Isabelle and the Cantaloupe

Yes, the cantaloupe is inside the little blue mesh net thingy. She sucks and chews on it and LOVED the juice so much, that she cried when I took it away from her to "reload" it.

Sleepless nights

Last night was one of the worst nights in a very, very long time.

Imagine this:

10:25pm, go to sleep.

1:30am, Isabelle needs to eat.

2am, go back to sleep.

4am, Carter is crying. Soothe him, put him back to sleep.

4:20am, Carter is screaming. Change a poopy diaper, tell him I'm not coming back, put him back to sleep.

5am, Carter is crying again.

5:20am, Carter is still crying. Go get him, bring him to bed with me. Tell him firmly it's time to go nite-nite, mamma's tired, mamma is going to sleep. Turn off light. Carter cuddles, but is restless and irritated for some reason. This goes on for 10 minutes.

5:30am, put Carter back in his bed, kicking and screaming.

6am, Carter quiets down and falls to sleep and finally, so can I.

8am, good morning! It's time to wake up! Both children are awake....AGAIN!

I do have to say, this was much more frustrating than having a newborn and expecting to be awake every 3-4 hours. This nightmare was unplanned, and so frustrating in the middle of the night. What do you do with a screaming toddler at 4am? I refuse to let him get up for the day. That is a bad habit that WILL NOT start. And how do I sleep when I can hear him crying????

He was very cute before all the screaming began. I was holding him and telling him how everyone was sleeping, mee-mee, bell-bell, daddy (who was actually gone to work already, but at the time telling Carter that daddy was sleeping seemed like a powerful trick). But Carter had other things on his mind.

Like naming everything he could think of....car, mee-mee's ball, juice, hot, cold, mama, daddy, bell-bell, eyes, nose, ouch, hat (the spiderman hat from Grandma Kay that will be the death of me. He wants to take it EVERYWHERE, even to bed.)...and on and on and on.

At 4am when it's just Carter and I, and he wants to talk to me and tell me everything he knows, and I have his full undivided attention, who wouldn't want to listen to what he has to say????

Maybe this is all my fault. For entertaining him when he wanted to talk instead of sleep. Or for going back in a 3rd time after telling him I wasn't coming back, and then bringing him to bed with me (which I will never do again, but desperate times call for desperate measures...okay, maybe I wasn't desperate, but golly gee, I sure felt like I was going to die! SLEEP, SLEEP, all I wanted was my sleep!!!). And when he wails for mamma while he's crying desperately, sometimes I cave.....

Thank goodness it's my day off.

Thank goodness I can take them to daycare.

Thank goodness I can get some rest.

My co-workers will not like me one bit on Wednesday if this happens again tomorrow night.

All About Carter

Carter is growing up so nicely. He seriously is a different boy than he was just 2 months ago. He's not QUITE so attached to my leg anymore, and is happy to play by himself for a while.

Daddy is teaching him how to pretend and role play with his army guys. They jump and spin and crash and slide and even FLY! Daddy is much better at this than mommy is. Mommy is much better at reading books, cutting apples, and changing diapers.

Funny how that works.

Isabelle is getting bigger and bigger. And the bigger she gets, the funnier she thinks her brother is. She watches him play and laughs at him all day long.

And, Carter loves to takes care of her.
I just love the person he is becoming. Ever since he turned 2, it's like the flood gates of words have burst.

He asks for 'ahh wader' = more water
he tells me when he goes 'pee pee',
he yells at Simon to stop barking = 'mee-mee, top', no-no',
he tells me Isabelle wants more = mowa
he likes his "guys",
and his "cars",
and loves to "jump!jump!jump!"
He loves "crackers" and "jush" = juice
and his shoes and downstairs and outside.
He wakes daddy up from naps "daddy, wk ip",
and "daddy, eeeeet!" when its time to eat dinner.
And he likes to try to count on his fingers, understands 1-2-3, and can sing the ABC's from A to G.
He says bye!
and bump-a (grandpa),
and nite-nite,
and sssshhhh!
and he loves his sister bell-bell,
and nee-nee (auntie 'lyn-dee').
He can say the names of his friends at daycare, and can even tell secrets. (compliments of Mel at daycare)
He also loves to do the "deesh" dishes,
and always wants a handful of 'bah-boos" = bubbles
(And I am completely intrigued by this, but I know that's probably enough.)

I'm so excited to watch him grow!!!!

From 3lbs 12oz, to 30lbs today, he amazes me every single day!!!

Devil VS Angel

What's funny, is that for Carter's birthday, I made him a chocolate devil's food cake.

BUT,

Great Grandma Violet brought a white angel food cake.

Maybe Carter is half devil,

and half angel???

Itsy Bitsy

And Carter LOVES the Itsy Bitsy Spiders.

My New Kitchen

Since our bathroom is almost complete, I thought I'd get started on ideas for our next project....

THE KITCHEN.

You can contact me via phone or email if you are interested in funding this project. Thanks.

Oh, and we are only accepting donations in increments of $1,000 or more. Again, Thank you.

This, that, and a Birthday Party!

In the last week and a half, there have been many events MUCH worthy of mentioning...if I can remember them all, it will justify why I have not posted a blog in the last 10 days.

The kids and I went to a family reunion. It was hot, humid, and yucky.

Grandma Violet spent most of the day holding Isabelle, as usual, and Carter ran around like a monkey.

Unfortunately, the reunion was in an un- airconditioned shelter.

Unfortunately, Carter fell face first onto the sidewalk, scraped his head, nose, and got a bloody lip.

And unfortunately, neither of the kids got their naps and there was hell to pay when we got home at 4 pm.

And unfortunately this made mommy very irritated and wanting a break SOOO badly, but no one wanted to nap. Rather, they both cried for 30 minutes; too tired to sleep, and too upset to eat...until daddy came home from work. THANK YOU, LORD. Then I don't know what happened. I went to bed and locked the door.

This is just another reason I have said in the past, and I'll say it again, we are all much happier if we just stay home.

A few days later, our cousin (and life saver) Brit came to stay with us. This same day after a short road trip to pick her up, day care called and said Carter had a fever, and he needed to get picked up. So, we brought him home and went to see the Doc. Usually when Carter is has a fever this high, he is sick. But not this time. No strep, no ear infection, no nothing. So, for the next 3 days Carter stayed home with a fever.

Brit, in ALL her free time (which ended up to be little since Carter was home) was planning a garage sale for me. In my garage, in the humidity, and in the heat, she was laying out all the baby clothes. (Selling the baby clothes is incentive to not get pregnant any time soon.) The first day of the sale was successful, and Brit manned the fort like a pro, while I was at work.

The same night of the first day of the sale, our cousin Dawn was getting married. I couldnt go, since I was working, but Brit was able to catch a ride with my sister and attend the affair. I wished I could have gone so badly, but with Jer having to be to work at 1:30 AM the next morning, (insane, isn't it???) he really needed me to be there so he could go to bed by an early hour that evening. And what was I to do with the kids if I took them with??? Carter had been sick, and needed his sleep. And Isabelle....well, she's a piece of cake so I guess that wasn't an issue. BUT, Carter, really needed to be home. So, the decision was made. I had to stay home.

However, the next morning was day 2 of our exciting garage sale!!!! And I needed to be up at 6:30am, well rested, and ready to go.

This, I was.

But only to find a massive storm system hovering over my house. It started to get windy, it started to get dark, and it started to down pour. In the middle of this down pour, my faithful friend Dina showed up, just like she said she would, to help with the garage sale and the kids.

Upon walking in the door, she announced that there would be no sale anytime soon, and that we were going back to bed. This, we did. Till 8 am.

The sun was shining, and it was time for a sale!!!....then the kids woke up. I was stuck in the house getting breakfast going, while my faithful friend, Dina, set up the sale just like she said she would. I LOVE HER!!!! And I think I owe her a very large favor.

The sale went on, somewhat unsuccessful in it's 2nd day. I think the rain was to blame.

Then aound 11 am, Brit came back from the wedding, and she left shortly after to go home. I was sad. I wished I could have gone to the wedding, and I wished I could have spent more time with Brit. I miss her dearly, and want her to come live with me. I mean really, what's more important; the 11th grade, or living with your needy cousins????

The next day was Carter's 2nd birthday party! Jer had requested the day off, was granted it, then it was taken away, and then he was put on call. So, we had a pretty good chance that he would be home.

And this, he was.

And it was a perfect day. Carter was happy and silly and laughing, and Bell-Bell was cheeky as usual, and daddy was home with us on a Sunday, and the house got cleaned, and the lawn got mowed, and the cake was made, and the errands were ran, and naps were taken by all.....except poor poor daddy, who never seems to get a break. (I do need to mention that it was no ones fault but his own. He had the opportunity, but didn't take it.)

Carter had his party, and got his toys. This year, he's really into cars and spiderman. What a lucky boy he is, because he got some of both for his birthday!

And I was thinking, what a lucky boy he is, indeed:

He has his own house.

He has his own car.

He has his own horse.

And he has his own truck.And he's only TWO!

Dine Without Whine

So I had mentioned how I dislike cooking very, very much in a previous post. I was doing some research on the subject, and stumbled across something quite amazing. If you could imagine, every meal of the week, already planned out for you, including the grocery list down to the specific measurement needed for each individual dish. It's time to "Dine Without Whine".

I think this could quite simply be one of the most amazing things I have ever seen.

The New Bathroom

Would you just look at my friggen' bathroom!!!!?!??!!! I think that Jer did a smashingly amazing job, and deserves an applause.

I can't believe that I can once again, take a pee on the main level of my house. YAY! However, it isn't finished just yet...not so YAY. We are still waiting for the plumber, so, that means no running water in the sink or shower. And there are still some minor things that need to be finished. But just look at it. I think it is quite sharp, myself. And I can't wait to pee upstairs in the middle of the night!!!!! (Can you hear me squealing in delight??) I will post more pics when it is really really done.

This sure beats the alternative...