on the advice of the advice nurse at the doctor's office. Usually I wouldn't have called because of a cold, but he has also been getting at least one fever a day for the last five days or so. Hopefully, it will be nothing but a cold, but if it turns out to be something else, I would rather know and be able to treat it. (It's kind of reminiscent of when Nick got bronchitis last year.)

Bubba has had little appetite the last few days and has hardly had anything to drink either, so there is also the concern of him getting dehydrated. He has done better this morning, but if he doesn't start drinking more, I will go get some popsicles, because I know he will eat those! I am encouraged that he has already eaten 2 dinner rolls and some mashed potatoes and gravy this morning and is almost done with his first glass of juice. (That may not seem like much for being a half past noon, but he has only been up for two hours!)

I also set up an appointment for Baby Nick's four month check up. It's hard to imagine he will be four months in just a couple of weeks. He's starting to reach out for things, such as the Pooh Bear that hangs from his Pooh mat. He love laying on the mat, he laughs all the time. Although, right now he is screaming because Mommy is taking too long, he's very tired and will probably be asleep as soon as I pick him up.

I had to pause in my blogging because I heard Joey putting his juice cup in the dishwasher. It was amazing, he put the lid in the silverware tray and the cup on the top shelf. Unfortunately, he screamed when I had to take them out, not understanding that the dishes in the dishwasher were clean. So I had him help me put the clean dishes away and load the dirty ones up and start the dishwasher. All is well. Now it is time to make things all well with my Bug.

Looking Forward

Ever since Sunday, when we told Joey we would be going over to Cathy's for Thanksgiving, he has been looking forward to it. Every few minutes, Joey will remind me, "See Cafee, Sink Gibbon, be fun!" My response, "Yes, it will be fun to see Cathy on Thanksgiving!"

It is hard to get Joey to understand that sometimes we don't have what he wants. A typical breakfast conversation goes like this: "Wanna pie tart." "We don't have any poptarts." "NO! Wanna pie tart." "Sorry, Joey there are no poptarts left." "Wanna zert." "We don't have any dessert, and you need to eat something for breakfast first." "NO! Want apple pie." "I'm not making the apple pie until Thanksgiving. You can have cereal, toast, or a waffle." "Zert?" "No. You can have a waffle." "Peanut butter and seer-up?" "Yes, you may have peanut butter and syrup on your waffle."

Oh the pleasure of speaking with a toddler, almost exclusively!

Daddy Popped Lellow Balloon

To encourage good behavior while getting his haircut, the stylist blew up a yellow balloon for Joey. Joey loves balloons and he carried it with him throughout the rest of the day. When we picked Daddy up from helping Randy and Cheryl move, Daddy just had to play with the balloon too. Joey kept asking for it, but Daddy had to hit it up in the air just one more time. Well, the inevitable happened. Instead of giving the balloon back to his son, Daddy popped it!

As Nanny and Aunt Aubrey well know, Joey has a very long memory (for months, Joey kept talking about the time Rina hit him on the head with a hammer!) So, for the last three days, Joey keeps talking about Daddy popping the balloon! Nick came home for lunch today and Joey said to me, "Daddy popped balloon!" I'm sure that he will be scarred for many days.

Joey is getting excited to have Thanksgiving over at Cathy's. All day he has been asking to see Cathy. (He doesn't quite understand that Thanksgiving is still a few days away.) I am trying to get him to say "Thanksgiving" and finally he got it. Joey says, "Happy Sink Gibbon!"

The Blessing of Family

As we were frantically trying to get all four of us ready to get our family pictures taken today, I got a phone call from Cathy, my second cousin who lives here in Anchorage. I had tried to reach her before, but because of circumstances in her life, it is very difficult to reach her. I had left her a message about a month ago, but she was just now able to get back to me.

She called to invite us to have Thanksgiving with her family! She said her boys (ages 17 and 18) were pumped to have our boys over (even before we accepted the invite.) Since we had just bought our Thanksgiving fixings last night, I told her I would bring our small turkey and mashed potatoes. She is going to get another small turkey (they are each about ten pounds) so that we have enough to feed four teenagers. She also asked if I knew how to cook candied yams, so I told her I would bring them too. I will also bake an apple pie. I couldn't bring myself to just buy a dessert if I were going to be a guest at someone's house. I would have made a pumpkin cheesecake, but they will already have pumpkin pie.
This picture was taken to show you how young my son is, and already starting to get "fresh" with the ladies. Of course, its just Mommy, so maybe I shouldn't worry too much.

I Miss Lanette

Yesterday, we got Joey's haircut for the first time since moving to Alaska. Up until now, Joey has only gotten his haircut by one person, Lanette. (With the exception of the one time my sister-in-law cut his hair while she was on a visit from Texas, and she did a fantastic job.) Picking a new hairstylist is just as nerve-wracking as choosing a new doctor. So I decided to go to Great Clips, where Nick gets his hair cut. (Also, I didn't have time to set an appt.) This was supposed to be a place where professional hairstylists work. I have never been so disappointed! This is what I got.
The lady who cut his hair even asked me how I like it cut, and she didn't do anything that I said. Granted, Joey was having a very hard morning and wasn't as cooperative as usual, but that doesn't mean she had to do a poor job. For the sides and back, she used the clippers instead of scissors, which is fine, it was much faster (and since Joey was already crying, it was good to go fast.) However, she didn't even take enough time to make sure that it was even. It doesn't look as bad as the front, but I can see the unevenness. In regards to the front, the lady who cut his hair did just about the opposite of what I asked. I realize that when combed over to the side, the hair doesn't look as uneven, but Joey's hair does not stay combed over to the side all day long, so when it falls forward, as it is in the picture, it looks horrible. And I don't comb his hair over to the right, as she cut his hair, I comb it more to the left. Lanette and Angie had no problem understanding what I liked to do with his hair and were able to do a handsome job even with my limited capacity to make myself understood. I MISS LANETTE! I suppose next time we need his hair cut, I will just have to fly my sister-in-law up from Texas to cut his hair! (I wish!!)
This is why we call Bug, "Puke Boy!" He is constantly spitting up, and then before we can get him cleaned up, he rubs his face in it, spreading it from ear to ear, and often, from forehead to chin! What is more, he usually looks up at us with the goofiest grin afterwards, as if knowing that he is too adorable to get upset at! (This does not bode well for the future....his brother is still like that!)

Well, today is spring cleaning day! Nick and I have to be whirlwinds to get everything done today. That should be interesting with the boys, they still haven't learned to cooperate at the same time. Hopefully Joey will feel in the helpful mood and be of more assistance than hindrance. Better get going....lots to do, little time.

Potty Training Update

Well, Joey is still not potty trained. We have relaxed on the "training" and just let him lead us. We still keep him in pull-ups. He will ask several times a day to go potty. That is encouraging. However, he still hasn't gone on the toilet once! He does at least try, though. Every time he goes into the bathroom, he'll sit on the toilet, put one square of toilet paper in, and then say, "Done trying. I'll pwuhsh." Then he gets up, flushes the toilet, and goes about his day. My hope, is that one of these times, he will actually go, even if he is not intending to, and will see how easy it is and we can go from there.

Baby Nick is getting so strong! He is working on pulling his head forward, even when he is already in an upright position. He still doesn't like tummy time on the floor, but at least he is doing better at playing on the floor as long as he is on his back. I try to give him tummy time every day so he gets used to it, but he either rolls over immediately, or screams until I put him back on his back. I guess I shouldn't be too much in a hurry to get him used to being on his tummy, because he will probably find out pretty quickly that he can move around that way, and once he starts, there will be no stopping him!

Nick stays very busy at work. He has at least 10-12 hours worth of work to do everyday, but he only gets 8 hours in which to complete it. Needless to say, he is always trying to catch up. I wish there was something more I could do to help him. They should be getting new computers by the beginning of December, and maybe that will help speed the process up, even if it doesn't make less work. Right now he is working on a computer so old, it reminds me of our old Commodore 64! (There were some fun games we played on that computer though!)

I can't believe Thanksgiving is just six days away! I would love to say that I am looking forward to it, and I am very thankful for so many things, but I dread not being close to any extended family. I'm sure we will have a fine day, with just the four of us. It's hard to think about fixing an entire Thanksgiving feast for only two and a half eaters. Although, it won't be an entire feast, I think we are only planning on a few dishes, leaving out some of those traditional favorites we both look forward to. I'm even contemplating buying a dessert instead of making one (which is a huge change for me.) I get offended by Nick any time he volunteers me bringing dessert somewhere and then suggests I just buy something! But here I am not seeing much point in making some fancy dessert for just us. (Horrible, isn't it?)

My mom and sisters are having a girls weekend at the beach this weekend. I pray they are all kept safe and have an awesome time of fun and bonding. I wish I were there with them. I'd even trade my sister-in-laws' 40 degree weather in Texas for my 12 degree weather here! With my two hot water bottles of sons sitting on my lap, I am still freezing! Oh well, just five more months of this weather!

Where Did He Learn That?

For the last couple of days, Joey has been "washing dishes", which is to say that he will take his dishes up to the counter! I would love to take credit for him learning that responsibility, however, I can not honestly take the credit. I haven't even ever asked him to bring the dishes to the counter. He is so special.

I hope that all the things in his life that he will learn without my knowing where he learned it will be this positive! (Keep dreaming, right?)

Here are all my men, sitting together, loving on each other! It is such a joy to see.

To tell you how baby Nick is doing, I will list some of his situational nicknames; Truly Drooly Boy, Puke Boy, Stink Bug...and so forth. But isn't he just the cutest? (I think we will keep him around for awhile longer!)

Futile

Ever wonder why "child-proof" means more hassle for the adults and no problem for the child? I remember my cousin Gregory helping his mom opening the "child-proofed" medicine bottles when he was just a toddler.

We have put child-proof door locks on a few select doors in our place; the front door (because Joey can reach and unlock the deadbolt), the downstairs bathroom (more for privacy of the occupant and to save toilet paper), and the coat closet which is where we have our DVD shelf. Joey loves to tear apart that shelf, and since I have our movies alphabetized for easier locating, I don't like him to have access to them. As of yesterday, the door locks have become futile! I have personally witnessed him opening both the closet door to choose several movies at a time, and the bathroom door when he want to try to go potty! He hasn't as of yet tried the front door...if he ever does, I may need to get an extra lock for higher up on the door. Although, I think that he can only open the doors when the child proof lock is in exactly the right position, so I may have some extra time.

Joey and I have been working on his meal time prayers. Usually, he repeats after me "Thank you Jesus, for this food and bless it to my body. Amen." He prays in a whisper. Tonight I had him pray all by himself for the first time. He was so cute. In an almost inaudible whisper, he said, "Taintoo Jesus for a food, bless da body. Amen" What a good boy.

I have only six minutes before I am supposed to leave for choir and I still have to eat dinner, brush my teeth, and put my shoes on. I better hurry!

EWWZZZAT?

Joey has really been enjoying my sister-in-law's blog lately. She has posted lots of pictures of her amazing family and even a couple videos. Every time I sit down at the computer, he asks to see the pictures again and watch the videos. He will sit on my lap and point to each picture asking, "Ewwzzat?" Then he will answer himself, "It's Sassy!" or "Uncle Paul." He can even recognize and name Abby and Rony!

Bug has been more vocal lately, in a positive way. Right now, he is laying on the floor on his play mat just talking up a storm. He is so cute when he laughs! He is at the stage now where he recognizes Mommy and Daddy better and smiles every time he sees us. He is in the bad habit (my fault) of sleeping only when he is being held. Lately, even at night, as soon as I lay him down in his bed, he will wake back up. So I am either up all night, or I have to sleep with a baby on my chest. Bug will sleep just fine that way, he sleeps all night, with the occasional search for his pacifier. But I, on the other hand, have to stay conscious enough not to let the pacifier fall off the side of the bed and be able to pop it back in when he needs it. So, needless to say, I am getting even less sleep than before. I am starting an experiment today that I hope will help. I am going to put an electric blanket in his crib to warm his mattress...then when I am ready to lay him down, I will remove the blanket, and hopefully the mattress will be warm enough that he will stay asleep. We'll see if it helps. I want to start transitioning him from the bassinet in our room, to the crib in his room. Maybe if I can get Baby Nick in his room, Joey will want to sleep in his room too. Wouldn't it be nice for Nick and I to have our bed back?! Although, we both agree that we will kind of miss Bubba in bed, he's so snugly and lovable.

The weather is getting colder. It's currently 4 degrees outside, but we are experiencing high winds, and with the windchill, it feels like 13 below zero! Any time I walk outside, I can't take a full breath because the cold air hurts my lungs. We have had very little snow compared to what they consider normal, and it doesn't look like its supposed to snow at all this week. Nick really wants it to snow more. The only good thing about it snowing more is that the clouds would come in and it would warm up a touch. Although, I still don't think that 20 degrees is all that warm, but it is a whole lot warmer than 13 below!

Keep warm today, for my sake! :)

Half Grown Up

I know he is far from it, but sometimes it seems that the time is going so fast that I can hardly catch my breath. My little Bug is three months old today. Even the labor and delivery seemed to go fast. Maybe it had to do with being induced, but from the time they started me on the Pitocin, till the time that Bug made his entrance was less than nine hours. Giving time for the drug to take effect, my labor was probably only about seven hours. A big difference from the 15 hour labor I had with Joey.

Today at church, in the pew in front of us, was a family that had a baby girl not much bigger than my Bug. She was about the same size, but I have a feeling she may be a couple months older. I was looking at her and I thought to myself, "Someone like this little girl could be my son's wife one day!" It was such an odd, unexpected feeling. I kept looking at the parents and grandparents as potential in-laws, and I couldn't help but feel a little apprehensive of how they would treat my precious son. Not that they seemed like mean people, I just wasn't prepared to be thinking about this today. How will I feel when this actually becomes an issue in my life (as it is a few years down the road?) Maybe I will grow up by then!

Here are the comparison pictures of our sons at their three month-versaries. Baby Nick is on the top and Bubba is on the bottom. You will notice how much you can see Bubba's ears, yet you can't see Nick's hardly at all. Bubba always did have full size ears, and he is still trying to grow into them. Not that he ever looked out of proportion, but Baby Nick's ears are so small in comparison, it's kind of funny!

Endearing

Joey is now at the age where he says "I love you, too" when we tell him that we love him. It is so sweet to hear. Even more endearing, is when he comes up to me on his own and says, "I love you Mommy!" What a sweetheart.

Lately, Joey has been enjoying pretending to be a monster. He holds his hands up, with his fingers bent, and growls, "Roarrrr!" As a dutiful mommy, I act appropriately scared. Every time, Joey says, "Oh, I sorry." and gives me a hug! What a great monster. :)

(If you enlarge this picture, you can see how blue his eyes are!)

Baby Nick has been laughing more, but it still sounds more like a squeal. It's as if he would smile bigger if he could, but he is already smiling so big that it makes noise! I took him to choir last night, hence being dressed up in his new hat (so cute), and he behaved very well. I had him in the front carrier so that my hands would be free and he chewed on the side of it the whole time, drooling excessively! When we took a break, Tina (the lady I went to college with), said that she couldn't hold him if he was in the carrier (subtle, wasn't she!) So I let her hold him and he would not stop smiling, the little flirt! After the break, he fell asleep in the carrier and slept the rest of the time. But lucky me, he screamed all the way home!

It snowed again last night, the first time since our first snowfall. Not much, not even an inch, but at least it covered the ground and made it pretty again. We will have to get much more before there is enough to play in. It gets so cold out, though, it is hard to think straight. On Monday, Nick went out to run an errand, and I had asked him that on his way back in, he bring up the garbage cans and check the mail. When he got back inside, he was rubbing his frozen hands together. I asked him if he brought the cans up and he said they were out back. I asked him if he filled them with the garbage and took them back out to the curb (which is what I asked him to do when he brought them up.) He forgot. (No surprise) I reminded him that I wanted him to check the mail as well. He took the garbage out to the curb and came back in just as frozen. I asked, "No mail?" He got a goofy look on his face and said, "NO!" But he just forgot, again, even though I had just told him two minutes before! That is how cold it is, you seriously can't think straight!

Sweet Angels

I felt you should all have the privilege of seeing my precious angels! I noticed that it had been awhile since I posted pictures of my boys. So here are the latest....
Baby Nick is only three days away from being three months old! I can hardly believe it. When I take pictures for his actual three month-versary, I will try to remember to post a comparison picture of Joey as well.
The amazing thing about this picture is who took it. This is the first picture that Bubba has taken. He had a lot of help, but he is the photographer credited with this picture. (Very important to know!)
Here is the soon to be famous photographer. What an angelic look on his face! Don't let him fool you though, he's only angelic when he feels like it. It seems that he doesn't feel like being an angel very often when we're at home.

kjkim jkkj mskjm jm kjkjlmkj kkjl j lnnnnnnnnnnnnnnnn (KBKLuibbaj is helpjing me type, so u may have tro

uble deciphering it

If you nyeed help, just ask y and I will try to translate. You kind of have to look around the letters he's interjected to see what I was writing. Now he is pushing me away from the desk so it is hard to reach the keyboard.) Finally, I have complete control of the computer back! Hope you enjoyed Joey's contribution.

Just To Say Hi

I have no new news or interesting tidbits to share tonight, but I just wanted to say a quick "hi" to all my family. I'm really missing each of you.

Joey is not any closer to being potty trained. He still hasn't gone once on the toilet. As much as I am ready for him to be ready, maybe he's just not ready. I want him to get used to at least trying, so I will continue to have him sit on the potty throughout the day, but I may not try so intently.

Joey does know about a new musical instrument....the tubob, aka, the tuba! He knows of the tuba from Larry, who plays the tuba in the theme song to VeggieTales. He is also getting close to knowing the song as well. He can recite (he doesn't quite sing it) "broccoli, celery, gotta be, VeggieTales." He also knows "...and sour, half an hour, VeggieTales." I can't even begin to try to spell how he really says these phrases, but it is too cute!

Yesterday, I was folding clothes on the bed and had stacks of clothes already folded, when Joey wanted to get up on the bed with me. I'm sure you can imagine how disastrous that would be to my neatly piled clothes, so I suggested he sit in the rocking chair instead. He said, "Oh! Good ideda!" It was the first time I had ever heard him use that phrase.

To demonstrate his very tender heart....whenever we are watching TV and there is a character who is crying, Joey says, "Come here" and walks up to the TV and "hugs" the character, or caresses their face! He's like that with Nick and I as well, and most of the time with Baby Nick too.

He went to choir with me last night, and as we were leaving, he bent down to Baby Nick who was sleeping in his bouncy chair, gently patted his head and said "Gud-bye." He's so cute...he bends down so he's real close to Baby Nicks face to talk to him. During the day, he will periodically come up to him and say in his high-pitched voice, "Hi Squirt, hi Bug." It warms my heart to see. I hope they can grow up to be best friends.

Holiday update.....looks like we will be spending a nice quiet Thanksgiving with just ourselves. That takes the pressure off of me to act happy (if I'm having a hard day), so that's good. We'll get a small turkey and hopefully have enough left over for Turkey Noodle Soup.

I should be sleeping, as once again, I am the only one awake. I'll at least make an attempt at it.

Illogical

I know that the feelings I expressed in my previous post are illogical. I think they are fueled by sleep deprivation. I am so tired, and not because my kids keep me up all night. Every once in awhile they will have a bad night, but on the whole, they sleep better than I.

What I am tired of is my body not allowing me to sleep when I have the opportunity. Like now, the family is asleep, I'm exhausted, yet I can't fall asleep. Now, tomorrow, when I am supposed to be taking care of my kids, cooking a meal, or cleaning the house; that is when my body will say, "I'm ready to sleep now." But I will be unable to sleep because the timing will be wrong.

Baby Nick will fight so hard before falling asleep. Not just screaming, but all out fighting. I get scratched, pinched, and punched by him when he is trying to go to sleep. His body goes almost completely rigid. And I don't think he is fighting because he doesn't want to sleep. I think he is frustrated that he is so tired but not already asleep. I know exactly how that feels. My head is pounding, my eyes are burning, and all other systems in my body have shut down for the day...yet I still lie in bed awake. Frustrating to say the least.

So please forgive the illogical ramblings of a sleep-deprived woman.

Potty Training

Well, sort of. It's not going very well so far, but it has only been two days. I never thought it would be so frustrating. Joey will start crying every time we tell him its time to go potty. He has not gone once on the toilet, and we try taking him every half hour. Since we have been trying to potty train him, he has been more upset, prone to more fits about the smallest things.

He does let me sing while he sits on the potty sometimes. He likes to hear "Miszer Boon" (Mister Moon), "Tinkle Tinkle Stars" and "Eat a Pider" (Itsy Bitsy Spider.)

I know its horrible, but I get so frustrated at him for making such a big deal about it. Sometimes I think he holds it when he is on the toilet on purpose, just so he can go in the pull-up as soon as we put it on.

I have found that since Baby Nick, I have been so much less patient with the kids, especially with unnecessary screaming. I don't know how to be a good mom any more. Maybe I never did.

"Elm No Pea"

Can you figure out what Joey is saying by this? Think 'alphabet.' Got it? "L M N O P" We are working on learning the alphabet. He is doing well, but hasn't been able to put it all together yet. He will be talking to himself, playing, and I will hear him say, "ABC" or "QRS" or even "Double Doo Eck." My favorite is 'elm no pea' although it sometimes sounds more like 'emo pea.'

I should also inform you of his full name. That is something else we tried teaching him just this morning. According to Joey, his full, big name is: Jofis Trishan Looty! He's so precious!

Balmy Weather

We are currently experiencing balmy weather. It is all of 13 degrees so far today! The high is expected to get up to 21 degrees. Whatever will I do in such extreme heat. I hope my kids don't suffer heat stroke today. I will try to keep them in out of the heat as much as possible. (Is my sarcasm coming through?)

What's worse is that it will keep getting colder throughout winter. Technically, it is supposed to be fall....how can I endure winter?

Baby Nick is starting to drool quite a bit. He is very eagerly trying to stuff his entire fist in his mouth. He chews on it every day. I think he might want his thumb, but he still is not opening his hands. He keeps them balled into fists most of the time. It makes it kind of hard to suck a thumb when it is tucked in under his other fingers!

Bubba got a box from Grandma Mary yesterday. As soon as I brought it in from the front porch, Joey said, "Mine?" Yes Bubba, it's yours. It was full of winter goodies.....snow pants that fit perfectly, two pairs of snow boots of different sizes that he can wear for a couple years, mittens, a hat, and Joey's favorite....stickers, a book, and a Frisbee that glows in the dark. I showed him how it glowed in the dark, so now he calls the Frisbee the "dark." He says, "Git the dark. Throw the dark." Oh well, one day he will understand.

We took Nick to work today, so for lunch, I will make a few sandwiches and spend time with Nick at the office. Then I will leave early to pick him up and spend some time helping him get some more filing done. He is supposed to have Monday off, and maybe even Tuesday....just because. It will be nice to have him around for a little longer this weekend. Maybe we'll brave the cold and take Joey out to play. I still have to teach him to make a snow angel so I can post a picture for Aunt Angie in Texas. Of course, it will be fun taking pictures of Bubba all bundled up, hardly able to move!

Have a joyful day.

Favorite Movie

Joey's favorite "movie" is the screen saver on our computer. It is set to run as a slide show through the pictures I have in my "My Pictures" folder, which is nearing (if not over) 2000 pictures. No matter where he is in the room, no matter what he is doing, once he sees the pictures come on, he drops everything saying, "Lookit pictures." He will climb up on the computer chair and comment on every picture.

"Lookit the Uncle Josh." "Lookit Papa Buddy." "Baby Rina and Baby Bubba." And so on and so on. Nick and I both watch him, close to tears, for not being able to give him what he wants most in the world: to see his family. "Grandma Mary hold Bubba." "Aunt Angie!"

Last night I was thinking of my last day at home, the day the boys and I flew to Alaska. I was crying again, still feeling the pain of separation as fresh as I did on that day. Sometimes I forget that the last time I saw my Mom and my sister Aubrey is such a sad memory. Sometimes I still feel like I just saw them the other day, and will see them again soon. I wonder if I will ever feel at 'home' here. As much as I am trying, for my husband's sake, I still dislike being here very much and can't wait to go home. One good thing is how fast the time seems to pass. Not when looking forward, but when looking back. It seems hard to believe that we have been here two months already. It's hard to believe it's November. It's hard to believe that it is Thursday!

It's hard to believe that the snow will still be here in five or six months!!

I'm Here

For the last week or so, Joey has been telling us where he is. He will walk across the room and look back over at me and say, "Hi, Mommy. I'm here." Yesterday he climbed up in my lap and put his hand on my arm and pointed to his chest and said, "I'm here." He is so cute. I wonder if he thinks I won't know where he is unless he announces it?

He started something else new yesterday....he started crooking his finger saying, "Come here, I show you." I couldn't stop laughing the first time I saw him do it. I was at the sink making a bottle and Bubba was standing by the refrigerator (where the bag of candy is 'hiding' on top) and said "Come here" until I was just in the right spot. Than he started smiling and saying please. How can one resist his extreme cuteness?

Baby Nick has been on a four day rotten streak. If he is awake, he is screaming. Nothing will calm him down. And he is not sleeping as well either. Every time I lay him down in bed, he wakes up. Last night it took four attempts to get him to stay asleep. Then he only slept for a couple hours before whining to be picked up again. So I let him lay down on my chest and sleep. He sleeps, but he is so wiggly, there is no way that I can sleep. After a couple hours of that, I finally fed him and tried laying him down in bed again. That only lasted an hour. Oh well. Maybe today will be my lucky day and he will stop his screaming.

The weather has cleared, but it is still in the mid twenties, dropping down into the teens overnight. The main roads are kept clear, but some of the side streets are quite slick. Our snow tires work very well. When I went to choir on Tuesday, the whole parking lot seemed like a sheet of ice! I was glad no one was around when I got out of the car, in case I fell. But I didn't fall...that time. Hopefully it is not so slick when I go to choir tonight.

One thing I didn't consider about the weather....the mailbox gets frozen shut! Nick has had to punch it to get it open. If it is frozen shut, I have to wait until Nick gets home to check the mail! And if it is frozen shut all day, we may not even get any mail if the mail carrier can't get it open. Not that we get a lot of mail, but it is always nice to hope for something from home and be pleasantly surprised when we get something!

Aunt Frieda has given Joey a subscription for "Turtles" magazine. Joey will be so excited to get something so grown up. He loves "reading" the mail. I have to remember to put the bills up high, because he loves to open them and he is not too gentle. They usually end up crumpled and sometimes chewed on if he gets his hands on them. So it will be so nice for him to have something of his very own to read! He loves getting cards from the family as well. After I read it to him, he 'reads' it for himself and carries it around all week.

Baby Nick is behaving very well for now, so I will take advantage of it and unload the dishwasher!