I've been a super-bad blogger lately. And an equally bad journal-er in G's little book.
And by little book, I mean, this little journal I have dedicated to once-monthly entries about his words, his funny thoughts, etc, that I've never actually started writing in...
Anyway, since this is the next best thing I wanted to share some of the silly things he's been saying over the last month or so.
Sheena: I love you buddy, do you love me?
G: Yep.
S: Who else do you love?
G: Dada.
S: Who else?
G: Dogs.
S: Who else?
G: Books!
S: Anyone else?
G: Beans! *Runs off to play*
__
Grant: Teddy bear go.
Sheena: A teddy bear went?
G: Uh huh. Mine.
S: Yours? I didn't know you had a teddy.
G: Yep.
S: What's his name?
G: Sauce.
__
*He has started calling us "Mommy" and "Daddy".
*He also begs for cheeseburgers every chance he gets. Erik is less than thrilled.
*He's really into coloring, which he calls "cuh cuh," this is also his word for cookie.
*Last night he told on himself for pushing a kid named Mary in the church nursery. He told us she cried. Ever tried post-gaming with a child? Not so simple.
*G is obsessed with removing dust jackets from books he finds laying around. I don't like them either. :)
*We started swim lessons on Saturday. He LOVED it and calls it "Schwim Classch"
*Before swimming on Saturday I was running around looking for the swimmy diapers I had bought for class. I had told G the day before to take them to his room, and he went upstairs, so I assumed he had - but of course, they were no where to be found. I kept asking and asking and he kept saying "Pee Pee," which kind of jived with the topic, so I just kind of brushed it off. Finally he called to me from the bathroom. When I got in there he lifted up the toilet seat and sure enough - a brand new package of swimmy diapers just hanging out in the toilet bowl. Luckily they were sealed. I was so impressed with his memory, I couldn't even be that mad. It's really only about the second time he's ever sent something swimming in the potty - and the first time in about a year, so I'm hoping it's not a sign of things to come.
*Sometimes when I sneak into his room to change his diaper before I go to bed, he gives me little nuggets of cuteness while half asleep. Sometimes he just thanks me for changing his diaper "Shank shoo, Mama," and sometimes it's about whatever he's dreaming about (birds or trucks, usually) but last night he woke up to tell me "Daddy funny!"
And in pregnancy related news, I'm already through one bottle of antacid. This kid is going to be another fur-ball.
Tuesday, April 30, 2013
Monday, April 29, 2013
Grant "Do Chalks"
Oh man, so much has been going on around here.
We had a whole slew of family in two weekends ago because we finally got g baptized. It was fun, but I think it took everyone a week to recover. We had 9 people in town to celebrate (luckily this little town of ours has a hotel), and we had a great time, but we all agreed it was pretty much chaos - especially come meal time. We didn't even have enough room at the big table so two adults had to sit a the kid table, while both the kids sat in high chairs. Haha!
Anyway, prior to all that insanity, on April 15, we had our first legitimately sunny day. Shorts weather, even! Don't be fooled though - 5 days later it snowed all day. But luckily we took advantage of the sun and G and I went out after nap and he learned to "do chalks" as he calls it.
We had a whole slew of family in two weekends ago because we finally got g baptized. It was fun, but I think it took everyone a week to recover. We had 9 people in town to celebrate (luckily this little town of ours has a hotel), and we had a great time, but we all agreed it was pretty much chaos - especially come meal time. We didn't even have enough room at the big table so two adults had to sit a the kid table, while both the kids sat in high chairs. Haha!
Anyway, prior to all that insanity, on April 15, we had our first legitimately sunny day. Shorts weather, even! Don't be fooled though - 5 days later it snowed all day. But luckily we took advantage of the sun and G and I went out after nap and he learned to "do chalks" as he calls it.
This one is probably my favorite. He's always trying to carry too much. Sometimes he even has to use the crook of his neck to help hold everything. Plus I just think his tiny hands are the cutest little things on the planet.
The whole time he was coloring, I was snapping away on my camera. He very rarely poses for me, and when he does it's for .3486435456 of a second, so I don't often get very good pics of him. Finally after harassing him for a pose one too many times he said "No pictures, mama," so I stopped. At the end of his coloring he said "PICTURE!" and laid down next to his art - goofy smile and all.
Friday, April 5, 2013
Little Things
I like doing these "Little Things" posts. A quick wrap-up of what's going on in the world of Jorg, without having to post elaborate narratives.
1. G has started his own clean-up routine. It's random, but at least once a day he shouts "Keem Up!" and starts putting things away. I don't ask questions, just sing his praises and hope it continues.
2. Something about holidays makes me desperately miss our Hawaii friends. When you're so far away from home, you can't get to your family for every holiday, so you spend them with your friends. Easter especially made me miss everyone. I don't need to be back in HI (though I wouldn't complain), but I sure would like another visit with that gang. We're spread all over the world now, so I'm not sure that's going to happen any time soon.
3. I had a really great birthday! I woke up to two bouquets of tulips on the kitchen table and cards from both Erik and G. I got lots of sweet messages from friends and family and Erik bought me a new tablet because my Kindle Fire is giving out. It was a great birthday, and I keep thinking it was a great one to "stop" on, and then I'm reminded of a quote I once read that went something like "Don't begrudge growing old, it's a privilege denied to many," and I can't help but think how lucky I am to have spent 29 years walking this Earth, knowing the people I do, living the life I have. So instead, I decided I'm going to work on a 29 things to do while I'm 29. I'll keep you posted on that one.
4. Today we're heading to Ft. Drum to visit some friends for a long weekend because Erik needs to get a few things done on post for his trip to Thailand this summer and that's the nearest one to where we live (conveniently). I can't wait to get back to our old stomping grounds! Watertown has such a special place in my heart because it's where I used to go visit Erik when we were dating after he left Oklahoma, it's the first place we lived together and our first home after we got married, and most importantly it's where he came home from his first deployment which was 478 days long - definitely a memory I'll never forget as long as I live.
5. G has started asking for kisses and hugs (mostly to get out of trouble, which doesn't work, but we still oblige with lovin's), and he sings now too. It's pretty off-key and the words are often way off (for example, Rock-a-Bye Baby is just him repeating "Rocka Baby" over and over), but it's just about the sweetest thing I've ever seen in my life.
6. Hylands makes these Teething Tabs which are a homeopathic remedy for teething - they help with the pain and the irritability. If I were Hylands, I'd also make a homeopathic remedy for moms going through teething (especially 2 year old molars), because I am OUT.of.PATIENCE and can't have a cocktail. Hopefully they break through soon, poor G is miserable and feverish.
1. G has started his own clean-up routine. It's random, but at least once a day he shouts "Keem Up!" and starts putting things away. I don't ask questions, just sing his praises and hope it continues.
2. Something about holidays makes me desperately miss our Hawaii friends. When you're so far away from home, you can't get to your family for every holiday, so you spend them with your friends. Easter especially made me miss everyone. I don't need to be back in HI (though I wouldn't complain), but I sure would like another visit with that gang. We're spread all over the world now, so I'm not sure that's going to happen any time soon.
3. I had a really great birthday! I woke up to two bouquets of tulips on the kitchen table and cards from both Erik and G. I got lots of sweet messages from friends and family and Erik bought me a new tablet because my Kindle Fire is giving out. It was a great birthday, and I keep thinking it was a great one to "stop" on, and then I'm reminded of a quote I once read that went something like "Don't begrudge growing old, it's a privilege denied to many," and I can't help but think how lucky I am to have spent 29 years walking this Earth, knowing the people I do, living the life I have. So instead, I decided I'm going to work on a 29 things to do while I'm 29. I'll keep you posted on that one.
4. Today we're heading to Ft. Drum to visit some friends for a long weekend because Erik needs to get a few things done on post for his trip to Thailand this summer and that's the nearest one to where we live (conveniently). I can't wait to get back to our old stomping grounds! Watertown has such a special place in my heart because it's where I used to go visit Erik when we were dating after he left Oklahoma, it's the first place we lived together and our first home after we got married, and most importantly it's where he came home from his first deployment which was 478 days long - definitely a memory I'll never forget as long as I live.
5. G has started asking for kisses and hugs (mostly to get out of trouble, which doesn't work, but we still oblige with lovin's), and he sings now too. It's pretty off-key and the words are often way off (for example, Rock-a-Bye Baby is just him repeating "Rocka Baby" over and over), but it's just about the sweetest thing I've ever seen in my life.
6. Hylands makes these Teething Tabs which are a homeopathic remedy for teething - they help with the pain and the irritability. If I were Hylands, I'd also make a homeopathic remedy for moms going through teething (especially 2 year old molars), because I am OUT.of.PATIENCE and can't have a cocktail. Hopefully they break through soon, poor G is miserable and feverish.
Thursday, April 4, 2013
It's All About Inflection
When we lived in Hawaii and we'd drive through the Ko'olou Mountains after the rain on our way to breakfast, or past the North Shore to see great friends or just hop on a plane to Maui for a weekend away, one of us would dreamily say to the other "I can't believe we live here..." as we gazed out the window at things that some people only get to see in pictures (which do NOT do them justice, by the way) and soaked up all the amazing scenery and life in a place I for one didn't even want to move to. Boy was I wrong...
Now that we're in our 8th month of snow here in "paradise" and we see something about Hawaii, or that just reminds us (like the calendar in the kitchen) one of us (usually me) says "I can't believe we live here," (imagine my downward inflection here, folks). It's not that we don't like it here, seriously, we do. We don't even have a big problem with having come from the center of the universe to, well, not the center of the universe, but the snow. My God the snow! I'm done.
Anyway, same phrase. Two wildly different meanings.
It's all about inflection.
Now that we're in our 8th month of snow here in "paradise" and we see something about Hawaii, or that just reminds us (like the calendar in the kitchen) one of us (usually me) says "I can't believe we live here," (imagine my downward inflection here, folks). It's not that we don't like it here, seriously, we do. We don't even have a big problem with having come from the center of the universe to, well, not the center of the universe, but the snow. My God the snow! I'm done.
Anyway, same phrase. Two wildly different meanings.
It's all about inflection.
Wednesday, April 3, 2013
Home-Iversary #3
I wish I could subtitle this bad boy. If I could, the subtitle would be "365 Days After 368 Days of Single Parenting"
1 year ago today Grant and I got ourselves ready and went to a hangar at Wheeler Army Airfield and picked Erik up from his 3rd deployment!
A few days prior, I had stepped on a thick piece of glass from the lip of a storage container in our kitchen (thank God it hadn't been G!) and spent the night in the emergency room only to be told there wasn't any glass in my foot. Turns out there was, but I didn't realize it until a few weeks later when a huge shard started pushing out of my foot and Erik pulled it out with a pair of needle-nosed pliers. Aren't you happy you got that extra special look into my life? Anyway, foot pain be damned, I wasn't going to let it ruin my outfit by skipping my super cute red wedges, so I limped in to the hangar careful not to step on my heel. Luckily had a stroller to push!
The deployment itself wasn't as bad as it could have been for me and G, at least not as I recall. People ask me how I did it with a baby and no help, but the truth is that Erik left so soon after G's birth I didn't really know any better. And babies are far, far, FAR less frustrating than toddlers - again, at least as I recall. If Erik left now, I'd be up a creek, but back then it was almost easier. I do remember crying sometimes because I had just had enough, but hell, I do that now! I can't really imagine having felt differently even if I did have help. Babies are tough no matter the circumstance and especially if you are still learning.
Luckily, G was (and is!) a great sleeper. I could get him in bed (by like 5:30PM, seriously) and just sit on the couch and not have to talk to anyone or cook anyone dinner or anything like that. I could just drink wine if I wanted to and watch TV or snooze on the couch, or sit out on the porch or just do whatever I needed to do to decompress. I remember I used to stay up until the wee hours because I couldn't bear to spend my precious alone time sleeping some days.
My sweet friend Mandy came over many evenings and was sometimes my only adult interaction for the day, it made a huge difference and forged a great friendship. Her visits very likely helped keep me sane. When I had parents visiting, we used to go to the gym and then we'd go have a childless drink afterward - like some kind of secret love affair. In fact, one or both of our husbands even called it our summer romance.
There is nothing like nearby friends when you're living through a deployment. Friends who come babysit so you can sleep off food poisoning, or so you can go to the ER and get glass removed from your heel (thanks Melissa for both of those!), friends to spend holidays with, or pick you up when you have to take your car in to get serviced and can't wait in the waiting room for 5 hours with a baby. Sometimes, when your husband is away, it really does take a village to raise a child (and a mom).
And of course we had TONS of visitors which made the time go by quickly (my trick for deployment survival is to always have things to count-down to, and visitors were a great thing to look forward to!). Erik's mom came once to help us move (that's right, I moved less than a month after Erik left because my landlord wanted to raise the rent). Thank God she came to help out with G while I packed and everything. And then our friends Dave and Vickie came (I think) twice while Erik was gone (pretty sure they win the prize for most visits total during our time in HI!), and of course, my mom came 3 times I think, my sister came with her at least once, and my dad also came to visit. We kept very busy with company. As you can imagine, people pretty much beat down your door to visit when you live in HI. But we're finding that to be true now, too, and we're certainly not in HI anymore!
I can say with certainty though that G knew something was missing, even early on. When he was 10 months old, he took to Erik the second he got home for R&R and I swear to you he didn't smile for 8 days after he left. It was pretty darn sad.
Hopefully this was the last deployment our family will endure now that troops are being drawn-down in the Middle East, as it's an entirely different ballgame with kids around; but I'll never forget the lessons I have learned from years of sleeping alone, and living alone, and then from parenting alone.
1 year ago today Grant and I got ourselves ready and went to a hangar at Wheeler Army Airfield and picked Erik up from his 3rd deployment!
A few days prior, I had stepped on a thick piece of glass from the lip of a storage container in our kitchen (thank God it hadn't been G!) and spent the night in the emergency room only to be told there wasn't any glass in my foot. Turns out there was, but I didn't realize it until a few weeks later when a huge shard started pushing out of my foot and Erik pulled it out with a pair of needle-nosed pliers. Aren't you happy you got that extra special look into my life? Anyway, foot pain be damned, I wasn't going to let it ruin my outfit by skipping my super cute red wedges, so I limped in to the hangar careful not to step on my heel. Luckily had a stroller to push!
The deployment itself wasn't as bad as it could have been for me and G, at least not as I recall. People ask me how I did it with a baby and no help, but the truth is that Erik left so soon after G's birth I didn't really know any better. And babies are far, far, FAR less frustrating than toddlers - again, at least as I recall. If Erik left now, I'd be up a creek, but back then it was almost easier. I do remember crying sometimes because I had just had enough, but hell, I do that now! I can't really imagine having felt differently even if I did have help. Babies are tough no matter the circumstance and especially if you are still learning.
Luckily, G was (and is!) a great sleeper. I could get him in bed (by like 5:30PM, seriously) and just sit on the couch and not have to talk to anyone or cook anyone dinner or anything like that. I could just drink wine if I wanted to and watch TV or snooze on the couch, or sit out on the porch or just do whatever I needed to do to decompress. I remember I used to stay up until the wee hours because I couldn't bear to spend my precious alone time sleeping some days.
My sweet friend Mandy came over many evenings and was sometimes my only adult interaction for the day, it made a huge difference and forged a great friendship. Her visits very likely helped keep me sane. When I had parents visiting, we used to go to the gym and then we'd go have a childless drink afterward - like some kind of secret love affair. In fact, one or both of our husbands even called it our summer romance.
There is nothing like nearby friends when you're living through a deployment. Friends who come babysit so you can sleep off food poisoning, or so you can go to the ER and get glass removed from your heel (thanks Melissa for both of those!), friends to spend holidays with, or pick you up when you have to take your car in to get serviced and can't wait in the waiting room for 5 hours with a baby. Sometimes, when your husband is away, it really does take a village to raise a child (and a mom).
And of course we had TONS of visitors which made the time go by quickly (my trick for deployment survival is to always have things to count-down to, and visitors were a great thing to look forward to!). Erik's mom came once to help us move (that's right, I moved less than a month after Erik left because my landlord wanted to raise the rent). Thank God she came to help out with G while I packed and everything. And then our friends Dave and Vickie came (I think) twice while Erik was gone (pretty sure they win the prize for most visits total during our time in HI!), and of course, my mom came 3 times I think, my sister came with her at least once, and my dad also came to visit. We kept very busy with company. As you can imagine, people pretty much beat down your door to visit when you live in HI. But we're finding that to be true now, too, and we're certainly not in HI anymore!
I can say with certainty though that G knew something was missing, even early on. When he was 10 months old, he took to Erik the second he got home for R&R and I swear to you he didn't smile for 8 days after he left. It was pretty darn sad.
Hopefully this was the last deployment our family will endure now that troops are being drawn-down in the Middle East, as it's an entirely different ballgame with kids around; but I'll never forget the lessons I have learned from years of sleeping alone, and living alone, and then from parenting alone.
Tuesday, April 2, 2013
My Mother Was Right
When I was pregnant with G, my mom was so sure he was a boy (even before the gender reveal) that she was sending little boy things to our house in HI. I thought at first it was wishful thinking - she only had sisters, she only gave birth to daughters, but she swore up and down and cross ways he was a boy. I'm not sure how she knew since she didn't see me pregnant until after we knew, but she knew. Maybe she willed it so.
As soon as I told her I was pregnant again, she started calling it a her. I couldn't help but be hopeful that she was right. My hope was raised a little bit when our Easter package arrived with little eggs labeled with our prospective girls name, full of hair-bows and socks.
And she was right!!
Yesterday we found out that I'm carrying a girl! We're both excited and thrilled that she's healthy, but a little tiny part of me is a tiny bit sad that G isn't getting a little brother to pal around with. I know that just because two boys are brothers, they aren't necessarily going to be best friends, and that just because siblings are different genders, doesn't mean they can't be best friends. I just want so badly for my kids to be close. Erik and I both have sisters we aren't super close to, and though I think all parties involved with that are fine (we don't hate each other or anything, we're just all incredibly different), in our lifestyle I really want my kids to have each other as allies.
I already find myself shopping for tiny pink things. I waited until after my shower last time, and by then I was already too miserable and swollen to enjoy the shopping spree. No waiting this time! Look out economy, your stimulus is on it's way!
As soon as I told her I was pregnant again, she started calling it a her. I couldn't help but be hopeful that she was right. My hope was raised a little bit when our Easter package arrived with little eggs labeled with our prospective girls name, full of hair-bows and socks.
And she was right!!
Yesterday we found out that I'm carrying a girl! We're both excited and thrilled that she's healthy, but a little tiny part of me is a tiny bit sad that G isn't getting a little brother to pal around with. I know that just because two boys are brothers, they aren't necessarily going to be best friends, and that just because siblings are different genders, doesn't mean they can't be best friends. I just want so badly for my kids to be close. Erik and I both have sisters we aren't super close to, and though I think all parties involved with that are fine (we don't hate each other or anything, we're just all incredibly different), in our lifestyle I really want my kids to have each other as allies.
I already find myself shopping for tiny pink things. I waited until after my shower last time, and by then I was already too miserable and swollen to enjoy the shopping spree. No waiting this time! Look out economy, your stimulus is on it's way!
Monday, April 1, 2013
April 1
I wasn't sure whether to entitle this post Genitalia Day, Mother Nature's Cruel Joke or My Husband Has Lost His Mind.
Here's why:
It hasn't snowed in a week. After 7 months of snow, it didn't snow for a week. I thought maybe Mother Nature gave me Spring for my birthday last week. Then this morning I woke up and Erik (who had just come in from working out) said "It's snowing." I could have started crying. I thought it was over! Turns out it was all an elaborate scheme on Mother Nature's part to play the worlds most cruel April Fools Day Prank. Joke's on me. Happy 8 month anniversary to me and Old Man Winter.
Moving on:
Last night Erik and I were in bed talking about how we can't believe it's already time to find out the sex of the baby. Today at 2:30PM, in fact (thus, Genitalia Day)! Anyway at midnight the night before we find out, he says to me "What if we have them put the gender in an envelope and open it when all the family is here for G's baptism?" (Better late than never, huh?)
Is the man insane? I said "Maybe you shouldn't have waited until weeks turned into days which turned into hours. I can't wait anymore." To which he replied "There is a difference between can't and won't." Which is true, I admit. But then I pulled out the thermonuclear. "I spend my whole dang life waiting for something, I'm not waiting any longer for this!"
Done and done. *nods*
When I was pregnant with G I didn't want to find out if he was a boy or a girl until I had him, and Erik talked me into it because he wasn't sure if he'd be here for the birth and wanted to make sure we had everything we needed. Okay, fair enough. But now *I* NEEEEEEED to know.
No, no, there will be no waiting. T minus 4 hours and 21 minutes.
Here's why:
It hasn't snowed in a week. After 7 months of snow, it didn't snow for a week. I thought maybe Mother Nature gave me Spring for my birthday last week. Then this morning I woke up and Erik (who had just come in from working out) said "It's snowing." I could have started crying. I thought it was over! Turns out it was all an elaborate scheme on Mother Nature's part to play the worlds most cruel April Fools Day Prank. Joke's on me. Happy 8 month anniversary to me and Old Man Winter.
Moving on:
Last night Erik and I were in bed talking about how we can't believe it's already time to find out the sex of the baby. Today at 2:30PM, in fact (thus, Genitalia Day)! Anyway at midnight the night before we find out, he says to me "What if we have them put the gender in an envelope and open it when all the family is here for G's baptism?" (Better late than never, huh?)
Is the man insane? I said "Maybe you shouldn't have waited until weeks turned into days which turned into hours. I can't wait anymore." To which he replied "There is a difference between can't and won't." Which is true, I admit. But then I pulled out the thermonuclear. "I spend my whole dang life waiting for something, I'm not waiting any longer for this!"
Done and done. *nods*
When I was pregnant with G I didn't want to find out if he was a boy or a girl until I had him, and Erik talked me into it because he wasn't sure if he'd be here for the birth and wanted to make sure we had everything we needed. Okay, fair enough. But now *I* NEEEEEEED to know.
No, no, there will be no waiting. T minus 4 hours and 21 minutes.
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