The Month Of September

It is already the end of the month, and I have hardly blogged at all. I'll admit....it was because I was mad.

I was so mad at my experience of Joey's first day of school, I didn't want to blog about it for the longest time. Then, as time went by, I kept putting off getting back on the blog because I knew I would have to talk about his first day of school before continuing on to anything else.

Joey was SO excited to be starting school. I was excited for him, but afraid of how I would handle it if he came home crying. When it was time to pick Bubba up from school, I squealed like a school girl all the way there, so happy was I that I could go pick him up and find out how awesome his day was.

When Joey saw the boys and I waiting for him, he looked at me and started crying. I was worried about what had happened, and my Momma's heart was aching for him. I asked him what was wrong. He wailed, "I want to ride the bus!" I was hurt. After looking forward to seeing him after school, anticipating long conversations with him about every little thing that he did, he was upset to see me. Every question I asked him about his day got me a negative, pouty, Eeyore-ish answer. Now, I know that he had a great day; but he refused to share it with me. My memory of his very first day of school will forever be marred.

Joey has come to grips with the fact that I pick him up from school everyday. He is more willing to share the fun things he does in class, and his teacher has already told me that she feels spoiled with Joey, and that when she is with another child, she wishes that child can be more like Joey. (I know that she likes all her kids, but it makes me feel great to hear my son is special to her.)
Joey has gotten to ride the bus home twice now. A couple weeks ago, Nick needed the car, so we had to walk Joey to school. It took us 45 minutes! And then, I still had to walk Nick and Ethan back home. I decided, after arriving at the school, that there was no way that I would be able to make that walk again in just an hour, so I stopped in the office to let them know that Joey would be on the bus that afternoon. Joey's only comment about the bus ride he so anticipated, "It was a little long." He also got to ride the bus home again today and had the same reaction.

Little Nick is doing well. He is so expressive! He is talking so much more, and even if he is still difficult to understand, he is still communicating. His imagination is really taking off, fueled, of course, by his older brother. We go to the library after dropping Joey off at school at least once a week, where he can sit and color, do puzzles, or watch the lizard while I "shop" for books. The library in town is quite small, but it gives him an opportunity to do a "big boy" activity without his big brother. Joey can sometimes make Nick feel that he only gets to do "big boy" things because he is tagging along with the "real" big boy. (Older brothers will do that sometimes; I should know!)

When we came home in mid-September for Lisa and Brian's wedding, my cousin Kathy came over to take pictures of Nick and Ethan for their 3yr and 1yr portraits, respectively. She took some amazing pictures of both boys. Nick is very photogenic, even when he is pouting. I had a couple different outfits for each of them, and Nick did not want to change out of his first outfit, so he pouted most of the rest of the time. Only after Kathy allowed him to help take some pictures did he cheer up enough to give a couple more smiles. I can't wait to be able to get the pictures printed up. What I'm going to do is, pick a few out of the lot and let people pick their own favorites of each boy that I will have printed up for them.

Ethan....boy, what an adorable kid he is. He took his first "official" step (by accident) on Aug 15. After that, Nick and I would have him practice walking between the two of us. For the first week or so, we could get him to take one or two steps. Then, the next week, he would take three or four. When we came home in Sept., he was up to six steps. But that weekend, he started venturing out on his own a bit. That next week after we got back, he just started walking ALL over the place. I have even seen him stand up on his own (without pulling himself up) once or twice.

Ethan loves to jam. When he hears some up beat music, he is dancing and head-banging to the beat. He will also fake sneeze. I have tried to get a video of him doing it, but he is usually so interested in the camera, he won't "perform." But he is so cute when he does! He tips his head back as far as it will go for the "aaahh, aaahh" part, and then throw his head forward, making some semblance of a "choo" sound. It usually comes out on a laugh, because he is so tickled with himself. And of course, Mommy is tickled, too. I always say "God bless you", and that gets him going again.

Nick and his Dad will be flying up to Alaska on Oct 13 to get our stuff out of storage and make the 2500 mile drive back home. We should have our stuff by the 17th, if all goes as planned. Please pray for good weather and safe driving conditions. It is a little worrisome that there is talk of snow already. It's not necessarily the roads, as those are usually well plowed. It's more concerning that they might be driving through a snow storm. In a big U-Haul, that is a little more scary than in a smaller, personal vehicle. I think the thing I am looking forward to having back the most is the boys' bunk beds. They are so sick of sleeping on the floor in sleeping bags! I don't blame them. I'm also looking forward to Mom and Dad, and Grandma and Grandpa Dooley coming to help us unpack and find a spot for everything. Well, us girls will unpack....the boys will go golfing!

Well, I had to get the month of September chronicled before starting a new month. It's hard to believe that it is October already! Have a blessed week.

Sleepy Boys

Ethan fell asleep eating lunch, not something that usually happens. He is much to interested in eating, to fall asleep.
This is my son who is too big to take naps. He falls asleep on the couch after school at least 50% of the time.

The boys sometimes have a hard time going to bed, or taking their naps. When that occurs, I usually find them asleep int he doorway. (I have to put the gate up in their doorway so they don't keep getting out of their room. Even if they are out of bed, they are still confined to their room and eventually fall asleep.) This is the result....curled up in the doorway.

Pretty Pictures

Sept 19, 2009...Lisa and Brian's wedding at Rockaway Beach.

We stopped on the way to enjoy this most beautiful view from a lookout point. The weather was fantastic. I have always thought Oregon beaches are the most beautiful on the West Coast.
I can't even remember the last sunset I watched at the beach. This was a particularly spectacular one, better in person. I love how the towering clouds were painted with just a touch of color.

The newly wed couple Lisa and Brian taking a walk along the beach.

It's not often I allow pictures of myself to be taken, but we were at the beach, at a wedding, so I couldn't really get out of it.

We stopped and Mary's on the way home on Sunday, another beautiful day. Ethan loved the trees.

My Walking Baby Boy

Ethan has been so amazing. Last weekend (not the one we just finished, but the one before that) when we came down for Lisa's wedding, Ethan was still just walking a few steps at a time. But while we were at Mom's he started venturing out a bit more. He would let go of the furniture on his own, with no prodding, and walk a few steps to no discernible objective....just to walk. For the last week, he has been walking ALL over the house, practicing all day long. He can be so funny sometimes, looking like a drunken sailor. Sometimes he will switch directions, but we can tell it wasn't on purpose, because he starts going sideways a bit before getting his feet straightened out going the right way.

You can see at the end of this little video that he came to give "baby" kisses. What you may not be able to tell, is that he had the entire lens area of the camera in his mouth! I love how he lays his head on his shoulder in a look that SCREAMS cute!

Disco Baby

Joey is instructing Ethan in the groovy dance of disco. Ethan is a great dancer. He loves to jam.

Make Sure You Know Who You're Calling

Last Tuesday, Nick called me on his way home from work. As is his usual practice, when the phone was answered, he said, "Hey, Babe." What he didn't expect was to hear silence. So he pulled the phone away from his ear to make sure he called the right number.

He hadn't.

He had called his boss, Trish. "Trish" and "Trin" are next to each other alphabetically in his contact list, and he called the wrong one! Trish busted up laughing. Nothing like calling your new boss "babe" to break the ice!

First Day Of Kindergarten

Joey started Kindergarten today! It still seems a bit unreal to me. I suppose, through the repetition of school days, reality will settle in soon enough. Boy, was he excited to go! He was sleeping on the floor in our room last night, and when he woke up, he popped his head up and said, "I know it's my school day today!"

I survived our first "drop-off." We arrived at the school a bit early, so I took a few minutes to pray with the boys in the car. I started getting teary-eyed just a bit, but was able to reign it in. Of course, it was difficult for anyone to hear my prayer as Nick was screaming the whole time.

Yes, it was my middle son who had the hardest time. From the minute I started putting shoes on, till several minutes after we got home, Nick was screaming, "Me want Bubba!" As we walked Joey to his classroom, and as we walked back to our car, everyone passing us gave us looks of sympathy for the little brother being left behind. We tried calling Daddy at work to see if hearing his voice would calm Nick down, but Daddy was in a meeting.

When we got in the house, I took Nick in my arms to snuggle for a minute. I offered to let him call someone else since Daddy couldn't talk. He chose Grandma Mary. So we got to talk to Grandma Mary at work for a few minutes, making her day in the process.

The good news is, that after getting the kids home, it was time to put them down for a nap. I told Nick, that when he woke up, it would be time to pick Bubba up. In fact, he is just waking up now, and I was afraid I would have to wake him up. As he came out of his room, he asked, "Bubba home yet?" He is currently helping me type, which makes it quite difficult.

Now it is time to wake Ethan up and get buckled in the car. I can't wait to hear about Joey's day! I'll blog about it when we get home. Have a great day.

Fire Brigade

I think that all boys, at some time in their childhood, have a fascination with fighting fires. I believe that the passion runs deeper in my family, as we are surrounded by fire fighting heroes. My dad was a firefighter until he retired to work for LifeFlight. My Uncle Rob fought fires, my Uncle John volunteered. Now my brother Josh is a firefighter. Because of their influence, I have my own little fire brigade in my own house. Sadly, with budget cuts, we only have one helmet that must be shared between them. But don't they make an adorable team?!

So Much In My Head

I've had so much going on in my head (as crazy as that makes me sound) I have been unable to put it down into words. Every time I would sit at the computer to blog, I would become intimidated, and leave before having to face my blank computer screen. I will try to put some of it down on "paper" so that I can have a fresh mind tomorrow. Tomorrow is a VERY big day, and I have to be at my best....and I want to be able to blog about it tomorrow, and I know I won't be able to if I haven't "unloaded" what's already in there.

(Please excuse the mess....it's way past my bed time, and as I have previously stated, my head's a bit convoluted right now.)

Let's start with the boys' doctors appointments. Nick and Ethan had their Well-Child check-ups last Tuesday. This was the first time at a new doctor, and let me just say....I didn't really like her much. My husband liked her even less. I felt like she thought we were brand new parents who needed her advice on how best to raise our kids. She told us we should dress our kids differently, and told us that we should change Ethan's sleeping habits. There were lots of little comments here and there throughout the examinations that just irritated me. I would just smile and say, 'uh-huh.' Don't get me wrong; she was very nice, and if she told me something that I needed to do for the health of my children, that would be different. But most of what she had to say is more personal preference type things, if you know what I mean.

The important thing is that both the children are growing healthy and strong, and right on track for where they should be. Nick was 36 inches tall, and 31 pounds. Ethan was measured at 30.5 inches and 21.4 pounds. They are both happy children, except when the get shots. Without their records from the previous doctor, they may not have gotten all the shots that they needed, so we will have to check back with them later. I hope they don't need anymore. It is enough of a headache once.

After the doctors appt, we stopped by Joey's new school to drop off the rest of the enrollment papers. Then on Thursday, the school had an open house. So I took the three boys, all by myself, to see where Joey would be going to school, his classroom, and to meet his teacher. Then the PTO put on an ice cream social. I tried my hardest to skip that part....but with three kids, you've got to know that at LEAST one of them will spot (or smell) the ice cream and start a chorus with the rest of "please, please, please." So, with only one extra hand (as I had to push the stroller with one) I tried to get enough dishes of ice cream and keep the two not in a stroller from running all over creation. Needless to say, I was anxious to get back home.

Saturday, my husband turned 31. Yes, he is firmly ensconced in his thirties now. I'd call him an old man, but I'm not to far behind. Just under three months, to be exact. So I have to be careful how much I tease him about his age. We went out to dinner, but the rest of the day was his to do what he wanted. He relaxed by playing WOW most all day.

During nap time on Saturday, I took Joey school clothes shopping for the first time. I know that at this age it is pretty easy; I can get away with picking the clothes that I like. But it gave me shivers, shopping with Joey, to think of all the years to come, and how few of them I might get my way.

On Monday, the three boys and I went back to the school for a one-on-one meeting with the teacher. Joey will be in Miss Bellamy's PM Kindergarten class. It was a very short meeting, basically going over the paperwork she wanted to give the parents, and all the extra papers we have to sign. I like Miss Bellamy. She seems to really enjoy the Kindergarten age, and her eyes sparkle when she talks to the kids. I think Joey will have a lot of fun. I know he's excited.

And now....THE BIG ONE. Tomorrow. What a cornucopia of feelings I have about tomorrow. Joey's first day of Kindergarten. I can hardly breathe right now, thinking about it. For the most part, I am way so excited for him. He is going to have a blast. He will finally be able to spend an extended amount of time with kids his own age. He will be learning so many exciting things. And I can't wait to hear about it when he gets home.

But....this is my baby. What if he's not included by the other kids? What if he's laughed at for talking about his "little son Sam"? What if throws a tantrum because he doesn't get to do what he wants? What if he comes home crying? I won't be there to hold him if he gets hurt, or scared, or lonely. He probably won't be any of those things, but I hurt just over the thought.

And I can tell its bed time, because I'm getting weepy over my keyboard, imagining all sorts of horrible things. That's what happens in the middle of the night when I'm supposed to be sleeping. My mind won't shut up! So, I'm going to go now. I want to be as fresh as I can be, because tomorrow will be hard enough.

I have some great pictures I'll have to post later. And of course, I'll have "Joey's first day of school" pictures tomorrow. I'll be back tomorrow. Good night.

One Year Comparisons

I know you've seen two of these pictures very recently, but I thought I should put them all together in one place. Here it is, the last of its kind. This is the last comparison you will have to endure.

Joey, at one year old, my Chubba Bubba.
Nick, at one year old, my biggest ham.

Ethan, at one year old, my happy angel.

Weird

I keep track of the weather in three different; in Selah, WA where I live, in Forest Grove, OR where my parents live, and in Austin, TX where my brother and sister-in-law live.
Just now, it shows that all three locations have a temperature of 97 degrees!
How often does that happen?

I know, weird and pointless. But that is all that I feel capable of right now. Another weird and pointless thing; the death of a young, godly man.

Pastor Lucas Matejka was the youth pastor at Anchorage First Assembly of God where I went to church in Alaska. He was incredibly fun and passionate about the youth and worship. He felt God leading him to Australia where he moved while we were down in Oregon in March. I didn't even get to say good-bye.

Through Facebook, I found out that just today, he was in some kind of accident and passed away. I'm still in shock. I know that God is sovereign, and even in this, He is God.

Cake, Cake, Cake

I'll let the pictures speak for themselves, mostly.

He wishes he had a bigger mouth.
Just enjoying, clearly.

So sweet to share!

Awww, kisses!

And the results of said kisses.

Party, Party, Party

It was going to be a short trip. I didn't think to bring jackets for the boys. So when Grandma Mary took them to the park, they wore a couple of her sweater-coats! They sure look cute!

What a cute, precious angel he is! I can't get enough of him.

Or him! Nick can test my patience as nobody else, but he has such a sweet spirit, and can make me laugh so hard. What a jewel he is to me.

They are already sharing....sort of. All the kids play well together, for the most part.

Cake! Give me cake! I can just hear Nick's thoughts screaming out.

It's Happened

I can't believe it. It's true, Ethan is officially (since we celebrated early) one year old. I know I've said it before, but time just seems to speed up exponentially. My baby is one. I thought I would reminisce with you a bit.
Ethan was born on Monday morning, 8/18/08 at 5:46am, after just four and a half hours of labor. He was 8 pounds 12 ounces, and was 21 inches long. The first comment the nurse made was, "Look at those cheeks!" And when he was being washed up, he was already trying to roll over, out of her hands.

Ethan has always been a happy, mellow baby. The only time he would really get upset would be when he was hungry. And you can tell by how tiny and frail he was that I hardly ever fed him. No, he is well fed. He just seems to think that the food should be instantaneously in his mouth the second he feels hungry. He is so cute to watch when he sees the food close by. His whole body shakes with anticipation.

He spent so many hours in his bouncer. He loved that thing, until he was a bit more mobile. Before he started crawling, he was scooting, kind of a half army crawl. He would pull himself around with his left arm outstretched, and his right arm bent at the elbow. Always the same. He was very proficient at scooting; but once he was freed from the bouncer, he quickly developed the skills necessary for crawling, pulling himself up on furniture, and cruising around it. He still hasn't started walking, which I'm thankful for, but he looks like he wants to let go and step out on his own. I don't think that he will wait much longer before he finally does.

Ethan loves being like his big brothers. He is not often entertained with his own age-appropriate toys. He would much rather be a "big boy" too. Even now, a I'm typing, he is playing with Nick's new tool set rather than all the wonderful toys he got himself. He does enjoy those as well, don't get me wrong, but when his big brothers are playing with the tools, so is he.

And now, we have made it a whole year. One year ago today I was sitting in a hospital room, mostly all by myself, as Nick had to be home with the kids. I spent a lonely night, not being able to sleep, even though Ethan slept most of the time. He would wake up to eat every few hours, but would go back to sleep right afterwards. In the morning, I packed my stuff back up, got my own ice water from the break room while Ethan was getting his hearing test done, and waited for my doctor to okay me going home. I wish I hadn't had to stay so long; I was ready to be home by noon the day before. But they have to keep the baby for a full 24 hours before they release him, so I had to wait.

I can't imagine my life without all three of my precious treasures. They each bring their own special light to my life. They have also been asking for a sister. I will try to accommodate them sometime.

Also, I want to wish a very happy birthday to Grandpa Chuck. It is his birthday today, too.

Have a great week. The boys have their first appointment with a new doctor next week, and then we will be getting ready for school to start. The next phase of my life is just about to start, and I must say, I am more scared of it, than any other phase I have been through.

Belly Diving

Ethan has started a new, very interesting, activity. I don't think I have seen this from either of my other kids, not to mention from any other baby I have ever known. He cracks me up.

Also, when giving Joey loves, listen for Ethan saying "ahh". He does this every time, because he hears me say it every time. It makes my heart smile when I see my boys loving on each other.

Looking forward to coming down to Portland tomorrow. I love saying that. This is the first time that we will go 'home' since moving to WA, and it has only been about three weeks! Much better than three years between visits.

Ethan is done with breakfast and begging to get out of his booster. Gotta go.

First Cupcake

Although we are having a party for Nick this weekend, we didn't want his birthday to go by without a little memento marking the occasion. So Daddy picked up some cupcakes on the way home from work. (Nick was also allowed to pick what dinner he wanted, out of the three menu choices we had left!)

What an adorable kid he is! He's getting so big. (Tear)
Joey was excited that there were a couple chocolate cupcakes in the pack. Nick doesn't like chocolate at all, so Joey was able to enjoy something not often available to him.

Even though it is a few days before his first birthday, I thought he would enjoy some practice with the whole "cake" thing. Ethan was so funny. He picked up the cupcake like a bottle (much like Nick did on his first birthday) and tried to "drink" it. He went cross-eyed at one point, trying to look at his "bottle" and figure out why he wasn't getting anything out. It didn't take long for him to figure out this was way better than a bottle.

As you can see, he thoroughly enjoyed his cupcake.

I can't wait until he can show off his mad eating skills on Sunday.

Celebrating Three Years

It hardly seems possible, but Nick is three years old today. I remember the day he was born. I was ecstatic, knowing that I was finally going to be able to hold him in my arms. He was the brightest spot in a grey period for me. Here is Nick the day he was born; such a sweet, tiny (to me) baby.

Here is Nick the day he turned one year old. He was such a joyful, goofy baby (after he got over his colic.)

Here he is at two years old, apparently very serious about the business of opening presents.

And here is my ham-bone at three years old. He is such a big boy now.

Speaking of big, Joey has just learned how to hop on one foot! It is so exciting watching his face as he learns something new. I suppose that is one thing I can look forward to about him going to school; he will be learning new things all the time.

We will be headed to Portland on Saturday for the weekend. We will have a birthday party for both Nick and Ethan (whose birthday is in six days.) It will be nice to be able to celebrate with the extended family. This is the first time in three years! I'm very excited about that.

Well, I will go check on the boys. Ethan is still sleeping, but the big boys are ready for snack. Have a great week.

Smart Alec

This afternoon, I put the two little ones down for a nap and set Joey up on the computer for "quiet time." I told Joey that I would be in my bedroom doing my Bible study if he needed anything. Not five minutes later, before I had even begun the study, Joey joined me in my room.

I reminded him what I was trying to do, asking him very nicely if he could play quietly so I could concentrate. A few minutes later, he decided to play with Daddy's set of screwdrivers. The entire time, he was commentating his every action, and asking questions.

Finally, he came up on the bed with me. Through all his jabbering, I hadn't made a sound. Not one peep, not one reminder for him to play quietly. Out of the blue, Joey says, "Mom, you need to be quiet so I can build with the screwdrivers."

I had to laugh. He wasn't telling me to be quiet in a rude way, he was just parroting my instructions to him. I wasn't offended. But I found it funny that he had the audacity to ask me to be quiet when it was he who hadn't stopped talking. So I said, "I'm not the one making the noise!"

He looks at me and said, "Well, now you are." I couldn't stop laughing. What a little stinker. He can be such a joy, such a kick in the pants.

Just wanted to give you something to smile about. Have a great week.

Aunt Bonnie's

With each additional child, I tend to put things off longer....you know, with the developmental things. For example, Ethan will be one year old in twelve days, and yet tonight was the first time I let him feed himself dinner. We had Aunt Bonnie's, a childhood favorite of mine, and a good dish for a baby to be able to feed himself.
Ethan gobbled it up! He loved squishing the noodles through both fists at the same time. And although he had a fork, which he would occasionally put in his mouth with nothing on it, he preferred the time honored tradition of stuffing his face with his fist.

Here are some pictures of the results. This one shows his hair styling technique using casserole.
Here is an adorable "cheeky" grin, greatly improved by the four inch thick layer of sauce, reaching all the way above his right eye. Impressive!

Here you can see that he has the fork, posed and ready, yet chooses his hand instead. If you look close enough, you can see the noodles squishing between his fingers.

Taking a cautious bite in the beginning, he soon learned that he could down it so much faster by smashing his hand against his open mouth.

The clean up from this one meal that lasted no more than ten minutes to at least twice that long. Oh, the joys, of allowing your babies to grow up and learn new skills.

Eleven Month Comparison

I can't believe how fast time has flown. Since Ethan is only a couple weeks away from turning 1 year old, I thought I best get the eleven month comparisons done right away.

Here's Joey at eleven months, giving loves to Daddy.
Here is Nick at eleven months, loving being with Nanny.

And here is Ethan at eleven months, loving splashing in the pool.

I have so many other pictures to share, but since I have the boys watching a movie downstairs, I don't have a lot of time to myself. So I will make an attempt to come up at bedtime sometime this week and post some more pictures.