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Afternoon with my boys (2-6)

Posted on February 7, 2008 10:28 am by TheAngelForever

Being a SAHM is challenging, but oh so rewarding. I swear less seems to get done than used to when I was teaching full time. Granted I can not compare life now with a year ago. Hello silly, you have an almost nine month old little boy now. It takes time to nurse, feed, diaper, play with, snuggle, read to, and dance with JSL. Every so often when I am in a rush I stop myself to slow down and enjoy things. I will not get these moments back where he will laugh at anything and everything his big brother says and does. In a short time this sweet giggling and playing will be replaced with sibling squabbles and screams. Ah, the things to look forward to.

Yesterday after NHL came home from school we decided to do some craft time (other than Play Doh and coloring). I wanted the big guy to do something fun away from the television where I could feed the baby and also work on his fine motor skills. So we took out the beads that we bought the other day. The plan was to make some things for NHL to give as Valentine gifts for special people, but he had more fun designing a masterpiece, looking at it, dumping the beads off and starting over. Over the entire afternoon he went back and forth to the beads 2-3 times and played for over 2 hours (at least). This was a wonderful investment for my sanity!

While NHL was busy with this JSL gobbled up his favorite food, sliced carrots. He loves these and chatted away with NHL while eating and watching his big brother.

Meanwhile I was able to work on the magnets that NHL helped me to pick out the other day. Check these out, they are really neat.

I was also able to do a little mindless knitting. Here is what NHL’s camouflage scarf looked like early yesterday evening.

We had a nice afternoon together and with any luck it will continue today. If the ice is cleared up I may take the boys to Joann’s to get fabric for NHL’s flannel blanket that Madame Squishy Yarn Guru (aka Laura) graciously said she would make for him. Yesterday she told me they had some really cool Muppet flannel and when he saw a photo of it he wanted it (so did JL and I actually).

Categories:
brothers fun jsl knitting nhl photos sahm

Weekend Wanderings and Photos (Feb. 1-3)

Posted on February 4, 2008 11:22 am by TheAngelForever

The weekend began early here in AngelLand. Friday we woke up to reports of a horrible ice storm starting just around the time I would need to pick NHL up from school. I opted to keep him home and let him rest. So NHL, JSL and I had a fun filled PJ day and stayed out of the icy mess. In addition to watching Noggin, NHL spent part of the day showing me how to use certain games on his Smart Cycle. Here are some photos from when he was pedaling up a storm.

After several photos were taken I received the following response from NHL:

Friday night both of the boys were tired and went to bed early. Here they are when they were actually sleeping in their own beds. *sigh* Unfortunately it was a long night with both of them up several times.

Saturday morning JL and I were walking, talking zombies! At around noon my parents called. They wanted to see if the boys would like to spend the afternoon with them. This way JL and I could head out to lunch and shop alone. Of course we jumped at this chance and got the troops ready to head out. JL and I had a yummy lunch at Panera (with a gift card I had) and then went shopping at Super Walmart. We needed some items that only they carried. We picked up a huge Rubbermaid tub to put our meat pots away in since we use them less than once a week. I also bought some more cotton yarn and also bought some flannel for new pillow cases for our bed. (Thanks again Mom & Dad!)

When we were done we brought our things home and went back to my parents house. Both boys devoured lunch, but JSL apparently would not take a bottle. He played with it, but refused it and attacked my chest upon return. So I think I will buy a Nubby sippy cup to have him try for emergency situations when I am not there to nurse. After JSL nursed we went with my parents to walk around the mall. The boys were getting very tired so we went to get NHL dinner on the way home. He ate and went to bed. Thankfully both of the boys slept through the night Saturday. While they were in bed I finished up my second washcloth. This is the one for NHL.

NHL was shocked to see it was done when he woke up early Sunday morning. We all were up at that point and had breakfast. JSL fell back asleep. This changed the plans. He slept and then we all went to Michaels for NHL to select yarn. After seeing JSL’s scarf he wanted me to make him one as well. I wanted him to pick it out since he is old enough. We got the yarn and then went running all over the place on errands. We had lunch out (kids eat free Sunday at Moe’s) and bought a Crock Pot at Kohls at over 50% off to replace our parve one that kicked the bucket. We then came home so I could nurse JSL.

While nursing JSL I noticed blood on his face. I mentioned it to JL and then realized I was the one bleeding. Lucky me, I had a blister from a certain teething monkey in a rather sensitive location for a nursing mother. the blister finally cut open. This was painful by the end of the evening so I put something on it and hoped it would help (it is much better this morning).

JL then went out with JSL for a little while. NHL did not want to leave and stayed home with me. He played with Play Doh and I played with yarn! I had to figure out how many stitches to cast on for his camouflage scarf. It took me two tries, but I finally got it right. This is NHL having a blast with Play Doh time:

A closer look at this fun:

JL spent a lot of time chopping veggies up, making pizza and things for the Super Bowl. The funny thing is we hardly watched any of the game or commercials. We did tune in at the end just in time to see the Giants win – we were floored! Should make for an interesting training camp for the team this summer.

When both of the boys were in bed we worked on moving the meat pots out of the kitchen and I did some knitting. Here is what NHL selected as presented by a special Muppet and the progress from yesterday:

So far I am pretty impressed with how the camouflage pattern is working out. I was not too sure how it would look. I did about 6 1/2 inches and then went to bed. Then the wake up calls began. NHL was up at 2-ish and woke up JSL. JSL would not resettle and NHL wanted one of us with him. I was asked to go with NHL (his request) and JL had JSL in our bed. It was a long evening that ended with JL ignoring the alarm for an HOUR and then all of us rushing.

On that note I am off to do some organizing and purging of things while JSL sleeps.

I hope everyone else had a wonderful weekend whether or not you watched the Super Bowl.

Categories:
jsl knitting nhl photos shopping sleep weekend winter

C’est Moi . . . the Super Hero

Posted on February 1, 2008 9:52 am by TheAngelForever

Right now it is the calm before the storm. Absolutely nothing going on outside (well maybe a little rain). However, that is not what the weather people are saying is going to happen soon. They claim that starting at 9:00 until early this evening we will have a horrible mixed bag storm with a lot of icing. Needless to say a TON of schools are already closed with nothing going on now.

Our district is open. . . therefore NHL’s program is technically open as well. Mommy decided she was not interested in ice skating her car to school between 12-1 when the storm is supposed to be really bad. Sure, it may be crazy to keep the kiddo home, but it is not worth the risk to me. NHL is only in PreK and he has been tired, so a restful day will benefit him. Now if only that would be the case for me. I am not feeling like my super hero Alter-Ego – TheAngelForever right now:

LOL – Sorry, I could not help myself. I had to get this in and it seemed fitting here!

I hardly slept all night. For some reason I was having strange dreams. Dreams of JSL not only walking, but running all over. Back into reality another reason for the sleep deprivation was oce again we had a little monkey in our bed.

*sigh*

I guess the new blankie that that Madame Squishy Yarn Guru made him our of his favorite fabric (flannel) was not a simple trick. My theory is that other pesky upper tooth next to his front one is cutting. The one on the right finally has a point out. Here was a really great shot of the little guy when he fell asleep cuddling his new Ducky Pirate flannel blanket. As you can see he is on my lap, but could have cared less about me being there:

It is nice to know that my milk still ranks up higher than his other possessions. Why you ask? Please see the photo that follows. This is JSL when he clearly did not want to pose for a photo with his new special blanket since he knew it was time to nurse.

There must have been something in the air last night. Even NHL was in a cuddle mood. He decided before dinner at my parent’s house to curl up in Papa’s lap. It was just too cute, so cameras were out in a flash!

Hopefully the day is not too long with the boys and being cooped up in the house. I am going to try to be motivated to get some arts and crafts out when JSL takes a nap to do something fun with NHL. Right now both of the boys are on the floor playing together.

___________________________________________________________________

Quick Project update:

In the evenings when I am trying to relax some I have still been knitting. Here is JSL’s finished scarf on the test run yesterday (silly hat was being an issue and did not want to stay on). When NHL tried it on he asked me to make him one as well. So we will be yarn shopping this weekend.

I also finished up my first wash cloth quite a while ago and am already half finished with a second one. This is the first one where I retaught myself to purl. The latest (for NHL) is coming out a lot better.

and

On that note I hear someone moving on the floor in the other room. He likes to crawl when I am not looking.

*** Note to all readers – If you leave me a comment I reply right here on the post. Assuming everyone is healthy it is usually within a day or less. Please check back here if you do not subscribe to the comments.

Categories:
jsl knitting nhl photos sleep teething winter

Party in his crib at 3AM – thud

Posted on January 31, 2008 9:26 am by TheAngelForever

Ummm. . . . who told JSL to have a party in his crib at 3 this morning? Although this time was an improvement over most nights when he just wakes up fussing at midnight, it was still waking up. So, if it was you, you best duck and cover because a wet noodle is coming your way!

I ~~passed out~~ fell asleep on the couch last night very early and moved to our bed at 10:30. I was so exhausted and freaked out about my doctor appointment that is about an hour and a half away now. Since I was so tired I am floored that I heard anything on the baby monitor.

At 3:00 I was startled awake by music on he monitor. JSL was at the far end of his crib and must have pushed the button on his toy to make it say "Peek-A-Boo" and play a song. I asked JL to check on him. He said he was trying to settle and left him. About 15-25 minutes later the baby is having a full blown party in his crib.

I am not kidding!

When I walked into the room he looked so proud of himself. He was chatting up a storm, crawl dancing, and had a ~~shit eating grin~~ big smile on his face. I do not know how NHL did not wake up with this going on.

I really think JSL was crawl practicing since we know he does it, but will not in front of us. He was all over the place and seemed to be trying to pull up to a stand from his belly (Note to JL – The crib MUST get lowered this weekend).

So I took the party boy into our bed where he chatted up a storm to sleepy mommy and daddy and eventually we all went back to sleep after 4.

This morning he was on the floor and went from sitting to crawl position. I called him over and he started crawling to me – better than his usual army-like version. He was mostly on all four limbs. His face was priceless (sorry no photo) since he was smiling the "Hey Mom – look what I invented" look!

Now I best be off to get ready for the doctor. I am very nervous since JL agrees that the bump in my eye does not seem to be on the lid. No, much to my horror we think it is on the eyeball itself. This scares the you know what out of me. So we shall see what the doctor says. I guess I need to tell the truth about it being there for a while, but not putting myself in front of the kids to have it checked until it got worse again.

BTW – To those who are newer to my bloggy world, I answer/reply to comments right on the post itself. I find it easier to do than e-mails most of the time. The only time I have not done this is the wild Blogoversary giveaway post that has nearly 400 comments this morning ! Thanks to everyone who has stopped by. Hopefully many of you will continue to stop by and get the feed to my blog.

Categories:
doctor jsl me moments milestone sarcasm teething

Super Baby goes THUD

Posted on January 27, 2008 1:32 am by TheAngelForever

Friday night was rough. As previously mentioned the little guy is teething ~~constantly~~ again. JSL was fussing a lot during the night and I was in pain. I think I may have dislocated my shoulder. After getting up several time, JSL wound up in our bed. NHL woke up too early for us (his usual time though). I asked JL to take NHL to the other room to play or rest on the couch so I could nurse the baby and maybe he would go back to sleep.

The little guy was really miserable. He nursed a little and then wanted to settle. We were both in my queen sized bed and I forgot to move pillows on the other side since he was right next to me

Can you see where I am going here?

*sigh* (BAD Mommy)

I must have fallen asleep and a certain 8 month old clearly did not. Next thing I know I heard a horrible THUD.

I shot up out of bed and immediately freaked out. I saw the baby was NOT with me in bed. Then instantly I heard him screaming from the floor. I screamed for JL who was sleeping on the couch. He came flying to the room and we picked JSL up to assess him.

I think he was more scared than anything about what had happened – all of the fuss and what not. Within 10-15 minutes he was not crying. Nope, the little monkey was creeping all over the bed after our remote, chatting with Daddy and sitting up to play.

I felt so guilty and like a horrible mommy. I called my mother who is out visiting my brother and his family. I flipped her out to the point that she had to put my niece down and was in tears (sorry Mom). This was obviously not the intention of my call and made me feel worse.Thankfully JSL seemed fine the rest of the day. He wanted to play, try cruising on the side of the couch (and he fell again), and chat up a storm.

With all of the excitement this morning we took naps this afternoon (Mommy forced NHL into his bed and stayed with him until we both conked out). Meanwhile JL cleaned up some as JSL slept in his highchair. He started to fuss some so they went to the couch together. A while later NHL woke up and went to the couch to find the other boys asleep. This is what happened next:

For a little boy that was not tired he wanted to cuddle right back up with Daddy and JSL.

The following is the look I received after a few too many flashes of my camera.

Soon everyone was up and much happier than before.

Soon after this Mommy went out for a girls night with my friend H. Her husband J went with JL and the boys out. More on this later :) Now I must sleep since it is very late and no doubt one of the children will be up way too early.