A Week in the Life: Wednesday

2:00am - John came down because he wet the bed. Clean him up, put a diaper on and back in bed.

4:00am - John comes down again, I think his reason this time was because he was itchy. He has a lot of excuses that make no sense at all. Sometimes I just put him in bed with us, sometimes I take him back upstairs. I realize this is not consistent and we are just perpetuating the habit. He comes down at least once a week.

6:15 - Carl and I sneak out of bed. He gets ready and I do my bible study.

7:00 - Make the boys lunch (Turkey and cheese with no crusts, fruit, crackers and smoothie for John. Graham crackers and raisin for snacks).

7:25 - John up. Make breakfast, toast with cream cheese and jelly and mangoes. we talk about tornados versus hurricanes. odd. We flip through the fun run pics from the day before.

7:35 - Matthew up. Some of his first words in the morning are "snot mommy", "bubba?" "Daddy work" or "eat".

7:45 - the boys eat breakfast and watch Charlie and Lola and then Jo Jo's circus comes on. I am unloading dishes and end up having to turn off the TV because the boys are not eating. They finish eating, get dressed, chase each other and then ask for tattoos.

8:30 - start loading up, then head to school. John goes through carpool, and then I park and walk Matthew in his class. He leaps into Ms. Beth's arms.

9:00 - I try to go run a quick errand at the UPS store that ended up being a big bust. BLAH! So I rush back for Matthew's fun run.

9:30 - Back at school at the little kids playground with cameras ready. He has to wear the same size shirt as John wore, so I had to tie it up like a girl, so I put him in camo shorts to balance it out. :) He did do good. Just ran and ran, long after all the others were just playing on the playground (see bottom picture). He just kissed be goodbye like such a big boy.

10:00 - get home and blog about Sunday and Monday. only 3 days late. :)

10:40 - head to gym for a 11:15 Hot Vinyasa Flow yoga class that fills up real quick. I laid mats down for me and Marie (Cage's mom) so she can drop her infant off. I jump on the treadmill for a quick 10 minute warm up before class.

11:15 - 12:15 - Torture that I love. you sweat so much it literally feels like you are in the shower. I am addicted and wish I could go more than once a week.

12:30 - come home and finish up the twp blogs with pictures and videos.

2:00 - get kids from school. They love to run around outside in the empty space with Garrett and Logan and Logan's little brother Levi, this time Cage joined in too. You would think they had not just spent ALL day together. Matthew did not nap again. He has only napped 1 time at school, but they say he is quiet and will just talk with them while they eat lunch. They have to put his crib away from everyone else in the corner. :( They say he is happy and just talks to them, ask for bites of their lunch, asks for books or balls, etc. Stinker!

2:30 - A sucker when we get home (not sure why I agreed). They chased a little bouncy ball around for like 15 minutes straight then John asks Matthew if he can play by himself. So I take Matthew upstairs to change his diaper and burn a little time while John plays with his animals again downstairs. Matthew and I look through the fun run pics that I took of him. Then they have an everything bagel with cream cheese for a snack and I unload the their backpacks.

3:00 - Upstairs to play. John and I play 20 questions (his new favorite thing), the boys build a tower with the big blocks, they play with the piano thing that hooks to the TV. It is meant for toddlers, but I think John likes it more. The boys color a bit.

4:00 - Carl scares us, we did not hear him come inside. He takes the boys downstairs to show them the new swimsuits he bought them (I was not planning on buying new ones, as I have already bought a couple, and they do not need 14. love him! :)) Matthew and I play a bit longer.

4:45 - Carl works out, I cook dinner for the boys . The boys play in the living room with animals and blankets and Lego's and then on my bed.

5:15 - dinner. for the boys stuffing balls (diced chicken and stove top stuffing rolled into bite size balls), corn, oranges and crackers. I have a shakeology and Carl has leftovers from last night.

5:45 - head to soccer practice down the street at the park. LOVE THAT. All of the the boys except two he will go to kindergarten with, so that is awesome. John starts to complain about his ear hurting at practice. About 3/4 the way through practice and by the time we get home, he is in tears.

7:00 - home, ear drops and Advil for John. quick baths.

7:30 - bed for Matthew


8:00 - bed for John.

8:15 - I pick up the house because the cleaners are coming Thursday instead of Friday this week. I send pictures out to all of the Busy Bee parents of the fun run that day while we watch Survivor and Criminal Minds.

10:00 - off the bed.

A Week In The Life: Tuesday

6:45 - John comes down and wakes me and Carl up, apparently we slept through our alarms. We get up and I start prepping breakfast and we talk about the day and plays with toys.

7:15 - I go get MJ (I really have no idea what time he gets up or when he would get up, I normally just go get him when it is convenient for us, he never makes a peep. 2nd kid I guess). They eat breakfast (yogurt with cinnamon and sprinkles and a pear). I sit at the table with them and have coffee and say our prayer.

7:40 - John is drawing in his "forever book" (a binded book that I he only draws in every once in a while and I always put the date of the drawing and plan on keeping it forever) and Matthew is on the ipad. (After recording how much Matthew plays on the ipad this week, we decided we probably need to regulate his screen time). I make lunch for John (PB and honey, cantaloupe, goldfish and smoothie). We get dressed and play a quick game of greedy gator, pack up and then john teaches MJ how to sort the animals by color.

8:30 - Kathleen comes and John and I head out to school. Matthew loves Kathleen and he kisses us goodbye with a smile. I am not entirely sure what they did, but I know they went to the park, squirted bubbles with a squirt gun, sidewalk chalk and that he had macaroni and cheese and a hot dog for lunch.

9:15 - I go to the gym for a cardio workout.

10:30 - I went to Family Christian Bookstore to pick out my next bible study, as I finished my other one on Sunday. I also picked up 2 great books for the kids.

11:30 - I went to a friends house that had two babies sleeping but her school called and one of her kids had a fever so she had to go pick him up. I read a little bit while she was gone.

12:00 - I park in front of John's school because he is getting ready to do his Fun Run to earn money for the big playground to have turf. I do my bible study and then Carl pulls up next to me to surprise John too.

12:30 - Fun Run! The kids seemed to have a lot of fun.

Best Buddies (I can't get the picture any bigger for some reason)

1:00 - Home and let Kathleen go. Carl works out. MJ is napping. I run to the store, then prep dinner and do laundry.

2:45 - MJ wakes up. Nana picked up John from school today, so MJ and I go over there to play and pick him up. We all have snacks and chat and play for a bit. always a favorite thing and always hard to leave the fun!

4:45 - Home. boys play with Daddy and the marshmallow shooter that were in the surprise bag from Nana's and I get dinner on the plates.

5:20 - dinner. The boys had Rotisserie chicken, carrots and potatoes, and strawberries. Carl and I had the chicken and a orzo pasta salad with avocado, corn, tomatoes and black beans. It was good (it is on my pinterest)

5:45 - I go on a quick walk while the boys wrestle and play.

6:15 - the boys play, but I am not really sure what they did, because I fell asleep on the chair again. weird.

7:00 - Bath time, then they played follow the leader. Carl and I take turns showering.

7:30 - MJ picks the order of hugs and kisses and then we go up to read the new "The Toddler's Bible" I got him.

7:45 - teeth, potty, clean living room, to bed in time for book for John "Where is God?". John decided he wanted to try underwear again tonight, of course we said yes....

8:00 - movie night! Silver Linings Playbook. Not nearly as good as the book!

A Week In The Life: Monday

6:30 - Carl and I up

6:30 - I hear MJ, but hope he falls back asleep. I do bible study

7:00 - I start breakfast of dinosaur oatmeal.

7:15 - John is up and then I go up and get Matthew. The eat breakfast and play at the table (they can sometimes take up to 45 minutes to eat if I did not push them along). Then they play a bit in the living room with balloons and coloring. We start to get ready for the day.

8:20 - have a quick snack and then leave for the gym. Garrett and Elyse are also at the gym so they all have a fantastic time. Sometimes John will take Matthew into the toddler room so that "kids won't bother him" or "he won't get hurt", but most of the time, John wants Matthew with him. John also asks if they can dress the same on gym days so that the teachers know they "belong together". He is such a protective brother. With Elyse being there, she was all about taking care of Matthew. I wanted to take pictures of all the gym child care center because it is huge and the kids love it, but I was afraid they would make me stop taking pictures of other peoples kids. So this is how we found them after our "barbell strength" class.....love 'em all!

We stopped at the gym cafe to have a snack and talk about a plan for the rest of the day.

10:45 - We get home and Garrett and Elyse come over to play for a bit. The boys look at the fish charts, Elyse organizes all of the animals, they colored a bit, talked and played with balloons.

11:45 - John left with the Waters to go paint pottery.

Matthew and I played outside on the scooter for a bit and then came inside for lunch. PBJ and fruit.

12:15 - Nap. I cleaned up the house a bit then got in the shower and did my hair for our work dinner later that night.

1:45 - John gets home and has some cold pizza, strawberries and carrots for lunch. We sit and talk for a bit about the gym and the day.

2:15 - John has an incredible imagination and he plays with all of his animals with sound effects and voices and story lines. I fold laundry and watch.

2:30 - MJ up. We stay downstairs and John and I "exercise". I show him some yoga positions (which apparently he does at school and already knew some of them) and then he makes up some of his own. ("the double winged butterfly", "the rocking horse" and "the apple shrink"). All the while, Matthew is doing them with us or jumping jacks or acting like a robot "beep beep" or screaming the word "applesauce" (he does that a lot, for absolutely no reason)

2:50 - the boys go upstairs to play by themselves. They decide to make me "stations" of things I like to do. The only two stations we had time for were the exercise station (they had carried the 5lb weights and the push up bars into Johns room) and the coloring station. They also had a reading station set up.

3:45 - run to the store for some things for dinner and lunches for the week.

4:20 - play while I get ready. They played with balls and balloons and then they came into the bathroom with me. John pooped (takes a REALLY long time) and Matthew stood on top of his  potty seat and pretended to fish with his fishing pole.

5:00 - Kathleen gets here to watch the boys and Carl and I head out to a work dinner at Abacus. The boys do great. They hug and kiss us and tell us goodbye without any fuss at all! Dinner was amazing and I ruined every last ounce of working out that I had done for probably a week! I think I had like 6 courses.

10:45 - home. in bed. tired.

A Week In The Life: Sunday

I decided to squeeze in another chapter of "A Week In The Life" series because this is the last week that things will look like this. This week is a pretty typical week from after Christmas break until now.

Sunday:
5:30 - I am up and do bible study and clean up a bit

6:45 - we had our first sleepover less Brendan last night. Garrett stayed the night and they had a great time. (the played games, puzzles, did a treasure hunt, colored, ate dinner, played on the ipads, dart guns, bath time, glow in the dark bowling, etc) They spent the night in the sleeping bags in the playroom. I heard them about 6:45 as they were whispering down the stairs. They colored at the table while I made breakfast.

7:15 - I went to get MJ and we had breakfast (an everything bagel w/ cream cheese and an orange for Garrett, toast with cream cheese and jelly and fruit for my boys).

7:30 - Carl up.

7:45 - more coloring, playing on the ipad, getting ready for church.

8:45 - leave for church(we go to Prestontrail Community Church, it is pretty contemporary, but they teach the bible and we enjoy our time there). John and Garrett are in the orange room and Matthew is in the purple squares. They all really enjoy church and it makes my heart happy. Out of no where, John recites the bible verse he learned that day. Video attached. brought tears to my eyes.

 

10:30 - Home from church, only after getting a doughnut from the back parking lot of the church because we choose to park far away so that guests can park close, the boys encourage this so that they can get a "thank you doughnut". We just have some down time in the living room and play random things, ipad, wrestle, and somehow I doze off in the chair for about 20 minutes.

11:30 - lunch is spaghettio's, pears and crackers. I do some random chores and eat some grape nuts and Carl has a protein bar.

12:20 - nap for MJ. He doesn't like going, but as long as you promise him a book, he will go willingly. John and I play "guess who", "greedy gator", "go fish" and then he starts a craft at the table. Carl replaces light bulbs in the house and I clean the kitchen.

1:30 - John leaves for a birthday party with Garrett at Cosmic jump (trampoline place). Carl goes to home depot and I do preparations dinner (I like to do it throughout the day so that I do not have to spend an entire hour in the evening when everyone is cranky trying to get it ont he table), unload dishwasher and laundry.

2:45 - I wake MJ up and head to the birthday party to relieve Ashlea. The kids are having a great time and Matthew is being so well behaved and just fine standing with me or me holding him while the other kids are running like crazy. Carl finishes up around the house and then works out.


4:30 - I load all 4 kids up (John, Matthew, Garrett and Elyse) in the car and drop the Waters at their house.

5:00 - I start actually cooking dinner, and John and Carl organize all their fishing stuff (John's idea, but Carl was all about it) while Matthew does his own things, plays with balls, and the go fish cards, walks around and gets into things, etc.)

5:45 - eat BBQ pizza. I really enjoyed it. the kids ate the chicken off of it and then their fruit and other stuff on their plate. We have gotten in the fantastic habit of praying before every meal and the boys are the ones that remind us. Even Matthew called Carl out because his hands weren't folded one day. it was awesome!

6:15 - the boys are coloring at the table while I clean up dinner and Carl watches TV and checks in on work a bit.

6:30 - bath. They love bath. they would stay in there until the water was cold if I would let them. I use this time to either put up laundry upstairs or other upstairs chores, or I sit in there with them and play and talk.

7:00 - the boys run crazy playing "I am going to get you", and screaming and laughing and entertaining themselves. Have to calm it down, so we pull out the ipads. I fold some laundry.

7:30 - I tell Matthew it is time for bed. The game is that he gets to choose who gets hugs and kisses first. He makes his rounds and then asks immediately for a book. We go upstairs and read two books and then he asks for a song once the lights are out. Right now it is usually the "Itsy Bitsy Spider" or "Baa Baa Black Sheep". I normally throw in "Jesus Loves Me" and "You Are My Sunshine"

7:45 - Teeth, potty and bed for John. He throws a little fit EVERY SINGLE night about bed. Not huge, but just enough to rub you the wrong way. Carl takes him up and has some time, then I come in and get on our knees and say prayers. We have started both saying prayers instead of just me. His prayers are always so sweet, pretty repetitive, but overall, he is learning it is important to pray.

8:00 - relax time :)

Happy 2nd Birthday Week: Dear Matthew

Dear Matthew:

Oh my precious little monkey, I don;t know where to begin to tell you how much you mean to this family. You are the sunshine on an otherwise gloomy day. You make our world more interesting every waking minute. All three of us cherish you more than you know.

You pick up at least 3 new word every day, I always ask you to repeat it to make sure I heard it right. To see you growing in your words reminds me how fast this goes by. There are still some words that only I can understand and the selfish part of me wants to keep it that way. A bond that only you and I have. Although John translates sometimes a lot better than I do.

When I stare at you I see the little boy coming out and the baby fading away, I am filled with pride and sorrow at the same time. I know I am losing a part of you, but only to be replaced by a different part of you that is as just as great.

The full blown fits have started, tears, screaming, body flailing and all; difference is, this time I know it will pass and I know how to stay calm with you and give you choices. I sure do wish I was that way when John hit this stage. I think you will have an advantage to my patience over your brother. Something I am hoping you can later rub off on him. By all means, that is me growing as a person and parent.

When you look up at me from your crib at night and say 'I love you mommy' with a huge smile on your face, it makes anything that was wrong right again.

You are already protective of me, just like your brother was and still is (a little bit). When you boys are wrestling in the living room, it is all smiles until Mama gets involved, then you stand back and start to cry and scream 'no'.

You are so goofy. Out of the blue you will bust out in some sort of march or wiggles or something, and when music comes on and I ask if want to to dance, you go for it! You know when you are trying to make people laugh, you like the stage a bit more than your brother, but still not a complete extrovert.

Most of all, I love to see you with a ball in your hand, as I know that is when you are the happiest. It is amazing how much you can already do with any ball you are given. You cheer for yourself when you do something good and say 'almost' when you miss the basket or don't catch the ball or score a goal. You will do the same for anyone else that will play with you.

Although you and John have some sharing issues at times, overall you are very giving and sharing. You take John any snack you are having, you always let anyone have a bite, and when asked if you will share you gladly hand it over, but with the disclaimer " riiiiiight back " with one finger up I the air. This your favorite phrase by far!

I can't wait to see you every morning, and I can't wait to kiss you goodnight every night. You make our world a better place!

Happy 2nd Birthday Week: Facts and Feelings

Oh baby boy, I love you, I am sorry that is April 13th and I am just now finishing your Birthday Week blog. More than a month has passed and things have already changed a bit, but I here we we go (again).

Facts:
*Height: 35.5 in (78%)
*Weight: 28lbs  (50%)
*Head Size: 20cm (93%)
*Still sleeps in a crib and through the night. I have not been up there at night in probably a year. tells me "I love you mama. Bye Bye Mama." as I leave the room. (cue melted heart)
*wears 2T easily and in some brands needs to go up to a 3T.
*He is a starfish at Stonebridge United Methodist and loves school. This is the only year the boys will lapse in school. They both like it so much, and I am fully aware that this might be the only time that they both love this.
*Goes to swim school and LOVES IT!
*Not sure he would survive without the DVD in the car. :(
*started saying his name on Good Friday!!! still won't say John, he calls him bubba.
*you are fatty fatty and I love it!


Feelings:
*Would choose John over anyone or anything else 97% of the time.
*loves balls more than any other toy or game
*He has just started to watch a little TV when John does, so basically anything on Disney Jr. and Nick Jr.
*showing a lot of interest in the ipad.
*says "mama hold" WAY too much
* swimming is by far his most favorite thing to do right now. He has no fear and wants to figure it out himself. Thank goodness he can hold he breath for 6 seconds and expanding that every time, because he just jumps right in and starts kicking.
*Doesn't really have any best buddies, less bubba of course. He has his classmates that he likes, but no one in the neighborhood, so not convenient to see them frequent. Although he would perfer to run with John and Garrett over anyone else anyway.
*loves him some mango!
*pretty much tags along with whatever we are doing, very easy going and easy to entertain.

Happy 2nd birthday week: when I picture you...

I picture you....

- galloping around the island chasing your brother, or not, with a snack in hand and food in your mouth.

- throwing all of your animals and blankets out of the bed before you will let me get you out.

- keeping up with the big boys at johns play dates and honestly not realizing you are three years younger.

- chasing you and a soccer ball off the field during one of your brothers games.

- blowing kisses

- yelling at your ' bubba' to come eat or come to bath (bas)

- sitting in the little red chair with iPad in hand. Not really playing anything, but thinking that you are.

- pointing to your chest with an 'm' sound coming out when you are referring to yourself.

- doing whatever your brother is doing.

- getting a snack out of the pantry, 'asking' for permission and the only after I say yes you will go and get John one of the same thing and take it to him, whether he wants it or not.

- 'helping' me take out the trash to the garage.

- with a ball. Throwing it, rolling it, trying to spin in it on your finger, kicking it, bouncing it, etc.

- jumping on the trampoline.

- sleeping through the night for months and months. Easy !

- standing in some corner when you have been given a time out, then walking back over to me with shoulders as low as they will go and a pitiful look. Followed by a 'sorry mama'.

- screaming 'mine' or 'stop bubba' frequently

- wobbling into school with your yellow and grey backpack that is bigger than you holding my hand to stay upright.

- hugging and kissing John with the most genuine love and affection.

Happy 2nd Birthday Week: A year in pictures

April 2012 to March 2013... somewhere in there he got hair!

Happy FIFTH Birthday Week: Dear John

Dear John:

Five years old seems like such a milestone in a child's life. For you, I see you teeter tottering on the big boy fence. I eat up pieces of that and get frustrated with some of it too. You love a good nursery rhyme CD just as much as "One Thing" by One Direction, and you know the words to several pop radio songs (thank goodness you don't know what a lot of it means though). You can do so many things by yourself but you would prefer us to do it for you any day of the week. Mostly you revert to baby tendencies when you are with me and act a bit more mature when I am not around.

I know I am your comfort zone and I want it always to be that way. I want you to always know that you can come to me about anything. At this age, you really use it to push my buttons though. The fits, although less often, are still a presence in our daily lives. Daddy and I have started a new technique that we are sticking too and it seems to be working for the most part. After reading a lot of books and articles and talks with friends and family, the Bible pointed me in the right direction with love and discipline, underlying love most of all.

You confuse your feelings quite a bit right now and when you are embarrassed or in pain you think you are angry. I am sure that will sort itself out soon. You are still either HOT or COLD about anything. There is no in between or indifference, you are your fathers son. You do not crave the spot light, but will step up to the task if you feel compelled. When it is just you and me and Matthew you will dance up a storm with me and I love it. I hope you dance like no one is watching the rest of your life. I wish I would have. I do now because of you kids and love every second of it.

Matthew is your best buddy and worst enemy right now. He does anything you ask and loves to be with you more than me most of the time, but he also takes attention away from you when you want it. I know it is hard to understand that one day you were that little and you got all that attention too. You are so protective of him. You will NOT let him out of your sight or lag behind us if we are in public at all! You get frustrated with me when I won't carry him when he is going slow. You even stick up for him when your friends are not careful of him. Another trait I hope you keep. Permanent playmates.

Meal time for you and me is one of the most challenging parts of our day. Your tastes seem to change with the wind, but really I think it is just your moods. All I want is for your pants to stay on! But I won't give in to the unhealthy choices every day, I know that starting the habit of healthy eating now will only help you to continue that through life. Don't think you are deprived though, you get special treats plenty!

Seeing your genuine smile when we tell you something you want to hear or when you do something all by your self for the first time, or you see something funny on TV, or laugh with your brother is the most amazing and fulfilling part of my day.

Watching your imagination when you play by yourself (and typically your legos or animals) is awe inspiring to me. I have little imagination, so to see it so naturally in you makes my heart all warm and fuzzy.

You have started to realize there are real evil things in the world and it makes me sad that your innocence is drifting away. You hear "weird" noises and think that something is in your room, and you talk about bad people taking things or hurting people. But you also mention Jesus or God at least once a day (excluding prayer) and it typically involves him being able to do anything (and you can come up with some curious things for him to do) or being bigger and stronger than anything. When I hear that it gives me peace that we have planted a seed in you and hope that you will always want to know more and be closer to God. He gave us to you and will see your faith to completion.

We love every piece of you!

Happy FIFTH birthday: when I picture you....

I picture you....

- crawling into our bed in the wee hours of the morning because your hand is asleep, or you thought it was morning, or you had a question, or you dropped your animal, or...

- running your hardest on the soccer field in your red cobras uniform only to get to the ball in time to run the other way. Never giving up though.

- sitting on the red chair with the iPad fully engaged in stars wars angry birds, plants versus zombies, some zoo or dinosaur game, drawing, or searching for a free game with high star rating. :)

- giving me hugs and kisses and then tackling Matthew in his car seat with the same love and then watching your grey and yellow back pack getting out if the car and walking down the sidewalk at carpool drop off.

- crashing anything into anything else, with impressive sound effects.

- genuinely thinking through which animal in the animal fort will be chosen each night to sleep with you.

- batting your eyes on purpose when you are trying to ask for something you think I will say no to.

- throwing your fists down to your sides, leaning forward and strongly expressing yourself through gritted teeth. This is not one of my favorites, but I see it often.

- dressed up in a cape, hat, binoculars, safari vest, glasses, shield, or any other apparatus you can find to pretend play.

- the look in your eye when you realize that a boo boo has blood. Down. For. The. Count.

- sticking your bum out at me and making tooting noises. And then laughing like it is the funniest thing EVER. Only to be encouraged by your brother laughing too and mimicking you. What is wrong with boys?!

- and Garrett making bird soup out of anything you can find in the pantry.

- helping your brother up and down the stairs.

- in pants that are too big in the waist, but too short in the length. #plumberscrack.

- fighting me every time it is time to get dressed. Every time! Guess it gets back.to never wanting to leave the house.

- telling me good night, you love me and to have sweet dreams every night.