Happy Father's Day

As we celebrated Father's Day I thought about how very thankful I am for the great fathers in my life:

• My own father whom I love for many reasons. Growing up I remember him trying to help me study - science I think usually. I hated science. He would make up multiple choice quizzes as we went along. I still hate science. But it's not his fault. (ha ha) He also (along with my mom) let me live at home until I was very very old : ). And then still footed the bill for a wonderful wedding, after paying for my college education. And he has supported me in my many endeavors, and shared proudly in my accomplishments (think 'yard card' post bar exam!). And he adores all four of his grandchildren. And in return, all four of his granchildren adore him. [I have to share this little story here: My parents spoil my children rotten - birthdays, Christmas, little things in between, etc. But lately, anytime Seth talks about them he says "I love your daddy. He always talks to me." I think that is so neat that it's not the gifts or treats he focuses on but just the quality time together.]

• David, because he loves his boys completely. He works hard so that I can be home with them. He comes home from working hard and plays hard with them. He loves them so much, and is not shy about telling them. They play indoor basketball or kick a ball around outside or blow bubbles. But my favorite is when he reads to them or when they curl up on the couch together and watch movies - just simple quiet time spent together. It's so wonderful to see my husband love our children.

• David's dad, without whom David would not exist . David would not be the person he is today without his dad. I think we can all say that of our parents. And, of course, I would not have my two great little guys without David.

• My Heavenly Father who has blessed me with all of these great fathers in my life. I so appreciate that He has a plan for each of us. He chose my father for me and prepared David to be my husband and the father of our children. Thinking of these people that he has blessed me with reminds me that His plan is better than any I could come up with and for that I am so thankful!

Multi-tasking is bad...

Yesterday I was multi-tasking. Fixing lunch, waiting for my husband to return my call, taking another call, and making iced tea (which is done via the coffee pot so we can put the sugar in and have it dissolve, etc.). Bad for me. Good to drink. Life goes on. But, somehow, I guess I kept filling up the reserve but not dumping the hot water out of the pot. Suddenly I discovered the coffee maker was nearly floating in a pool of water on the counter. I turned it off, mopped it up with some towels and turned it back on. Or tried to turn it back on. It just smiled that smarmy broken appliance smile back at me. Kinda the same smarmy smile David gave me when he mentioned that, "Guess you won't be having coffee this morning, huh?" Won't be so funny when the boys give him a coffee pot for Father's Day. Hah!!! Just kidding honey - you're getting the red shirt Seth told you all about last night (sidenote: don't take the 3 year old shopping with you for the gift unless you are giving it TheSecondYouWalkInTheDoor.).

You'd think I might learn my multi-tasking-is-bad-for-me lesson. But, there's that thing about old dogs and new tricks, etc. Sooooo, today I was cleaning up after lunch. Rinsing dishes, unloading the clean dishes from the dishwasher, loading the dirty dishes into the dishwasher, putting the grapes and cheese back in the fridge. Luke was playing with his plate at the table. Seth was eating the pudding he had conned me into giving him. I had my back to them but heard, "Luke, do you want some?" I turned to find Seth waving his full spoon around in front of Luke's face. Luke is NEVER one to turn down food so he began to eat the pudding that had fallen to the table off of Seth's spoon. With his hands of course (clearly the quickest method before Seth took back this little morsel of goodness). Well, Seth was feeling generous and decided to continue to share. (All I do is harp at him to share things with his brother so I couldn't really think of a way to tell him to stop sharing without contradicting myself). Now here are the two most amusing (hopefully, or to me anyway) parts of the story. One, Seth kept calling it "chocolate pud-out". And two, the most logical (???) way for Seth to share this yumminess was by putting it on his spoon and then transferring it to Luke's spoon (think sword fight) so that Luke could then put it into his own mouth off of his own spoon.

Maybe we'll go out for lunch tomorrow?? Or maybe I'll stay home and clean off my countertops. Yikes!!

Things for which I am thankful...

I know, I know, I STILL owe you all an exclusively Seth post - I know you're all on pins and needles waiting. But for today, I am going with simplicity. Things for which I am thankful:

**The call from my husband's doctor last night and the news that the moles he had removed were benign (although thankfully taken care of when they were).

**Two hilarious little boys who make me laugh quite often.

**A fun hobby - scrapbooking - and the opportunity to do it for someone else (even if I rarely take the time to do it for myself) and make a little extra money.

**My newest scrapbooking toy - Bazzill In Stitch'z - oh so fun and easy.

**That I was home while the dishwasher was running. Oops!

**A dry house to live in while the rain pours down outside.

**Blooming flowers - especially my new roses!

**Sweet treats - and wishing I was feasting on these yummy cinnamon rolls right now!

**Books. I'm reading a good one and an interesting one (two different ones) at the moment. Seth loves to sit and look at books or be read to. And I hope Luke will someday also.

Got [chocolate] milk?

Yes, yes, I do - all over my shirt as a matter of fact. This is the result of diving for a (glass) glass of chocolate milk that Luke pulled off of the table while I was cleaning Seth up after breakfast. And while I'm confessing, no I do not feed chocolate milk to my children for breakfast. I, in fact, drink the chocolate milk for breakfast. Hey, I don't do caffeine (since maybe 1996) so I've got to get going somehow. That's right - all that Starbucks - it is decaf. Seth can tell you - "grande decaf." Not sure whether it's more embarrassing that he knows my order or that he now, upon seeing the Starbucks sign, screams, "MOMMY - STARBUCKS!!"

Grocery chatter...

This topic seems to be popular of late. My two, occasionally patient, little guys have had the pleasure (??) of accompanying me to 3 grocery stores in 2 days. This is primarily about the bargain hunting, but a little bit about logistics. See, Luke must be strapped into the cart as he loves to escape. So, he must ride in the normal spot for young children. And then Seth rides with the groceries as it's just too much to constantly watch him while he wanders and touches while I'm trying to shop. So, the basket fills up quickly with Seth and the groceries. Seth doesn't mind as he loves to lay down in the basket (fetal position) when we first arrive and the basket is empty. Then he likes to build towers out of the groceries as they start to accumulate. Which means I am constantly discussing the food going into the cart: 'this is yogurt, do not squish the yogurt as the container may come open'; 'this is glass, do not build with it'; 'this is chicken, just don't touch it'; etc., etc., etc.


Then there is the chatter. Constant chatter. So, just to set the scene, Tuesday we went to Meijer first. After which I came home, unloaded the car, gave the boys lunch, put away the groceries while they ate (it's getting too warm outside to leave the frozen stuff from store one in the car while we shop at store two), then loaded them back up and headed out.


I planned to shop with purpose at Wal-mart, finish the list, and get the boys home to naps - preferably before time to eat dinner! Let me also add that Luke must be teething as he desires to chew on the cart. Ick!!! So, rather than the cart I shoved my hand between his mouth and the cart so he could chew on it. Lovely, but you do what you have to do. So, as we are wandered through Wal-mart, the chatter began.
Seth: Look, Mommy -yogurt!
Me: Uh huh.
Seth: Look, Mommy - a cow on that sign.
Me: Hmmm...

Then it happened. Seth decided to play Baby Kitty/Mommy Kitty. So, the dialogue changed:
Seth: Look, Mommy Kitty - cheese.
Me: Yeah.
Seth: Could you say, 'yeah Baby Kitty.'

Every single time. The need to be addressed as Baby Kitty. Now I'm all for a healthy imagination. But it's grueling to remember it
each
and
every
time.

So, being me, I just busted out laughing in the middle of the frozen food aisle. I didn't even bother to look around and see who was looking at the crazy lady in the frozen food section.

And then it happened. I'll close with his request. "Mommy Kitty - could you stop and scratch behind my ears."

Humpty Dumpty's got nothing on me...

So, I cut my pinkie finger about a week ago. Really really silly. Luke had some goldfish crackers. Seth knocked them on the floor for me. I reached down to pick them up and caught my finger on the fancy leg of our microwave stand. Ran some water on it and moved on, thinking, this really hurts.

It hurt. It hurt to type with that finger. It hurt every time I accidentally bumped it on anything. It hurt. It was throwing me off. I was seriously in some sort of funk because my pinkie hurt. But you know how, sometimes when people think they are funny, they will offer to injure something else for you so you won’t think about it? [ex: ‘let me smash another finger so your pinkie won't hurt. Hee hee ha.]

Well…. Saturday morning Luke got up at 6:40. Ouch. He let me sleep on his floor for about 10 minutes while he peered over the crib at me but then he was done. So, Luke and I went downstairs to hang out for awhile. Saturdays are cinnamon roll days and I was not baking the rolls at 7AM while the other two cinnamon roll consumers slept. Well, Seth then decided 7AM was a lovely time to get up. But he still doesn’t get out of bed until we enter the room (in the morning anyway, naps are different). So, I put the baby gate at the bottom of the stairs, ran up to grab Seth and started down the stairs. Then I heard Luke with the crazy noisy ball popper toy. Dave was still sleeping and there was no need for both of us to be up so I wanted to grab the ball popper and make the noise stop. I placed Seth over the gate (thankfully, and can you tell where this is headed?).

I always climb over the gate. Much to my mother’s dismay if she is at my house watching me do it. It’s at the bottom of the stairs. And it’s too much trouble to take it down every time I need to go up and down the stairs. So, I put one leg over and that’s when the ugliness began. And ended. My leg got caught on the gate. The lovely purply black bruise in the shape of the top of the gate tells me this is true. Then the other leg had some issues too I guess. A small bruise on the other knee would indicate such. When it all ended, I was on my bum at the bottom of the stairs, looking up toward the top of the stairs. Seth and Luke standing not far glaring at me. I am crying and yelling for David (so much for peaceful sleeping).

He came down the stairs and had to pry the gate out of the stair rail, where I had wedged it. Amazingly, it still works – even if it is a bit crumpled.

I tell you this story, not to have people comment, ‘oh poor Cara,’ because I’ll be just fine. Just some bruises. I am thankful that I didn’t break anything. I took a couple of minutes to compose myself and came back downstairs to eat cinnamon rolls. But there is a sweet Seth story to follow…

Seth has been really into acting like he’s an animal lately. After baths he’s a duck and will say things like, “Sweet dreams Mommy Ducky.” So, at naptime Saturday Seth wanted me to lay down with him. This is the usual naptime plan for Seth. And he usually only lets me stay about 2 minutes and then he dismisses me. But Saturday I was lying there with him and he just said, “Baby Kitty wonders why Mommy Kitty fell?” It was so sweet and caring, in a 3 year old pretend kitten kind of way. [Of course, now he has moved on to, 'Do you remember when you fell Mommy? That was funny!"]

Luke

I felt it was time for a generic update on each of the boys. Just as many of my blogging friends will tell you, while I love to keep you all informed of our "goings on," I also hope that the boys can look back on this blog one day as a scrapbook. I love to do the "real" scrapbooking too, but it's easy to get behind and tough to get caught up, so at least they will have this blog. Anyway, I'll update separately and we'll start with Luke...

Oh, where to begin? Luke is nearing 15 months old. I like to say Lukey has two speeds - fast and fast asleep. For awhile he quit walking and just started running everywhere. Thankfully, he has calmed down a bit and has realized that he can still be in the middle of everything, even if he gets there a few seconds later.

I can't get him to sleep much past 7AM right now. This is making me a little crazy. I have no idea how to "fix" it, other than make it autumn/dark later in the mornings, which I clearly have no control over! But it's hard to be upset by such a cute face. He often wakes up and will hang out in his bed and talk for awhile. Then, when one of us goes in to get him up, he jumps to his feet and throws his arms up, as if to say, 'I'm up - let's play!' And it's full speed ahead from then on. Although just this afternoon he destroyed his crib during his quiet talking time - there appear to be major toothmarks on the front rail. He only has 6 teeth, but it appears he used them to their full potential. Maybe I'll serve him steak for dinner!

He's trying to decide whether he really needs the morning nap or not. Or I'm trying to decide. He can live without it, but the whining indicates he really still needs it. If we're out, he usually sleeps in the car en route, but never stays asleep/goes to sleep during an activity. If we're at home I usually put him down, but I don't let him sleep too long (selfishly, I need them both to rest in the afternoon at the same time). He does not appreciate when I wake him!

As for food, usually we fix Luke a plate and then just give him little bits of food at a time off of the plate. One recent Saturday the boys played outside and were too dirty to come inside to eat lunch. So, we stripped them and just gave Luke his plate. He thought he was really big stuff that day.

I think it was seeing this picture that made me decide to give up his last bottle (yes, I cried longer than he did). But he just looks so big sitting here feeding himself from a plate of food that I guess I have to let him be a 'big boy.'

Luke loves his bath and is a great toothbrusher. He actually gets excited about getting his teeth brushed!

This is a look I see A LOT. This look usually means "I hurt myself" or "Seth hurt me." At any rate, it requires being picked up and loved on and him hugging back. It might also mean, "Fix my lunch faster" or "I would really like a drink." I call it the 'open mouth, closed eyes look.' And if it involves an injury, he can get all the way across the room and to me with those eyes mostly closed! He loves his big brother fiercely, and desperately wants to do all the things Seth does. And along with that, he takes a fair amount of abuse from his brother!

Luke loves to be mostly naked. He usually throws his biggest fit when I am attempting to dress him. In fact, I believe that he has figured out that if he makes a big enough mess when he eats, I will take his clothes off, thus allowing him to run around nearly nude until I can get upstairs to get clothes for him. This picture is also significant because it reminds me to mention that he has figured out how to open the interior doors - nothing is off limits now.

His favorite color is yellow. Okay, this is a long shot but Seth has a box of crayons in the office and three times in a row Luke pulled out the yellow to give to me. Or maybe he despises yellow and wants it to go away. Hmmm...

His favorite song is "The Farmer in the Dell" from our Sesame Street CD. It's in our CD player in the family room and he can walk to it, turn it on, and will immediately start dancing.

Luke's favorite food is pretty much anything sugary. Thankfully that includes fruit and I can live with that option. Unfortunately he is less and less interested in vegetables. Although I'm learning that if it is the only thing left on the plate, he'll even eat those sometimes. This particular photo is at Ritter's - definitely not fruit. He devoured the kiddy sized dish and cried when it was gone.

My favorite recent Luke story: I changed his diaper and took the dirty one to the diaper genie in his room. A little later the same morning he was sitting in the floor pulling all the clean diapers out of the drawer in our room where we keep a stash. He got up, with a very determined look on his face, had two diapers in his hand, and took off for his room. He wasn't wandering to his room but rather was definitely on a mission. I gave him a head start and then followed. He had opened the diaper genie and was cramming the clean diaper into it. So funny!! This is just one example of how he wants to do whatever anyone else does. He likes to sweep and dust too.

So, to sum up this crazy long post, Lukey is my little charmer. Given the choice, he pretty much always chooses mommy - which makes me feel special but can also be very tiring! He probably gets away with more than he should because he's the baby and because he can con me easily. He's growing up WAY too fast and I'm trying to find an in-between, somewhere in the middle of babying my baby and letting him exercise his independence.