Overheard on the way to the store:

Shannon and I were talking. Then, Shannon says, "Stop making that noise, mama. I need to blow up this balloon."

me: "What noise?"

Shannon: "The words comin' out of your mouth."

pee the potty! not in pants!!

I watched these again a few times today. I laugh harder each time. Anyway, in case you haven't seen them or would like to watch again, here they are:



(Shannon translation: "Pee in potty. Not in pants.")

For the record, Shannon no longer has any potty training issues, and hasn't for close to a year. It's wonderful!!! I can't wait until Jack is trained!!

goodness gracious!

Wow, it's been a long time since my last post. I didn't realize that much time had passed since our life went into overdrive. Shortly after the last post, we decided to pursue buying the place with this view:



And, this view:


And, to allow the child featured in this picture to do more of what he's doing in the picture: run. :)


So, toward the end of getting the most equity out of our current home, we've been working pretty much non stop since the end of July. We love our current home (mostly). It has beautiful original Arts & Crafts woodwork. We've done some great restoration work to it. Not to mention the fact that it is located conveniently three blocks from both a Walgreens and a grocery store (albeit, an expensive grocery store).

But, the new place offers several acres (the number of which is still being decided), for various activities, hopefully including chickens, goats, and a small orchard. It is located about 4 road-miles from my parents house (probably only about 2.5 linear miles). And, even mapquest doesn't know where it is!! The house is not so lovely as the one we have now, but it is slightly larger and very nicely proportioned for an older farm house.

It is not yet ours. While we are very close to making a deal with the current owners, I will not rejoice until we have the keys in our hands. Once we agree to terms with the owners, someone else could still come in and buy it, or we could not sell our house. But, we are also very close to having our current home in shining condition to be sold.

So, we've been praying a lot. And, daydreaming a lot. And, working a lot. We'll wait for God's timing, because if he does not have this place for us, then I really don't want it.

yummy, yummy pie

I made this Strawberry Rhubarb Streusel Pie for dessert last night. It was really, really good. I will definitely need to make it again (especially since Sean loves all things rhubarb).

Summer Fun

Playing with fire for the fourth of July


"Swimming" in the almost-too-small-pool.


Jack spends most of his time by the pool, not in it.


Shannon pretending to be an elephant:


Shannon pretending to be a monster:


To view more photos from this album, click here.

Jack's first word is . . . .

Ga-pa. Yep, that's right. Even though he's been saying "ma-ma-ma-ma-ma-ma" for a long time, and I'm pretty sure he's been saying "num-num-num-num-num" when food is coming, his first official word is grandpa!! Dad heard it yesterday when he came for lunch. I heard it this morning when I was dropping the boys off. And Mom heard it at some point today too.

He's still not walking, though. He could do it if he just decided to, but he finds speed crawling gets him there faster. And, boy, can he fly on his knees. :)

a little praise for my wonderful husband :)

1) Sean has been smoke-free for about 4 months!!! YIIIPPPPEEEEEEEEEEEE!!!! Quite by accident, he quit smoking. :) How, you ask? Well, one weekend, he got sick. He slept most of the weekend. He woke up Tuesday morning thinking he was feeling pretty good. So, he had a cup of coffee and a smoke. And, he hurled for the next half hour. I don't think I've ever seen him look so green. But, he couldn't touch them again. Thank goodness for puking!!

2) This weekend, I went away for a girls' weekend with my mom, sister, and sister-in-law. I had a great time, especially because Sean was such a wonderful papa to his little boys. When I came home, he was a relaxed, contented father--not grinding his teeth and watching the clock. He even put together our bike trailer and took them for a ride--which they loved even with the 15 mosquito bites they came home with. :)

some photos for ya

a funny shannon quote

Okay, I couldn't resist on this one, which probably isn't as funny to you, since you can't actually hear Shannon talking.

I just went into Shannon's room, which is currently a mess. His friends Luke and Reagan are coming over for a couple hours this morning, so I said to him, "Shannon, you better pick up a little in here because Luke and Reagan are coming over."

Shannon responds excitedly, "Oh, yah yah, I gotta clean up this mess or it hurt someone."

He proceeded to pick up some books, but he picked some out and said, "No, mama, Luke wanna read that one."

lovin' my dry basement

So far, in this year's flooding, we've been enjoying a very dry basement. And, now that the rain is done for a few days, I don't expect that we'll have a problem. If we were going to have a problem, it would be sewer back up. But, we've made it through some seriously heavy rains without a drop in the house. I do not envy those who have not been so fortunate, nor those who live in the heavily flooded areas. It's going to be a very yucky mess to clean up.

Jack would rather eat dirt than chocolate

Chocolate vs Dirt: Now that spring/summer is finally here, we've been spending a lot of time outside. And, whenever Jack is out, we keep a close eye on him as he still desires to taste everything he touches. When he manages to get a taste of dirt, he doesn't crinkle his nose up or immediately spit it out. He seems to think, "that's all right." On the other hand, if I feed him some chocolate, he contorts himself until he has rid his mouth of every last bit. This fact was most evident when he violently refused his birthday cake, which was chocolate. But, I've tried chocolate chips, pieces of candy bars, even a tiny chip in a spoonful of ice cream. And, the reaction is always the same. As soon as he tastes the chocolate, a completely disgusted look comes over his face, and he sticks his tongue out repeatedly until the flavor is gone. He even shudders. Hopefully, when he gets older, these reactions will be reversed. :)

Jack loves to snuggle, especially right after he wakes up from a nap. I'll walk into his room, and he's standing at the crib rail. He's either already holding his blanket, or he'll reach down to get it. Then, he holds his arms out. When I pick him up, he lays his head on his blanket on my shoulder, and he stays there for about 5 to 10 minutes. I love it.

two very different kids!

Not only do Shannon and Jack not look like each other, they also have very different personalities. Here is an example: Both kids react very strongly to the vacuum. Shannon whine-cries and says, "too loud, mama!! turn it off, mama!! stop, mama!!" Jack whine-cries if he is not the one doing the vacuuming. Just now when I started vacuuming the rug, Jack picked up the floor attachment and started chasing me around the rug, while Shannon came and begged me to turn it off. Funny.

which of these is not like the other?

I've never blogged about work before that I can recall. But, I was in a meeting yesterday, and I was thinking about how unusual the circumstance was.

I work for an investment company (no that is not the unusual part--not a very good transition, I realize). I would say that the investment profession is probably weights more heavily toward males, but not significantly. And, across our organization, males and females are pretty equally represented. Specifically within my company, I work for the Information Technology department. Then, specifically within the IT department, I work for the "Change the Business" team, which is all programmers/developers.

On this team, I am the only female. This fact hasn't been very remarkable in the past, since there were only four of us. Recently, we've added two more programmers to the team, and about 8 contractors. I hadn't really thought about my potential odd-ness until a meeting yesterday when we were all together. I was at the table with 13 men. I noticed it--though the thought had never occurred to me in my previous 7 years with the company. I'm curious if anyone else on the team noticed it.

I think the last time I felt that . . . unusual was for probably my favorite college course -- Logic. I loved that class, but I was the only female out of about 10. Even though it makes sense to me now, I never would have believed that my love of logic would translate to a love of programming. And, while my "research" has been unofficial and only in the form of observation, I would say that significantly fewer women than men share my love of programming.

Well, it seemed noteworthy to me yesterday. But, today, I'm thinking it might be as noteworthy as pointing out that significantly more women than men choose the profession of nursing.

tigers, oh my!

No, we did not see a tiger at the zoo recently. They were there; we just didn't see them.

However, I was awakened last night by a loud noise. At first my dull-barely-cognizant brain was having a hard time recognizing the sound as I awakend from the fog of sleep. But, I finally realized it was Shannon screaming. I immediately started to rise, and I realized he was running at roadrunner speed down the hall. By the time I was even partially up, he was in our room. I pulled him up, and we attempted to quiet him--which took some doing. In both of our minds was a dread that he had vomited, given Jack's recent (and ongoing) struggle with a stomach bug.

Sean: "What's wrong, bud?"

Shannon, still half scream-crying: "There's a tiger in Shannon's room! Tiger eat Shannon's leg!"

Poor kid. Although, while comforting my terrified child, there was a little part of me that giggled inside. We let him lay in bed with us for awhile, to get his heart-rate back to normal. He's had other nightmares before, but rarely, and they generally only resulted in a half awake cry.

I eventually told him we needed to go back to his room. I told him I'd take him and we'd make sure there were no tigers. It was so cute. He had me look in the dining room and living room. When we looked in his room, he said, "There's no tigers in there!" in a very happy voice.

I laid him in his bed and brought in reinforcements: his puppy and bear. Then, I suggested he dream about climbing a tree with Curious George or maybe even riding in a hot air balloon.

"No, I ride bike," he said.

As I'm leaving the room, he says, "I dream about Percy, mama."

"Okay. Are you going to help Percy deliver the mail?" I ask.

"No. I go to station and get coal," he replies.

And then he's off to sleep.

omaha trip

We took the boys on a short trip to Omaha. We visited the Durham Western Heritage Museum and the Omaha Zoo. Here are some things we learned:

1) Jack is terrified of elevators. The doors closing, the elevator starting to move, the elevator stopping, the doors opening were all events that caused significant alarm.
2) Shannon has no fear in the water. At it's deepest, the pool was just over Shannon's head. But, that didn't stop Shannon from venturing into the deepest part of the pool.
3) Jack was terrified of the pool. He loves baths, so I don't think it was water he was afraid of. But, when we first entered the pool area, all the noise from the kids and the fountain brought the poor kid to tears. Later, as I was taking him into the water, his arm was literally shaking--and not because he was cold. Eventually, he warmed up to the idea and enjoyed himself.
4) Shannon is crazy-kid once he warms up to his surroundings. At the museum, he was cautious at first. But, then he turned into the hide-in-a-cupboard-and-jump-out-and-scare-passersby kid. He tore around the train cars (the museum was pretty empty) for about 15 minutes.
5) Little known fact -- when at the zoo, you are actually supposed to race through as fast as you can. Well, at least in the world according to Shannon. I think he enjoyed it, but he didn't enjoy any one thing for very long.
6) Jack hates riding in strollers. For this reason, I wore Jack in a carrier at the zoo. In the afternoon, he was pretty happy in the wagon for a while. But, then he got tired. So, we went home.

All in all, it was a great weekend. I look forward to doing similar weekends in years to come.

shannon quote

Yesterday, Shannon was being kind of a pill in the morning. We had been outside in the wet grass, so we were changing his pants. Getting dressed is one area in which Shannon would prefer not to be independent. So, he was doing his helpless grunt -- "ehhh, ehhh, ehhh" -- and acting like he was incapable of dressing himself.

"Are you helpless, Shannon?" I asked him.

"No, I'm just tired," he said matter-of-factly. (Yes, I realize "factly" is not a word.)

March Photo Shoot

Our friend Shana took these photos of the boys in March. She has a photography business and had asked to use the boys as models. :) They didn't make her job terribly easy. But, she did get some great photos. (If you live in the area and would like to use her services, her website is http://www.shanadrake.com.)

it's not pig! it's food! and other updates

The world according to Shannon. Last night for supper, we had Pork Medallions Alfredo (from Kraft food and family). It was quite tasty. Anyway, Shannon pointed to one of the pieces of meat, and he said, "That's chicken." I said, "No, it's pork, which comes from a pig." Shannon screws up his face with an incredulous look, turns up his hands, and informs me, "it's not pig! it's food!" How could I be so silly?!

Two great deals . . . in one day!! Yesterday I was home from work because my mom is sick with the same thing that went through our family a couple weeks ago. So, we ran a couple errands. On Monday night, the four of us had gone out to do a little shopping. One of the items we were looking to buy was a car seat for Jack. He's only 11 months, but with the cloth diapers, it is nearly impossible to fit him in his carrier seat. So, I wanted to get him the same seat Shannon has, since we like it so much (it reclines, which is awesome for road trips).

First, we made a quick stop at Sam's Club to see if they happened to be selling that particular car seat at a discounted price. As I dashed through the store, I noticed they had a few area rugs on clearance: 5x8 for $59.81. I thought that was a good price, but I was in a hurry so I decided not to take the time to examine them. We also ended up not getting the car seat that night.

So, yesterday, I thought I would go back and get one, since it was so cheap and I wanted a bigger rug for my living room. Well, when I got back to Sam's Club yesterday, it was only $34.81!!! And, when I examined it more closely, I saw that it was 100% wool. So, even though it isn't my dream rug, it is better than what we had and significantly cheaper!!

On to the next deal. I had noticed in the Big Lots ad that they had curtain panels for $5. So, I thought I would run over there to see if they had anything that would work for our bedroom. After discovering that they only had one, I decided we'd walk through the rest of the store. As I'm walking by the Big Lots little selection of rugs (I also need one for the dining room), I see a single car seat in a box on the floor. And, it isn't just any car seat. It is EXACTLY the one I wanted. And, it doesn't cost $120 like it did at Target. It is only $60!! Yippee!!!

Little Jackie-boy is growing up. In the last week or two, Sean and I have really started to notice how much Jack is interacting more with us. Of course, he would always respond with giggles and smiles, but this interaction is more "intelligent." He "talks" more in a conversational way. And, here's a funny little story. I was picking up in Shannon's room. I would pick up the tracks off the floor and toss them in a bin. Well, Jack decided he'd help. So, everything he saw, he started tossing in the bin. Oh, it was so cute!! Even as I was trying to put the puzzles back together, he would pick the pieces up and throw them in the bin.

the cake

Here are a few photos of the cake I made for Shannon's birthday. It was actually a lot of fun. While Shannon thought it was cool, he wasn't really interested in eating it. And yes, it is leaning a little to one side.

By the way, it is supposed to be James (the red isn't quite right). When I asked Shannon if he wanted a Thomas cake, he said, "I want James cake." Of course, then it changed about 10 times. But, I decided to go with James anyway, since it was what he had said the most. Here's a link to the tutorial I used.

the church and the people

Shannon occasionally performs the "This is the church; this is the steeple; open the doors; see all the people" finger-play. Shannon has added his own little twist. Once the doors open, all the people introduce themselves to each other. Except, in this case, most of them are named Shannon. I think one is named Jack, and one is named mama.

Enjoy!

no, it's shannon!!

Included in a box of clothes we received from a neighbor was a full body spiderman suit. Shannon loves to wear this all day long, despite the fact that he is nearly too big for it. Last night, he had it on. Sean came up from the basement and said, "Oh my goodness! It's spiderman!"

Shannon put his hand on his chest, with a slightly alarmed look on his face and very urgently said, "No, it's Shannon!"

LOL!!!

the business of being born

There's a new documentary called "the business of being born," which was pioneered by Ricki Lake. Apparently, following a terrible birth experience with her first child, she started doing research. Her second birth experience was a home birth, which was a highly superior experience. So, she set out to make this documentary.

Netflix now has it available for instant viewing, so I just watched it. I thought it was very good. It is amazing how vastly different the American birth experience is from the rest of the world. (Although, having watched several of Dana's (my midwife) videos/dvds, I had heard much of it--except for twilight sleep. Good grief, that is horrific!) And, as labor/birth dvds go, I think this one is better for educational perspective, particularly for women who have never considered a midwife-assisted birth. The one thing that might be lacking is any discussion of the possibility of or pros/cons of midwife-assisted hospital births.

My personal favorite "birth-prep" dvd is called "The Big Stretch." When my midwife lent it to me before Jack was born, she said, "it's kind of out there, but watch it and tell me what you think." And, she was right, it was kind of out-there, and I can't really explain why (I think it was mostly a birth-connects-you-to-mother-nature kind of way--and it wasn't all like that, just a few of the interviewees). And, if I remember correctly, I don't think you witness any actual births. It is just interviews with several women about their birth experiences. (They are all in Australia, where it is apparently illegal to have a Cesarean with out medical need.)

Anyway, I'm pretty sure that my success, if you will, with Jack's birth is partially due to my having watched that dvd. It was so empowering. And, I am not the kind of person who would be easily "empowered" by a dvd--I'm too skeptical. :) But, when I went into labor with Jack, my brain stayed in the "I can do this" place, and it never strayed off that path. And honestly, I still can't believe I did it. (Even more, I can't believe that the nurse who attended my birth said I was "amazing" and that I should teach a class. AND, that Dana wished she could have video taped it for education of her future clients.)

So, I can completely identify with the "business of being born" people when they talk about how empowering a good birth experience can be.

(And, for my regular family readers -- yes, I realize it has been awhile and that Shannon just had a birthday. I will try to post some pictures tomorrow. :) )

jack milestones

I'm very curious to see who Jack becomes. At one point, I thought he would be the sweet, sensitive type. Now, I'm not sure. He may still be sweet, but I think he may end up with more assertiveness than I would have originally thought.

Here's an example. Sean noticed this one first. While feeding Jack, he will sometimes absentmindedly attempt to pull his bib off. So, I (or Sean, whoever is doing the feeding) will remove his hand from the bib and say, "no." while shaking my head. He will then continue to do this repeatedly, and he looks me directly in the eye, almost as a challenge. He has this slight smirk. Then I say "no" and he starts shaking his head. Maybe he just thinks it's a game, but it's pretty funny.

Jack is starting to crawl more. He's been able to do the knee crawl for about a month. But, he would generally only do it just before reaching something on which to pull himself up. This past Sunday, he started using it more as a means of getting from one thing to the next.

Jack is also signing. He signs "more," which, given his appetite, he uses pretty often. To the untrained eye, it looks much like clapping, but he does it in response to the word "more" and generally only if he wants more. What a smart boy.

Pray ... not talk!

I had to get this posted before I forgot about it. Every night we hold hands and pray before we eat supper. Well tonight, Shannon must have been hungry. As soon as I called that supper was ready, Shannon set aside his new books (we had just returned from the library, so Shannon will spend up to an hour sitting on the couch reading his books) and ran to his stee-uew (stool). Sean came fairly promptly, but he started telling me about something as he sat down. Shannon's hands were outstretched waiting for prayer, and when Sean continued talking, he said, "Pray, papa!! not talk!!"

I be nicely, otay?

A few things happening around here:

Jack pulls himself up. At the end of December, Jack pulled himself up to a standing position. He had started with his knees, after which I very promptly urged Sean to lower the bed of the crib, for fear that Jack would launch himself over the edge with just the slightest bit of leverage. Sean obliged quite readily, recognizing the need. And, just a few days later, Jack was coming to a full standing positing. It is really quite cute to walk in and see him standing in his crib, waiting to be picked up.

Shannon and adverbs. Those who remember my teenage years may recall my propensity for adding "ly" for anyone who seemed to forget its proper placement in an adverb. Well, I'm happy to tell you that Shannon seems to be doing very well with his adverbs. He tells me he is going to do something "swowly" or "nicely." However, he is occasionally over-ly-ing. He often says, "I be nicely." :)

Shannon-- I otay!! Shannon loves to tear around our house. And, because he is wearing socks and running on wood floors, he often meets the floor quite abruptly. I will be somewhere else in the house, and Shannon will yell, "I otay, Mama!!!" I love it.

Jack and Aunt Erika's crocheted edges. My cute little thumb-sucker loves his blanket. At first, he just seemed to be attached to blankets in general. Then, the attachment became stronger to the blanket his aunt Erika made him. Then, his attachment centered specifically around the crocheted edging around the blanket. When he is very tired he will grow a little frantic if he cannot locate the edge. Erika also crocheted an edge for a small burp cloth of the same pattern fabric (different color). I have started introducing this as a surrogate so in the summer time, I can have it handy without overheating the poor boy. He seems equally pleased with the burp cloth as the blanket. He even enjoyed sucking his thumb with the blanket Erika made for Shannon. He wandered into Shannon's room, pulled himself up standing against Shannon's bed, found the edge of the blanket, and quietly stood there for a minute or so.

Shannon and "I love you!" For a long time, Shannon would simply say, "I you" for "I love you." Well, this past Sunday, he decided to add the word "love." Now he loves to say it all the time, much to his mother's delight. He especially loves to say it when he is in trouble, when he is trying to avoid doing something his mother has asked of him, or when he is supposed to be going to sleep. And, in those times, he will also say, "I need a hug" or "I need a tiss."

Household order. I have long struggled with keeping my house somewhat clean. I love a clean house, but other things get prioritized above the efforts needed to keep it that way. I have managed build a schedule that I have stuck to for two weeks now, which is pretty good considering my track record. It includes "family clean-up time" after supper three days a week. That just means that Shannon and I put toys away and vacuum. (Sean is allowed to participate if he is so inclined, but since he's on his feet all day, I decided to leave it up to him.) I've also added Pilates just before bed (odd time, I know, but I find that it is relaxing and stretches my back). I built the schedule in such a way that it would be flexible, but still have enough structure to actually have a chance of working. Of course, now that I've said that, things aren't looking so good for today's scheduled activities. I got sidetracked this morning by some awesome online clothing sales.