Learning so much

I am totally seeing where every little thing is a learning experience. Let's take this afternoon. We went to plant grass in the backyard. Zach got to learn how to turn the seed spreader wheel thingy. He also got to figure out the hose a little bit, and how walking underneath gets you wet. He also got a lesson in walking through mud gets you hosed off.

So then, we went to the library. Walking there, and back, he got a lesson in crossing the road-look both ways, hold daddy's hand, etc. At the library, he learned there are many ways to go, ways to get lost in all the racks. Plus he learned how to run away from mom and dad, and how to show mom and dad he wanted to play with the legos. Also, staying with mom and dad as they check out, even if he doesn't want to.

Leaving the library, he learned we CAN pick up the big rocks outside, and if we aren't careful, we can almost make it land on daddy's foot. Walking back, he also found a golf ball. He wandered in to someone's yard, which he isn't suppose to do, but because he spotted the ball. So he picked it up and immediately through it in to the road. Then he was upset we wouldn't let him go get it. When he got home, he learned how to throw it down the driveway and watch it roll. He also picked up a rock and threw it several times, but it didn't roll as well.

Oh, what a life for a little boy! It's so fun watching them learn and teaching them things constantly!

Learning words

So Zach has been learning to talk (say actual words) a lot more lately. His newest one that he likes to say a lot is "clock". Everything is a clock right now. It started because of this... He knows who Jesus is, and points and says "Jesus" when he seems him. Well, Jesus is usually hanging on the wall, so he pointed to the clock and said "Jesus" and we said no, that's a clock. So every time we're at the table, he points to it and says clock.

We are also learning our body parts. We know nose, ears, eyes, toes, feet and kind of mouth... and today, we worked on hair, teeth and tongue.

After dinner, he helped daddy do dishes tonight. Well, "helped". Then, I asked him if he wanted to play legos or read a book. He ran and got a book and got up on the couch, waiting for me (This isn't something we do often, so I was surprised). It was a 500 First words book and he sat there for at least 20 minutes, looking through it. We found shoes, socks, a cat, a dog, and well... a clock... more than *I* thought were in the book (ie a book was a clock, a lamp, etc) I never thought teaching a one and a half year old words would be so fun!

Ashes, Ashes, We All Fall Down

Ok, so my post yesterday ended up proving me wrong. I finished writing that post, in the office. Zach was just outside the office, in the den, playing on his slide (Yes, he has a slide in the den. It lasts longer and can be played on more inside lol) I posted, talked to Jon in the office for a few, and walked out. No, he wasn't playing on the slide anymore... he was playing.... IN... the FIREPLACE! Yes, covered in ashes. So, I took him, clothes and all, and put him in the SECOND bath of the day... or "GA" as he calls it. I just hope he doesn't realize anytime soon that if he does something really messy, that means he can get a bath. This boy definitely keeps me on my toes.

Today was nice. We went grocery shopping this morning, Jon included. He's working tonight, all night, so he had the morning off. As we're standing in line to checkout, Jon's holding Hannah in front of Zach. Next thing we know, she's crying, and he is too... why? Because he bit her foot!!!! :-O And then her crying and Jon flicking him in the mouth for it, upset him. But then, we came home, and she was lying on the floor on her play gym and he was playing with her... he handed her the hanging toy so she could hold it... then he handed her a rattle and rubbed her head. When she was lying on her belly, he got down on his belly in front of her and showed her how to drive his little car (because you  know girls so want to know how to drive cars!) When she went to bed, he said "Night night" and kissed her head. Those sweet moments are the ones I love. Oh, and the one from last night. He took his stuffed bear and dog (or maybe it was the stuffed wolf?? I don't remember, he loves them all) and put them in Hannah's swing and turned it on, then pushed them while swaying back and forth himself and "singing" to them. He loves his stuffed animals and will go around hugging them and kissing them. Kids are so smart at picking things up! And a while ago, I use to tell him every morning after getting dressed I needed a hug and a kiss, now he almost always just does it on his own. And he'll point to Jesus in our house and say "-esus" (or something like that) and he'll even wave goodnight to Jesus. 19 months is such a fun age, that's for sure!

Another great story, this one about Hannah...I had her lying on her play gym, on her back, head facing the tv..I came back in the living room from doing something else and she was lying parallel to the tv... and a few minutes later, she somehow had her feet facing the tv! She can do a complete 180, but can't roll over! All the other girls her age are rolling over, but nope, not her! Her other new thing is she scoots in her bed, in her sleep. Literally every hour to hour and a half last night, she would wake up crying because she would be stuck in the corner. I'm praying this doesn't continue because I can't keep getting up every hour to hour and a half just to remove her.

Anyway, the diapers are done washing... Which reminds me, I got more cloth diapers, wahoo! No, I'm not going green... I'm going "Save $$$!" because diapers for two, even the cheap Walmart ones, were costing us $50+/month. But I got some really cute ones this time. I'll post pictures eventually...maybe. So, diapers are done, Jon's working tonight, and the kids and I are going to a huge church garage sale early tomorrow morning... in other words, I'm out... like the light soon will be!

Much love,
Aimee 

Computers and fingers

The excitement of our day... I had surgery on my finger last week- had a ganglion cyst removed. I went for a followup today and got told "It looks good".

The other exciting part, we got the parts for Jon to build a new computer (Ours died last week) Thank God my hubby is smart with computers and can fix it by just getting new parts instead of a whole new computer.

Wow... what an exciting day. Oh, and the kids and I went to playgroup this morning, and they behaved greatly in the doctor's office. That's a miracle. ::sigh:: What a hard life I live.

Changes

As you can see, I've made some changes to my blog. I figured since I was finally getting back to posting, some change might be good. I also updated my links, got rid of the ones that dont work haha, and added some new ones I'd like to visit more frequently. I have a feeling I'll eventually be adding even more. This is a short post though, because I've spent the last hour, during naps, playing with my blog. I need to quickly get a shower before the little ones awake again.

Mischievous Zachary

I love my son, but today, he's driving me nuts, and it's not even noon yet! To begin with, I was sitting in the basement on the computer. I assumed the bathroom door was shut. I hear this loud gushing... went in and he had the container the toilet brush sits in... had that in the toilet, picking up buckets of water and pouring them on the floor....

So then, later, I'm washing my hands in the other bathroom, and within one second, he takes a handful of trash from the can, and puts it in the toilet (including a dirty diaper, tissue, and a cleaning glove)

So then, I'm downstairs doing something, and I hear him upstairs crying. I go up to see. He's in Hannah's room, stuck in the railing of her bed... and she's awake! She's now crying, letting me know she's not happy he woke her up. And me, well, I'm going for my 3rd cup of coffee, praying Lord, please let naps come soon so I can get a relaxing shower.


In other news... the water obsession is a new thing of his. Two nights ago, he had a cup in the tub, and poured several cups of water on the floor before we caught him. So the cup isn't allowed in the tub any more. Last night, I heard him too excited in the bathtub while I was doing something...he had a lego and discovered it holds water, so was pouring it on the floor..and had it all the way to the door and all over the toilet. He's only 19mo!?! Am I facing terrible twos already??

behind again

Man, I'm having a hard time keeping up with this lately! Part of the reason is because i no longer have a laptop (Zach...diet coke... laptop...fried). Therefore, I have to share with Jon, and he's taking classes online. The other, well, I'm a busy mom!

The past few weeks have been crazy. Last week Jon's family was in town. We had lots of fun and they were great house guests. Then Tues, I had a ganglion cyst removed from my left ring finger. Not a big deal really, but it was getting painful after like 5 yrs of having it, so they had to take it out. It ended up being a large finger cast that I couldn't get wet, so Jon got to take the rest of this week off, so he's been off the past 2 weeks, except for one day. Then, the motherboard on our computer died this week, so we got to replace that... still waiting on parts to come. And we finally decided that we just couldn't keep paying $50+/mo on diapers, so we have gone back to cloth diapers. I only had 14, so I've been washing them every.single.day. So, I got to order another dozen this week, and i'm anxiously awaiting those as well.

Zach had been being a pain about eating lately, so I'm reading "Child of Mine" by ellen Satter. It's great and I really recommend it for anyone with children. I am also reading Innocent Man by John Grisham, but I feel like I've read it before, or at least started it before. I also just finished reading the Duggars book- 20 and counting- and I totally recommend it. Easy read and really interesting. IT was awesome to see how God has worked in their lives and how they seek him. I've also been working on scrapbooking a lot more lately.

As I finish this post, I will share a funny Zach story with you. About every other night, after dinner, Zach gets a bath ("ga" in his words). HE LOVES his baths. The other night, we were eating and I asked Jon if he needed a B-A-T-H. (yes, i spelled it out). We decided he didnt need one. As we got done, he pointed and said "Ga?!?" with a questioning look. We started laughing, and when he got down, he walked down the hall, so excited, looking for us behind him, and pointing saying "ga?" We ended up giving him a bath anyway. We couldn't stop laughing. He is at this very smart, learning stage, and copying everything we do. It's so fun! I'm sure I'll have more to come soon, if I can keep up with this.

Retreat: Childhood memories

I've decided to try to do this online retreat to work on focusing more on God. The first week, they've encouraged us to focus on memories of our life throughout the day, and really work to think about the memories and look to see how God has shaped our lives through everything. So, today I'm going to think about some of my childhood memories from when we still lived in Jax.

This is hard for me, as I don't remember back that far really. I remember the house we lived in... I remember my friend down the street. She had My Little Ponies, I had Barbies, and we loved to play with each other's toys. I remember we found birds in our chimney a lot... I remember wanting to go to church and going in and waking my parents up so we could go. I remember Christmas morning, we weren't allowed to go down the hall way until mom and dad were up, so we'd sit at the very edge of the hall, waiting for them. I remember our playroom and mom every so often, coming in on one of the little red chairs we had, and starting at one end of the room and making us help her clean because it'd get SO MESSY. (I think a playroom is an awesome idea and I'm remembering it for the future...) I remember saying Bible verses in 1st grade I think and getting a scripture magnet printed on wood in sunday school. I remember the many church musicals we did, esp We Like Sheep (Aren't we all singing that in our heads now?) and Amerikids and going to Walt Disney World because of Amerikids and my mom french braiding my hair, Lauren S.'s and the other girl in our group on the bus. (There was also my brother Bryan and a friend of his). I remember having a seizure when my Aunt Jen was babysitting. I dont remember much about it except they asked me where my parents worked and I couldn't remember... I knew they worked at 2 hospitals but I didn't know which one worked at which hospital. Then I remember that when I got to the hospital, I was so upset because they had to cut my favorite jammies off of me. I remember praying before meals "God is great, God is good..." I remember we always wanted plastic Easter eggs for Easter, because then we'd gather everyone's together and hide htem all across the house/yard and have to find where they were hidden. I also remember finding a kite hidden under my parent's lazy boy, then getting it for Easter... that's when I knew about the Easter Bunny... I remember the toothfairy always took several days to visit hahaha! And I remember going to my mom and telling her I knew Santa wasn't real anymore, and I had known for a few years, but I wasn't telling her bc I was afraid I wouldn't get those gifts anymore. Funny, Santa still came even when I graduated from high school. I wonder if he'll come if we make it home next year ;-) I remember going to family reunions on my mom's side... it was all my aunts and uncles and cousins every Mother's day... The first one, we went all out, and bought bright pink shirts that said "**(Name)** Family Reunion" and we stayed at Goldhead NAtional Park and some kid drowned in the lake that year, and I had problems with my diabetes and got really sick while staying in the cabin (I had so forgotten about that!) I remember one year at Christmas, we all brought ornaments and sat around in a circle (extended family as well) and read teh Christmas story and everytime the word "angel" and another word, maybe "baby"?, was said, we'd pass the ornament to our left, and everyone got an ornament when it was done. I remember feeling special because I got to be one of the readers. I remember my granddad had dentures and I didn't know it. He pulled them out of his teeth once to show me, and scared me so much I was crying and trying to get away from him. I remember we all tried to eat Annie's dogfood and I cried so much when she died. I remember my friend Mari coming over to help me make a spaceship for a school project. I remember my bedroom was pink and the boys was orange. I remember pulling my sister out of her crib and telling mom "Mom! She climbed out of bed because she wants to sleep with me." But then, a little while later, calling mom and telling her she wouldn't lay still and go to sleep. Amazing how when mom put her back in her bed, she never climbed out haha ;-)

WOW! This is crazy.... I really haven't thought back to all of these in a long time! What fun!

stupid shopping carts

I rarely go to stores w/out Jon but needed diapers and milk, so had to go... and of course, forgot my wrap. So, I had to put the carseat in the back of the buggy and Z in the front... well, 1st target.... their buggies are awful! the front seat like reclines and z hates it. but also, the back isnt wide enough for a safe seat car seat.... I saw THREE other moms w/ car seats in the back, but the safeseat wont (One of my complaints about the safe seat) So i had to turn her and prop her on the 2 sides of the buggy and hold on to her throughout shopping... and take her out to put almost anything in the buggy, instead of placing things around her

So then safeway....they had just collected buggies i guess bc none in the parking lot except the small, 2 basket type ones so i had to try to get in to the store holding z's hand (DOES NOT like to hold your hand) and the carseat... well, they have nice new buggies... w/ cupholders in the back part, therfore, leaving me to have to do the same thing I did in target... You just KNOW that men must create these darn buggies lol.

so, i'm totally frustrated and frazzled and emotions starting to show (Let's just say aunt flow and not really seeing Jon/spending time together in almost a week hasnt helped).... placed my coupon container on H so i could grab yogurts. Next thing I know... coupons are flying everywhere. This was my first "Bad mommy moment in public" where I lost it, yelled at him, then proceeded to tear up as this lady gave me this mean, disapproving look.

Kids are now asleep (If H will stay when I lay her down) and i'm hoping to get some frustrations out on housework.

TOOOO Long!

Wow, it has been too long! First and foremost, our sweet Hannah Lucia was born Nov. 21 at 2:06am, via repeat c-section after laboring for 24 hrs, weighing 10 lbs 7 oz and 21 inches long!!! She was a big girl! :) Life is a little busy, making the adjustment from 1 to 2, but it's not too bad. We're actually handling it great. Zach loves his little sister, says "Sis" and points to her, will rub her head, pat her back like mommy does to burp her, and will give her nice big, wet kisses. He's still young though, so we've caught him trying to climb on her to sit in the bouncy, on top of her. We have to watch him haha!

Other than that, life is well. Jon is now on a normal work schedule, basically working M-F, 8-5. Has its pluses and minuses. We just spent 2 weeks in MO at the beginning of the year for Jon's sister's wedding and seeing everyone. Hannah was baptized the day we got back and she looked beautiful. Soon after that, Zach spilled diet coke all over my laptop and fried it, so we're now sharing a computer. Jon just started back to school after taking a semester off, so between that and work, he's staying busy. We're also super excited that LOST is back on :) We're flying home in May for my sister's graduation, wahoo! I haven't been home in a year and a half, so I've very excited about that. We're also starting to look at little/plan a little for Rome. We're going there in 2 years for Jon's brother's ordination in to the priesthood. We've very excited about that and looking forward to it.

God has been doing a lot in our lives. Jon and I recently began reading "When Couples Pray" by Cheri Fuller. It's been incredible for our spiritual walk together and it's been so touching to hear us pray for each other. I definitely recommend it to other couples! God's also been bringing Eph 5 up to me a lot, and really encouraging me regarding our marriage. I'm also beginning to consider getting up before the kids to shower and do my own devotional now that I"m getting a little more sleep, but that hasn't happened yet. We also just finished reading Dave Ramsey's Total Money Makeover and are striving to live on a better budget, to pay off debt, and save lots. We just celebrated our 2 year anniversary last week as well. We got a babysitter and went to dinner and a yummy Italian restaurant we'd never been to, and then went and saw Defiance. Sad, but great movie. Based off a true story during the Holocaust.

Anyway, just gives you a small idea of what's been going on in our lives the past 2 months. Sorry it's taken me so long to update. I'm hoping to try to keep up with this about once a week now that things are settling down to our new adjustment. Hope all are doing well!

Much love, Aimee