Frightening Prospect

My husband does not drink beer very often. But occasionally a nice cold beer sounds good to him after a hard day of work, or when he's at the barbecue. He likes Rolling Rock, which comes in a green bottle.

Last night, he grabbed one out of the refrigerator and Joey asked for a sip. Trying to explain that he could not have a drink, Nick told Joey that this drink was only for mommies and daddies. (Only for daddy in this house.) Nick explained that Joey would have to wait until he was 21 years old before he could have some, which is eighteen birthdays away.

All day long, Joey has been saying, "I can be twenty nine and drink green soda." Wonderful! Now my son is counting down the days till he can drink beer! A mother's dream. At least he thinks it stinks "way bad." There may be hope yet.

Baby Nick is getting better every day. We called the advice nurse regarding the diaper rash, as it was really bad, and she said it was probably a yeast infection and gave us a perscription for some Nystatin cream. He has been feeling so much better since then. Now, if only he would get over the diarrhea, we'd both be doing better!

Well, dinner is just about ready. I am a very lucky woman tonight; my husband is cooking dinner. What a gem!

Growth Update

Just a quick note to say that Baby Nick's upper right front tooth finally broke through today. The way it sat so close the the surface for so long made me think it would have cut through long before now, but at least it is out now. The tooth to the right of it is still being stubborn, but maybe it will cut through in the next few days.

Baby Nick still doesn't feel well. He takes a long time to eat, constantly pushing the food or bottle away from his mouth. I wonder if he has a sore throat which makes it hard to swallow, because he normally would be eating eagerly.

Joey is currently getting the "garbage" out from between his toes. He is like me in that he can't stand to have anything between his toes. Every night when getting ready for bed, he has to "clean the garbage" from his toes before he can comfortably lay down to sleep. Sometimes (as like right now) he can't even wait till bedtime and must clean his toes in the middle of the day.

Joey has always had a very nurturing disposition. The dark side of that, unfortunately, is that he feels he needs to "parent" Baby Nick as well. I hear him say things such as, "Nicholas Danull, I said NO! Do you need a fanking?" and, "Baby Nick, I will flick you if you don't shush up." and what he just said, "Just never push me. Look at this, ONE, TWO, THREE!" I'm sure Baby Nick wouldn't have pushed him if Joey hadn't sat on the bouncer while Baby Nick was trying to bounce!!

I try to remind Joey that he is the big brother, and is neither the mommy, nor the daddy. But he still thinks he is in the position to discipline the baby. Fun times.

Hopefully On The Mend

Poor Baby Nick, he had a rough day. He didn't throw up again (thankfully) but he just wasn't feeling himself. He has never been much of a snuggler, yet today I could hold him for hours at a time without him fighting to get down. He slept more, he hardly ate at all, he played very little, and fussed more than I like. Baby Nick had a temperature of 101.8 at one point today. And since he has had diarrhea, his little bottom is so sore it hurts to wipe him and to apply Desitin. He starts shaking real bad from the pain. I hate to cause him pain, but I have to keep him clean.

However, when Nick and I were making the bed with fresh clean sheets straight out of the dryer, he was walking along the bed all smiles and squeals. I pray that means he is starting to feel better. I especially pray that he sleeps all night, and well into the morning, too. My heart hurts to watch my kids be sick and no there is not much that can be done for them. But I do enjoy being able to cuddle Baby Nick, even if it is only for a day. That always made me feel better as a kid when I felt sick; being loved on by my Mommy.

Nick took Joey to the park this afternoon, but only stayed a few minutes. Apparently, there were tons of other kids on the small playground (the one next to our house, not Jewel Lake) and Joey kept getting pushed around on the play structure. So they came home and Joey took a nap with me. We are hoping the weather starts warming up and drying out this week so that we can take the boys to Jewel Lake when Baby Nick feels better.

Since everybody is in bed sleeping, except me, I should get into bed as well and take advantage of every minute possible. Have a fantastic week.

Sick Nick

Remember when I said last post that Baby Nick was waking up so I had to go? Well, he seemed to go back to sleep, so I didn't check on him then. By the time I was getting ready to go to bed about an hour and a half later (2:15am) I checked on Baby Nick as I do every night before laying down. As soon as I got in the room I could smell the ickiness. Baby Nick picked his head up, but laid it right back down, not feeling well enough to make a point of being awake. I felt the space under his face to see if he had thrown up and could feel that he had indeed, but not where he was currently laying. I felt around the mattress until my hand landed in the largest puddle of puke I had ever put my hand in. It covered the entire width of the mattress. When I picked him up to go change him, his legs were shaking from the effort of being sick.

I had to wake Nick up to change the sheet in the crib so that I could change Baby Nick. As I was checking his drawers, I found that he had filled them as well. He had his sickness coming out of both ends, the poor little guy. After cleaning him up, I sat in bed and rocked him until he went back to sleep. I laid him back down in his crib and as soon as he laid down, he threw up again, all over the clean sheet. So I determined that I was just going to have to hold him all night. Every time I tried to lean further back (trying to get as close to a laying down position as possible) he would start whimpering. So I had to spend the night sitting up in bed rocking Baby Nick. At about 4:30am I took Nick's temperature as his chest and palms felt like they were on fire (even though his forehead and cheeks felt cool). He was running a fever of 100 degrees, so I gave him some Tylenol and let him play on the bed until he was too tired to stay awake any longer. So it was about 5:30am when I was finally able to lay down with Baby Nick in my arms and half doze for a couple hours. Needless to say, I am not operating at normal level today. Hopefully, between the several loads of laundry and other disinfecting cleaning I should do today, I will get to take a much needed nap.

I am thinking I should keep Baby Nick home from the park today, but hopefully Nick will still take Joey. Joey has been looking forward to going for awhile, and Nick did promise. He is determined to be a dad that keeps his promises so his kids can always feel like they can depend on him for anything.

It is time for me to make lunch for Bubba so they can get ready to go to the park. Have a great day!

Memorial Day Weekend

For some reason, this week seemed to take forever! By the time Nick came home from work on Wednesday, I thought that it was Friday evening. On Friday, the boys and I went in to work with Nick so I could help him file. The last time I went in to help him, Baby Nick was still in his infant seat, and only scooting around on the floor. You can imagine how much more difficult it was to get any work done, with Baby Nick speed crawling towards doors, stairs, shelves full of fun things to pull off, and generally making a nuisance of himself. And, I had to try to keep the boys quiet so that everybody else could get their work done!



(Sidebar: I just looked outside...it is midnight and still quite light out. It looks to be around 9:00pm in late spring/early summer Oregon.)



After we picked Nick up at work on Friday, we went out to dinner. Then we went to Sportsman's Warehouse for Nick to get the one thing he has been dying for all winter....his season fishing license. He got up at 3:30am to go fishing this morning. You have to fish the high tides up on Ship Creek, so there are only a couple times a day that you can go. It's amazing how easy he gets up when it comes to fishing, yet anything else (work, helping with the boys, etc.) it is nearly impossible to drag him out of bed. He sets his alarm 15 minutes ahead of when he has to get up just so he can snooze twice. When he finally does get up, he has only left himself 15 minutes before he has to leave. Talk about going to work half asleep!

Saturday was a very fun day. We took the boys for their pictures. I love getting their pictures taken; they are so precious and cute, I love to see how a professional photographer can bring it out. I also like to hear how many people come to the same conclusion as I...my boys are the cutest anybody has ever seen!! :) After pictures, we had dinner and then went grocery shopping. (It is always better for us to go shopping after eating, we are more likely to stick to our list and get less extra stuff just because we feel hungry at the time.)
Sunday morning the boys and I went to church. We had guest Pastors and Evangelists from Russia. It was amazing to listen to their testimonies. All who had testified had been slaves to drug addiction for eight years or more, and God's saving grace took hold of each of them and for the last eight or nine years, they have been spreading the Gospel to those still enslaved. They have started a rehabilitation center and a child care center, where children of broken and poor families can come and stay, go to school. Joey had fun in the nursery again. He should be in a big boy class, and he has been asking to go ever since he turned three, but call it bad timing, they had a flood downstairs and started remodeling at that same time. Pastor said this morning that they should be laying carpet on Tuesday, so hopefully they will be able to reopen the 3-5 year old class next week.

Tomorrow, we are hoping to go to Jewel Lake, where there is a park with swings. Joey wants to take his ball so he can play catch with Daddy. Baby Nick will be able to swing for the first time (other than a baby swing) and I expect that he will like that. I hope the weather holds up, it has been overcast and a bit rainy this weekend. Nick will probably go fishing tomorrow. Now that he has his license, he will go as often as he can.

We are eagerly awaiting the arrival of Aunt Angie. It is only 24 days till we can go pick her up at the airport! Joey talks about it everyday. Baby Nick is working on his walking, trying to get ready to 'wow' Aunt Angie with his ability. (We'll see if it happens by then. I'd be surprised if he did walk by next month, but I'd also be surprised if he didn't.)

One last thing before I go...The pictures I added to the blog are of some funny things I saw Baby Nick do today. First, he climbed up on the stool, and not just kneeling, like he has done before. He got all the way up on his feet! What a big boy. When he saw that I got the camera out, he turned his head toward me and smiled big for a picture. He is such a ham and loves getting his picture taken. The second picture is showing how he read the Sunday paper. When Nick came home from fishing, he stopped and got breakfast (donuts from Freddy's) and bought a paper as well. I haven't read a newspaper since I left Oregon! That's nine months without a paper. Baby Nick got hold of it and, well, you can see the results. Then he laid out on top if it and 'read' it.

I hear Baby Nick waking up, so I better go. Lots of love to our families and friends. Enjoy your Memorial Day.

Just Checking In

There is not much new here, just going about everyday life. The weather has hit a gray/rainy spot, so it is not as nice out as it has been.

Baby Nick started clapping yesterday...a new 'first' for him. He is very proud of himself.

Bubba knows he is going to be four on his next birthday (a year from now) and sometimes it is hard to convince him that he is not four now. He keeps talking about how he will eat his 'berpbay' cake and open presents.

Baby Zach is here for the last time today. I will still get to see him at church, so that will be nice.

Have a blessed day.

Weekend At Luty's

Good Evening! Or should I say good morning, as it is now after midnight. (It's about the only time I can get the computer.) It was a beautiful weekend in Anchorage. Temperatures have stayed in the upper fifties (I'm guessing, I haven't kept track.) The skies were clear and the sun shone brightly. I know the temperatures don't seem all that high, but after spending so many months below freezing, it is very nice. Nice enough for the boys to be in shorts and to drive with the windows down!

On Saturday, Nick took Bubba to a "Walk For Life" event where his boss was a DJ. There were lots of fun things for Joey to see, and they walked two laps around the track! That's half a mile for Bubba's little legs. He had so much fun. Then we went to Wal-Mart and bought him some new clothes with some birthday money. We got two shirts and two outfits for just over $20. I love getting so much for so little!
I just couldn't help taking pictures of the boys as they got ready for church. They are way cute. Baby Nick was dressed in his basketball "uniform." This was the first time he wore it, and it fits perfectly. This was what Aunt Megan got for Joey at his baby shower. Joey was only able to wear it one time, so I wanted to make sure Bug got a bit more use out of it. Seeing the boys dressed in this always makes me think of my little sister, of whom I am abundantly proud of.
How handsome is he?!? This is one of his new shirts we got on Saturday. He is looking so much like a big boy. As you can see, we finally found a place that knows how to cut hair for little boys. I was much happier after this haircut. I am hoping to be able to get their pictures taken next weekend, since it is time for their next "milestone" pictures; Joey's three year and Baby Nick's nine month pictures.
I wish you could see this better, but if you are able to enlarge the photo, look behind the trees in the center of the picture, you will see a bright magenta and orange sunset. It was absolutely gorgeous.
I wanted to show you a picture of the night sky. Yes, I said night! This picture (and the one above) was taken at 11:15pm. Right now, the sun is rising about 5am and setting at about 11pm. By the time Angie comes to visit, it will not really go completely down. They stop setting "dusk to dawn" hours during the summer as it never fully gets dark enough. Since Angie's plane lands just before 2am on June 21, summer solstice, it will still be light out when we pick her up from the airport! I don't think even I am ready for that!

The countdown continues. Aunt Angie will be here in a month from right now. In fact, her plane is scheduled to land in about an month from an hour from this exact moment! The only reason I haven't told you that I have started the countdown for my parents' visit is that I know they will be here 13 days after Angie leaves. So that is the official number I am using for their visit and that will not change until Angie's visit.

Joey is getting so excited to have family come visit. He keeps saying, "I'm so exciting. (Meaning 'excited.') Aunt Angie comin' in my house next. And Nanny and Papa coming to me." He also tells me, "I'm gonna be a pilot when we grow up! Does Daddy want to be a pilot when he grows up?" Oh, Bubba, I don't think Daddy will ever grow up! (He's a boy, after all!) ; )

Baby Nick is walking more while holding on to my hands. But more amazing than that, is that he will walk holding one of my hands and one of Bubba's! He also has two teeth that are trying to break through. I can see the white tips of both just under the service of the gums, they are just being stubborn about coming out. That doesn't make for a very happy baby, but he is doing as best as he can with it. I'm sure he can't wait for them to finally break through.

Well, I should probably go. I still have a couple loads of laundry to fold and I have to be up extra early to be ready to have Baby Zach over.

Have a fantastic day!

Trouble With A Capital 'T'

...And that rhymes with 'B' and that stands for baby. Okay, so it is not a direct quote from the Music Man, but that is what I think of when I watch Baby Nick. The little stinker now knows how to open kitchen cupboards and drawers. It's bad enough that he refuses to stay still, now he is into everything he shouldn't be. I used to think that he couldn't sit on his own unassisted, but now I know that he refuses to sit still. Over the last couple days, I have made him sit up unassisted a few minutes everyday, to give him practice. He can do it....but after a few seconds, he gets back down on all fours and crawls away.

The two sounds that she laughs at every time he hears them are "Shh" and "No"! I am trying to get him to recognize that when Mommy says 'no' she means business. But he just looks over at me, smiles and giggles as if to say "You really don't mean that" and makes me smile. You would think that having already had a baby, I would be well practiced, but since I still can't keep from laughing at Joey when he's cute when in trouble...I guess there's no hope for me.

I have news, for those of you who don't know. I have another baby! Well, at least for a few hours a day for a few days. I was introduced to a lady at church a couple weeks ago who was about to take in a foster baby, but before she could get him, she needed daycare set up. Since Lenore knew that I wanted to babysit for some extra money, she introduced us. Baby Zachary is almost a month old, but was born premature, so is smaller than both my boys were at birth. Baby Nick is thrilled with another little one, but since he hasn't learned the art of being gentle yet, I try to keep Zach up out of Baby Nick's eager reach. Joey is just as sweet with Zach as he was with Baby Nick when he was born. The first morning, Joey woke up, came downstairs to see Mommy holding another baby, and gave the first good morning hug and kiss to Baby Zach. I had to practically beg for loves! Baby Zach's foster mom is a teacher, so she will not need care past next week. But she will need care next fall and will bring him back if I can get my license before then. Since he is a foster child, and the state pays for care, they require it be at a licensed facility. It would be an answer to prayer to have even one child to watch, bringing in a little extra money without my having to get a job outside of the home, leaving my boys in some strangers' care.

Here are a couple pictures of Baby Zachary. He's cute, but I'm sure none of you would blame me if I admitted I felt my boys were cuter! So far he is sleeping much of the day, but hopefully he will start staying awake more during the day and sleeping more at night.

Budding Genius

Joey is nearing genius! I am sure you will all agree that I am not just speaking as a biased mother, here. Here is a picture of his brilliance.
I drew 'A', 'B', and 'C' in dotted lines and asked Joey to trace them. He has practiced with his LeapPad, but he has never seen how the lines connect, as the LeapPad does not have ink. I have watched him practice and seen that he has done very well, but I was amazed at how well he did in actuality. The 'B' is the hardest of the letters he tried. If you can make it out, you can see that he kind of made a 'D' and then added the cross-line in the middle. I was so proud.

The next thing that surprised the socks off of me was at bed time. Nick took Joey up to bed and he, completely on his own, asked to sleep in his big boy bed. I don't think he has even laid down on his big boy bed in six months or so! This is amazing. I was most nervous about taking Baby Nick to bed, since he will usually cry for a little bit, and Joey wasn't asleep yet. But so far they have done fairly well. Joey called down to us twice, make that three times (I hear him right now), and each time we go in, Baby Nick thinks we are there to rescue him from his bed. So we have to lay him back down and make him cry himself calm again. I guess Nick is tired of trying, so Joey is now back in our bed. Oh well. I guess I can hope that sometime in the next eighteen years, we will have our bed to ourselves. (I really do enjoy being able to cuddle with Joey, but occasionally, it would be nice to not share with a bed hog.)

The boys had their Well Child Check-Ups yesterday and both did very well. They were seen by a different doctor as their pediatrician is out on maternity leave. Dr. Pulliam was very nice. She has a three and a half year old and a seven month old, so her kids are nearly the same age as our kids, so she certainly understands dynamics of the children's development.

Baby Nick is still our tall, gangly child. He was measured at 29.75inches which is in the 90%. According to the measurement, he only grew 3/4 of an inch in three months. I knew that his growth would start slowing down, but this was almost a complete halt on his growth. But as Aubrey pointed out, the measurements could be a bit wrong on both ends (a little high last time, a little low this time). It is awfully difficult to measure a squirmy-wormy! He weighed in at 19 pounds 2 ounces, which puts him in the 25%. His head circumference, at 46 centimeters, is in the 70%. (Joey, at nine months, measured 28.75 inches, 22lbs 9oz, and 47.5cm.) Baby Nick did not need any shots, but they did a finger prick to test for anemia. He was found to have slightly low iron, so he was recommended to take a daily multi-vitamin drop.

Joey is also growing well and is still our much shorter child. I still think he will hit his growth spurt later in life, but as of now, he is showing a tendency to be short. (At least compared to his father.) He was 36.5 inches tall, putting him in the 25%. And he weighed in at 30.6 pounds, putting him in the 40%. The most important thing they look for at this time, is that he is on the same growth curve as he was at his last appointment, which was at two years old. Joey got one shot, and did amazingly. He, strangely enough, is afraid of band aids, and when he saw the nurse come in with two band aids open and ready for use, he said in a very timid voice, "I don't want an owie." We assured him he would be okay and when he was given the shot he whispered, "Ouch" and that was it. He didn't bleed, so he didn't need a band aid, which made him feel better.

The appointment went well and the boys are healthy. Joey will not need to be seen until next year, and Baby Nick will go in for his 1 year appointment in a short, three months.

Three Quarters Of A Year

Is it possible? My baby is 9 months old already. Three very short months remain until he has his first birthday. It's inconceivable! (As Inigo says, "I do not think you know the meaning of this word.)

Tomorrow the boys will have their doctor's appointments and I will have more to report as to how big they have grown. Tonight's blog will be short as I have a couple grumpy kids today. I tried posting this blog yesterday (as I try to blog the month-versaries on time) but our internet was down. So it is a little late.
I think these pictures show the most difference in how the boys look now. It is still obvious they are brothers, but their features are becoming more distinctive in their uniqueness. They are both so preciously cute, though.
Bubba is definitely more chubbalicious! His hair was a bit longer and curlier than Baby Nick's is now, but Nick's is showing a tendency to curl a bit. Bubba is more round in his facial structure, and Baby Nick is more square. Now, more than ever, you can see how Bubba takes after Mommy and Baby Nick takes after Daddy.

Happy Mother's Day! I hope all you moms had wonderful days and were shown how special they are. (I better go take care of my grumpy boys now.)

Normalcy Has Its Place

There is not much new happening up here in Alaska. Spring is finally coming. The trees are blooming and the grass is working on turning green. It has been drizzly all week, which is good for making the world green. The sun is rising before 5:30am and setting long after 10:00pm. Just this evening, I was feeling the desire to call someone from home, just to talk and chat about the day, and I realized that it was already 9:30pm here, meaning 10:30pm at home. It looked so much like 6:00pm that it reminded me of having dinner with the family, then meandering out to the porch to visit in the slightly cooling summer evening. Not that the temperatures reflect that fantasy, but the daylight does.

The countdown is on....only 40 days until my sister-in-law, Angela comes to visit. I am just short of marking the days off the calendar in bold red ink, but I think I will try to contain myself to a quiet countdown. I will try to wait for just a week, or five days, to start counting down with Joey. He can kind of wrap his mind around those numbers.

Since getting his fishing pole, and practising with Daddy nearly every night, Joey can't wait to go fishing. Daddy calls him his "fishing buddy." Joey walks around the house saying, "You am my fishing boy. We go fishing, will be fun."

Joey has started being very declarative in his affirmations. When asked a 'yes' or 'no' question, where the answer is 'yes', he answers with a very firm 'YES.' Not even a 'yeah.' As if it is of the utmost importance that you clearly understand him. He also puts a complete phrase to his answer. For example: "Joey, did you sleep well?" "Yes, I did sleep well." "Do you know I love you?" "Yes, I do know." He is no longer answering with one word answers. He is very 'grown-up' in his answers.

Baby Nick is also growing up so fast. He has become a much happier little boy. I love that he is going to sleep on his own, and for the most part (knock on wood) is sleeping through the night. If I can feed him for the last time between 9pm and 10pm, I can lay him down after he eats and he will usually sleep until around 6am. The nice thing is, there are several days I am lucky enough to lay him down in bed with us for another hour before he demands to get up and eat. That allows me a more gentle, slow waking...which is very nice. Occasionally he will get up far too early, but when that happens, he will usually go right back to bed for another hour or so and I can lay down again for a bit.

He has become quite proficient at walking along and between the furniture. He also enjoys walking with the push-walker. He will go up and down the length of our house as long as I am walking behind him to help him 'steer'. You would think that a baby who can't steer could walk a straight line...but I suppose small obstacles in the way and the shifting of his weight changes the course of his path. Not to mention that he can't make a 180 degree turn, so once he hits one wall, I have to turn him around till he hits the other wall! The more confident he gets, the closer he will be to walking on his own.

I was loading the dishwasher while cooking dinner last night and Baby Nick kindly offered to help. He would thoughtfully remove the dirty spoons and lick them clean. I asked Nick to remove him so I could finish more quickly. I watched Nick walk back to the living room with the little helper and turn around and sit down in the recliner. About the time I saw him sit down, I saw Baby Nick back at the dishwasher grabbing at the spoons!! Man, he is fast! I said, "My helper is back." And Nick couldn't believe it. "I JUST put him down." I also can't eat my own food without Baby Nick demanding that I share with him. I can try setting him on the floor so that I can eat, and on the way down, he is twisting and turning in my hands, trying to get his mouth closer to the food. I was trying to get Nick's attention as to how ardently Baby Nick was trying to get my food, and in the process, almost lost a full grown-up bite to Baby Nick, he got that close before I was able to pull the spoon away.

Well, it is very late, and I still have my Bible study blog to do. I will wish you all a blessed and restful night and pray your Friday will be the same.

Silly Bug

I love this picture!! Most know that trampolines cause static electricity. Alaska is very dry, also causing extra static electricity. So, when you jump on a trampoline in Alaska, you are in for a "shocking" experience. Baby Nick absolutely loved the trampoline. Every time he would crawl around on it, he would build up such an electric charge that you knew you were going to get a jolt when he came over to be held. It was so funny, as soon as you touched him and got shocked, his hair would fall back down into place! Then he would crawl away and build the charge up again. I love seeing how much fun he is having in this picture.
Can you find the 'Sleepy Bug'? I put Baby Nick down for a catnap before church on Sunday, giving me time to take a shower. When I came in to check on him after my shower, I couldn't find him at first. Then I looked closer. I almost burst out laughing when I found him! Never, have I seen him root under his blankets like this before. Usually, when he cries himself to sleep, he falls asleep on top of his blankets. I laugh every time I look at this picture. Don't worry, Mom, after taking the picture, I removed the blanket from his face.
Since Baby Nick can climb the stairs, we have to keep the gate up blocking his access. On this day, he found a small gap in the defenses and tried squeezing his way through. It's hard to tell from this picture, but he managed to wedge himself between the toolbox by the table and the gate by the stairs. There was not much room to begin with, but he was determined to find a way around the blockade.

Baby Nick just got up from a nap and is very hungry. I will go feed him the most delicious Beef Vegetable glop!

Birthday Pictures

Joey had a great birthday. Here are a few pictures to help you feel as if you were there...since you were all invited.
Here is the Car's birthday cake. Joey loves Lightning McQueen and Mater. The cake was delicious and enjoyed by all of us.
Here is Joey enjoying his cake. He's much neater than he was at his first birthday, but he still gets it all over his face. (Why else do you think they make such bold colors on a birthday cake, than to see it all over a child's face?)
Baby Nick may look like he didn't enjoy the cake at all. But don't let his appearance fool you. He enjoyed the cake too much. This is the result when I told him 'his' cake was all gone!
Here is Bubba's new Tigger fishing pole. Joey and Daddy have been practicing casting in the house all weekend. It comes with a little rubber fish you tie on the end of the line to practice casting. Joey is getting really good, especially with reeling the fish in. The two of them will have lots of fun fishing this summer.
Here is the 'party table', filled with all the party goodness Joey waited for as patiently as any three year old can.

I know I invited all of you to join us for leftover cake, but I'm sorry to inform you that it's already all gone! I guess it didn't last as long as I thought it would.

Joey's Birthday!!

I can't believe I survived this day. I am now the mother of one baby and one pre-schooler. Gone are the idyllic toddler years. What am I talking about?!?! They weren't all idyllic days. (Most were pretty close, though.)

Joey had a good day. He found it difficult to wait until this afternoon to be able to open presents and eat cake and ice cream. As soon as he woke up, I say, "Happy Birthday! You're three years old." Joey responds, "We go get my berbay cake?" From that moment on, it was a struggle to keep him focused away from his party and the spoils that come with a party.

Randy and Cheryl came over to help us celebrate. I was very proud of Joey that once they arrived, he didn't dig right in to his gifts. He actually played while the adults visited for awhile. Then we had cake and ice cream. His cake was a Disney/Pixar's Cars, covered in black, red, and green frosting with a yellow border. Talk about your colorful mouths! It was topped with a Lightning McQueen toy car that when you pull it back along the ground and then let go, it soars forward. Baby Nick was thrilled with his first taste of cake. He couldn't get enough. If I took time to take a bite for myself, he was screaming at me. I think he will dig in to his cake on his birthday. Today I only gave him a few bites. He will go crazy when it comes to eating his own piece!

Joey made out like a bandit. From Randy and Cheryl, he got a fishing pole and tackle box. Daddy was very excited about that. From Aunt Frieda, he got two shorts outfits and a movie. He also got "dehydrated" towels that expand in hot water. And Baby Nick got a new toy as well. Thank you, Aunt Frieda. From Grandma Mary, he got some stickers, a card game, an activity coloring book, play-doh, and a book of children's prayers. Thank you Grandma Mary. From Grandpa Chuck, he got a Hot Wheel car. Thank you Grandpa Chuck. From Uncle Josh and Aunt Stacei he got Band-Aid gum, Play-Doh, and a bubble blower. Thank you, Uncle Josh and Aunt Stacei. From Rachel, he got a miniature toy basketball and frog. Thank you, Rachel. From Nanny and Papa Buddy he got a LeapPad for pre-schoolers. Hopefully Joey will get to talk to each of you soon to say his own 'thank you" to each of you.

We have tons of cake left over, so you are all welcome to come have a piece.

I also want to wish Paul and Angie a very happy 12th Anniversary! I love you both and miss you very much.

Home From Fairbanks

We are home from Fairbanks!! It is nice to be in a place where I can communicate again.

We had a really nice time staying with Roger and Barb. They so generously offered their house, and as we were saying our good-byes, Barb admonished Nick never to stay at the office again, rather to stay with them whether I am with him or not! I got to spend some time with my cousins Brenda and Sarah and their families. I only got to see Brenda and her boys Tony and Jacob for a few minutes on Tuesday evening...but hopefully next time we go up, we will be able to stay for the weekend and have more time to see her.

I did get to spend quite a bit of time with Sarah and her boys; Xavier, Xander, and Xaniel. (Their dad calls them his 'X-men'!) Xavier is six months older than Joey, so they had fun playing together, and Xaniel is only four days older than Baby Nick! Poor Sarah, she has one in between, too! And they keep her running. We were outside Thursday night, and Sarah would no more than sit down to take one bite of her dinner, when she would have to jump up, exclaiming, "I'm missing one (or two)."

They were so excited to have us, they think we should move up to Fairbanks so we can be close all the time. As much as I would like to see them more often, the next move we make will hopefully be closer to Oregon. (At least to a place where I can jump in the car and drive home every couple weeks or so.)

I took lots of pictures I will share with you when I am able. When we got home, we had a nasty surprise in that our computer won't turn on. I know Nick turned it off while we were gone, so how something broke on it I will never know. Hopefully he will be able to fix the problem quickly (and for no money) so that I am able to put all my pictures and videos on to share. Most of the pictures are of the kids on the trampoline, because that is where they spent a good portion of their waking hours. They loved it. Actually, I should say that Baby Nick loved the trampoline, and Bubba loved it as long as he was the only one on it, with the exception of Baby Nick. Joey did not like the sensation of being bounced around by somebody else, so he would stay off the trampoline if there were others on it.

There is much more to tell, but it is way too late and I have a busy day tomorrow. We have to get the house back in order after coming back from vacation, get all the birthday stuff together (pick up the cake, get the rest of the presents, wrap the presents), and then celebrate my son's third birthday. I still can't believe it. Both Nick and I agree that we have seen a marked difference in the way Joey acts from last week. It's as if he went to sleep one night a toddler and woke up the next morning a big boy. It's not in any major difference, but in the small things, like his facial expressions, or his phrases, or his grasping of a concept. The dawning of a new phase in his life. I wonder where this ride will take us?