David and Aidanisms

Thought I'd take a moment to share a couple Davidisms and Aidanisms as of late.

David:
This afternoon while I was preparing the potatoes au gratin David looked at me and said, "Mommy, I want to be a cook when I grow up so I can cook in the kitchen with you."

On a daily basis he kisses the tip of my nose and tells me, "Mommy, you're so cute. I just love you." Usually this happens while I'm giving him cuddles before bedtime, but he has also started doing this randomly at other times of the day. I'm not complaining though...it totally melts my heart.

Aidan:
This evening Rob tried to have Aidan say, "Go Ducks!" Aidan replied: "Quack, quack!" Then Rob tried to have him say, "Go Hokies!" to which Aidan said Hokies, then quickly changed the word to cookies (his favorite food of the day besides ham).

Aidan is very particular about his clothes and his shoes (notice his blue tennis shoes in the above photo--those are "Blue" and he insists of wearing those every day--try to put another pair on him. As soon as he sees "Blue" he grabs them and asks over and over to have you put them on him). Almost every day this past week he has picked up one of his polo shirts out of his pile--primarily his light blue one with stripes and carries it around. He even tried to take off the outfit that he had worn to church this morning to put on his preferred shirt.

Today is day 2 for Aidan being weaned. He looked at me today half perplexed and said, "No Num-nah" then smiled. Thankfully he hasn't shunned me like David did when I weaned him. That child wouldn't cuddle with me for almost an entire month afterwards (he cuddles with me lots now though...must not have traumatized him too much). :) Weaning him has been a bit of an emotional experience for me though. More so than I had originally anticipated. Fortunately, this time the process has gone by much more smoothly. I'm hoping that it continues to be this way.

Wanna piece of me?

E: looks perplexed
D: Do you wanna piece of me?
E: Yeah!

David then grabs Evan and throws him to the ground.

R: Whoa David! That's a game you only play with Daddy--not with your friends.

What on earth has Rob been teaching that boy? :)




Apparently this is how this little conversation/wrestling maneuver occurred tonight after dinner, shortly before Matt, Tasha and the kiddos left. The boys all had lots of fun tonight--it was fun watching and listening to them play and interact. Fun times for all.

2 and 1/2 hours later...

both boys received a clean bill of health. We finally got around to scheduling the boys' physicals with the doctor here in Blacksburg today. After talking to a few of my MOPS moms, and after discussing this with Rob, we decided to go with a family doctor instead of a pediatrician. I saw Dr. Freeman (aka Dr. Jeremy) earlier in the fall when I had tonsilitis, and have heard other people rave about him, so figured what they hey, we'll have the boys see him too.

The boys' appointment was scheduled for 4 p.m. We arrived about 20 minutes until 4 so I could fill out paperwork, etc. Yeah, I didn't get home until 6. It was a LONG (but good) visit. David and Aidan are both above average for their age in the weight category, but are both on the shorter side height-wise. Everything was good though (barring David's low-grade temperature that he ran today...not sure where that popped up from). The examination room we were in was basically a playroom with the exam table in the corner. The boys had fun playing with all the toys, and having me read books to them while we waited. The toys were definitely our saving grace. Who knows how things would have panned out had we been in the waiting room the entire time! :)

Before we left, Aidan ran into Dr. Jeremy's office (to see his messy desk, so the doc said--to which I quoted Rob: "A messy desk is a sign of a brilliant mind." the doc said that he's going to have to remember that one). David told the nurse and the doctor both that he had Cubbies tonight, and then recited all of his memory verses for them. Nothing like having my little witness sharing the good news of Christ with others. :)

Aidan still has to go get his shots, but we have to do that at the county health department or at the hospital. I figure Rob will be on this one--needles...blech! Otherwise, no appointments again for a couple of months, then no more until next year right after birthdays. By that time, I'll have to get a tetanus shot myself.

No coloring on the walls!

Signage by David. He came out of my bathroom yesterday saying, "Mommy, I made a sign in the bathroom that says 'No coloring on the walls!'" I didn't think much about it until after I had to go in there later. As I sat down, I noticed on the wall in front of me 2 circles with lines through them (as seen in the picture above). The little box of crayons they got at Cracker Barrel last time we ate there was sitting on the edge of the sink. I was laughing pretty hard by the time I had left the room.

To top it off, he just told Rob this story about why he had to do it. Here is the condensed version:

R: So David why did you write on the walls?
D: so that somebody who comes in the bathroom to write on the walls knows that you aren't supposed to write on the walls
R: Didn't you have to write on the walls to do that?
D: Yeah, but I had to so people would know not to write on the walls

4-year-old logic. Gotta love it. :) Speaking of that child of mine, I just heard the fridge--gotta go investigate!

Soakin' up the sunshine!

That was definitely us yesterday. Went to the park in the morning, cleaned up the back yard a bit (apparently missed some of the dog-poo though--Aidan's "blue" found it when we played out there later). In case you're wondering, Aidan calls his favorite shoes (blue Sketchers) "Blue." And believe me, if you try to put anything else on him, he gets a little grumpy!

Yesterday afternoon was fun though--I cleaned off the patio slab while the boys were out playing in the yard, or on the patio furniture...they are monkies you know. :) It was fun watching them get all dirty and having fun. We're definitely looking forward to our move in just over 3 1/2 months. I'm about ready to begin a countdown, I'm that excited about it! Maybe we'll even drive over to that neighborhood later today to play at the park. Get the boys used to the new surroundings they will have. David is looking forward to being able to ride his bike more and having a park just down the street. I'm excited that the boys will each be in their own bedrooms again, and that Rob and I will have our own creative/work spaces (and, the office will no longer share space with our bedroom). Having a real yard and a garage are definite plusses too. Our yard here is pretty much just a weed patch, where there is any green at all. But, my monkeys need room to move or else they are going to drive their Mama crazy!!!!

Tigers, Old Navy and 79 degrees--oh my!

Alright...the title for today's entry is a little crazy, but that's kind of how today has been. Rob worked on homework for awhile this morning (trying to get his take-home test complete) then came down suggesting that we go up to Roanoke to go to the zoo and to Old Navy...the boys needed new pants. We all said, "sure!" and so that's what we did.

The zoo was crazy! We have gone there at least 5 other times and have never seen as many people there as we saw today. Guess that everyone in the Roanoke Valley and possibly the New River Valley all had the same idea we had. :) Then again, it was 79 degrees outside! Yeah, it's March 11, and it's 79 degrees. How crazy is that? It was pretty awesome though. We aren't complaining after getting to go outside and enjoy it! The boys ran around the zoo for awhile, then we had the difficult task of wrangling them back in the direction of the car. Neither one really wanted to go in that direction.

After the zoo, we went to Old Navy to get those pants I mentioned earlier. And, since they had their St. Patrick's day t-shirts, we had to get those for us too...it's kind of a family tradition. :) We also ventured to the Disney store--boy, was David in heaven. As soon as he saw Buzz Lightyear, it was over. And, luck had it that since he lost his small Buzz Lightyear toy on one of our excursions, he was able to get a replacement Buzz--a much bigger one that makes LOTS of noise (now, why did we give into that again? the laser noise drives us CRAZY!).

Well, it's time to go finish dinner and help Rob with the boys. Maybe we'll even go out for another walk after dinner--who knows!

27.

Today I have officially entered into my late-twenties. Pretty crazy to think that I'm now that old. :) David has asked me repeatedly over the last couple of days, "So Mommy, when are you going to be 25?" To that I had to reply, well, David, that time has already passed. At least Uncle Dunny will be turning 25 this year, so he'll have someone at the age that he must think is nearly perfect.

My birthday has been great though. The boys made me breakfast in bed--scrambled eggs, toast, orange juice and a Mexican mocha. Apparently David thought that he needed to be fully responsible for making his Mommy's breakfast. Rob let him be the one in charge of making the toast, but after about 2 TBSP. butter being not completely spread on one slice of bread, Rob decided that he'd step in and help. It was wonderful being woken up by an extremely energetic and excited 4-year-old (and a 22-month-old who thought that his Mama's scrambled eggs were for him--little mooch!). :) David has also made it a point that anyone he talks to knows that it's his mommy's birthday. A little embarrassing for me since he also has to tell them how old I am this year, but it's wonderful news for him. His excitement is contagious.

After breakfast, we ran a host of errands--Lowes, church, Kroger, the pet store, came home for lunch, looked at a couple of potential houses to rent, went to the park, had dinner, then Rob took the boys with him to pick up our babysitter, Meghann, so I could get ready for our "date" to the movies. We saw The Pink Panther with Steve Martin. Talk about hilarious!!! I laughed so hard that I literally was afraid of peeing my pants! Guess that's what I get for drinking a big ol' Diet Coke while watching the movie, eh? :)

Birthdays are fun though. Fun times with my family. Fun to have a day just for me. Fun to get completely spoiled. Not only are they fun, they're also semi-reflective. I've taken moments to look back at who I am. Where I've come from. Thinking and wondering what God has in store for me next.

Will this ever end?

Aidan has been under the weather again for the last few days. Yesterday and today he pretty much wanted to lay in my lap or on the floor. He's taken everything really well though...hasn't cried at all. Just takes everything as it comes. Definitely a little trooper.

Mom was here for a couple of days. She's been with David every year on his birthday (and was there in the hospital with us when he was born) and didn't want to miss one. The D-man was ecstatic that his Nana was here--crawled all over her. Told her that he loved her over and over again. Showered her in kisses. It was so sweet. He told me tonight that he couldn't sleep because he missed Nana too much. I love watching them interact. They have such a special relationship.

Well...guess that I should go try to watch the rest of Wedding Crashers with Rob. I've had to leave the room umpteen times because it's so crass and makes me uncomfortable.

Sick no more!

Oh yeah, we're definitely rejoicing around here because of this. Last week Aidan and I both ended up getting sick--yuck! Thankfully Rob and David ended up avoiding it, but it really wasn't fun not feeling anything close to "normal" until about Thursday afternoon. It is wonderful being able to have energy to wash my dishes. Being able to focus long enough to read my daily life journal reading. To be able to read a story to the boys. To be able to play. To be able to do something other than lay in my bed or on the couch (something I did a lot of last week because movement made me nauseous). :(

This week is going to be a very busy one as I'm preparing for David's 4th birthday party. The D-man wanted to invite everyone and his/her dog to his party; however, we only live in a not-so-very-big townhouse, so the list had to be trimmed down somewhat. The theme is monkeys/jungle. I'm making monkey party favor cups for the kids. I got the idea from Martha Stewart Kids magazine's birthday issue from last year. Some of my other decoration ideas come from there or from last February's Family Fun Magazine (the jungle expedition party). Preparing for his party is so much fun this year. I love watching how excited my little man is getting over every detail. We went to the party supply store down the street last Thursday after gymnastics. The boy was in heaven! "Can we get this? Can we get these? What about this?" It was great. He's growing up so fast. I remember him as my teeny-tiny little man, now he's going to be 4!!! Although he's got that teenager attitude--yikes!

Speaking of the little munchkin, he has just come up here to inform me that he has finished his lunch which means we need to break out our lesson for the day and get going. I'm just starting to go through the book Five in a Row with him. This week's book is Robert Frost's Stopping by Woods on a Snowy Evening illustrated by Susan Jeffers. The illustrations in this book are amazing, and I think that it will be a great one to kick off with (especially since we had a little bit of snow falling yesterday--too bad nothing "stuck").

Woo hoo!

I've been tagged! I'm so excited! Thanks for thinking of me Becky!

What were you doing 10 years ago?
Winter 2006. I was a junior in high school. It was the peak of basketball season, and you would always find me on the sidelines in my black, grey and crimson cheerleading uniform cheering our teams onto victory. At that time, I was dating Jake Winona, one of the most popular guys in my high school--one of the funniest, hard-working, thoughtful and sweetest guys you'd ever meet. We had been dating almost a year and a half. I learned how to play alto saxophone at this time in my life and was ready to begin rehearsing for our new jazz ensamble within a month. My life during high school was pretty crazy since I was involved in a lot of stuff. Guess it's kind of hard not to when I only have approximately 120 students total 9-12th grades! :) It was awesome though. Lots of great (and some sad) memories.

Five snacks you enjoy (in no particular order, as all snacks are created equal)
1. ice cream (esp. mint chocolate chip)
2. chocolate
3. popcicles
4. cookies
5. tortilla chips, melted cheddar cheese and salsa

Five songs to which you KNOW all the lyrics (this is a hard one since I have to choose only 5)
1. His Cheeseburger, sung by Mr. Lunt (VeggieTales)
2. SUV Song, VeggieTales
3. Jesus Loves Me (this song is sung almost daily here)
4. Chapel of Love
5. Yellow Submarine, The Beetles

Five bad habits:
1. Popping zits (aka "ickies")
2. Eating when I'm bored, sad, etc.
3. Saying, "Oh, crap!" (David picked up on that one pretty quick)
4. Looking at/messing with my tonsils
5. Going to bed too late

Five things you like doing:
1. Scrapbooking/card making
2. camping
3. curling up with a good novel (or my Bible)
4. hanging out with friends
5. spending time alone with Rob

Five things you would never wear, buy, or get again:
1. shoulder pads
2. nearly every 80s hairstyle
3. Tapered jeans (boot cut all the way!)
4. high waisted jeans
5. a Victoria's Secret Miracle Bra (it didn't work for me)

Five favorite toys:
1. Canon Digital Rebel XT
2. my computer
3. Kitchen Aid mixer
4. mp3 player
5. musical instruments

Blah.

That's a great word to describe my current state of being. Got sick Monday with a flu bug. Totally not fun. I'm still feeling a bit under the weather today, and Aidan started to get it too. :( Thankfully he's been doing great post-nap this afternoon and has kept everything he's eaten down. It's good that he actually wants to eat too! I'm still working to that point.

Maya.

Isn't she adorable? My friend, Natascha, brought her over today for a photoshoot. It's my first shoot with a child other than my two ornery ones. Thankfully, she's such a cute little model, it's hard to not to get great photographs of her. I have to be honest though, the prospect of my first photoshoot scared me. I was a little worried about posing and whatnot, but it ended up working out alright given the constraints of space and trying to keep with her attention span. I had a blast and really love how her pictures turned out.

Here they are!

My painted toes for my U R2 Crea8ive class that I am taking through Big Picture Scrapbooking. I am typically a red or burgandy kind of gal on my toes. Occasionally I'll be daring and use some pinky-red nail polish, or will be more subtle with a pale pink or a nude-color. Not this time. When I went to the CVS store last night, I looked for colors that jumped out at me that I wouldn't typically use (but would make me smile) and decided on these two. Bought some 3D Nail and Toe art stickers as well (those are the flowers you see on my toes). The flowers with the rhinestone centers are fun. They make me smile. Plus, the toes like to be dressed up with a little bling on occasion too. :)

I AM Creative!

I just started an online creativity workshop through Big Picture Scrapbooking called UR 2 Cre8ive taught by Stacy Julian. It is SO flippin' cool! I still need to design the cover for my Creativity Fun Book that I will be using throughout the class, but I'm thoroughly enjoying the little creativity boosting activities that are e-mailed to me each day. Today I even gave myself a fun little foot makeover. :-) Painted my toenails colors I don't typically use. After I put my little stickers on, I'll take a picture to post. Looking at my toes definitely makes me smile. David and Aidan decided that they wanted me to paint their toenails too (had to ask Rob for his permission first, and he granted it). So, I have this really fun pearlescent purple color on my toes (Wet 'n Wild: Soul Mate) and a fun hot pink (Wet 'n Wild: Lavender Creme...not sure why they call it Lavender Creme since it is most definitely PINK!!!). :-)

Yesterday, I made 2 signs for bathroom mirrors that said, "I am creative." I got out my foam stamps, paints and rub-ons from Making Memories and even got the chance to break out my new heat embossing tool that I received for Christmas. Yeah...I think I'm in love with that thing--it's a little bit addicting. Who knew that embossing would be so fun?

I am so looking forward to what the next few weeks are going to bring as far as that class goes. Lots of inspiration. Getting those creative juices flowing. It's pretty cool.

Just maybe--

my expectations for people are too high (especially for those close to me...those that I love). I expect people to behave and act in a certain way. A few nights ago, I was sharing with Rob my feelings about this aspect of me and asked what he thought. My husband is such a gem. He told me he actually liked that aspect of me, but at the same time felt a little badly that because of my "high" expectations, I can get left feeling disappointed. Which, in the case of the person I referred to in my last entry, this is definitely the case.

I love this person so much; however, right now I really feel like I don't know him or her (and maybe that I never truly have in my almost 27-years of existence). I know that this person loves me, and right now, I guess that I should just cling to that. Love them back. Continually be praying for them. Also be praying for God's wisdom--yes, definitely for His wisdom.

Integrity.

There have been some things going on within my extended family unit that have made me want to dig deeper and truly know what the meaning of integrity is. The Merriam-Webster Online Dictionary defines integrity to be: 1. firm adherence to a code of especially moral or artistic values: incorruptibility 2. an unimpaired condition: soundness 3. the quality or state of being complete or undivided. I decided to then look up what the word, "incorruptibility" meant (since I was looking at the first dictionary definition of integrity to describe something that I have been noticing within a certain family member of mine). According to Merriam-Webster, it means: incapable of corruption: as a : not subject to decay or dissolution b : incapable of being bribed or morally corrupted. Hmmm...this is definitely food for thought.

Well, I still want to dig deeper to define really the issue at hand. So, I looked up integrity on the Merriam-Webster Online Thesaurus. Here is what I have found:
Entry Word: integrity
Function: noun
Text: 1 conduct that conforms to an accepted standard of right and wrong -- see MORALITY 12 devotion to telling the truth -- see HONESTY 13 faithfulness to high moral standards -- see HONOR

OK. So to paint the picture in a little more detail, there is a certain person in my life whom I have viewed as more of a rock. Due to this person's new situation and the way he or she is choosing to live his/her life, integrity is being lost. This person isn't doing what he or she feels is right because it would make things uncomfortable for another person. In essence, this former rock-like figure in my life is showing themself to be spineless and honestly, I hate seeing this person's character seemingly diminish. It's not healthy. This person isn't living life the way his/her heavenly Father would want them to. This person is letting someone else call the shots (like, um, nearly 100% of the time, it seems). I feel as if I don't even know them anymore. It's really weird. Maybe I can describe everything fully later, but right now, I'm not at liberty to do so. I just needed to vent a bit and try to process some of the sea of thoughts and emotions that have been swirling around in my head and heart.

When it rains, it pours!

OK...so maybe it hasn't been pouring that much since we've arrived in Oregon; however, it has definitely been raining every day since we've arrived. The entire five years we lived here, we never experienced a true Eugene winter with rain falling nearly constantly. Then, after we move away, it comes. Can't say that I really am shedding too many tears over that though. :)

Our trip out here has been incredible so far. I have really enjoyed reconnecting with cherished friends, and have even had a very positive and pleasant experience meeting my step-mother and step-siblings. David adores his "friend, Uncle Kyle" and loves Aunt Kyra too (although she was a little shy around us).

Still, more people to see, more things to cram into our short time here. I know that I'm going to go back to Blacksburg a little heavy hearted, but I know that God has us there for a reason, and need to just feel so blessed to have had the opportunity to have this visit with people we love.

Got one!!!

Yippee!!! Aidan was semi-cooperative for me when I did a second photo shoot with him the day before yesterday. This was definitely the cutest picture of the bunch as a whole; however, he did give a couple of great smiles on ones where you couldn't really see the Santa hat. Rob and I tried to cut the smiling face from one picture to plant it on another...unfortunately we only have PhotoShop Elements, and the functions we needed to blend the photos, etc. are only on the full version of PhotoShop. Oh well--it was fun experimenting.

The Day of the Laundry...

Hopefully not coming to a home near you. Yesterday ended up being quite interesting to say the least. David woke up in my bed and puked on me and my sheets. NOT fun. :-( I felt so bad for him yesterday because you could totally tell that he wasn't feeling well. He didn't hold anything down in the morning, and in the afternoon he started getting color back into his face, etc. so we thought that maybe the bug had passed. Plus, he got his appetite back, so we had let him eat a few things that we didn't think would be too bad on his system. Yeah, right. We fell asleep together in his bed. I woke up and came to my own room to sleep and he woke up and came to lay down in my bed with me within an hour. Then...he vominated (that's his word for it) ALL OVER my bed!!! So, we ended up washing both sets of our sheets yesterday, and I had to wash the duvet cover, our duvet and I'll get the mattress pad in today. Ugh. So glad that he's doing so much better today. The only plus of him getting sick is that he's my ultra-cuddle bug. Have to take those cuddles when I can get them. :-)

Beautiful.

Just thought that I'd share some photos that Rob retouched for me from the Christmas card photo shoot I did the other day. I am so pleased with how well these ones turned out. It's fun seeing my vision for the pictures come to fruition. Hope y'all have a very Merry Christmas! **Another photo shoot is in the works within the next two days. The picture I posted of Aidan is the only one I was even remotely happy with the way it turned out...I plan to get more of him that I like, plus, I need to get some of my two cuties together!