Naps

I've heard it said that even pirates take naps... sword and all :)

What was so great about this was when he woke up his hat was back on his head, sword back in his grasp, and he was ready for another adventure.

A Pirate's Life for Me

We were making space for Silas today. 

The bassinet was found, car seat washed and ready, but we needed to clean out the closet. 

Obviously sporting my best homemaking skills, Halloween items came spewing out. Joshua was helping me with different projects, but when he spotted the pirate items it was time for a break.

 We put on our costumes, grabbed some pencils for swords (later we used spatulas) used our best pirate lingo and had a sword fight. 

Don't let the smiles fool you...

Ahoy, Matey!

Aaaaarrrrrgh!

Are you ready to walk the plank?!?

I know they're all similar, but his faces were just so terrific, I couldn't limit it to just one!

Such a Blessing...

My dear sweet boy, 

The weekend has gone too fast again! 

I cherish our extra time spent together while we're home with no plans or schedule we need to keep. I loved watching your mind work as you did a variety of puzzles. I listened carefully trying not to get caught as you played or sang songs all by yourself. Our quiet whisper moments as we snuggled in my bed reading books will warm my heart through the week and beyond. 

But my heart does ache a little at all of your independence: reading books to yourself, dressing yourself, feeding yourself, brushing your teeth. You're growing so quickly!

Earlier this week when I was trying to encourage you to eat the apple skins I suggested that "eating them will help make you so strong" but strength was not what you were interested in. When I switched from 'strong' to 'smart' all of the sudden the apple skins became more appealing. (Part of me loves that I'm raising a young man who values brains over muscles.)

I snuck in tonight to sneak one last peek before the weekend officially came to a close. You had a 'soft friend' under one arm and a book under the other and were sleeping on an open book at the opposite end of your bed. My heart melted. I knew you were at the 'wrong' end of your bed with your book because the light would have been better there for you to read. 

You are a joy. And I love you!

Undies!!

Joshua victory... undies all morning! 

I put him in a diaper for nap time at 12:45 and he had kept his undies dry until then. We are putting the pressure on him a little more again trying to prepare for baby. He spent the morning in undies and nothing else just in case he needed to get to the bathroom in a hurry. 

Belly

"I once was just 1 and then I found you...

then 'I' became 'we' and 'we' became 2

nine months of waiting...

our 'we' became 3

such a great family

were you, him and me

now he's getting tall

and we wanted one more...

so guess what?!? Our 'we'

is soon to be 4!"

In New Ulm almost three years ago as I was pregnant with Joshua, our mirror was small enough that all I could see reflected back during pregnancy was from my shoulders up. All of the sudden we have a mirror in which I can see my belly. It is strange! I hardly recognize my body, but love seeing the shadow cast by my belly. What a miracle to watch my belly swell as we wait for our little boy. 

(I took the profile of my shadow as we were leaving school the other night.)

The Doctor is in

Thursday morning Joshua marched into my classroom as he does most other mornings, and he decided to pick out the baby and the doctor kit. 

He checked the baby's ears and eyes and rocked the baby. 

He listened to the baby's "heartbeat."

Not only was it sweet to me because I am pregnant and excited to see him as a big brother, but it was fun for me to stand back and simply watch him play. The independent playing that he is able to do now is delightful. I am blessed to have a chance to quietly observe such an amazing boy!

Yellow Light

I know I've had thoughts or cutesy stories to share since Easter, but I was delinquent in taking notes of what I've wanted to write about.

The first week back at school was a rough one. I worked on lesson plans for next school year and I felt like part of me may have checked out for this year. Being back in my classroom and around my students has proven that was not the case. We still have things to accomplish for this year.

Saturday night we went to the symphony in Jacksonville. It was not only the symphony, but also Ben Folds. We went with Phil and Becky. One of our friends commented how Facebook lit up from the four of us and our night out. It was the first time we had been out as adults in a while.

I may have over-done it. Sunday was a hard. I am only 30 weeks along. I started having pain in my thigh all the way down my calf. We went to Target where I had a hard time walking. At one point in the store, I wasn't sure if I was going to be able to find Michael again. We got to Phil and Becky's where I thought things were alright. Becky took me into their spare bedroom where I laid down and started timing the contractions that I was having. It turned out that they averaged roughly 3 minutes apart for a significant enough length of time that I called the doctor. After her advice, of over hydration, I felt better.

For myself and for my son it's time to hit the breaks.

Easter 2012

(It's been a couple of weeks, therefore, photo-story.)

Family shot between services

What a cheese face!!

Hunting eggs

Don't loose your pants!

Put eggs in basket, open later... a tricky concept. 

Easter basket from Grandma. 

Bummer

I tried I promise!

Today was the second day in a row that we got our suits on, slathered up with sunscreen, grabbed the towels, got the stroller and walked to the pool, and it was too cold.

Yesterday you were crushed and I felt awful. I wanted to go too, but with the rain earlier in the day a cold front had moved in. I had goosebumps by the bottom of the stairs.

Today you got up to the water, threw off your water shoes and leapt into the water only to come out squealing. Because of a late nap today our schedule was thrown off. You woke up at 5 and the first thing you said was, "I took nice nap. Now we go pool?!?" I thought we has enough sunlight or that the heat of the day would have made the water bearable. I was mistaken. You were disappointed.

We'll try again next weekend.

Mad Scientist!

During the rummage sale today at church Joshua, Gwen, Noah and I spent some time staying out of the way. I thought this would be a great chance to get out some of the things we don't use very often. They still have appeal and would keep curious hands occupied for a while. I got out the magnifying glasses.

 We talked about how to use a magnifying glass...

 Then we began the real scientific stuff...

sorting, classifying, examining...

We counted butterflies, looked at their colors and patterns, tried to find some that were the same and what made others different. 

I am amazed at how much science we could do even at the age of two!

We had a Great Day!

We started the day by making waffles! 

 I will treasure this picture! What an amazing smile!

Our time at the beach yesterday was draining. You took an early nap and I made cookies. I can't remember the last time I made cookies. They were delicious!

I've been promising we'd head down to the pool. After nap we went.  

 You were a little fish!

 You climbed out of the stroller and asked if you could go swimming.

You splashed and kicked and jumped. I love all the time we've been able to spend together. 

I love you! I'm excited about what this summer will bring. 

Beach Babe

Joshua and I went to the beach today. I told Joshua we were going to play in the sand. I knew going to the beach is NOT his favorite thing. I packed up sandwiches in the shape of stars, watermelon, popcorn, goldfish and some water. We took sunscreen, the umbrella, sand toys, and made our trek down to the beach.

We got down to the sand and the screaming began. I knew it was coming, but those around me didn't. Joshua is TERRIFIED of the water. "No waves get my toes!!" I can promise and assure him that he doesn't need to go in the water, we're far enough away that it won't get us, but that doesn't seem to be enough. 

I talked him down and distracted him with food. When his is hungry he's a bear, so that could have played a role as well. I started digging a hole while he ate. A big hole to sit in or climb in is the way to get him excited about being at the beach. 

We spent about 3 hours at the beach. I hope that he enjoyed it as much as I did! 

It was fun to just dig and play, but just as much fun to watch!

Playing Catch

Tonight Joshua wanted to play catch. We're not sure where the idea came from, but it is now set in Joshua's head that you need to wear a hat when playing catch. Michael was given the Cat in the Hat hat to wear, Joshua has a white bucket hat with a bee on it, and I was told I couldn't play. I ran and found a hat so I could play too. 

Here's a sneak peek at our fashion statement while playing catch. 

Big Boy Leaps and Bounds

We are making steps. Big steps! 

Potty training took a turn. Joshua has been going on the potty for over a year, but not regularity. He was doing a really great job remembering to tell us that he needed to go, but then took a few steps back not wanting to even sit on the potty. 

Michael and I let Joshua use my phone, there are lots of good apps that he enjoys. However, he did get carried away the day we heard, "Gimme, my phone!" That's when we took the phone away and spent 2 weeks without it. Then we decided to use it as motivation. Joshua is welcome to use my phone after going on the potty. Here he is celebrating his recent potty success. AND wearing UNDIES!!

Pintrest find (a blog on Pintrest to come...) muffin tin lunches! There are several moms who use muffin tins for lunches. I opted to use if for snack time instead of lunch. It is a great concept especially for the eating habits of a toddler. Joshua's muffin tin was filled with apples, grapes, popcorn, carrots, celery, tomatoes, and goldfish. He ate most of it...

We went to school for child care and I didn't want to interrupt Joshua's class so I had him stay with me, by the 'big' kids. He ate some lunch, then we talked about nap time. I told him he could choose if he wanted to take a nap on a mat or if he wanted to sleep in his pack-and-play. He chose a mat. He did a rock star job! He took a great nap, and I was so proud! Such a big boy!

Check? Check? Reality, Are you there?

Reality hit again today, like a swift slap across the face.

My brain is relishing in "I told you so!" and my heart is aching.

I was hesitant to write anything about the desire to move or thoughts about moving because last year I was crushed when things fell through.

My brain cautioned, warned, waved red flags, but my ever so gullible heart wouldn't listen. I fell hard. Head-over-heels.

Without going into too much detail, we're not getting a house.

Like a love struck teen rereading old love letters, I look at the pictures of the beautiful yellow house I've spent the past few days day-dreaming about and imagining my family in.

Time to say goodbye, and begin mending a broken heart.

Sigh

Spring Break Schedule:

Friday & Saturday - Georgia trip
Sunday - Church, cleaning, friends for supper
Monday - Choir
Tuesday - Child care
Wednesday - Dr. Apt
Thursday - Church
Friday - Church
Saturday - Rummage Sale
Sunday - Church, Egg Hunt, Brunch, Children's Church, Clean-up
Monday - Back to school

The only thing that today held was choir, and that's not until 6. So I thought it would be a great idea for Joshua and I to go to the beach. I asked him, "Hey bud, do you wanna go play in the sand at the beach?!?" His response, "No, want watch Peter Pan." We hadn't turned the tv on yet, and rather than go to the beach, Joshua opted for watching a show. That was what he wanted to do, and I should have been ok with that, but I wasn't! I wanted to go do something. I knew if we were going to stay around the house I would continue doing jobs around the house rather than trying to do something fun/relaxing break-ish. I was disappointed. I tried not to be mad, or sad, or hurt, but I will admit to being a bit pouty.

A day with so few things to do, and I wasted it.

Bah Humbug.

Palm Sunday

Again this year Joshua was a part of the Palm Processional of Palm Sunday. 

 He was hesitant at first, but when he saw the other kids getting in line and holding their branches he jumped right in.

He walked in so proud to be carrying his branch. 

 After church he helped carry the palms out of church and out of the hallway. Melting my heart!