Jan 1, 2015

Starting right here; Happy New Year.

It's been over a year since I last blogged.  I used to rely on my blog to take notes, share fun things, and keep a log of events that I'd print at the end of the year.  I've missed it!

A lot has happened since that post.  In my head, I've written this post a dozen times, but I've never typed it.  Doing that would make it real and all I really want to do is pretend that the last year and a half didn't happen... but I know better.  There has been beauty in that time period.  It's been raw and ugly, but there have also been many answers to prayer.  There have been things I didn't connect until only recently and while I know we aren't meant to know God's intentions and plans, the hints along the way have made trusting Him grow our mustard seed exponentially.  

I made a video.  It seemed to be the easiest way to sum up why I disappeared from social media - and really, most social functions in general.  There were long days and lots of tears.  There were also amazing friends.  The kind you call and cry to when they can't understand your words.  The kind that realize you've not been given the correct Rx and call in what you need.  The kinds that send cards, flowers, and care packages when the bad seems to keep stacking up... 

Things could have been so much harder and when I step back, I feel silly and dramatic because families all over the world deal with much, much worse.  Our storm was nothing in comparison.  But that doesn't take away the fear, the anxiety, or the unknown.  Thanks for hanging with me and for simply being there when I was not.

(Video link.  If you follow me on IG you saw the short version.)

I kind of adore JJ Heller.  She and her husband, Dave, wrote and posted this video today.  It's the perfect way to end this... or rather, begin.  :)

This year.... 



Apr 29, 2013

Color Me Rad

Sunday morning we got up early to run in the Color Me Rad 5k up on the peninsula.  It was SO MUCH FUN!  We met up with friends and had a blast.  Oliver slept through most of it - he was an angry toddler when he realized the rain cover was not optional.  We bought the $40 cover thinking it might be a good idea and it ended up being essential.  Poor guy went to sleep and woke up with a green mama!
 If you ever do a Color Me Rad, know that it doesn't matter what heat you sign up for - when you get there you can pretty much line up at any race call and have at it.  Also know that if you're a serious runner, this isn't likely the race for you unless you're in the front of the line in the first heat.  Chandler left us in the color dust and we stayed with a friend - it was hard to run, especially with the stroller, because so many people were walking.  I ran over one person (oops!) and another person told me to slow down (no joke).  Who says that when you're in a race???  It was fine b/c it was all for fun, but still slightly annoying too.  I almost didn't wear a white shirt, but SO glad I did - definitely worth it.  We will be doing this race again for sure.  There's another one next weekend (sold out) and a Color Vibe in July (too hot), but if The Color Run comes in the fall, we'll be signing up!
Rain cover = trashed.  Boy = sleeping (and relatively clueless).




Mar 5, 2013

**Blink**

I don't really know where the last few months have gone... I blinked and it's almost Spring.

Until I can get motivated to write some things about O being 2 (!!!), I thought I'd post a few pictures that are on the downstairs computer.  I've been slow at posting because my hard drive was full so I couldn't dump and sort my pictures.  We finally bought a new one and I was able to dump 4,000+ pictures to sort and now my excuse is that I have no time to sort.  Instead of going back through, I'll probably just start fresh with the exception of birthday photos! :)
Birthday boy the morning of his actual birthday!

Ready for some warm Spring weather, but until then winter isn't keeping us inside.


Birthday boy at his NC party.



Cutest EVER!!!!

(from November, voting day!)

(another from November, playing with a friend's Pamir - my most favorite Pamir to date!)

(from October, in MD for Henry's 2nd birthday!)

Oct 7, 2012

Fun at the farm

Pumpkins are just more fun at the farm! This is the same farm we went to last year and it was fun to go again! LuLu and GiGi the goats were glad to see us :)

Oliver found the 'tractor' and didn't want to leave.

Here are pics from last years trip to the farm: http://iseehope.blogspot.com/2011/10/fun-at-farm.html?m=0

(Mobile posting right now so can't hyperlink)

Not sure how the picture order will show up but I particularly like seeing Chandler and O together so sweetest year and then with such toddlertude this year!!

Sep 17, 2012

19 Months!

Oliver is 19 Months!

(Since I just updated with months 17/18, not a lot has changed...)
In brief......
-Height: ~30.5"
-Weight: 22 lbs
-Teeth: 16 (I think 2-year molars are in the early stages of moving.)
-Shoe size: 5
-Clothing size: Mostly 12 and 18m.  He has a few 24m but pants are still 12m for a perfect fit.  He wore 18m pants today and they were rolled up.
-Diapers: bumGenius 4.0s and Elementals, size 4 in disposable
-Words: SO MANY!
-Food: He used to eat everything, now he's hit or miss.  He nurses 4-5x/day.
-Naps: 9-11 AM and 2-4 PM.  Every now and then he'll wake up late and won't take a morning nap.  I've learned that if he's up by 6:30 he'll take a morning nap, but if he's up after 7:00 then he won't take a morning nap and will go down earlier for his afternoon nap.

Other.......
-He talks all the time.  
-He knows basic shapes (circle, star, oval, square, rectangle, diamond, octagon, heart).
-He knows numbers 1-10 with the exception of 6 and 7.  He thinks 6s are 9s.  Understandable.  We're working on that.  He knows how many fingers we hold up with one hand.  Haven't moved to two yet.
-He knows some colors (blue, pink, yellow, red).  If he doesn't know the color, it's always yellow. For some reason he struggles with colors. 
-When he's ready to eat, he needs food quick.  Nursing included.
-He LOVES things with wheels.  Cars.  Trucks.  Tractors.  Airplanes.
-When he hears an airplane he immediately points up and says with a really deep monotone voice, 'Airplane!' (ae-pwane!).
-He still smiles all the time and charms just about everyone when we're out and about.

I'm probably missing a lot - I really should keep better notes.  He is sooo much fun!  I cut his hair recently and he looks really big.  Like a toddler.  That happened a few months ago, but now he really looks the part.  He's still pretty small overall though.  

Aug 31, 2012

17/18 (almost 19) Months

Oliver is almost 19 months and I am SO behind!  I hate that I've not posted before now since this is where I keep up with everything.  We have had a busy summer.  I'm skipping pictures for now and will post some when I can get to the other computer.

Stats (unofficial)
Height: ?
Weight: 22lbs
Teeth: 16 (and working on 2-year molars I think; cuspids started coming in at the end of month 17)
Shoes: 4.5

Clothing sizes: still 12m or 12-18m.  Some 18m sizes and a few 24m sizes.  He has a couple of 2T t-shirts, but those seem to run very small.  His 18-24 size shorts are so big on him they fall off.  With a cloth diaper, they work fine, but in a disposable, they're to his ankles.

Diapers: bumGenius 4.0 and Elementals.  I think we'll stick with this until he's done with diapers.  I really love bG for older babies.  We moved to size 4 in disposable at the end of month 17 due to leaks at night.  That seemed to do the trick.  Daytime, a 3 would still be fine, but since he's at the top of the weight for 3s, I decided to just move to a 4.  They still look really big on him, but he's not in them often so it made sense not to get something he might grow out of and we'd be stuck with later.

Words: Oh my!  His vocabulary has literally sky rocketed since month 17.  Every day is a new word.  He actually says so much I couldn't list it all.  We have some first word books that he loves to read and point out what he knows.  His favorite is the page that has pictures of things that go - 'car!'  'airplane!'  :)  He loves cars, trucks, and airplanes.  When he hears a plane he'll point to the sky and yell 'airplane!'  Thunder is often confused for airplanes.  If there's a long word he can't say, he'll use the syllables and make his own word.  For example, strawberry is 'sta ba ba,'  Rectangle is 'reh ta ba' (or something similar!).

He'll babble and say some words here and there and then will suddenly say, 'ooooh, ahhh, oh!, Mmm.'  It is SO funny.  And really, the cutest thing in the entire word.  I promise, it is.

He knows more than he let's us know, which is frustrating because I never know how much or what he knows.  Point in case, we talk about shapes, colors, numbers, letters a lot, but he rarely points to things on cue... night before last he was nursing before bed and then we read some books.  On one of the pages there were shapes so I asked him to find what I knew he knew, circle/star/oval/triangle... then I asked him to find the rectangle, diamond, heart, square, etc... and he correctly identified each one.  Last night, I didn't prompt him and just let him 'read' the book himself.  He again identified each shape and said the name.  He's also done that with colors - he was nursing and randomly sat up and pointed to a blanket behind us and said, 'bu' (blue) - so I know he's taking in a lot more than he lets on.  He also knows 2, 4, 8, 9, a handful of letters and a few colors (yellow, red, blue, green).

It's so fun to teach him things!

Food: His favorite all time food is fruit.  He'll eat almost any fruit but has the most love for red berries.  He can put down a big Sam's Club container of raspberries in a day if we let him.  Usually we can stretch that out to three days.  He also loves strawberries, pears, banana, kiwi, peaches, and apples (and applesauce, specifically from a straw).  He used to eat a lot of vegetables, but lately he just prefers peas.  He will eat celery, carrots, and other vegetables if they're cooked so I tend to make a lot of casseroles that have vegetables hidden in with the chicken.  He loves Chick-fil-A.  (He gets that honest.)  We often go there for lunch dates on Fridays or with daddy during the weekend.  He also loves cheese and will eat just about anything if it's covered in cheese.  Macaroni and cheese is included in that as is broccoli, which is often mixed in with his mac'n cheese otherwise he'd never eat it.    He also loves yogurt.  He still drinks only water.  I have, on about three occasions, added about 1/8c juice to his water, but that has been when he's sick and needed fluids so it was more to trick him than anything.

Naps: 9-11 AM and 2-4 PM.  He still very much needs two and both are normally two hours.  Often the afternoon nap is closer to 3 hours, just depends on the day.  Two days/week he gets one nap due to my work schedule and those tend to be hell days for us.  He's so grumpy and out of sorts that he's usually in bed between 7 and 7:30.  Normal bedtime is 8:30 and he sleeps until 6:30 with a rare 7:30 sleep in - rare, but does happen from time to time.  Like this morning.  It was heaven.

Nursing: He nurses 4-5x/day.  His quality of nursing has decreased most of the time, but he still very much enjoys nursing.  It's both easier and harder to nurse in public now.  Easier in that he can get to it by himself (which is fine when he's in a carrier) and harder in that he can get to it by himself. :)  It's not uncommon for us to be walking through the mall while he's nursing - yet no one would know since he's bundled up for the most part.  Nursing time often becomes learning time because he's normally very relaxed and I have his full attention.

Toys: He prefers cars and trucks to just about anything.  We went to Target recently (daycare day, which meant he'd gotten half the nap he normally gets) and he found a pink jeep that ended up coming home with us.  It was a battle I wasn't willing to get into - it helped that it was on clearance.  Puzzles are fun if the shapes are big enough, otherwise he gets frustrated.  Cutting food (a Melissa & Doug toy) is also a current favorite.  He's really good at cutting and cleans up well too.  He also enjoys coloring and play doh in his learning tower in the kitchen.

Other: He is already a joker - we were upstairs nursing before bed one recent evening and he was pointing and naming body parts.  He went through the ones on his face (ears, eyes, nose, mouth, teeth, chin) and then went to belly button and feet... then he pointed to my boobs and said, 'boo boo' (which is what he says when he wants to nurse).  I said, 'right, 'boo boo.'  He hesitated and grinned, then pointed to my boobs again and said, 'feet!' as he laughed and laughed.  It was SO funny!  He's the silliest!

He's normally good at following directions, but he's also in a stage where he's testing to see what he can get away with or stretch.  He's also testing himself.  At Gymboree this week he walked up a foam wedge and slowly started to let go of another foam block he was holding onto - he stood up cautiously and then slowly squatted back down, beaming that he'd done it.  :)  He rarely walks and is always running to where he wants to go - normally this is fine, but we're starting to work with him when he's on sidewalks.

He's a champ at having his teeth brushed.  Aside from worrying he'll fall and chip a tooth, my next fear is that he'll get a cavity. I've never had one and I hope he'll be the same.  His teeth are so close together and are not the ideal 'picket fence' so I'm really funny about making sure they're brushed well.  The front teeth probably need to be flossed but I'm afraid that will hurt him.  Any ideas for that?  Taking all tips!

He loves to help do whatever we're doing.
He also loves to take showers.
He climbs on anything he can find.
He taps his fingers on my shoulder when he nurses.
He also taps them on his legs when he sits down.
He likes to dance.
He likes to close his eyes and make you think he's hiding b/c he can't see you.
He'll let you know when he's pooped.  (No, there will be no big potty in the near future.)
He thinks it's fun to run with the big kids.

I'm really bummed I didn't post at 17 months because I just looked back at my post from 16 months and he was still saying 'bitta' babble with a few words here and there.  Now, he's pointing at everything and saying all kinds of words.  I'll have to do better about making time for blogging.  I don't want to miss some of these things - especially when the next few months will be even more explosive with development.

Aug 26, 2012

Recent phone pics August edition

I am so behind! Just a few recent pics that will probably not be in order.
"Sometimes I'd like to ask God why He allows poverty, famine, and injustice in the world when He could do something about it, but I'm afraid God would ask me the same question."
-Anonymous
You don't change the world by trying to change the world; you change the world by changing yourself.
-Gerry Straub