Family shots

I tried so hard to get the boys to take pictures together in their matching shirts (thanks Shell) and this was the best I got.

Germs

So SM has croup and GJ has bronchiolitis. Not fun, but everyone is getting better. GJ has an inhaler and he is doing pretty good, though he still has a cough. I do not like having sick kids though, I feel so bad for them!

Fire Safety

For FHE last night, we talked about fire safety. If you happen to have forgotten what to do if you catch on fire, here is SM to remind you.

Then we walked to the fire station to look at the fire truck. No one would answer the bell, SM really wanted to see the truck up close. I should have called first. But we had a nice walk and got to look in the window.

It's just a virus

He may be smiling, but he is really sick and grumpy.
Now granted the last thing I want to hear is that one of my darling children has a bacterial infection that may scar them for life, but I do get sick of "it's just a virus, just ride it out." I just want someone to say "Oh, it looks like he has X, and we just need to give him medicine Y and he will be better within the hour." Is that too much to ask?
Today will hopefully be better than yesterday, GJ would not let me put him down all day. I was supposed to teach RS, but luckily CE stepped up, thank you! He has a low fever and a cough and I am pretty sure a soar throat because every time he coughs, he screams. Every time I laid him down, even if he was in a dead sleep, he would scream. Tad and I had to take turns eating while the missionaries were over. So basically we have just been rocking in the rocking chair for hours on end. He is at least still eating okay so we just have to let it pass. Poor baby. The nurse said not to give him Tylenol unless he was miserable, but I bet our definitions are different.
He was good for our little party on Saturday though, it was probably the least stressful one I have had yet. Hopefully that's a good sign for Thanksgiving. Good times and good food. It could have been a little cooler (its still supposed to be 90's all week), but then down to 80 by next weekend, so hopefully Fall is here. We finally got good use out of the swing set, thanks Grandpa! Thanks Shelly for the pork idea (though inspired by Jan's 4th of July). We were worried it was going to rain so it was going to be back up, but I am glad we had that and the hot dogs. I of course took no pictures. Next time. Always next time. Who made the peanut butter cookies? They were excellent.

My Boys

"I do it!"-warning-graphic pictures

In my quest to make SM as self-sufficient as possible, we had a revelation this week. He finally figured out how to get his socks on.



That is a big deal in our house. He now just has a little trouble getting his arms in his sleeves, but other than than, he can dress himself.









Hallelujah.

Wordless Wednesday

Close Call

Ever have one of those nights?

10:00pm-Wake up GJ and feed him as he's been asleep since 5. Go to bed.
11:48pm- SM is crying, try to comfort him, get back in bed.
12:14am-Crying woke GJ up so finally get up to feed him.
2:21am-GJ hungry again, get up to feed him.
3:34am- GJ up again, kick Tad till he gets up to rock him vow I'm done nursing.
4:16am-GJ hungry again, get up to feed him, worry about SM coughing in the other room.
4:28am-Realize GJ will not go back to sleep again, put him on my chest so we can both get to sleep.
6:33am-Alarm has gone off 4 times and I've never heard it, Tad just keeps snoozing it. GJ has slid to my side, I try to adjust him and realize in the same horrifying moment he is slipping and I am too close to the edge of the bed. Luckily with my lightening ex-goalie reflexes, I catch him as he is going down, though I have to pin him to the side of the bed so he doesn't hit the ground which causes him to wake up and causes Tad to jump out of bed and turn the lights on thinking I dropped the baby. We are all a little spooked, but no harm done. I see the pillow I use to nurse just below on the floor, so if he would have fallen, it would have just been the pillow, though head first still probably wouldn't have felt to good. We get up and get ready and I try all day to stay awake and being thankful I didn't drop the baby!
So you can see the conversion to the packnplay isn't going to smooth, he has a hard time getting settled again when I lay him down. But neither is him sleeping in bed with us. If he sleeps in between us, I am afraid Tad will roll on him (so is Tad)
On a good note, SM said his first prayer by himself tonight, without prompting. It was so cute, too bad dad was at class. He will usually end every line for us: we say Heavenly, he (yells) Father, we say thank you for this, he (yells) day, etc. Its hard for me not to laugh, but we are trying to set a good example of being reverent and see if he will catch on as far as the yelling goes. So anyway, I think he is hungry so he says 'fold arms', which is usually his code for 'I'm ready to eat NOW.' He says 'Heavenly Father, thanks you day, for the food, (mumble, mumble) the nuggets, (mumble, mumble) pottage cheese {he is still working on his hard C's} AMEN (yells).' I was still very proud he finally did it without any help. And Tuesday nights while Tad is out I don't cook, so no comments about that please.

clothes, clothes, clothes

So we are spending the day organizing the baby clothes. Yes, if I just would have been better the first time, I wouldn't have to do it again. I keep tying to find things that fit GJ as he is growing so quickly, and I can't. So today we are going to fix that. I can't believe how much stuff we have (thanks Shell). But hopefully I will have a storage container for every size and it will be easy. That's the plan anyway. You can see SM is really helping me, as always. Tad is in Rome, GA all day, so we'll see how much else I can get accomplished. As you can see, I am blogging during the small window I have for showering, so we are already off to a slow start. But I did get haircuts in for Tad and SM and am halfway done with the grocery list. For sure we are going to the library today though. SM loves it. Our library is just a really old house (reminds me of some branches of church in Argentina when there wasn't a chapel).Its just two rooms and 6 computers and a few books. Luckily I can order them from any library in all of Atlanta, so I really just go to pick up my books and then SM can pick out any he chooses. We have read/sung 'This Old Man' over a hundred times in the last two weeks. He never gets tired of it. I am so glad I finally got a new library card. I forgot how much I love reading books. If you have any suggestions, please feel free to share. I am reading 'How to talk so kids will listen and how to listen so kids will talk' for book club and Micromessaging. Both are really interesting communication books. I just finished The Nanny Diaries, but I wasn't too happy about the language. I just am so used to reading classics that never have swearing in them, I was surprised. I know, I am so old fashioned. I have The Kite Runner on reserve and there is only one person ahead of me so hopefully I will have that by next weekend. We'll see if its any good, Yen. I would like to start reading Jesus the Christ again, as it kind of goes with Sunday school. I am glad to be able to start working from home again on Monday so I can do things like that and keep my house in shape. I will still go and work downtown on Tuesdays so I can see the boys too, so I think it will all work out. I will miss carpooling with Tad, but I don't think he will miss being late!
GJ is three months old today. Just look at those cheeks! He is such a sweetie and loves to give me smiles. I think he will start laughing any day now, I can't wait, I can tell he is so close! Last night was his last in the bassinet, we are upgrading to the packnplay. The crib is big and I don't think he is quite ready for that (plus there isn't a lot of room for it) so as long as my back holds up, we'll try this. He is on a great eat/play/sleep schedule so its pretty predicatable and makes life so much easier. We have had such a stress free week, I have made a schedule and lists of everything I want to get done. Both boys have been to bed at 8 o'clock and I have finally started running again and am down to 1XX. Just 10 lbs to go! We can get the dishes done, bottles ready, scriptures read and Tad can even get some homework done before bedtime so hopefully we can keep this up!

Keep on Rollin'

So it has been a very busy week. Labor day was a fun picnic, GJ went swimming for the first time, but I forgot the camera. I took a couple with the phone, but none of him, he was sleeping most of the time. Here is one a friend took of SM, I still can't get the pictures off my phone. One day I will figure it out. Friday we had a Beach Day at the boys school. They had sprinklers and a BBQ and a guy came and put on a little show with stories and puppets. The kids really liked it. GJ mostly slept. Then we went home and I tried to rest a little, but unsuccessfully. Then we got jammies on the boys and took them to a friends house. 5 boys for the night, I hope they had a good time! We went to Six Flags for Coke night. I realized I am not as young as I used to be. First off, I was exhausted (yes, GJ is still waking up every three hours) and I just can't ride the coasters like I used to. I still love Batman, but I get so nervous right before. I screamed almost the whole time and now my voice is shot. We stood in line for Goliath, but I dogged out at the last minute. Superman is my favorite, but the line just wasn't worth it. It was a fun date night without the kids, but I realize I am not quite up to staying out till midnight any more. By the time we picked up the kids, got home and in bed, it was 1am.

Saturday I tried to sleep in but GJ was awake by 7am. Tad had a special date planned for me, so we went to a matinée show of Walking with Dinosaurs and it was awesome. I know its random, but I love dinasaurs, and it was a fun surprise. I don't think you can get a picture of how amazing it was to see the full size ones, but it was so cool. When we got home, I again tried for a nap, but was unsuccessful, I had to run to Costco and Target to get things for the talent show. When I got home, we just had time to eat really quick and go. We were supposed to pick someone up, but she wasn't there and we left late, so we got to the church right before 7pm, when it started. Luckily, I have a two person committee and one of them had been there for an hour setting up the stage and doing everything and there are always great helpers in the ward, so I just ran around and confirmed the acts and we didn't start too late!

We had a talent show a few years ago and it wasn't too great, so I admit my expectations were low, but it actually was really good! I had no idea there were so many talented people in our ward. Here is one of my favorite, some boys did a rap and it was about church and it was so cool. I have definitely changed how I feel about the genre. Our Bishop did a step dance, its so cool! Here he is with his cane in midair, he twirls and stomps and does all these cool tricks. You just have to see it.

Sunday I was almost on time, just a few minutes late. I tried to pick someone up again but was unsuccessful. Tad and I had a nice talk today as we pushed the boys around the park this afternoon. I do like Sunday's after I have had a good nap and meal! We came home and had Mud Pie and so here were are at the start of another week.

Blessing Day

The Faces of GJ in less than five minutes

Happy Thinking "Are you almost done""Is this lady serious?"

GJD was blessed on Sept 2nd.I tried to do everything possible Saturday night to be ready and I can say we made it to church and on time but I forgot to pick someone up and her phone was disconnected and I felt like a jerk the rest of the day. We weren't able to have any family in town, but we had some friends in the circle. Tad had just decided Friday he was going to do it, so he didn't really invite anyone before hand to join in, just as many as he could make eye contact with on the way up there, classic TAD and WD of course. He did invite a few friends from his lab to come and a couple of them showed up with their spouses, so that was nice. He did tell them to come 'the back way' to church so they didn't have to see some of the scarier parts of the neighborhood. It was a really nice blessing. We really love living in Atlanta and being part of this ward. We are very grateful to have two such wonderful boys, too!

Digital Scrapbooking

I got another subscription to tellitwithstorybooks.com for the next month. Its quite addicting and I love it, so if you want to try it out, I can give you my login info and you can go for it. You just download your pictures and have access to over 100 different sets. There's books, posters, family folds, pretty much what all the other websites have just with all the free scrapbooking stuff too. Comment, call, talk or email me if you want to and you can just use my account. I played around and learned how to use it so its pretty user friendly, but I can also give you a quick training if you like. I am finally going to do a wedding book and mission book if I get really ambitious. That is a lot of scanning. Wish I had a digital camera back then! I still say we should do this for our mini ward enrichment activities.