Carter is driving

Carter's first bike ride. Look out world, here he comes!

Independence Day

Happy 4th of July!!!!

We had a long day of festing and celebrating, and lots of fun doing it.

Now we're all tuckered out, so nite-nite!

Who's Who?

I was noticing today just how much Isabelle looks like Carter when he was her age. Can you tell who's who????

The baby drinks the bottle???

I nursed Isabelle until I went back to work at 2 months. I had froze TONS of breastmilk, so she got used to the bottle right from the get-go, and we never had a problem. It is really unfortunate for the mommies and daddies out there who have babies that WILL NOT take a bottle, and all they want is the boob.

I visited a friend this weekend who is in this exact situation. Isabelle started to get hungry, we fixed her a bottle, and let me tell you this; I have NEVER see two people in such disbelief that a baby would actually drink from a bottle. I mean, they just couldnt believe that babies REALLY DO drink from bottles with artificial nipples.

I remember as I grabbed the bottle from the kitchen and started walking into the family room with the baby in my arms, that it seemed like they were staring at me, and kinda were following me as to see what would happen....

So I stopped and turned around, and THERE THEY WERE, right behind me, and they said, "okay, lets see how this works"....(I chuckled)...and slowly put the bottle in the babies mouth and she opened her mouth, closed her mouth, and started sucking on the nipple.

"OH-MI-GOD" they said...."look at that. She LOVES it!" and their eyes were all buggin out of their heads, and I picked their jaws up off the floor.

It was as if they had NEVER seen a baby take a bottle before. I think their situation must be more serious than I thought. And so, I'm just glad that is one problem I DONT have.

Hey, here I am!

Up the Wall

Things that drive me C-R-A-Z-Y:

1. When both my children are crying at the same time....this HAS to be #1, at the TIPPY TIPPY TOP of the list.

2. When the dog looms over Carter like a buzzard over fresh roadkill, waiting for his next yummy bite. And then gulps up the food right out of Carters hands...and makes him cry.

3. When at work, I tell a customer that "their insurance will not pay for their medicine" and they don't understand, so my boss gets on the phone, and he tells them "your insurance will not pay for your medicine" and they say "oh, my insurance wont pay for my medicine?".....YEAH! Ken's words are so golden.

4. When people (no need to mention names) put the milk carton back in the fridge with less than a tablespoon of milk left in it.

5. Better yet, when they put it back EMPTY!!!!!

6. Same with the ice tray....

7. When people (again, no names) call me on their cell phones and try to have a conversation when they are breaking up, or don't have good reception. And then they want to spend 5 minutes trying to say "how are you" in between all the crackles. I cant tolerate it. Sorry if I hang up on you.

8. Science-Fiction movies. They actually make my blood boil if I have to sit and watch them.

9. Getting caught in the rain. I cant say that I enjoy looking like a drowned rat when I get to work. And I cant say I enjoy looking like stale washcloth for the rest of the day, either....hmmm, just what does a stale washcloth look like???? (I just realized that I referred to myself as looking like a rat and a washcloth..hehe, that's funny.)

10. Carter and his 'toddlerness'....if you know what I mean.

11. When the garbage bag is packed like cement with garbage, and it wont come out of the can.

12. Better yet, the garbage can just BEING FULL is enough to drive me crazy.

13. The apple trees in my back yard....if you don't understand why, you have obviously never had an apple tree in your yard.

14. When Simon (the dog) goes from sleeping sound, to barking mad in .0000001 seconds. It scares the living daylights out of EVERYONE. If only the squirrels would stay in someone else's yard....

15. I think that's enough for one post, don't you???

Photo Album

What's going on?

HHEELlllooooo!
I've been so crazy busy lately. Carter is very needy, and Isabelle just gets bigger and bigger and eats more and more every day. I think I will start to introduce rice cereal soon....so stay tuned for some good ole messy food shots!

Just wanted to let everyone know that we're still alive, and don't yell at me for not blogging for a few plus some days.

Oh, and the pool is up and ready to go! whooo-haaa! Now, if I only had some time away from the kids to enjoy it peacefully...during the day light hours. Its cool at night, but it's just that...COOL! I'd like to be in the pool when the sun's out to keep me warm!

And the bathroom??? Still exactly the same as last time.
And my sister Lynn??? Still in Cameroon, AFRICA.

This is what she says in her most recent email:

"Hello to all! So, the internet is working! VERY, VERY slow here. It takes like 15 mins just to get on and logged into hotmail! So, where to begin? I am in Africa! Shisong is where we are staying and working. I tell ya, the sanitation here is unreal. So many infections! Oh and get this, they re-use gloves and gauze! Yes, they take a dressing off one person, wash it, and then put it back on another! UNREAL! I did rounds with the MD (the only surgeon in the whole hospital) the other day and we saw so much that just shocked us.for example...using a coke bottle for a catheter bag! they do the best with what they have though. Everyone here is SO nice and welcoming of us though! I cant wait to show you all my pictures and tell more stories! This is just a touch of what goes on here! the roads are so not paved! full of huge holes and red clay dirt! I have a new appreciation for our roads! It is chaos on the roads. no lines and tons of cars and people everywhere! The group I am with is great! We all get a long great. We are getting fed well. the nuns are great cooks. Way too many carbs though. they don't eat a lot of protein, so we are now dreaming of yummy burgers and turkey, and steak and so on! well, I am getting told. to get off the computer now, so I have to go! Well talk more later if I can! talk to you all soon! Lynn"

This is "auntie" Lynn...good pic, huh? Hehehe. She'll kill me.

And Jer and I? Tired and overworked. I need a vacation....hmmm, there's a thought.

No more uglies

With all this blogging of laundry, and all these ugly pictures of ugly bathrooms, and laundry thrown about my living room, I can't help but feel like I look like a slob with an ugly house.

Let me reassure you, I am not a slob, nor do I have an ugly house. ONLY ugly bathrooms and, and ugly piles of laundry....and I will not post pictures of my greatest uglies anymore.

Which Ugly is Better?

I'm not sure which is uglier:

My "ugly bathroom" upstairs,

or my ugly bathroom downstairs....

"Audience, please lock in your votes"...

The Trenches

Forgive me, but Tuesdays, Wednesdays and Thursdays are the busiest days for me; so don't ever expect a blog out of me on these days.

With that being said, I do have to give everyone a laundry update. My last post was about how laundry sucked, on Sunday. Well, laundry kept sucking until Monday evening when I was sick of not being able to find anything, was in a hurry, and threw all the clean UNfolded laundry all over the living room....where it stayed until Wednesday night. This is when I learned one thing:

Piles of laundry ARE good for something.

That night, my wonderful husband took control, saved me from the trenches of laundry, and folded it all up. Bless his heart. It still sat around, FOLDED in laundry baskets until this morning (Friday), and it finally got put away.

Hip-Hip-Hooray, the laundry is done!!!!

Oh wait....no it's not!

I forgot about the load in the dryer, the load in the washer, and this huge pile from all week long! Silly me, what was I thinking?????

What Sucks About Laundry

You know what sucks??? Not only does laundry have to be

1. Sorted

2. Spot cleaned

3. Washed

4. Dried

but it ALSO has to get

5. Folded

and

6. Put away

Numbers #5 and #6 don't always get done around here. And I hate it when I have to find clothes for the kids and myself crinkled and in the laundry basket.

TIME!! TIME!! I NEED MORE TIME!!!!

We are Humans!

Saturday evening we went to my mom's for a cookout with my nieces and nephews. All the kids were running around out back, which is a very wooded area, playing games and just having good ole fun. It came to be early evening, the sun was setting, and the mosquitoes came out of hiding.

The kids ran inside desperate to do something about these bugs that were biting them, so grandpa Greg sprayed them down with bug spray. On his way back outside, grandpa Steve said to Ethan (5 yrs), "when those bugs bite you, do you bite them back??". In utter disgust, Ethan turned around and shrieked "ah, NOOOOO!" to which grandpa Steve hollered "well, why not?"

And Ethan said "you cant do that! Because we are H-U-M-A-N-S!!!!!!"

Ah, Duh grandpa.

Potty Chair

We've been thinking about teaching Carter about going potty; what it means, what you do, etc. He sees Jer and I "going potty", and he can now say "pee-pee". So I bought him a toddler potty seat to go on top of our regular toilet. (Personally, I will pass on dumping and cleaning out a potty chair). The only downfall to this whole potty thing, is that the bathroom upstairs is under construction, and Carter still needs a bedtime bottle. (yes, I said NEEDS because we've tried to wean him off of it, and we've tried to quit cold turkey, and we've tried water, and we've tried sippy cups. He NEEDS a bedtime bottle or I will die.) And as long as we have to run downstairs real fast to go pee-pee, I don't think we're ready to start potty training. I mean, its kinda unrealistic to think it will work if Carter says pee-pee and I drop what I'm doing, haul him all the way downstairs, get him on the toilet, to have him doodle around and want to play. Or to have him pee on me on the way down. Or to not be able to take him downstairs because I'm feeding Isabelle. Or for him to go pee-pee on the floor, and I run him downstairs to sit on the toilet and tell him to go pee-pee there and not on the kitchen floor, and for him to not get so distracted on the way down that he doesn't make the connection between the fact that he just peed on my floor, and why I want him on the toilet. And secondly, the bottle. He will NEVER wake up from a nap or bedtime dry if he cant get off that darned bottle. ANYWAY, those are my dilemmas. None the less, we do practice sitting on the toilet. I cant justify taking his diaper off for nothing, just to put a new one back on, so he sits on the can with the diaper on. We're just getting comfortable...and according to Carter, you have to read a book (like daddy I'm sure) when you sit on the can. I couldn't believe it when Carter reached around to the back of the toilet, and grabbed the US magazine. I about busted a gut. What a little man.

Powers of a Toddler

We thought those glasses were SOOO crazy. Not as crazy as when he wears them with his favorite hat...I think this takes the cake!

So, Friday night started a downward spiral of exhaustion. Unfortunately, I shouldn't be complaining since it was entirely self inflicted...but I'm gonna complain anyway. It all started when Jer and I thought it was a good idea to get a sitter for Isabelle, and he and I would take Carter out to eat on a Friday night. Let me first mention that it was past 6:30pm when we left the house, Carter usually eats BY 6:30, or there is usually hell to pay. I gave him some juice and crackers to tide him over, and he was doing VERY well. We got to the restaurant, and they brought him his milk in a little toddler cup with a straw. We usually bring a sippy cup from home and pour the milk into that. Well, the soooo kid friendly waiter gave the milk in the giant-green-fun-to-look-at-and-play-with-straw-and-cup directly to Carter, and like his sippy cup, he tipped it up, and of course, it all dumped into his lap. Jer and I took it away, put the remaining milk into his sippy cup (where it should have gone in the first place), and gave it to Carter. Except, that's not what Carter wanted. No, no, no, no, Carter now wanted the fun cup with the straw. So I gave it to him, except it was empty. WELL, that was just no good.

This is when I start getting nervous. Nervous that MY toddler will throw a temper tantrum in the middle of a nicely dim lit restaurant, where MY child happens to be the ONLY one there at the time. Surely everyone would stare.....and that they did.

Carter started to whine, and we tried to please him, and he started to scream, and so we took him out of his chair after he was throwing his body backwards almost tipping the whole thing over. I walked around with him, brought him back to the table, put him in his chair, and he screamed. Jer did the same thing, except I was a little bothered by the fact that I could hear my child SCREAMING through out the entire restaurant. Our appetizer came, and I had to tell the waiter that I didn't think we could stay, and we would wait 10 minutes for our STEAKS, (yes, I said a nice yummy dinner of steaks) and could he just box it all up as soon as it was ready. He complied. For the next 10 minutes outside on the busy street, Carter ran up and down the sidewalk happy as a clam. We took our food to go, and ate at home. Talk about DRAMA!

And talk about the powers of a TODDLER!!!

Little phrases I like to remember

AN EYE FOR AN EYE
MAKES THE WORLD BLIND.

GOD COULD NOT BE EVERYWHERE,

AND THEREFORE HE CREATED MOTHERS.

HAVING A FAMILY IS LIKE

HAVING A BOWLING ALLEY INSTALLED IN YOUR BRAIN.

BOY: (def) a noise with some dirt on it.

Make Isabelle Laugh

Grandma Diane and Carter try and try and try to make Isabelle laugh...

I think Grandma and Carter are the only ones laughing....hehe.

Great Grandma Violet

Our Grandma Violet just LOVES Isabelle to death. At each visit, I have to make sure that grandma gets oodles of time to hold Isabelle, or else grandma complains when its time for us to leave. Suddenly, grandma will start talking to Isabelle, saying "oh, its not time for you to go. you can stay just a little bit longer. Tell your mommy that you dont have to leave so soon. We were just starting to have fun..." and on and on and on. So, now, as soon as we get there, I try to get grandma to sit down and hold the baby so that when it IS time to leave, I dont have to get the third degree.
It touches my heart how much Grandma Violet loves Isabelle. They are like two peas in a pod. Isabelle is content as ever with grandma...how precious.

Coffee Addiction

Good Looks

Ohmigod, is she just the cutest baby you've ever seen????



Carter loves crayons. I bought him these new twisty crayons where you twist the base of the crayon for more crayon to pop up the top...kinda like a glue stick. So, no peeling the paper off to get more crayon..and he can't eat them as easily. We LOVE them. If you're thinking about buying them, they are worth it.

I think I did most of the coloring. Carter was just excited about the 20 crayons in the basket.


Oh yeah, my favorite. His CRAZY glasses, upside down. What a weirdo.