Scattered

Despite the title of my last post, I'm not a big fan of change. It doesn't really matter, though, because change, it it a-comin'. Since I was pregnant with Noah, Gary and I have planned to have the boys eventually share a room (that was assuming Noah was a boy which, in fact, he is.) Now that Noah is in his toddler bed, the next step is to move Noah into Luke's room and to turn Noah's room into a play/scrap room. Sounds easy, right? Not so much. I spent several days last week going through the 10+ boxes of teacher stuff I brought with us when we moved here. They were in the closet in Noah's room, and it was essential to pare them down if we are to use that room in a different way. It was a blast to look at all the things I saved, but I now have enough distance from teaching that I was also able to see that much of what I kept I didn't need. So I whittled the 10 boxes down to 5. Hooray for me!

After we got Noah in the toddler bed, I put his crib and changing table on Craig's List. Last night a couple expecting their first baby came and bought them. I have no dresser to put Noah's clothes in, so they're on the floor in his room, and all the toys that were previously under the crib and, therefore, mostly unnoticeable, are in a pile in his room. I knew I couldn't live like this for long. Luke happens to be home sick from school today. He's running a low-grade fever, so he's not so sick that he needs my constant care and attention which freed me up to do something else. So I decided to use this forced stay-at-home day to be productive. I went through the toys in Noah's room and got rid of a lot and put the others in the toy chest in Luke's room (after cleaning it out first.) I sorted through most of Luke's closet and some bins with miscellaneous toys. I have a large pile of toys and books to take to the church for the nursery there, and I threw a lot of other stuff away. I love throwing stuff away!

I guess I'm just rambling now. The point is that I feel like it is now possible to turn Noah's room into a play room. The best part, for me anyway, is that I'm going to get a desk to put in there that I can scrapbook on. Any time I want. Without having all my stuff scattered all over the dining room. My very own little spot in this house dominated by boys and boy stuff. I will post pictures when the transformation is complete. Stay tuned!

Ch-ch-changes

My wee one is growing up. Fast. OK, so I know this is just a toddler bed, but it's not a crib! For some unknown reason, I was anxious to get Luke out of the crib and into this bed before he even turned 3. With Noah, I decided to wait at long as possible. I thought he would eventually try to crawl out of the crib and that would be what forced me to make the switch, but amazingly enough, he never tried to climb out. But now that he's basically potty trained (hallelujah and thank the Lord!!), he needs to be able to get up to go potty. So last Thursday we put this bed together and put him in it. He was very excited about sleeping in his new big boy bed. It took him a while to get to sleep the first night, and there have been a few times he has gotten up when he wasn't really supposed to, but over all it's going well. I'm pretty sure he'll never take a nap again, but he is still resting for an hour or so each afternoon in his room.

The whole potty thing has finally clicked with him, and he will even go by himself most of the time. I am no longer obsessed with if he's had an accident or if he will even get on the potty, and it's such a relief. He even used a public bathroom this weekend. He has been terrified of public bathrooms for about a year, so I knew this would be a difficult hurdle, but he told me on Saturday that he had to go to the bathroom, and he used the potty in Ikea of all places. Hopefully that means if we're out and he has to go he will. Whew! I wasn't sure I'd survive this round of potty training, but it looks like I just might make it after all!

Whew!

What a month it's been! Here are the highlights (and lowlights):

-Say hello to my little snaggle-tooth!
-Luke & Gary are in a group called Adventure Guides through the YMCA. They go camping a couple of times a year and do other activities including a derby car race.

This year they built a shark car. Pretty cool, huh?

Luke was so intense when he was lining his car up to race. It paid off!
Luke place 6th out of about 40 cars!

-Our spring break was March 15-19, and my plan was to do some hardcore potty training. Noah's been going on the potty for well over a year, but he was still in pull-ups and only used the potty when he felt like it. I bought underwear, a treat for the end of each day that he stayed dry, and steeled my nerves. Then he started throwing up on Friday evening. Amazingly he was better on Saturday and actually stayed dry all weekend. That changed on Monday when he had several accidents. Each day was a struggle, especially since I felt pretty yucky most of the week. He had accidents most every day, and by Saturday, I was at the end of my rope. I felt like after a week we had made no progress. Eloise, one of Noah's very special friends had her 3rd birthday party on Saturday, and I told him if he had an accident we'd have to leave (he had already had one that morning.) Sure enough, 30 minutes after we got there, he had an accident. I hated to make him leave, and we both cried the whole way home, but I felt like I had to backup what I said. Without getting too graphic, I finally realized the reason he was having pee-pee accidents is because he was extremely backed up on the other end. So after much coaxing, a bunch of Miralax, and one suppository, we got over that hurdle. Things aren't perfect, but they're going pretty well. My next hurdle will be getting him to go potty in a public restroom. Wish me luck!

-It snowed. On the first day of spring. We got 5 more inches. On the first day of spring. Did I mention it snowed on the first day of spring?

-I guess that's about all. It's finally starting to warm up this week so hopefully I'll be able to post some outside pictures that don't involve snow. Happy spring!

Noah-speak

A couple of weeks ago Noah came home from school and told me his friend Nick had "hody mody" in his lunch box. I asked him what he meant, and he told me the same thing again. I tried to figure out what "hody mody" was and asked yet again. Then Noah started talking to me like I was either deaf or foreign. He said very loudly and very slowly, "NICK'S LUNCHBOX." This went on for a while, and then I just gave up. Later that evening when Nick's mom Laurie, Nick, and his brother Ethan were over for dinner, I asked Laurie what Nick had in his lunch that day. She rattled off a list of things, and Nick exclaimed, "Holy moly!" Noah heard him say that at lunch when he opened his lunch box, and he thought "holy moly" was what he was eating. We all got a good chuckle out of it and have talked about it several times. Hody mody!

Happy heart day

(This is a side note and not in keeping with a post about Valentine's Day, but I'm quite frustrated with this blog right now because it won't let me change the order of my pictures. So, this doesn't look how I want it to look, but I'm just going with it.)

My two boys (plus one extra) enjoying heart-shaped pancakes.

Noah didn't take a nap on Sunday and was very crabby by the time dinner rolled around. I think that's pretty evident in this picture.

Happier times during the afternoon.

Notice Gary's unbridled enthusiasm for all things Valentine's. The pink Snuggie is nice, too, isn't it?

Boy stuff

Luke had his first sleep-over Saturday night. Clayson is a friend from church and school and also is on Luke's basketball team. This will not surprise anyone who has a boy, but they spent most of the evening wrestling. And wrestling. And wrestling. Good times!

Winter wonderland

We got 7 inches of snow last week. In Texas. The weathermen were predicting about an inch. They were kinda wrong. Even though I'm really ready for spring, I have to admit it was beautiful. I've never seen that much snow at once! The boys had a great time playing with all the neighborhood kids.

Having Canadian neighbors is a great thing because they let us borrow their real live snow shovel.
We also got to use their real live sled (instead of a swim ring or a piece of cardboard!)

Hoop dreams

Luke is playing basketball through the Y again this year, and Gary is coaching. What a difference a year makes! Most of the boys are able to actually dribble this year, and they score at least 20 points a game. We scored that many last year, but it was only because they got one point for hitting the rim. It's so much fun to watch!

Happy New Year!

I read this in my devotional this morning and thought it was a great way to start the new year:

"We want you to be blessed with joys deeper than any sadness, gratitude happier than any regrets, hopes brighter than the shadows of any discouragement, and the vitality to make of every day what God on Christmas Day made for all days."

Happy New Year!

Looking back

I've been thinking about some of the highlights of the past year today. There are too many to list, but here are the ones that come to mind.

-I've watched Noah change from a two-year-old who barely talks to a very chatty three-year-old. Our conversations throughout the day are many and, more often than not, lengthy. Although I sometimes wish for a little peace and quiet, I enjoy the way he rambles on (and on and on!)

-My sweet Luke became a first grader this year. He was born to go to school and, according to his teacher, is a model student. He loves going to the library every week and usually checks out books about animals or bugs.

-My honey and I celebrated 10 years of wedded bliss on June 19! It's hard to believe we've already been married 10 years! The first 10 years have been filled with, among other things, a move half-way across the country and two lively boys. Who knows what the next 10 will bring!

-I had a great scrapbooking weekend at Pine Cove back in January and even got a bonus weekend with my friend Adriane. She and I got a hotel suite in Frisco in August and spent the whole weekend scrapbooking, watching TV, and reading books. It was fun and relaxing and we're hoping to go again in 2010.-I coordinated our church's second annual bazaar, and it was an even bigger success than last year's. I had a blast planning it and watching it come together. I'm already thinking about ways to improve next year's bazaar.

It seems the older I get the quicker the years pass by. 2009 is almost in the books, but there are lots of great things on the horizon in 2010...another scrapbooking weekend in January,

my 20th high school reunion, another trip back to South Carolina to see friends and family, and, I'm sure, lots of surprises. Happy New Year!

My Thanksgiving Prayer

Dear Heavenly Father,

I have:
-a husband who loves me, is a wonderful father, and is a hard worker. Thank you.
-two boys who have brought joy, laughter, and fulfillment into my life. Thank you.
-a mother who loves me unconditionally and who is my favorite person to shop with. Thank you.
-a sister who despite time and distance will always be one of the happiest parts of my childhood. Thank you.
-a Nana who is one of my favorite people and who will always think of me as her "Bitsy". Thank you.
-a friend who will do anything for me and who totally gets me. Thank you.
-a church who has strengthened my faith, given me great friends, and has encouraged me to serve others. Thank you.
-blessings beyond measure. Thank you.

Happy Thanksgiving!

Recovering

On Monday Noah had his tonsils and adenoids removed. I know this is considered a "routine" procedure, but there's nothing routine about sending your child off to surgery. I've heard this can be life-changing, so I was hoping we'd made the right decision. When our doctor came to talk to us after the surgery, he told us Noah's adenoids had been blocking about 90% of the back of his airway and that his tonsils were extremely large for a child his age. I felt so relieved to know that we had indeed made the right decision. They kept Noah in the hospital overnight for observation, and he chose to have his Daddy stay with him. I felt a little guilty about going home Monday night, but I figured I've logged enough night-time hours with both boys that it was OK for me to sit this one out. Between the IV alarm going off and both of them sleeping in a twin bed, they didn't get much sleep on Monday night.

Today is Wednesday. Noah had a rough morning, but he perked up around 10:30 and actually ate a good bit of lunch. The most amazing part is listening to him breathe out of his nose. The breathing will only get better as the swelling goes down, another indication that this was the best decision for him. So, we'll muddle through the next couple days as best we can and will look forward to a new and improved Noah in the days to come.

My boys

Headed off to Home Depot to build something with their Daddy.

Fun run

About a month ago Luke told me he wanted to participate in a 1-mile fun run that his teachers talked about in P.E. I was really surprised he wanted to do it. Luke is not usually a fan of anything that takes effort and energy to do, but since he wanted to, I signed us up. It was pretty chilly the morning of the race, but we bundled up and headed out at 7:15.

Warming up before our big race!

Luke is also not a fan of being cold.

He asked SEVERAl times how much longer we had to go. The whole thing only took about 20 minutes, but you would have thought we were running a marathon.

Finished at last!

Sing, sing out loud

Say what?

I think I've shared recently that Noah's vocabulary has increased exponentially in the past couple of months. He is talking and talking and talking and talking. It's hard for me to believe that I was ever worried about his speech. So, here are a few recent conversation snippets:

-"Guess what Mommy? I love you!" (This melts my heart every time he says it.)
-"I love my Mommy." (The heart-melting goes with this one, too.)
-"Mommy my friend." (More heart-melting.)
-More often than not when you ask him to do something like brush his teeth or put his shoes on, he'll say, "I already did" whether or not he actually has. As Gary said, we're going to have to watch this one. But I love that he uses the word "already".
-When Luke did something for Noah a couple of weeks ago, he said, "I 'preciate that, Bubba."

There are many more, but this gives you a glimpse into everyday life around here.

First grade

My baby is in first grade! He was so excited when he

woke up Monday morning. He has a

wonderful teacher who is sweet and kind, and I know it's going to be a great year for him.

Birthday bash

I recently celebrated my 37th birthday, and two of my sweet friends threw me a party. The theme was "Hollywood Glamour", and the invitation said to dress as your favorite movie star. To be honest, I wasn't all that excited about dressing up at first. I thought and thought about it and finally decided not to dress up. But then, while searching for costumes online one last time, I came across the idea to dress as Britney Spears. Not the cute "Hit Me Baby One More Time" Britney, the trashy, walking in gas station bathrooms barefooted Britney. I was sold. I already had most of the things I needed (I'm still not sure if this is a good thing), and was able to find the rest pretty easily. I am so glad I decided to dress up because it was a hoot! There were lots of other great costumes, too, and I think everyone had a good time (I know I did!)

Miley, Britney, & Sandra Dee

Tori Spelling, the Playboy Bunny, Miley, Britney, Angelina, & Sandra Dee with Hef
Phil Mickelson (Gary's sad attempt at dressing up), Brad Pitt, Hef, Billy Ray, Joaquin Phoenix, and Dean McDermott (Tori Spelling's hubby)

Look how cute my cake is!

Noah sings the ABC's

It's been too long

I had no idea it had been almost two months since I've posted anything new. Yesterday it was my 10th anniversary, and now we're 3 weeks away from starting another school year. We went on vacation for two weeks (and had a great time), and now we're living the lazy days of summer. Life is chugging along.

I sometimes think about giving up this blog. I won't, though, because of my most faithful reader, my Nana. I know there are 1 or 2 others out there who stop by to read it from time to time, but my Nana loves it too much for me to stop altogether. When I get this far behind, it's sometimes overwhelming for me to get caught up, so I think I'll just start with the most recent past.

Luke turned 6 last Thursday. 6? 6! I just can't believe it. He'll be in first grade this year. We have taken our first foray into the world of hand-held video games with the Nintendo DSi. He LOVES it. I must admit I've played a few times, but I think kids his age are born with a natural ability to figure out video games. He's a whiz, and I'm quite the novice. His other newest passion is chess. Again, he's a whiz and I'm whatever is below novice status. He beat me today in ten minutes flat. Geez, that kid is smart.

Noah is 2 1/2. Boy, is he ever! He started asking, "Why?" last week, and I thought to myself, "Really? Really? Are we there already?" He is still such a hoot and is talking up a storm. Yesterday at lunch he said, "Mommy, I want more pretzels and more oranges." Just as clear as day. It's good.

Just so no one forgets how absolutely adorable my boys are . . .