Happy Birthday, Nolan

FOUR YEARS OLD TODAY!


He tries my patience and he drives me nuts. And yet, he's still one of my favorites. Here's the top 10 reasons why:

1. The cheesy smile. It doesn't matter the picture, you tell him to smile, and this is what you get!





2. The questions, and the stories, and the questions, and some more questions. In his quest to figure out the universe, he asks so many questions, of every movie, every car ride, every dinner. And then makes up a story about all he learned, which is almost right. And then asks more questions. Some days it's like Chinese water torture, those questions, but usually they just make us laugh.
3. The eyes. I always wanted a blue-eyed child, but who can complain with brown eyes like these?



4. The hugs and kisses. He loves giving great big bear hugs and kisses. There's nothing like being on the receiving end of those.
5. He does his own thing. Legos, Star Wars, Cars. He plays his own thing for hours on end and truly gets lost in his own world.
6. He reads the books I never thought anyone read. Sharks, dinosaurs, trains and other non-fiction books are his favorite. Growing up, I never set foot in the non-fiction section of the library unless I HAD to do a book report on one. Nolan lives there and truly enjoys them.
7. He's just funny. It doesn't matter what he's doing, he always makes me laugh. From making up crazy songs ("I like my underwear blue and green, I like to slap my butt") to the crazy dances, he's our comic relief.
8. He's a great big brother. There's very few times when he won't share his toys, and he loves showing Max off to his friends. I couldn't ask him to be any better of a big brother.


9. He's a match for Abby. And me and Dave too! He is a willful child. Usually you can cajole, fanagle or otherwise get him to go along with you, but when he doesn't want to, look out! He will stop at nothing to get out of it. And if it's Abby? Well, he'll go along with her only when he wants to. She thinks she's the boss, but I really think he's in control.
10. He's so big, and yet so little, at the same time. I'm not sure how he got to be four so quickly. Wasn't he just two? He's such a toughy... falling off his bike without crying, showing Abby the way or going upstairs when she's scared to go by herself. And yet, he's so little--scared of sleepovers, sleeps with the closet light on and really hates going where he doesn't know anyone. We've tought him to be big, but when those little boy moments come out, when he cries and just wants to be held, I have to smile and admit I love that.

Happy Birthday little buddy. Don't get too big too fast!

I need another weekend!

Where did this weekend go? It's crazy and I'm not ready for Monday.

Friday night, through tornadoes and thunderstorms, mom and dad came down for a visit and all started out well. Then, Saturday morning we had swimming lessons. Abby was great, but Nolan. Ah Nolan. We spent the 45 minutes Abby was in class crying, screaming, curled up in a corner, bribing, forcing and ended in hitting, head butting and kicking (I won't say what I did and what he did!) :). In the end, he ended up not swimming, Dave dragging him out and into his car (luckily we had two!) and taking him home to his room. It really, really was not fun.

Abby, Max, Mom, Dad and I went to lunch while Dave was throwing Nolan in his room, and Max threw up all over me.

We got home and mom and dad left and I took Abby and Nolan to the grocery store to pick up Nolan's birthday cake. By the end they were crying and yelling at each other so I made them put both hands on the cart while I stood in line and they couldn't talk. They were surprised, but they were quiet and didn't move! By the time we got home, I made the kids go up to their rooms for some quiet time, and asked Dave if it was ok if I did the same. Just as I was relaxed and going to take a nap, Dave's parents came. I debated about taking a nap anyway, but I decided to get up, and then the kiddos came down and everyone was doing good. Until I was holding Max on the couch and he threw up all over me. Again.

We had Nolan's birthday party Saturday afternoon, which was fun. Just the neighbors, Dave's parents and us, so pretty low key. We ordered pizza and had power ranger cake, opened presents, played with the Wii Nolan got and was glad the rest of the day was pretty uneventful!

Sunday was church, breakfast, home, more Wii-ing and then we were outside with the neighbors. That was fun. Max was still under the weather (pooping more than anyone would like to think about, very lethargic) but the outside air seemed to do him some good and the kids played great together. The only rough time was night and bedtime... Nolan was super tired so a breakdown was imminent. Luckily it wasn't too bad.

And now it's Monday! HAPPY BIRTHDAY NOLAN! He woke up not feeling too good (headache, tummy ache), so we'll see how it goes!

What is THAT???

Yesterday, when I stayed home with Max, I walked the kids to school. So, naturally, I didn't want to take a shower beforehand, knowing full well that I'd get all sweaty and yucky by the time I got home. But as I was brushing my hair, something crazy happened. I saw (gasp!), right there where my hair is parted (oh no!), gray hair!! And it wasn't just one, it was several. I've never been one to care much about age (because really, anyone who knows me knows I've been old my entire life), but looking in the mirror aged me more than quitting any job, chasing after any kid or paying any mortgage. It's no wonder that once they start they just keep on coming... you worry so much about that first one that more follow suit!

But of course, just when I start blowing things out of perspective, something happens to put it right back in place. I was going through the binder that Abby brings home from school every day and there was a note in there from her principal. A little sibling of one of the kindergarteners passed away suddenly. Out of respect for the family's privacy, they didn't tell us who it was, which kindergarten class it was or what happened, but they wanted us to know because some of the kindergarteners may have found out and may exhibit anxiety. What do you do with that information? Before bed I asked Abby if anything sad has happened to any of her friends lately. She thought and thought and said "Well, I was trying to play on the monkey bars today and the third grade girls were mean. They told me to stop following them and I said I can do what I want." Not quite what I was looking for. Then she said "Ethan was being chased by a bunch of older boys and he told them to stop FIVE times but they wouldn't so he told a grown up. The grown up said to stop, but then they started doing it again later. If someone is doing something you don't like, say NO and tell a grown up. Mrs. Borst (the guidance counselor) taught us that, I didn't just know that." It turns out that kindergarten can be a rough place. But, I am eternally grateful that, at least for tonight, that's the extent of her worries.

Jen (Actually, Mark!) gets his wish

Mark has said several times that he wishes we had a "real" child. You know, a willfull, drop everything, throw a temper tantrum, take everything out of reach that's breakable and lock every cupboard in the place kind of child. Well, Mark must have wished on the right star, because I think we have it in Max! He is a terror child. He's learned to climb stairs already and of course has fallen off of them. I block them off, and he screams when Abby or Nolan go up them. He loves the bathroom, and has already "washed" his hands in the toilet more times than I can count, and then dried them on several rolls of toilet paper. He LOVES the china cabinet, and apparently has an affinity for my wine glasses. I move him away, I distract him, I give him other toys and cups and food. And when all of that didn't work, I made a trip to Home Depot for baby proofing gear.

But it is nice to see him in better spirits. He was up quite a bit with 103 fever last night, and of course it's always when Dave's out of town. I think he just has trouble teething, and then drains everything into his ears and chest and then gets an infection. I gave him antibiotics that we didn't use from last month (it was insurance the doctor gave us for when we went to Texas because it looked like he might get an ear infection then) and his fever seems gone, but he's still crabby. He's napping now and hopefully all will be well this afternoon.

Happy mid-week!

What I won't miss

Max is sick. Poor kid I think is just trying to push through his second top tooth and he's really struggling. He drools, then coughs, then a runny nose, then an earache and a fever. What a downhill battle! I picked him up early from daycare today with a temp of 103. He was fine after some medicine, but I bet it will be a long night for us both, as was last night (Dave's in NY).

Of all days this week, Wednesday was the busiest. I had a breakfast meeting in the morning, a leadership team meeting, two one on one meetings, a lunch meeting and a speaker to go listen to. Usually when one of the kids was sick before, it would be a mad scramble to reschedule everything and get everything done, especially when the rest of my week would look the same way. Then I would work from home, while taking care of a sick kiddo, and feel slightly mad at daycare for not wanting to watch my sick kid.

This time, though, it was much easier! I picked Max up and actually felt bad for him intstead of just trying to figure out exactly what I needed to do. I cancelled or rescheduled everything and didn't really feel bad about it. If I could have done that three weeks, months or years ago, I probably wouldn't have had to quit!

There's still no plan for my replacement at work yet (I know, I'm irreplaceable). There are a couple of options, but I'm not sure if any of them will work or not. And I still may consult. It sounds like a good deal, and hard to turn down, but I'm still not quite sure. It would be about 10 hours a week, I think, with one day (or afternoon) in the office. I'm open to any opinions here!

Hopefully I'll be able to update tomorrow with good news on Max...

Swimming Lessons, Sleepovers, First Communion and Birthday Parties

What a beautiful weekend! The weather truly couldn't have been any better, and it really made it easy to do a whole lot of nuthin'. Which is what we did, mostly.

But first, we had to go to swimming lessons on Saturday morning. It was the first time we've tried lessons at the Y, and Abby was at 10:30 and Nolan at 11:15. Abby had to do an assessment for which class she belonged in, and she tested at goldfish level. I guess that's second out of four levels of lessons, which isn't too bad considering she's not supposed to be in any of the classes until she's 6 and in first grade. Once she did the evaluation she got a little scared and started crying, but she kept going and really enjoyed it. I think she mostly enjoyed that she could swim better than most of the boys. And then there was Nolan. He was ready to go, watched Abby during lessons in his swimsuit, watched his teacher during the class before and then when it was his turn, he cried. And screamed. And wouldn't let go of me. Finally I handed him to the instructor and walked out of the pool (parents are supposed to watch from the viewing windows, not from pool side). Eventually he stopped screaming, but he didn't get wet. I was NOT a happy camper. The frustrating thing was that he was almost proud of himself for not doing what he was supposed to do. We made it clear that we wouldn't go swimming at the Y, go to a hotel pool, or go to any waterparks unless he does swimming lessons and actually listens to the teacher. I guess we'll see what he does next week. The rest of Saturday afternoon and evening was filled with a lot of this:



"Let me out!"





















Abby and Nolan with neighbor Cody
















Max with neighbor Kyle (Cody's brother)

Big Boy Max drinking out of a straw. Or is that Elvis with that lip?

The missing pictures are Dave and me, Jenny and Rocky sitting in the lawn chairs all day with a growing number of bottles of all shapes and sizes growing next to us! But after a full day of playing/drinking, we had a campfire at night. The kids did great, running all around with flashlights and hiding out in the tent we set up. Then Cody asked if Nolan could sleep over so we thought, why not? At 11:00 when we all went inside, we got Nolan all ready, teeth brushed, pjs on, blanket in hand, and then he decided maybe not on the sleepover. So Dave went over with him, and Nolan conked out immediately and Dave came home and slept on the couch. Around 3 am, Jenny brought Nolan home because he woke up crying. Some days Nolan is such a big kid. And then there are those other moments when the little kid in him still comes through, and I'm so glad that it's still there some!

Sunday morning I went to church by myself (the kids were already muddy and dirty outside before I woke up! and besides, sometimes it's really nice to go to church and actually pay attention!). It just so happened to be First Communion weekend... 24 of them this morning. It wasn't too bad, but as I'm standing there watching the little girls, I started crying. What's that all about? Apparently it's not just the big things--weddings, funerals--but the baptisms and first communions too. I started thinking about when Abby will get her first communion and thinking about what it would be like and it dawned on me that I can remember (either real memories or from pictures) my first communion. I decided that's a momentous point in your life... when your child is doing things that you can remember doing when you were their age. I don't remember much before third grade, so at least I'm safe from this strange occurence for the most part for another couple of years.

After church I went shopping for a birthday present for a girl in Abby's class, and then came home to spend more time in the beautiful weather.

Max looked very cool in his sunglasses, but...

He really didn't think he needed them on!

Midday Dave took Abby to her birthday party for Saige. 4:00 on a Sunday afternoon seems like it's too late, and it was at a place 40 minutes away, but Saige is Abby's best friend, so there was no way she was going to miss it. And it's because of Saige that Abby is able to tell her favorite joke. One of Saige's favorite thing to do is to come into Kool Kids Club (before and after school care), take off her glasses, and show everyone her lazy eye. So Abby learned the joke "Knock Knock?" "Who's there?" "People." "People who?" "People who have a lazy eye and have to go to the doctor!" Ha! When do kids learn real jokes???

Anyway, after a full weekend, we came inside and took a bath, and this picture of Max sums up what everyone felt:

He didn't even have it in him to let him put a diaper on him, but luckily I was able to wrangle it on him in his sleep.

Hope everyone else had as great a weekend as we did!

It's Friday!

Yeah! It's Friday! And I don't have any plans. Abby and Nolan have swimming lessons tomorrow. It's the first time at the Y so we'll see how it goes. They weren't going to let me sign them up for the bigger kid classes because they haven't taken lessons there before and I just laughed. There's no way I was getting in the pool with Nolan for swimming lessons! Considering he gave up his floaties a couple of months ago and dives to the bottom for rings, I think he'll be ok. Abby will be fine too, of course, but I'm hoping they put her in a class where she can learn real swimming. She doggie paddles great, and I've shown her how to front crawl so she does that fine, but she doesn't have the breathing down very well. If she listens to a teacher (she doesn't listen to me very well, go figure!) then I think she'll pick it up quick.

I forgot on Sunday we also have a birthday party for a girl in Abby's class. It's at Pump it Up, which is a huge indoor place with the biggest inflatable jumpy things. She's gone a couple of times for field trips and other birthday parties and loves it, so I'm sure she'll have fun on Sunday. The girl, Saige, is one of her best friends (can you have those in kindergarten?? at least she doesn' t have a boyfriend like some of the others!). Saige was adopted from China and is as outgoing as Abby is shy (at least in the classroom). They balance each other well and her mom is nice too. Too bad she works, or we could just hang out all summer!

New page?

I'm posting for the sole reason that I think, with this post, I'll actually push my first post off the page. That means I've blogged long enough to have to scroll through previous posts! I'm celebrating the small stuff! I can only imagine the accomplishments I'll be celebrating when I'm actually done working!!

To consult or not to consult...

That is the question. My boss, Joel, asked me if I want to consult Specifically it would be on joining two divisional marketing teams that we have into one corporate marketing team. It's intriguing... I could focus only on the one project. It would be "office hours" once a week for three hours or so. It would look great on my resume for when (if?) I do want to enter the workforce again. It helps me stay connected to the real world that I feel like I'm leaving behind. But will I get "sucked back in" and not be able to cut off the number of hours I'm working? Will I be expected to do other things? I don't even have details yet... pay? time expected? would it be worth it? And would it end up turning into more or something else? I just am not sure. I haven't been able to talk to Dave yet either... I think he's in Sioux Falls tonight. Should I just rip the band aid off and go cold turkey--no more computer, phone, people, connections (to work anyway!)--or should I see if I can feel like I'm here for the kids and do consulting too? Such decisions.

Regardless, it's a good problem to have. I was talking to someone else who left Direct Supply and they said "they never gave me a consulting or part time offer". Within reason I think I could write a job description and it would probably be accepted. Not a bad place to be.

Max

I took Max to his 9 month appointment today. He's long (30", 95th percentile) and skinny (21.14 pounds, 55th percentile). Otherwise everything looks good. He didn't have to get shots today, which was really nice. Then we went to pick up Nolan, went grocery shopping and came home. Now he's napping, and when he gets up we'll go get Abby from school. I'm supposed to be "working from home". Hmmm, I might be able to get used to this!

It looks like Max could, too!

Make-up

I wonder if, when I'm staying at home, I'll ever wear make-up. It's truly the part of getting ready that I hate the most. Followed closely by doing my hair. I don't mind the shower, but that's about it... everything else is just an inconvenience!

I also think I'm going to have to expand my stay at home wardrobe. I only have one pair of jeans. I should be ok through summer with shorts and capris, but after that I'll run out. Who would have thought I'd have to shop for new clothes to stay at home??

Day 2!

Well, it's Day 2 of the blog. I'm just glad I'm doing it two days in a row, and we'll see how long that lasts. I usually email for a couple of hours at night or do other work stuff, so hopefully this will just replace that on a smaller scale! Things at work will be strange. I think it will be a very long 5 weeks (or six, or seven, haven't quite figured out the last day yet). I'm not starting any new projects, and no one really wants to invite me to start on anything, so I'm at my desk all day. Today I shopped for Nolan's birthday. I think we're going to by a Wii. I never thought we would, but everyone just raves about it. If nothing else, it will give me something to do with the kids when I'm home all day alone with them! Can never be too prepared.

Not much else going on today. I walked through our new building at work and I'm a little jealous. It's really nice and I won't ever get to "live" in it. I guess I should never live at work, but still. But then there are those other things. Those challenges that just seem to keep coming, that I'll miss at first but will get over quickly I'm sure. I just don't know how to disconnect from it all, and I'm wondering if I'll go through withdrawal!

Dave took Abby and Nolan to the park tonight with Cody, the neighbor boy, and then took all three of them to McDonalds. I hung out with Max, which was fun. He's drinking from a straw, walking behind his push car, and shoving mouthfuls of food into his mouth as quickly as he possibly can. In other words, just a lot of fun!

Not sure about this blog stuff

So, I like to write, but have never kept a blog. I've tried to keep journals, but for some reason I never complete them. And when I say I never complete them, I mean I never get past the first week. I blame it on being busy. Good excuse, right? It's much easier in writing to show more of yourself... who you are, what you think, your feelings on things... than it is in speaking. That's kind of scary. So, what's making me start a blog now? A big change in my life... I've decided to stay home with the kiddos. Who would have thought? I never knew I wanted to be a stay at home mom, so I guess we'll see how it goes. I gave notice on Wednesday (April 9, 2008) and for me it was kind of out of the blue. I realized that in dealing with things at work, I didn't have enough energy to deal with things at home. And when I say deal with things at home, I mean converse with Dave and play with Abby, Nolan and Max. I'm not sure what made me realize it all of a sudden. I mean, Abby's 5, Nolan almost 4 and Max 9 months.

It kind of dawned on me as I was yelling at Nolan to get dressed and he was trying to tell me something in his cute three year old way, and I realized his cute three year old way would soon turn into his four year old way. And I missed it.