One-on-One

No.  Not talking about basketball today.

One-on-one time with the boys is the topic for the day.

Since Evan has started doing "quiet time" during some of Drew's naps, I have been enjoying the one-on-one time with him.  Again.

At the same time, though, I have been saddened a bit at the thought that I won't ever have this type of one-on-one time with Drew Boy.  I'll have him to myself when Evan goes off to college and it's just Drew for that last year - but somehow I feel that will be different, and it has also not comforted me much.  I am looking forward to the times when they are both a little older and I can take one or the other to the store with me, or have "mommy/son dates", but for right now, I'm struggling with how little one-on-one time I get with Drew.

I was talking with a friend about this and she, being the wonderful "big sister" in Christ that she is, empathised with me (having 3 now older boys herself) and then ended her empathy with "..at some point, your theology takes over and you either believe in the sovereignty of God or you don't.  God knew what HE was doing giving you those boys in the order he did, and it's for their good."

Oh, thanks you LORD for putting wise women who speak truth into my life.

Oh, and a little gift I got the other morning?  A whole hour and half of just Drew & Mommy time while brother slept in.  It was a balm to my heart.

Pumpkin Patch: 2011

I love fall.  It's my favorite season of all.  The crisp air, the crunchy leaves, and...the pumpkins!

Lovely orange orbs just begging me to pick them and not the other slightly rounder pumpkin to their left.  Oh, the life of a pumpkin.

Last year we went to the pumpkin patch, too.  Remember this picture?

My how the boys have grown!

Here's this year's picture.

We had a ton of fun.

 We enjoyed still-warm apple cider donuts & kettle corn

and the boys climbed hay bales.

Need I say more?

Baby Season!

It seems as though almost everyone is pregnant right now. (no, not me included)

I currently know of eight ladies who are due to deliver the week of Thanksgiving.  And another 5 who are due to deliver between then and the middle of January.

Like I said, baby season.

So this influx of [mostly] little girls also means baby showers!

Two of the gals happen to be in my little Bible study, and it's been a lot of fun to see them so much in the last 10 days. :)

So here are pictures of me with my friends.  Because, while I love the boys and their friends, I'm here, too.  Right?

 The lovely, glowing Michelle with Ruthanne, Julie, and me

The beautiful mother-to-me and me

At the melting pot enjoying Julie's new little girl who is coming

The other mother-to-be at her baby "sprinkle"

The 2 adorable preggies - due just days apart

The Lord has truly blessed me with some fantastic friends!

cute conversations

Evan is at that age where he is saying and noticing things I just want to remember.  The journal I have for him is getting full of these little conversations, but I wanted to share a couple with you.

When I instructed Evan to help Drew take his shoes off, it was a precious sight to behold.  Evan sat Drew down, talking to him the whole time about what he was about to do, and very sweetly undid the velcro, took the shoes off and said: "There you go, Drew.  Now go put the shoes in the box". Drew walked off to do as he was told.  Which is when Evan turned to me and said: "Look mom, he's obeying me!"

Drew is teething and we had had a really rough night. So this is what happened later in the day:
e: mom. can we watch a movie?
me: ok, you wanna watch "Finding Nemo"?
e: no. i don't. because Nemo disobeys his daddy and swim to the boat. i don't want to watch that.
me: ok ... 
e: how 'bout we watch Nemo and you just fast forward through the disobeying part?


During Sunday School this past week, Evan's teacher was wearing colored tights.  Something Evan has never seen in this house.  And so what's a boy to do, but ask what's on his mind? "What's wrong with your legs?" is how is decided he would do that.  Thankfully she was kind and gracious and talked him through the novelty of tight-wearing.

Upon giving Evan his first Jelly Bean that he remembers he looked at me and said "Oh wow, Mom!  This bean is good.  Someone added sugar to it!"

Evan did something I thought was pretty cool, so I told him, "Evan - you're so sharp!"  His reply was "I'm not sharp, mom.  I don't hurt people!"


And some random one-liners:

Mom.  I need med'cine.  I'm hiccing up.

I don't want more, actually. (referring to ice cream!)

It's sunny out and I can see the sunshine through your eyes!

My foot is sparkly!  Make it stop! (referring to his foot that had fallen asleep)



Drew is here, too.  I promise.  He's just getting back to being his good ole normal self, though, and consequently, we're all just getting back into gear.

life.

is busy.

is tiring some days.

is hard at more moments than i'd care to admit.

is totally worth while because I have the Lord in my life, a husband who loves me dearly, and these 2 faces to look at each and every day.

life is kingdom work.  each and every day. even in the seemingly inconsequential moments.

"You too, babe."

The other morning, I was randomly awake at about 5 am.  Not fully awake, but a slamming car door, a barking dog, or a dream must have pulled me from sleep becasue there I was, squinting at the clock to see the numbers 5:08.

The shower and light were on in the bathroom and there's just something about listening running water with a full bladder that makes it hard for me to fall back asleep.  Is anyone else with me on that one?  So as comfortable as I was, I pried myself from my soft sheets and took myself off to the bathroom.  On the way out, I told Scot goodbye and mentioned "have a good day at work" - to which he replied "you too, babe".

As I crawled back into my still warm bed I got to thinking: I know he simply meant have a good day but I said good day at work and he said you too.  But I'm not going to work.

Am !?

So there I was.  5:11am thinking about this work I've been called to do and how happy I am to be doing it.  Sure there are days that are hard. (I could write an entire blog post on 'hard days') There are tasks I'd rather not do (read: clean behind the toilet), but at the end of the day, I'm so glad I'm working every day at my dream job.

And who wouldn't with these two little guys?

We were at the market and Drew sat down in Evan's lap and I said, "Aww, I wish I had my camera!"  To which Evan replied "you do!  it's in your purse!"  So glad I had it to capture this sweet moment.

Snippits

 This past weekend we had our friends Colin and Justin spend the night with us!  We had so much fun.  This was pretty much the only time I got all 4 of them 1) in the same place at the same time and 2) still.  They really all get along great and we're so happy to have friends who live just down the street!

 

 We only watched the first half of our movie before it was time for dinner (planned) so we popped some popcorn and watched the rest of it before bed.  What's a Friday night sleepover without a movie and popcorn, right?  I love how they're lined up age appropriately here!

 Today Scot was post-call and he was able to get in a little wrestling this morning before hitting the hay for a much needed nap.  The boys and I went off to run errands, but I can't even tell you how many times Evan asked to go home so he could wrestle more with daddy. :)

 It was a "barnacle day" and I'm so glad Scot was home for it or else we would have ordered pizza for dinner.  Drew has his top 2 eye teeth coming in, a low grade fever, and was just "off" and clingy all day.  I love snuggling with him, but it's mighty hard to get dinner made when you have 25 lbs clinging to you for dear life.

 Thankfully, he doesn't mind sucking on his paci and being held by a studying daddy while I busied myself in the kitchen.  Needless to say, the floors did not get cleaned as I anticipated.  Maybe I should be doing that now instead of typing. Hmmm...

fire station fun

One of the guys at church is a fireman for the fire station we pass by almost daily.  Earlier this year we took a trip just the three of us and had a blast.  We also received an open invite for us (and friends) to stop by any time.  As kind as that invite was, I at least gave them a heads up that we (and 9 others) would be stopping by today for our playgroup outing.

Thankfully it was not a day we wished to be outdoors and there were no calls during the hour we spent learning and watching while Fireman Joe and Fireman Brandon showed us all around.  The kids all had a blast climbing in and out of the engines and the ambulance.  My boys were a little scared of the fully decked out fireman, but warmed right up when they realized the fireman hadn't gone anywhere, he was just hiding under all that gear!

Here are some pictures I was able to get.  Enjoy.

New Chapter

Life is full of different chapters.

Married.

With an infant who needs constant attention.

With a toddler (and pregnant).

With a toddler and an infant who needs constant attention.

With 2 toddlers.



Up until now, all chapters involving children have also involved long daily naps where I am able to catch up on house work or blogging or whatever I want. Reading, projects, a movie occasionally.

And in the back of my mind I always knew the day would come when I would have to start giving up my nap time.  Not my nap time, you know, but the time I had each day to just breath and re-group.  I was very nervous about that day.  How would I handle myself at the end of the day after dealing with little people all. day. long. ?!?!   In my mind, I need those few hours after lunch for my sanity and I fear at the root of all this was selfishness for "me time" when I have been called by God to be a mother to my boys.

Do I handle bad attitudes better when I've had time to myself? YES  Do I greet my husband sweetly at the door when I've had a little time by myself?  YES   Do I sometimes still need some down time after the boys are in bed despite time by myself? YES  Does God give grace when I need it?  ABSOLUTELY!!

Rest Time

And so now, we're starting that new chapter that has scared me for so long.  About a month ago, I started noticing that Evan was having a harder time falling asleep at naptime some days even if we played hard all morning.  He would eventually fall asleep - 2 hours late - and then wake up late.  Which in turn, as you can guess, would mean he would sometimes still be awake at 9 and 10 at night.  I tried waking him at a usual time from nap even if it had only been an hour, but he would be terribly grumpy the rest of the day which wasn't fun for anyone.  I knew we weren't at the point of giving naps up completely - he still had a  lot of days where he slept the full 3 hours, so we needed a transisiton of sorts.

Being the planner I am, I thought about it a little and came up with a plan.  (Who would have thought, me, planning my child's "rest days", right?)

So now on Tuesdays and Thursdays he doesn't have to nap.  Instead he has rest time where he sits quietly and reads or colors or works puzzles and I am still able to do some things.  Not as much since I don't make him rest for the full 3 hours, but it's a transition for me, too.  Then, for the 90 minutes before Drew wakes up, we get to do something fun together.  Reading, baking, he'll start helping me make dinner.  I think I may start incorporating some structured learning into this time as well.  I'm really looking forward to just enjoying a little one-on-one with him.

Oh, and the results (after just a week?) have been great.  The days he naps he falls right to sleep and sleeps the full 3 hours.  Same with bedtime.  No singing for 2 hours or talking to his "buddies" keeping him (and sometimes Drew) awake.


Here's to new chapters and smiling at them!

T.R.O.U.B.L.E.

Hi.  My name is Drew.  Sometimes they call me Drew-boy.  And sometimes I get that look that says 

"Oh boy - you're trouble!"

Sweet moments

 We're enjoying our last few days with grammy!  She leaves tomorrow and so far, the weather has continued to stay beautiful!  Although, the forecast for tomorrow and beyond is back to normal.  Wet.  Gray.  Cold.

We've been enjoying the weather to say the least.  Crunchy leaves.  Blue skies.  Low humidity.

Colorado days right here in Ohio.  We're loving it.

 

 Making stained glass windows with leaves from our leaf hunt.

 Special time with daddy

 And Drew has warmed up to Grammy quite a bit

Grammy, we will miss you more than you can imagine. 

Quick catch up

Oh dear!  I don't even know where to begin.  The past week and a half have been wonderful.  Both of my parents flew in last Thursday and we were able to enjoy the extra long weekend with them.  Scot was off, too, so it was a true treat!

We weren't able to do a lot while my dad was around due to the wet weather, but we made the best of it.  Eating great food both in the house and out, playing tons of games, reading books to the boys, enjoying one anothers company, and having a blast.  As Murphy would have it, the sun came out the morning of his departure, and while we were sad to see him go when it was just getting nice out again, we were glad to see the sun!

 Right after the boys woke up to find my parents in the living room.  If only to have video of Evan's little face lighting up from the inside out as he realized what was going on!

 My dad got the boys matching footie-pajamas!  They loved them!

 We were able to go out to Patterson's Orchard before the rain started coming down and we had so much fun!

 It was a little chilly and misty, but somehow it was fitting.

 And of course, we ate a few apples along the way.

 Drew (now 18 months!) has figure out a new way to hold his paci (which is now regulated to bed or car)

 And a trip to Cleveland is not a true trip with a visit to Mitchell's Ice Cream Shop

 The morning of my dad's departure we went to a nearby playground to enjoy the fresh air and changing leaves.

 Sad to see him go, but so thankful he was able to come!

We love you Grandude!

 We ventured out to Squires Castle (about 40 minutes away) with the boys and some friends to go leaf hunting.  We still need to make "stained glass" out of them, but I think we're doing that after nap-time today.

The boys with their friend, Emma and Grace, at the Castle.  Emma was Rapunzel and Evan her price.  I think.

With just my mom here now, we are a little more project-oriented.  My mom likes to work.  She does not like to sit still, and while that's not my gift, I enjoy having a whole week to just knock out some tasks with her.

We've/she's:

• reorganized/cleaned the basement so it's easier and better for the boys to play down there 
• un-caulked and re-caulked the kitchen and bathroom/tub (and now I don't have to be embarrassed by a clean tub that looks like I never took a scrub brush to it!)
• fixed my vacuum so it now "sucks" to it's full potential 
• cleaned and painted the 3 door frames in the kitchen area from their previous horrible off-white yellowed state to nice crisp white
• planed the bathroom-to-the-balcony doors so that the screen door now actually closes flush with the frame and the bathroom door doesn't have to be run at in order to have it latch shut.  Oh, and the main bathroom door that used to stick?  It's fixed now, too.

The weather is great and the only projects left on the list are sewing top ruffles onto the boys' curtain, doing a little sewing on the master bedroom curtains, and completely winterizing all the windows.


I'm so thankful for my mother's willingness and ability to do all these things.

So that's the short catch-up!  Stay tuned for more!