Donovan and Patrick Visit

Laura, Andy, Donovan and Patrick came up for a visit last evening.  The little guys had fun with all our toys, and William did a pretty good job of sharing.

The adults got a chance to chat between the occasional toy squabble, pinched finger or appearance of poop on the floor (little Patrick's diaper leaked, good thing Laura caught it early).

Patrick came running up to give me a smile when I pulled out the camera.

What a cutie!

William's house was a big hit, but hard to get all three in without pinched fingers, as they all wanted to control the door.  Even harder to get them all to poke out their heads at once.

William being a goof in his train track bin.

Funny (well at least I think they are funny) stories from the week...

We are still working on the potty and rewards for peeing and pooping seemed to be a big deal this week.  Some times he wants a reward and some time he doesn't.  He was doing good for a little stretch there and the MnM's and mints were going over well.  He then tooted and asked for a treat for tooting.  Sorry buddy a toot doesn't earn a reward :)

We are all in various stages of getting over or starting colds.  The tissues and cough drops have been heavily used around our house.  William caught on to the cough drops we have being sweet and now tells us when his throat is "sword".

One evening I could not get William to come upstairs for dinner, so I went up myself to get things ready.  Adam was at the YMCA running, so William was downstairs by himself hollering about how he didn't want to come up.  This went on for about 10 minutes, then it got quiet.  I went down stairs to find him hard at work clearing toe jams from between his toes.  We then struck a compromise and after all toe jams were cleaned out, he came up for dinner and ate a good meal.  Silly little man.

The new thing at dinner time is to drop your fruit or veggies in the milk then fish them out with a spoon.  And don't try telling him that it would be quicker to just scoop them off his plate and into the mouth, because he won't have any of it.  As a parent you have to pick your battles and frankly this is one he can win.  In the end all veggies and fruit get eaten and the milk drank.

Lunch at home has to have tomato soup according to William.  And the tomato soup should have sprinkles of leaves on it (parsley flakes).  Last weekend he tried telling me I couldn't put crackers in my soup and was a bit upset when I didn't follow his "directions".

Work has been crazy for me lately, there is just too much going on and unreal expectations.  Every goal that is being set for us is obtainable if that is the only goal, but add them all up and they conflict against each other.  My boss is feeling the stress and is unfortunately handling it in a very negative fashion, further deflating the team.  I am waking up at night worrying that I didn't do enough and stressing out. 

 I have to just keep telling myself to do all that I can, control what I can, prop up my team mates where possible, and just do my best.  I don't know how long I am going to be able to keep that mind set if things don't change for the better soon.

Adam on the other hand had some good work news, he was chosen to train as a sniper for the County SWAT team.  I am very proud of him, I am sure he was chosen due to his knowledge about firearms, dedication and calm under pressure.  It adds additional training time into his already busy training schedule, but we will make it work.  Added bonus for us is that he will be farther away in extremely dangerous SWAT situations, before he was the guy who holds the shield when they bust in some where.  Good job Hunny!

Enough for now, have a good week!

Stomach Flu

William ended up having a case of stomach flu.  From the last blog I had a couple of pictures of him acting not himself.  We were trying to figure out if he was just hungry-crabby or not feeling well.  Well after much pleading we got him to eat a bit and drink some.  Only to have all of it to clean up again when he threw up on Saturday night.  Poor guy, he felt bad about vomiting and making a mess, what a little sweetheart.

We got it all cleaned up and him cleaned up and then all his stuffed animals were pretend peeing and pooping and throwing up on the floor.  So we had to clean that all up before we were able to get him settled down that night.  He didn't eat much on Sunday so we kept him home with G&G Mc on Monday and then he was back to himself.  Thank goodness they were here, with Adam gone at SWAT and a big presentation I had to give to VP's on Monday, at least I knew William was in good hands.  He had a great time with the Grandparents, painting, baking, playing with play dough and a lot of fun playing hide and seek with Grandpa!

William was telling us that the top of his basketball hoop had dust bunnies that needed cleaning, so he needed his ladder.  He spent about 15 minutes up there dusting the top, so I think he got all the bunnies.

Grandpa and William chilling down stairs, and he also had fun playing Grandma's violin (didn't get a picture, maybe next time).

 William shelaxing in an easy chair, munching some snacks and playing on the I-pad.

William is now requesting underwear most of the time.  And I am trying to not be over-bearing about him sitting on the toilet every 20 minutes.  He's had quiet a few accidents, but on the flip side, he has also gone the bathroom on his own, no help at all, a couple of times.  So progress on that front.

He also loves to run around without his clothes after bath, crazy in the winter time if you ask me, but I guess he is old enough to figure out when he is cold and can put on his own PJ's if he wants.

Have a good week!  G&G S have fun on your trip to Florida, hope you have safe driving weather!

Stories and pictures

William and Murphy have been getting a little more comfortable with each other to the point where Murphy and Will can sit in the same chair.  Murphy appreciates the lovings and William likes the attention and trust being placed on him.

William has this thing about not wearing pants sometimes, thankfully it only happens at home.  This is my "really, this is when you choose to take a picture of us, can't you wait till he has pants on" face.

Decked out in his backpack, he looks old enough to be headed off to school, sniff, sniff.  He might be tall enough, but we are keeping him back from Kindergarden for a few years.  Thanks for the back pack G&G S, it will be handy for our trip this summer and is a perfect size for him.

William woke up in a funk this afternoon, much to the dismay of G&G Mc.  Getting some Daddy snuggles in before he's gone.

He is now in the bath tub with Grandma, so hopefully things are turning around.  He didn't want to eat or drink which had me thinking he was getting sick.  Time will tell.

Now for some stories from the week...

Our garage door started to get stuck as it would to up, William's explanation, "Jackson (boy from daycare) came over to our house with day care scissors and stuck them in the garage door".   The repair man didn't find any scissors, but it was a good theory :)

All of William's stuffed animal friends have to be set up in a circle for book time before bed.  He then decides who's "Leader" day it is and what books they have brought for show and tell.  And just starting the other day, Daddy was the chosen one for night time reading.  I was sent to bed, brought some stuffed animal friends, my fan turned on, given a kiss and had the light turned off.  I was then told "Night night Momma. Sweet dreams.  See you in the morning when you wake up from your nap.  Love you."  I got up once after that and was put through the full routine again.  So I enjoyed a little read in bed while Daddy handled night time reading.

We all have our favorite diggers, and new people that come to the house are given their favorites as well.
William - an excavator with a grabber tool on the end
Daddy - a backhoe loader
Mommy - a skid steer
Uncle Kevin - a bulldozer
Grandpa Mc - a dump truck

Watch out if, you come to our house you better have thought of what your favorite construction equipment is!

William has taken to eating frozen peas for dinner, he has always loved peas, but lately he just wants them fresh out of the freezer bag.  I guess its healthy cooked or frozen, so who cares.

Gotta run, sounds like bath time is over.

Excited to Learn

Santa brought another gift yesterday.  He waiting patiently until it was on sale and then snatched up a new camera for me.  I am super excited to learn how to use it and all its features.  I can tell the image quality is so much better than my 2006 vintage digital SLR.  So my poor boys have been my sometimes unwilling subjects over the last 24 hours while I learn, and I have a long way to go.

 

A little close up at 28mm (a bit distorted)

 

Merry Christmas's

Well it's been a while so sit back and enjoy some stories and pictures.

My boys building towers, wrestling and then knocking them back down.

 

 

 William checking out the ornaments, Grandma S get's Will a special wooden ornament from Germany every year.  This was one from years past, but still fun to make Santa dance.

 Still love our basketball net from last Christmas.  I tried to put away some "baby" toys and was spotted in the act, now they are back in the living room.  Next time I will have to attempt this at night!

William's house got decorated this year too!  He is getting so tall that he has to duck to get in the door way. 

Uncle Kevin and Will working on a puzzle.  I learned that my brother is almost as puzzle crazy as I am, and pretty good too!

Santa came at nap time on Christmas Eve, as he was very busy and wanted to get there with plenty of time for Will and Daddy to play with new toys before Daddy had to get to work.  Santa ate all our cookies and drank his milk, but you should have seen the mess the reindeer left!  Their glitter oats were all over the counter, they must have loved the special recipe that William's daycare mixed up.

William orchestrated the whole gift opening.  First all presents had to be removed from under the tree and placed in everyone's individual piles.  William's pile was taller than he was so a second pile had to be started.  Then he had to open all his gifts first, Daddy got a severe scolding for opening a present before he was told, and almost ended up on a time out.  Thankfully Daddy put on his listening ears and all was well again.

We all got many wonderful gifts and had a great time together.  We made more cookies, ate good food, made some tasty strawberry jam and had fun with all William's new toys.

William was trusted with the remote for the camera and had a great time snapping picture after picture of our family group; even when Grandma was using her camera!

Grandma and Grandpa Mc left on Friday and Grandma and Grandpa S took their places and we had another round of William dictating present opening!

After shoveling more snow, Daddy plucked down an icicle for William and he ate the whole thing.  Is that okay this day and age?  I don't know, but William sure loved it.

Grandpa S teaching William how to scratch off lottery tickets and learn letters in the process!

Grandma S helped and motivated me to get some deep cleaning done around the house, so that felt good.  I like this working less and being home more.  I am cringing thinking of a 5 day work week next week; not sure how I am going to get back into the swing of it!

Adam and I had a date night and went to the first movie in a theater in ages (before William was born) and saw Les Miserables, very well done. I was a little worried that Adam wouldn't appreciate that it was completely sung, but he said he liked it and could understand the story better from the movie than from a PBS stage show version we had tried to watch before.

No big New Year's plans or resolutions, just try to keep up with exercising, and get house projects that have been on my list for a while done.


Happy New Year, hope its a good year for all!