whew!

It's been a week and it's only Thursday! This being back in orientation is exhausting. I haven't felt so inadequate/unsure about myself in um 7+ years when I was a new grad. I've had 3 days of orientation, I have 5 more and I'm on my own (ack!!!!!!!!!!!). Every day gets a tiny bit better but throws some new complexity into the mix. God has definitely been in on this orientation because each day has built on the day before.

Day 1-just admissions (no deaths, no codes, no complications), day 2 a "minor" code (the patient revived quickly). Day 3-a code the minute I hit the office (literally) but it was OK, a death shortly after (not related to the code), a bazillion transfers out of CCU and telemetry and a slew of admissions, plus a variety of other misc crazy things-pick ups from funeral homes, organ donation arangements.... I finally have a handle on how to get messages off the pager (which I promise you goes off a 100 times AT LEAST in my 12 hour shift) and some/most of the phone # for the various units.

So this week I worked 6-7:30 learning how to do central line blood draws, then taught from 8a-6p, Tuesday orientation from 7a-7p, Wednesday I got to sleep in a tad-tought from 10:30-6pm. I got out of one class today so I just have a 9p-11p class tonight. It's been great to see the kids. Mary is walking pretty well. The babysitter says Robert is hilarious at her house, I'm not finding him so hilarious here, but oh well. The whining and fake crying are driving me CRAZY. But that wasn't a far trip. We tried to go outside this am but it was COLD and he ended up wet and muddy. I even had to wash his shoes!

We leave in the morning (Wesley and I) for a weekend away-bliss. Our friends Heather and Ryan are coming tomorrow night to watch the kids for us. Roger will pick them up from Denee's and they'll watch them until H+R get here and then again Sunday between when they have to leave and we get back. I am so looking forward to SLEEPING IN (why has Robert decided that 7/7:30 is a good time to get up?), relaxing and hanging out with Wesley.

Thankful um Fridays?

OK a day late but wanted to get it in....

-A week that is almost done! At the end of today I'll have worked 38 hours and I'm TIRED!
-A good babysitter that lets me feel at ease about #1
-An awesome DH who has done drop off and pick up both yesterday and will do it again today-thanks hun!
-My kids who are so super excited when they see me. It's so cute and nice. Except when the fight over me.

10 on Tuesday

http://www.yanowhatimean.com/tuesday/?p=249

10 things you like to do on Vacation
1) sleep
2) read
3) spend time with people
4) watch TV
5) play games
6) walk/enjoy nature
7) go out to eat
8) shop
9) swim
10) lay out on the beach

Tank-do!

These kids are really something! I think they decided to grow up all at once. Mary is really interactive all of a sudden-talking and playing games and understanding what you are saying. Her newest word(s)? Tank-do! So cute. She plays the thank-you game; she hands you something and you say thank you and then hand it back to her and she says tank-do and then she hands it back..... she can play it forever! At supper she wanted to play touch the finger with daddy (she points her finger and you touch yours to hers but daddy wouldn't let her 'cause she was SLIMY. So after I cleaned her up I told her she could play her game with daddy and she immediately turned to him and pointed her finger. She also has learned to "meep" his nose. lol. She thinks it's hilarious. Robert is generally getting sweeter and more responsible-feeding snoopy, giving her bones (all with help), putting stuff on the table (plates, condiments etc), going to play on the playset and staying there if I need to bring in groceries. Today I sent him there, took in the groceries, put the perishables in and then Mary and I sat outside while she nursed. It was great just to have a few minutes to unwind outside after a very long day of teaching followed by a quick trip to walmart. Well, got to finish laundry!

Menu Plan Monday!

mon-swiss chicken in the crockpot
tues-Nanny Night! whoot!
wed-meatloaf, mashed potatoes
thurs-pot roast with veggies
fri-Wes and the kids out (I'll be at work)
sat L-sandwiches'
sat D-grilled chx
sun L-easy dinner surprise
sun D-grilled hotdogs/hamburgers with deviled eggs if I get to them!

Mary

I meant to post yesterday about Mary on her birthday but she was so fussy and went to bed late that I didn't do it. I just collapsed into a stupor!

Obviously Mary has changed a TON in the last year. She is generally so happy (and whew that tooth finally came through today and she's back to being mostly happy!), curious, and funny. She loves dogs-Snoopy and the pugs are her favorite "people". She love to "lecture" with her pointer finger wagging-if you correct her or someone she'll wag her finger too and go "nonono or eh". She adores her big brother and is always watching what he is doing-and they are both getting jelous of when I am working with the other (little stinkers!) She got really mad this evening when Robert was standing on a chair in the kitchen helping me make pancake batter and she wasn't-she kept trying to climb the chair or pull Robert down.

She learned this week to fake sneeze (a family trate/joke) and it's really funny a-a-a-a-boo! She's a snuggler, a flirt, my precious baby girl. My current name for her is "sweetness"-it really seems to fit. I am so thankful for my kids. Happy (belated) birthday sweet girlie. May you grow up to be all that God has for you.

10 on Tuesday

10 songs I hate

hmmm-I really bad about noticing songs that I don't like...

1) Achy breaky heart
2) Rock of ages (like the words-hate the music and thus singing it)
3) The letters from war song
4) I....................willlllllllll allllllllllways loveeeeeeeeeeee yooooooooooooooooou
5) Lets talk about sex baby, lets talk about you and me.
6) I love you, you love me (barney)
7) Christmas shoes
8)

hmm.. I'll have to think on this today....

New Job Day #1!

Today was my first day in the new job-I'm orienting a day a week for the next several weeks while still doing my usual Tues/Wed/Thurs with meditech. Luckily I was put on call for Peds for 3-11 yesterday :) and thus getting up at 5:45 wasn't too bad. Yesterday I got all the laundry done, folded and put away and the house picked up and cupcakes and mini cakes made for the kids party this weekend.

Today was a LONG day 7A-7P but I learned a lot, met a lot of people and realized that I still have a LOT to learn. No codes or deaths today thank heavens. Which I gather is fairly unusual.

Thankful Thursdays!

I am thankful...

-For an impromptu day off yesterday even if it also came with a dentist appointment (why did the hygienist go back to hand scaling? ouch!)
-For a clean house (see #1!)
-For a great babysitter
-For crazy and fun kidlets
-First day in my new job on Monday!!!
-Wesley

10 on Tuesday

10 things I won't miss about winter! (now this is EASY!)

1. Putting the kids' coats on
2. Rolling up long sleeves on the kids before letting them eat
3. My long sleeves falling down while giving the kids a bath
4. Robert going to the door and telling himself "no Robert you can't go outside it's Coooooooooold outside, very cold and windy" (ROTFL! I guess he's heard that a few times!)
5. My hair freezing when I leave the house (yes I know I could blowdry it-but who has the time?)
6. Not being able to take the kids out to play
7. Extra TV time
8. Trying to put the kids in their carseats with coats on
9. Cold and dark when you wake up
10. That cold sting on your face as your walking from one building to another... ugh

http://www.yanowhatimean.com/tuesday

Monday Menu Plan

Sat-Lunch-leftovers
Dinner-hotdogs on grill
Sun-Lunch-pork BBQ sandwiches
Dinner-Hamburgers on the grill (it was supposed to be pancakes but wasn't pancake weather!)
Monday-out (it's Wesley's b-day and we got a babysitter! whoot!)
Tuesday-Nanny's
Wed-Tandoori chicken with safron rice-I even bought garam masalla for it-I hope it's good!
Thursday-chicken pot pies
Friday-home made pizza
Sat L-leftovers? We'll be coming back from the maple sugar festival

I've got sunshine!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

You know, although kids really put a cramp in your style sometimes (no more sleeping in, childcare arrangements, poopy diapers) I never REALLY lived outside in any decent weather until I had kids-well toddlers to be exact-Robert didn't really care his first year :) Now if it's over 40 we're out! We had a glorious weekend outside! Both kids are sick with snotty noses/cough/diarrhea so we (the kids and I) didn't go to church today.

So instead we played outside. And this afternoon I found the camp saw and cleared out the stupid overgrown peach tree area and pruned the old tree a ton. It looks a LOT better. Now we just need to till the ground around it and get rid of the old debris and see if we can get grass and stuff to grow. I left 2 smaller trees standing in addition to the big one-but cut down 10ish tiny trees and a huge vine. So maybe this year the peaches will be a little bigger-and easier to get to!

I also made a loaf of bread and cut Robert's hair so I'm feeling nice and frugal! Oh and my lettuce is starting to sprout! Robert and I (boy was that a mistake to plant lettuce seeds with a 3 year old-I've never planted lettuce before and had NO idea that the seeds are miniscule at best) planted 18 peat pots of lettuce on Friday and you can see them starting to germinate! I'm so excited about SPRING! I think I have a touch of SAD (seasonal affective disorder)-it's not bad but I can definitely tell a difference with spring. Part of it is probably that the kids are SO much nicer when they are totally worn out from being outside. :) They both took nice naps and collapsed in front of the TV when we came in about 5 this evening and went to bed without issue. It was nice of God to give us a "wear out" day during time change! No issue about going to bed an hour early!

Another day....

Today was much better-now we're just trying to figure out how to transition from one group to the other. The final verdict this afternoon was that I have to start on a new pay period-which go for 2 weeks-from this past Sunday to the Saturday after this one. So I have 2 4 hour shifts that I will do on peds (extra stuff I signed up for) that I'll keep plus next weekend (or just the Saturday from it?). I'll stay very PRN (as needed) on peds-if they really need help etc. So hopefully tomorrow I can meet with my new boss and look at my schedule for after next week!

It's going to be a busy time-that is also the week (March 11th) when the "top off" (last updates from meditech-the computer system I've been working on the update for) comes in-where we should get some fixes we have been waiting for, plus the last minute preperation for the classes we are teaching nurses on the update, and then we start teaching March 24th! Some of my test plans include scheduling printing which STILL does not work so we are waiting for a fix for that as well. If we don't get that we won't be able to go live with the new version. Tomorrow we have a JMU student working with us to help us re-do the user manual so it's going to be a full day of that. I spent some time today going over it so it should be ready for her. After work I went to the gym but had forgotten my sneakers so had to work out in my danskos-ugh. I gave up after 30 min and hit Goodwill and found a pair of cords (gap), a great sweater (LL Bean), a beautiful skirt (Eddie Bauer) and 2 random shirts oh and a brand new shirt for Robert (4T for next winter)-all for 20.XX! I would have paid that for any one of those. I don't usually find anything!

Robert has been very 3 recently. He's very sweet but almost jealous of Mary and total meltdowns if I am holding her, nursing her etc. He cries easily and is clingy around me but totally fine elsewhere. I guess I am the "safe" person. So we've been doing extra snuggling. Mary stands well-and can get to a standing position without pulling up! But won't even try to take a step. I think she thinks its dangerous. I quit pumping at work this week :) so I think we're winding down as we approach her birthday. She can eat her weight in food-that's for sure. She had a 1/2 of a BBQ sandwich, a bunch of fries and some cole slaw for supper. Robert had a banana. lol. He's finally a toddler I guess. Which is good-I don't think I know how to feed 2 huge eaters! I feed Robert what I used to feed Mary and Mary what I used to feed Robert. The other day Mary ate all her lasagne and Robert didn't eat hardly any so I gave her his. Well, better get back to work and to bed.

New Job

Now that it's official and everyone can know I feel like I can finally blog about my new job! I can't believe that a) I got the job and b) that I'm leaving Peds after 7 years there. I'm really sad about leaving Peds-they are family to me. But really, really excited about doing something new, new responsibilities, opportunities etc

When I was approached about considering applying for the nursing coordinator job I was like-me? I'm not old enough/experienced enough/ready for that! But the more I talked to a fellow coordinator who is on the meditech team and the more I prayed about it and interviewed for it the more I realized I do have the skill set for it and that it should be a good mix for me. The timing couldn't be better either. Mary is almost done nursing so I won't have to pump during my shifts/or while I'm sleeping (did I mention that these are 12 hour night shifts?), and is sleeping through the night so Wesley isn't too worried. I'll never get called off either and since it will be 12 hour shifts I'll only have to work 2 ish days a week (since I'm part time). I'll probably be IV therapy a fair amount too-doesn't sound like they always have enough coordinator hours.

Today was hard. I had to talk to the babysitter about an issue from Friday that I've been putting off all weekend, then talk to my boss, then tell the girls on Peds once I got the OK that the other applicants had been told. I feel really bad for the other applicants-because I've BTDT and know that it HURTS to not get a job you wanted. I have no idea who had applied for it either. It was just hard to talk to the people on peds. I woke up this morning going "what have I done? How can I leave Peds?" But I'll still be at the same hospital, seeing them, working along side them. Well, its bedtime, I took the time to fold 3 loads of laundry and get them put away and then pick up the house so it's late. But I wanted to put some of these feelings down!

10 on Tuesday

http://www.yanowhatimean.com/tuesday/

10 Ways You Can Make Your Life Better

1. Laugh more
2. Play more
3. Put on a tickle glove and chase the 3 year old
4. Watch your baby sleep in your arms
5. Sleep more :)
6. Don't worry about tomorrow 'cause today has enough worries of its own!
7. Drink the occasional glass of wine ;)
8. Read good books
9. Follow your dreams/passions
10. Pray

Random Picture Challenge

11th folder
or
September 2007

11th picture


the view from our huge picture window . I love living in the country

A quick update

I know I've already blogged today but wanted to put a quick update while I'm eating a small bowl of ice cream and enjoying being home alone (awake that is-the kids are in bed and Wesley is at church).

Mary is standing alone! I can't believe it. She's done it several times this evening. And she climbed from the mini trampoline to the mini couch thing over the arm of the loveseat. wow. And Robert is on day 3 of no pee accidents! Whoot!

Thankful Thursdays!

Today I am thankful
-for being alive
-for a warm-ish day in the forecast!
-for kids that went to bed at 8:30 and awake and both fell asleep on their own!
-for being almost done with pumping! :)
-work to do and strength to do it
-my family

Robert's birthday!

Completion! Or almost!

I've been working on a HUGE project for work. 50+ IV therapy procedures. No, I'm not an IV therapist. But my former boss gives me projects like this to do. It's a win-win. I need the hours and she needs some one who can work independently on projects. Before this one I had the job of calling all the units to see what signs they put up in patient's rooms (NPO, no blood pressure/sticks in an arm/blind...) and the one before that was all the ways that medications go astray between pharmacy and the patient. Well this one took project to a whole 'nother level. I've been working on this since November! Well, thankfully an IV therapist was also working on this and between the 2 of us we're almost DONE! I have one more to do :) :) :) And she has like 5. Because I gave her a bunch of stuff that I don't know at all (central lines, PICC lines etc). And I will be SO thankful to be done with them! I was planing on leaving work at 4 to go to the gym but I stayed til almost 5 to get them done and then went to the gym. And made yummy turkey burgers with basil mayo. And Robert ate a whole turkey burger! Wow!

Speaking of Robert he got all blocked up again so he is on day 1 of 2 of mandatory poop clean out-a full cap of miralax twice a day. So we are poop central. But the good news is that he has now gone 2 whole days with no pee accidents! Whoot! So I have hope that one day he will actually be potty trained!

My big 3 year old!

I wanted to take some time on his birthday and reflect on how much Robert has grown over the last year-but alas I went to work instead! So I'll take a few minutes while waiting for Wesley to pick me up to do so today!

This year has been challenging in a lot of ways-a new baby sister, a new babysitter, lots of new skills but it has all shaken out to a really neat preschooler (Wesley says I get carried away when I talk about him because it sounds like he's perfect-well he isn't but wow the difference!).

In the last year
-he has stopped running away as much (maybe a 90% reduction)
-he has started listening when I tell him to come back (all of those times of carting him back to the house when he didn't listen must have paid off!)
-he has started eating better with utensils (still have a ways to go!)
-he is getting close to being potty trained :) :) (whoot!)
-he picks up after himself-mostly without promting-shoes on the shoe rack, clothes in the dirty clothes (toys not so much-need to work on that!)
-he is getting better at undressing and helping to dress himself
-he sits and snuggles with mommy again !!!!!!!!!! I LOVE my sweet boy!
-he plays independently and will play with Mary-so cute! Although he was not happy when she was playing with his new jeep and trailer-but for once he didn't take it away from her-he just yelled (lol).
-

Robert's Birthday!

We had such a good time at Robert's birthday-we celebrated first on Tuesday at Nanny's soup kitchen-chocolate cake and peppermint ice cream-Robert's favorite-favorites! Friday I worked a half day and then picked just him up from the babysitter's and took him to the farmer's market for lunch and a treat. He picked out a fishing puzzle and ate a hot dog, mac&cheese and cookies and cream ice cream. Then we picked up Mary and went home for nap. That evening Roger and Peggy and Clif, Hollie and Caleb met up with us for supper at Dairy queen.

Random Picture Challenge

OK-actually this was an old challenge-oops! So, for whatever it's worth I'm leaving it!
November 2007
44th picture





Thanksgiving at DH's aunt's house. Here you have Bruce (named for Bruce Almighty!) supervising the making of dressing by FIL and GMIL. It's always good to have (and to be?) clean up crew when cooking! Bruce takes his job very seriously-he was underfoot the whole time!

Friday Fill Ins

1. Give me chocolate and I'll be happy.

2. Whenever I get called at 5 am to see if I can work I can never go back to sleep-argh!

3. I wish my little boy a very happy birthday!

4. The brownies at church were the last thing I ate that was utterly delicious.

5. To live in this world takes courage, tact and a sense of humor.

6. Other than this one, Rabia's is the last blog I commented on.

7. And as for the weekend, tonight I'm looking forward to family time to celebrate Robert's birthday, tomorrow my plans include maybe taking the kids to the pool and Sunday, I want to take a nap!

Thankful Thursdays!

I am thankfull

For God's love and grace
For my husband who is trying so hard to be more helpful!
For kick but Toby Mac songs that start my day off right :)
For my sweet kids-especially my sweet and extra snuggly this week Robert-who turns 3 tomorrow!!!!!!!!!!!!
For Mary sleeping through the night
For fun new challenges at work
For a great talk last night with Heather
For the fact that it is almost bedtime! I'm TIRED.

Not me either...

Welcome to Not Me! Monday! This blog carnival was created by MckMama. You can head over to her blog to read what she and everyone else have not been doing this week.

I would not have taken Mary out to the gym in a fleece only this morning since it was 30 or below and blowing snow. Nope. Not me.

I would not have fed my kids both hotdogs, peas/carrots/oranges while secretly scarfing the last piece of cake while they ate their veggies. Nope. Not me.

I would not have stuck Mary in the pack n play awake today to let her cry so she can learn to go to sleep by herself-at the same time as Robert-just so I could get a break. Not me!

Random Picture Challenge

This week's challenge: from http://4littlemen.blogspot.com/

January 2007

or 13th picture folder

3rd picture

Here we go. It's our shed with Christmas lights. Wesley's favorite Christmas tradition! We have pics of this every.single.year. Notice the candle in the window!

Friday Fill Ins

sorry Rabia-stealing again! :)

1. It seems like Saturday-I love that I can stay home with my kids today.

2. Put your dishes in the dishwasher when you're done, please?

3. If I thought you would be happy for a couple hours I'd read my new book!

4. Unconditional love is what I think of most when I think of you.

5. To me, Valentine's Day means a time to remember why I married my best guy and show him that I love him!

6. God gives me strength.

7. And as for the weekend, tonight I'm looking forward to mom and dad comming, tomorrow my plans include lunch at Jess' and either working or some time with Wesley and Sunday, I want to sleep in!

Thankful Thursdays!

I'm going to steal this idea from Robia! I hope you don't mind!

Today I am thankful for:
-a good week at work where I was able to do some really cool things and work on issues that will make a big difference to RMH.
-my parents coming tomorrow!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! I can't wait to see them again and to see what they think of the kids!
-a playdate tomorrow and a chance to just hang out with the kids
-Mary slept all night last night and her top teeth seem to be almost through
-a good babysitter
-being able to reconnect with so many friends from Jamaica through facebook!
-my crazy wonderful husband who willingly took Mary at 2:30 am the other day when I had to go to work and she was crying
-my super sweet kids

I want YOU to give me more spaghetti (or a bath)!

balance

This week really hasn't been well balanced and I feel a little off kilter because of it. It's amazing how different I feel when I don't get to the gym! I went once and that was it-between the snow and working from 3a-7a on Friday and Robert poop issues-ugh. But I'm sure next week will be better! Yesterday I struggled just to survive-getting up at 2:30 am for the day is not my idea of fun (now that I have kids!). Especially when Robert didn't nap. Sometimes I think he is napping and he really isn't, but yesterday I KNOW he didn't because I could a) hear him and b) see his hand under the door pushing his race cars back and forth under the door. And then he would open it and get them if he pushed them too far and then I'd hear the door click closed. So I didn't dare nap. I was too afraid he'd leave the house.

Then we were out until 9 at our babysitter Denee's son's party. (I think I have too many 's but I'm not sure which to put it on-which one mom?) Anyways I fell into bed at 10 and fell asleep as soon as my head hit the pillow. This morning we met up with Philip and Sarah to work on the nursery some and for the guys to work on the sound booth. Then we had a quick lunch at costco. Now the kids are napping and we have a babysitter for tonight (yeah!!!!!!!!!!!!!!). I'm not sure when we last went out-it was a LONG time ago :) We also need to give Snoopy a bath and take down Robert's crib and transition him to a big boy bed. I guess we'll see how much time we have left after he wakes up.

A week of stuff....

I'm not sure where this week went. It's been full. Mostly of worry about Robert. He recovered just fine from his fall but then has been horribly constipated. He went last Thursday and then not again until this Wed (and that took 3 doses of milk of mag, 2 doses of miralax and 2 supositories....). Ugh. The babysitter called me on Wed to tell me he was trying to poop and crying saying "I want medicine". Poor guy. But we're all straight now and I'm going to keep him on the miralax for a while. He's never had a problem until he started potty training and figuring out how to hold stuff. Argh! But over all he's fine. He's loved being out in the snow in his boooooooots (Want boooooooooooots onnnnnnnn). I taught him how to throw a snowball and make a snow angel. The snow angel DID NOT go over well. I think he thought it was a new form of mommy torture. Snow balls on the other hand.... they were a hit-in more ways than one!

Mary is of course, ever a nut. Now that she's better (the second round of abx did the trick!) she's sleeping through the night and is a crazy mess. She can pull up on anything, crawl anywhere and hold on with one hand, bend down, pick up something and not fall down. Not quite walking but wants to be. She has this cute habit of jabbering and pointing her finger emphatically. It's adorable. She dotes on Robert and is quite mad when he goes somewhere that she can't. The last few days Robert has been climbing out of his crib and getting up in the morning and Mary will stand in her crib fussing like "how does he do it? How did he get out?". I guess it's just a matter of time....

On our playdate last week, there was a 6 month old as well as a 2 year old and it wasn't the toddlers that we had to caution to be gentle with the baby, it was Mary. At some point I walked around a corner to find Mary sitting next to the baby "petting" him. Whack, whack, whack "ahboahhd ahodo". Yeah. Easy girlie! And poor Robert during baths-Mary always manage to pull his hair. He's really good about it, but I can tell he's frustrated.

Angels Watching Over Me...

There is a quote that I read at some point when Robert was tiny that went something like "the decision to have a baby is monumental-it is the decision to allow your heart to walk outside of your body". And that is absolutely the truth. I have been more terrified as a mother than I was even in high school (what was I so anxious about then?) and that says something. With both kids I was pretty anxious the first few months that they would die of SIDS and then with Robert that he would run into the road and be killed. And of course anytime we loose a kid at work I'm anxious then too.

Well I've relaxed a little bit and yesterday Robert was playing on the playset and the next thing I knew I heard a thump and he was flat on his back on the ground. He started moving right away and could move all his extrematies and I scooped him up yelling for Wesley who was changing oil. He went hmm and went back to it so I took Robert inside (Wesley thought we were going to talk about it while he changed oil, I thought Wesley didn't really care-lol). Well I gave him some motrin and we snuggled about an hour before he would even think about walking around. Of course I'm checking pupil response, looking for signs of head injuries etc. By supper time he was all over the place, climbing etc. This morning he was a little sore but we went back outside (at his insistence) and he went back up and then down the slide. I noticed he stayed well away from the open area this time though! Everytime I woke up last night (and I didn't sleep real well) I could hear the thump and see his little body on the ground. I am SO relieved that he looks OK. And I am mindfull that I am not the only person that looks out for my kids-their heavenly father does too!

We had a playdate this morning which was fun. Two potty training boys kept the bathroom hopping-and 4 kids and a dog and 2 mommies made for a full living room! It was nice to have some mommy chat time while the kids play. I guess that is the real reason for playdates-the kids really could care less (except for the fun of playing with different toys!) it's all about the mommy talk!

Crazy Kidlets!

We've had a busy week so far! We had supper Monday at Grandma R's-it was a lot of fun, she brought out the dominoes and both kids had a ton of fun with them. Mary is really good at hitting the end domino to knock down the whole row-better than Robert even. And is somewhat better at eating with a spoon too, lol. They both looked like mashed potato kids til supper was over. I think grandma has just started making mashed potatoes any time we come. Although I think the appeal of mashed potatoes is wearing off on Robert somehow. Tuesday it snowed a little and after work I made biscuits and sausage gravy. I meant to save 1/2 the sausage for pizza tonight but I forgot. Oops. Today it was icy and so we stayed home until after 9 and then I took the kids to the babysitter and then hit the gym and came home and worked from home on some IV therapy procedures that I have been putting off for a long time. They are done-yeah! In between times I did laundry. Sigh. After supper tonight Wesley drove to town to trade my car for his mom's-she was having trouble seeing so went to the ER where they did an MRI and her sinuses are still really bad-and they gave her a percocet so she couldn't drive. We'll carpool in the morning and then I'll drive home seperately. The origional plan was for us to both drive in and Wesley to drive her car back but I really didn't see the need to drag 2 kids to town and back...

Fun Sat

We've had a good day here. We went with Roger to sharp shopper, walmart and subway for lunch and then just hung out for a while and then I baked this afternoon. I made a batch of granola bars, a pan of brownies, a loaf of honey oatmeal bread and a batch of artisan bread dough (to bake this week). The house smells amazing. We had pot roast, mashed potatoes and salad for supper and Roger and Peggy joined us and brought green bean casserole. Mmm. Now the kids are in bed and I think I'm going to play wii!

The roast:
a 2-4 pound chuck roast
In the cock pot mix:
2 cans of regular cream of mushroom soup
1 envelope of lipton onion dry soup mix
about six (or so) good shakes of Worcestershire sauce

mix that together and place your beef in the sauce. Thats it! You will be able to cut it with your fork and the flavor is superb. It makes it's own gravy (and alot of it) which is fab. Cook on low for about 6-8 hours. The resulting sauce is already gravy, I just whisked it to combine it a little better. The roast was fork tender.

Babula Cuisine Brownies (these are the BOMB-better than any mix-ask Wesley!)
1 c sugar
1/4 c cocoa
1/2 c oil
3/4 c flour
1/2 t baking powder
2 eggs
1/2 t vanilla
1/2 t salt

Mix sugar and cocoa. Combine all ingredients. Mix well. Bake in a 9x9 inch pan in a 375 deg oven for 30-35 min.

The granola bars
http://allrecipes.com/Recipe/Playgroup-Granola-Bars/Detail.aspx

I made them with craisins this week. Last week I used chocolate chips. I have to say the chocolate chips rocked! But the craisins are good too and feel healthier!

The oatmeal bread
http://allrecipes.com/Recipe/Honey-Of-An-Oatmeal-Bread/Detail.aspx
Add a little gluten to this recipe if you want a really good rise. You MUST use bread flour!

The artisan bread
http://www.nytimes.com/2007/11/21/dining/211brex.html
don't use bread flour in this recipe!

The weeks go by so fast!

It seems like every time I turn around it's another weekend and then another trip to get groceries, another laundry day.... I wish time would slow down a little! I remember 5 min being an eternity when I was growing up. Waiting for mom to get out of the bathroom. What was she doing in there? Now that I'm a mom, I know. I hide in the bathroom and lock the door for 5 min and READ, lol. Something besides Thomas or the very hungry caterpillar or the big book of trains that is! The kids and I had a splendid day yesterday. A leisurely morning, a trip to the gym, then met Wesley at costco for lunch and picked up some fruit and dishwasher detergent. Back home for nap for Robert (Mary slept in the car so wasn't ready for a nap until Robert woke up!) and then I took Robert outside to play. We had a blast. I got some great pics on my new camera. We had meatloaf and mashed potatoes from scratch for supper and then Wesley went to help Brad H with something and I gave the kids a bath and they were both out by 8:30. Robert made it til 8:10, lol. and then he almost fell asleep reading a book and headed off to bed without me! Speaking of Robert, he's been in undies since yesterday (except for nap of course and to poop which I tried to combine a diaper). That includes at the gym care, to costco, etc and then today to sharp shopper, a couple quick errands, lunch, walmart and home! I am SO proud of him! No wet pants!

Meatloaf
1 envelope Lipton® Recipe Secrets® Onion Soup Mix
2 lbs. ground beef
3/4 cup plain dry bread crumbs*/you can use oatmeal for some of this
2 eggs (I didn't have any so left them out)
3/4 cup water
1/3 cup ketchup

1.	Preheat oven to 350°. Combine all ingredients in large bowl.
2.	Shape into loaf in 13 x 9-inch baking or roasting pan.
3.	Bake uncovered 1 hour or until done. Let stand 10 minutes before serving.

Serves:	8
Preparation Time:	15 Minute(s)
Cook Time:	1 Hour(s)

TGIT?

Okay, so it's not really TGIF but Thursday marks the end of my meditech work week so hey, I'm rejoicing! 3 days in a row is hard with small kids! The project is going really well and I'm enjoying the work now that I'm getting in the groove. I just miss the kids :( But I'm off the next 4 days so YEAH! And tomorrow is supposed to be nice out so we're going to hit the playset and play, play, play! The housework can wait.

Mary is a total nut these days, she's figured out how to get in the dog water, pulls the plug out of the bathtub (repeatedly), is crawling, cruising and generally CRAZY. Robert is getting more and more independent and "I want to do it my way"-ish. Sigh. They are growing up TOO fast.

Today for supper we had leftover taco salad.

1 lb ground beef, cooked and drained
1 large can of baked beans
1/4 c catsup
1/5 c BBQ sauce
2 T mustard

cook them all together until thick and bubbly (10ish min). Serve in bowls (layer in the order written)

doritos (crushed)
taco meat
cheese (shredded)
lettuce
tomatoes
ranch salad dressing.

YUM

For my desert I rehabilitated a VERY dry and stale cupcake (from last friday that I never put away!) by crumbling it, adding some milk, microwing it for 30 sec then I added some chocolate chips and a drizzle of caramel ice cream topping and microwaved it another 30 sec, stirred it well and topped it with whipped cream. It was to die for. Can you tell I'm PMS-ing? Mary liked it to but she is my chocoholic. Robert is my ice cream and pie boy. For Mary it's all about the chocolate!

Update on Mary

I forgot to mention that I did take Mary to walk ins today and she still has a bunch of fluid in her ears but no active infection. They did give me a prescription for augmentin if she starts running a fever or acting worse. So, it was the best of both worlds! I can quit worrying about her for today and I have meds if she needs them. The probiotics are working well and her but is almost completely better!

Cleaning while the kids are little is like shoveling while it's still snowing!

Wesley loves this quote... and I do too but I can't decide whether I want to abide by it or not. In some ways yes-why pick up the toys if they are just going to get dumped, in another way I want the kids to know what order and picking up are all about. Well, Mary's crying so I'll leave it there.

Fell off the bandwagen, eh?

It's been a long time since I blogged. Like when I got pregnant with Mary long time. And she's almost 10 months old. Yikes, when did that happen. But here I am. And now I have no idea what to say.

It's been a good day. We went swimming this morning. The kids are like little fish. They LOVE to go to the wellness center. We swim in the therapy pool where it's 80 degrees-heaven! They have some tub toy stuff that they use for swim lessons and today we "adopted" 2 squirty dinosaurs and each kid had one and they had a ball with them. Robert loves to jump off the edge of the pool, he climbs up the side and then we count "1,2,3" and he jumps in. Well at some point he had both dinosaurs on the edge of the pool and he was counting "1,2,3" and "they" were jumping in. It was hilarious.

Then Robert took a good nap (yeah for post pool naps) and I baked some bread and made a bunch of lasagnas for the freezer. Except 2 of them are actually outside freezing since it's as cold outside as my freezer, lol. Wesley went to walmart for groceries (literally I think the first time he has ever done a weeks shopping on his own-and he volunteered). Mary spent most of the day doing her thing-crawling, pulling up, playing etc. She's still pulling on her ears-in fact more so than she had-so she may be headed back to the doctor on monday-sigh. Today was her last day of antibiotics. I've had one of them on antibiotics since Jan 2nd. I'm tired of this! And the amoxicillan is really tearing up her stomach which is tearing up her bottom-it is so red it's almost bleeding. :(

Maybe I'll make this partly a recipe blog. Here are today's recipes. Well I made the bread dough yesterday to go with the chili but I'll stick it here too :) Lunch was chicken tenders (frozen from a freezer session last week with french fries from Burger King).

European Peasant Bread (Artisan bread in 5 min a day)

makes 4, 1 lb loaves

3 c water
1.5 T granulated yeast
1.5 T salt (use less if you are using table salt-this is supposed to be kosher)
1/2 c rye flour
1/2 c whole wheat flour
5.5 c all purpose flour

-mix the water, yeast, salt in a food processor or heavy duty stand mixer with dough hooks. Add the flours and just mix through (do not knead)
-leave out for 2 hours
-cover and stick in the fridge for up to 2 weeks
-whenever you are ready to eat it
-dust dough with flour
-cut off 1/4 of it, shape it into a ball by stretching the surface of the dough around. Allow it to rest for 40 min.
-preheat the oven to 450. Place a broiler tray on the lower shelf and a baking stone on the other shelf.
-Sprinkle the dough with flour and cut scalops, cross etc into it.
-place the dough on teh stone. Pour 1 c hot tap water onto the broiler tray and close the door. Bake for 35 min or until the top crust is deeply browned and very firm. Allow to cool before slicing/eating.

Lazy Day Lasagna-makes 1 9x13 or 2 8x8 pans (I tripled this recipe which made 4 8x8 pans and one strange oblong 8x11 maybe? (adapted from the freezer cooking manual)

15 oz ricotta cheese
2 c mozzarella cheese
2 eggs
1/3 c chopped parsley
1 t onion powder
1/2 t pasta sprinkle
1/8 t pepper
1 can spaghetti sauce
lasagna noodles-uncooked

mix ricotta, mozzarella, eggs, spices together.
put enough spaghetti sauce on the bottom of the pan(s) to cover.
layer noodles, cheese mixture, spag sauce, noodles, cheese, spag sauce, noodles, sauce. Once it is assembled pour 1/2 c water around the edges. Freeze. I freeze until firm then put them in a sink of hot water until the edges unmold and slide the lasagnas into a large freezer ziplock labeled with which pan it goes back into. Before baking sprinkle with cheddar and Parmesan cheese Bake covered from frozen for 2 hours or thawed for 1 hour, uncovering for the last 15 min if possible. I usually bake it from frozen-this is a staple Sunday lunch for us!

talking and crazy!

Robert gets bigger and more crazy every day. We had a great time with him last night taking him around to trick or treat. We did just family and one close neighbor but it still took 3 hours! He was asleep till we got him home! He's starting to put words together (all done, down! climb up! more please!) he is also more and more accurately mimicking what we say-I have a tendency to say "I know" to him (I know, you're tired/upset/want this) and the other day after I said it he looked at me, sighed and said in the same tone "I know". I nearly died. It sounded just like me! His climbing ability is crazy. He is fearless but only where he can do it well, the babysitter has a wooden playset with a ladder and slide that is taller than me, he can climb up the ladder and goes down the slide effortlessly! He loves to climb and slide. We (Peggy and I) took him to the farmer's market this morning-she needed to pick up a book for the library-and he had a blast at the toy store there. They had a wooden barn with sliding doors and he was pushing a train in and out of it and generally having a ball. I think he will definitely be getting a barn for Christmas! I did buy him a train and a new puzzle with dinosaurs. Halloween pics are here

http://www.megley.com/photos/babyfurr/album_008/

TV addict

Sigh, my son is turning into a TV addict and mommy don't care. Admittedly it's all good kids stuff but still :) At least he also loves to read and play outside! He loves to go through the field behind the house (which they have "mowed" the corn out of) and shucking kernels of corn left behind and visit the cows. "moo, moo?"

Wes and I took off for 24 hours Saturday/Sunday and left Robert with Wes' parents and a friend of mine (Heather). Wes' dad Saturday afternoon, Heather that evening and overnight and Wes' parents again Sunday. Wes' mom had found a tractor DVD at the library which he watched Sat while with Roger. The first thing he did Sunday when he got there was pick up the case, point to the TV and say "watch, on". Wes' dad was thrilled. He's really starting to communicate which is nice. He can point out what he wants to do/eat and really is starting to have definite ideas of what he does and does not want to do. Which admittedly comes with melt downs over not getting to do what he wants to do. But life's like that! He's had a runny nose the last couple days and his second molar has popped through and his bottom 2 are still really swollen too. Poor guy.

NICE!

That's Robert's newest word. It's so cute, almost niiiCe! The first time I heard it he was petting an ear of corn (dried that he and Wes found in the field when they went to visit the "mow" (tractor that mowed the corn). He loves that ear of corn. He says "koRn" very distinct K and R sounds. So cute. But not as cute as what he did yesterday. He had reached into the fridge while I was getting out some water and handed me the bag of grapes so I washed a few and put them in a bowl for snack. I let him eat them in the living room (I was sitting in there trying to figure out what to bake for a bake sale tomorrow). When he was done he picked up the bowl and went into the dinning room with it. I figured he was going to let snoopy lick the water out of it. No, he took it into the kitchen and stuck it in the sink! The sink that he can't see yet. This is the second time he's done that, it just floors me. Wes and I were laughing that he's better trained than Wesley is! Wesley says he must have gotten some of my neat genetics. Then he pointed to the fridge and signed please so I opened it and he looked for his milk (we were out) and said "milk" so I poured him a cup of our milk and he said "thank you". What a kid! Wes' parents took him to Lowes last night while Wes and I went to dinner (pooh on panera for discontinuing their tuscan chicken sandwich!) and apparently he had a ball with the lawn mowers and the inflatable Christmas decorations. He got home shortly before 9, I was about to call and inform them that he was about to break curfew!

talking!

Robert has really taken off talking recently! Not just animal noises (of which he has lots) but words and he seems to learn several new words each day. I still haven't managed to get him to say "love you!" which I have been working on for a while but he comes up with new stuff all the time-barn, Roo-dy (Wes' parents pug Rudy-Wes' mom taught him that one), bark (tree bark), "sna" (snack). And of course "more" is something I hear all the time as well as "out", "down", "up", "go", "play", "mow" "hot" (accompanied with blowing on food!) and the all popular "shoes" (a broad hint that he wants to go outside!). Thankfully "no" is still pretty rare but I'm sure it's coming! I'll see him "reading" his books (in the off minutes when he isn't chasing after us with a book "read, read?") and pointing out all the pictures of the things he knows (meow, ball, dog, barn, moon, bird). He even picks up my books and points out the "neigh" if there is a horse on the cover etc. And then he looks through them and is confused by the lack of pictures. Today he opened one and said "read"! I wasn't sure where to start with the book! It was a Madeline L'Engle so a young adult book but still!

Speaking of chasing us down with books its becoming almost funny, or it would if it weren't never ending. The minute an adult walks in the room he runs and grabs a book and comes flying towards you. This morning I came out of the 1/2 bath to find Robert standing outside of the main bath waiting for Wesley to come out and patiently holding a book! He had already brought me one while I was still in bed and I had to call Wesley to get my glasses so I could figure out the pictures! Definitely a bookworm. Wesley gets greeted with one when he gets home (Robert starts saying Dada about 5 pm so till he gets home at 5:45 or so he's ready for him!). Tuesday night we were at Wes' grandma and he grabbed a book (the first was a plant guide and the second a bird guide) and told he to "read" and backed into her chair for her to pick him up and read!

It's been good to finally feel that I have enough energy to deal with him again and now that I'm not working as much enough time to do something besides work and sleep and keep the house from imploding! Yesterday I was able to go to a mom's meeting-a group of Christian mothers who meet twice a month. It was wonderful. The kids are cared for in the nursery (they break them down into ages), there's food and worship, and yesterday there was a great speaker. Apparently they alternate between craft type stuff and speakers. Plus just a lot of get to know you time etc. I felt so refreshed and validated as a mom. It was so nice!

Well, I'm going to lie down since Robert is!

exploring

Robert is definitely back to normal now. He loves to explore outside and no longer is solely focused on going up and down the driveway. Every day it seems like he finds a new part of our or Wes' parents yard to explore and explores it thoroughly! Last night it was the ramp going to Roger's shed (where he keeps the lawnmover). We went up and down and up and down and up and down! :) It was cute. At work yesterday I walked by the gift shop (about 10 times, I was delivering the procedure manuals-we are finally done!) and kept seeing this dog so I eventually bought it for Robert and Peggy's collection
http://www.amazon.com/Melissa-Doug-Life-Like-Lovable-Plush/dp/B0007WJ1OW
Peggy has quite a few stuffed pugs on her desk and Robert loves to go play with them. So I had to get it for them! Robert loved it; held it, talked to it, played with it's tail. It was SO cute! I was hoping to add a picture of Robert this weekend but something isn't working well with Wes' computer so I can't! :(

Train?

Robert continues to delight us all and amaze us (and tire us out!). His current fascinations include ring around the rosy, climbing on (parked and off!) riding mowers, watching scenic train movies (thanks Wes!), climbing everything and just generally exploring and expermienting. Yesterday I looked over to see that he was walking backwards! I have no idea where he figured that out from! He's also responding well to simple commands (bring me your shoes, ring the bell) and talking more and more. His new words include "yeah", "train", "tree", and I think I heard well (I think it was meant to be bell) yesterday. He's got all 8 of his front teeth now, so hopefully that is it for a while.

On Monday I got a call at work that he was throwing up. I wasn't lead teacher that day (each day there is 1 lead and 2-3 auxillary teachers for each group-usually 2-3 groups going at a time-the auxillary teachers answer questions and make sure people are where they need to be) and wasn't slated to teach anything til after lunch. So I picked him up and took him to sick day care on peds. Monday evening he felt pretty bad, somewhat better Tuesday (no fever or vomiting) and yesterday he was well enough to go back to Erica's. Today he looks good.

A whole month, huh :)

Whoops, I knew it had been a long time, but not this long! So, here we go! Robert's current obsession is climbing. Climbing the chairs to the table to eat cheerios, climbing stuff to get to the counter, climbing the stairs (doing really well and turning himself around and going backwards to get down), climbing, climbing, climbing. We have an outside swing under a tree at Roger and Peggy's and he really enjoys swinging on that. He's trying to say swing but it sounds like tink or wink or something. It's cute. He's talking more and trying to imitate what I say and I name stuff.

And naturally his other obsession is eating (got to replace all those calories you burn climbing!). His current favorite is drinking yogurt out of his straw cup. He loves it! He's also enjoying eating garlic bread and toast (he licks the jelly off and then eats the toast), mini muffins, various cracker type stuff. He loves to crunch stuff between his teeth. And of course ice cream.

I'm starting to see some toddler defiance which is hard. We carried him out of lowes crying last night-he wanted to stay and play with the lawn mower tracters some more. He loves lawn mower tracters (don't worry we don't let him ride them-just sit on Nanny's when he visits her etc)! But then he was as good as gold through a 45 minute wait to go out to eat (luckily we were near a place that has a small park area-fountain, some plants/ginko trees, short stairs and we were able to let him run around there) and was perfect for supper-which started at 8 and ended shortly after 9-his bedtime. I changed him for bed in the car and he fell asleep on the way home-and is still asleep!

My job is still going well, we start "super user" training this week (nurse directors and certain computer savy people from each unit who will help other users) and then main training the week after. ACK

Fun times!

We had a great weekend! Friday mom and dad were here and we went out to eat at Red Lobster-Robert decided to try some of mom's salad and blue cheese dressing. He also ate fish, shrimp, clam strips, crab cakes, cole slaw, rice, broccoli most of a biscuit, a bite of dad's gumbo... and then some ice cream from Klines! What a guy! He loves playing outside so he really loved being out with Wesley, Roger, Clif and the 5 dogs (Snoopy plus Wes' parents 2 pugs, plus Clif and Hollies 2 puppies!) Sat evening while the women folk were at a mother-daughter banquet. He had a busy time and both he and Snoopy have been TIRED today! Today we went to lunch at Panera and then he and Wes took a long walk while I spent a blessed 45 minutes in a bookstore. Oh BLISS. And that tired him out so he took a long nap. We spent the evening at Wes' parents with both of his grandparents and Eddie and Tracy. It was a great evening and Wesley even changed the dirty diaper (well, actually Peggy did and Wesley assisted) but at least I didn't have to do it.

I forgot to say that my first week of my new job went well and I'm excited about what I'm doing! We've spent a lot of time this week and weekend working on the camper since we're headed out Thursday for Martinsville and the Argus Collector's Group gathering. (Don't ask!). I'm ready for a break!

Here are some pics from Sat evening.

outside boy!

Robert is loving being outside! He plays and plays and plays. And now no longer cries when I leave him with Erica. I love to pick him up and find him with dirty knees and smelling of sunscreen and happy :) And then he gets home and goes right back outside! I need to take the camera with me next time and get some pictures. He's so cute. He loves to pick dandelions and shred them like yellow confetti and throw them. So cute. I've changed his bath time to night since he gets so dirty! Monday I was home with Robert and Snoopy in the morning and opened the window in our room (very tall, low window). Snoopy stood in front sniffing and Robert stood next to her and put his arm around her and then started to pet her very nicely and stroke her ears. They stood like this for a minute or so and then Robert tried to take the screen out of the window so I had to close it. But it was SO sweet!

I start Tuesday with my new job in computer testing and I'm excited. It will be a nice change for a few months (ends mid September!) and I'll be happy to have my evenings free. Although I will still work evenings on my weekend and may teach/support some in the evenings in a month or so. The head of the project told me we have 1,900 people to train in a month. YIKES!

pictures!
Robert checking out his new room organizer as it's being built

Robert playing with his helicopter!

his new room organizer!

what it looked like before!

life goes on

Well, they say bad stuff happens in 3's and the third has happened so hopefully this is it! The mother of a very good friend of ours (she was also one of our favorite people) died unexpectedly Monday and the family night was last night. They're doing a small family-only service sometime this weekend I think. She was only 54. These last 2 weeks the chorus of a fairly new Christian pop song from the group Superchick keeps running through my head

we live
we love
we forgive and never give up
cuz the days we are given are gifts from above
and today we remember to live and to love

here's the link to the rest of the song if anyone is interested
http://www.christianrocklyrics.com/superchick/welive.php

What a reminder to savor every day. I find myself playing more, reading more, hugging more. Life is so precious and I am so blessed....

On a more personal note, I am changing job courses slightly for the next couple months to do some testing and training on the new nursing computer system. It will be 3 days a week (office hours) and then I'll continue to do my every other weekend evening shift (which will bring me to 4 days a week). I'm excited about the oportunity. I was asked on Tuesday and start at the end of next week! Talk about sudden. The poor assistant director who is having to fill my schedule... 3-11 is not a popular shift to work!

Learning and Growing

What a week! I know it's been a sad week for all of us with the Virginia Tech shootings and add to that, the finace of the guy that Heather (my good friend) nannied for died unexpectedly this past week of MRSA sepsis. MRSA is a crazy scary bug and seems to be really spreading around this area. Then work has been crazy and I've been working til 3 am a couple nights. Anyways. Robert is trying to learn everything in a week! He figured out how to crawl onto the coffee table, tonight he figured out how to climb ONTO the couch (using the music table!), and at the vet's office OPENED the door (long handle instead of a door nob!) his walking is really good and his talking and signing are taking off like crazy. Today he said for the first time "duck" and "night-night" (and said them at appropriate times). His other new words are shoes (yes, Heather is proud!), mama-mama-mama-mama! and I'm hearing more "dog". He learned the sign for "more" in about a minute a couple days ago with his first taste of honey nut (generic) cheerios and today used it to ask for more books while we were reading! He's also signing eat/milk/all done and tries to snap his fingers for Snoopy!

It's amazing but SO tiring at the same time! He cries in frustration a thousand times a day, did not want to take a nap (and I worked from 11p-3a so I really wanted a nap :) wants to do it all himself but then gets frustrated/falls/bangs his head. Sigh. Well, here's a couple videos for ya'll!
http://www.megley.com/videos/

Growing Up!

Robert was so cute today. After his nap I took him outside with me to check the mail. He was ticked when I brought him back inside. After a few minutes he brought me a sandle. Then both of them. Then his sneakers. So I took him outside and he did the stairs for a few minutes and then walked all over the yard and then hightailed it for Roger and Peggy's house (but there was no one there). I carried him back to our house where he promptly took off for their house again. I let him mess around their stoop for a while and then took him back to our house and he went back to theirs. The last time I carried him in and he was NOT happy. Poor guy! A snack took care of everything though. It was just too funny. I can't get over how well he walks-in the grass and wind and everything!

He got him MMR today, I had it seperated from the rest of his shots, he seems a little fussy today but OK.
Well, that's all the news here!

fun days

I took Robert to Erica's yesterday for the first time since he's been sick and it was somewhat nice to get out of the house without him :) I got him settled playing in her great back yard with the slides and swings and trucks and all things fun (hey, I wanted to stay and play and have snack!) However as I was pulling out of her driveway I was suddenly struck with terror that someone might run over him someday. I have no idea where it came from (OK, it partly came from a horror story of the same that I read in a parenting magazine last month!) but the thoughts came from nowhere. If anything every happened to my little boy I would be crushed. I would survive and be sane, I hope but I would never be the same again. I prayed all the way to work and was fine once I got there, but it was just strange. Motherhood is a powerful thing. As I was thinking of what it would be like if something every happened to him I knew without a shadow of a doubt that it would be better to have him and to loose him than to have never had him. OK, off the morbid subjects. He's fine, and will be fine!

So, after I droped him off I went actually to the recognition luncheon at RMH for people receiving their 5-10-15-20-25-30-35 etc year pins/awards etc. The longer you work the better the stuff gets. I got a lapel pin and a framed certificate. It was a nice lunch etc but what touched me and made me so glad to work in a small community hospital such as RMH was the remarks made by several board members who were there. One talked about organizational assets and liabilities and how employees are usually liabilities (since you have to pay them) but how at RMH they see employees as great assets to the hospital and the community we serve. It was really cool and then the chairwoman said grace in a way that made me know that she really knew God and served Him and it made me happy to work in a place where grace is still said and God is still acknowledged in things like this. Every now and then I wonder what it would be like to work in a hospital where I would just take care of kids-no adult overflow etc and I think it would be cool but then I realize all that we have by working in a small comunity hospital-and that's even cooler. These first 5 years have been cool and I think that the next 5 years will be even cooler. I look forward to doing more and being more here. Tomorrow is the clinical ladder reception and that will be neat too. I'm one of 4 people on peds who have become Clin 1's and I'm excited and now trying to figure out what it will take to be a Clin 2!

Tomorrow also, Snoopy and I both get our teeth worked on. Snoopy went a couple weeks ago for her annual checkup and the vet found a tooth that had died so she's going in for a cleaning and tooth removal under general anesthesia. I went a couple months ago to the dentist and found out I had a couple cavities and they origionally scheduled me for July 31st! but they've been hurting so I called and they had a cancellation on Thursday so I'm going then. They're also going to re-seal my molars. I can't believe that the vet can schedule major surgery on my dog faster than my dentist can schedule minor surgery on me! So Erica is watching Robert and Roger will pick up Snoopy and I'm not sure if anyone is coming to Bible Study but if they are it will be spagetti!

Well, long post and no new stories about Robert. He had his 3rd haircut today and is napping now. I need to get him up and through the bath before I take him to Erica's and we need to leave at 12... so I guess I'd better get to it!

feeling better

Robert seems to be some better today, less feverish and eating/drinking better. He woke up at 4 am again but went back to sleep pretty quickly. Still lots of snot though... yuck!

crazy and sick!

I was originally going to blog on how crazy Robert was last night. We had been playing on the floor while Wesley was playing with his new toy (the slide scanner with the auto slide feeder-cool stuff!), then I was sitting on the sofa and pulled Robert up there to play. He figured out how to climb onto the arm and hold onto the wood and slide feet first into the office area (bypassing the gate). He thinks he's cool stuff! We had a good time together. He had taken an morning nap yesterday which I thought was a little unusual, but he was wide open all day. Last evening I thought he felt warm but he was acting normal so I didn't think much about it. Well, he cried on and off through the night (he does sometimes when he's teething) and at 4:30 was really restless and HOT. Sure enough he had a fever so I gave him motrin, changed his PJ's for a cooler pair and rocked him to sleep. About 30 min later he was awake and so I brought him to bed with me since he seemed to want to cuddle-very unusual for him. He was up for a couple hours today and ate some. His temp was 102 and he went back to sleep after being up for about an hour or so. Poor guy. He's been extra cuddly though and we watched the girl in the cafe-wow. I've been trying to watch it for weeks now-but haven't had much luck with the DVD player, but today it cooperated and I'm blown away. Great reccomendation Aunt Martelle! Well, that's about all here, I'm going to try to get Feb and March pics up on the website now!

Going away!

I can't beleive it, we're leaving Robert for almost 48 hours :( Surely there is a law against this? In one way I'm super excited about sleeping in, hanging out, not lugging a baby in and out of a carseat, eating a whole meal without cutting up someone elses, in another way I know I'll miss him like crazy. And I can't believe all the stuff I "have" to send with him. Good night, it's like moving! Clif and Hollie are keeping him for us. Sounds like they're excited too. Robert is defintely a little boy now. He walks great and is getting really fast (yikes, is running around the corner?), he can eat as much as me (a whole grilled cheese!), and he's so darn cute. His latest antics are:
1) If you're in the bathroom with the door shut he'll get down on the floor and lay his head down and peep at you
2) If you have something he wants he goes "mmm, mmm, mmm like Snoopy does, sounds like puppy whining. Cas in point, I was rocking him to sleep and Wesley walked in the living room with a peices of his (Wesley's) b-day cake. Robert took one look at the cake, slid off my lap (he's learned to flip himself and go down feet first!) bee lined to Wesley and started doing the puppy noises and reaching for the plate.
3) He can climb stairs (crawling that is_
4) learning to climb stuff. Today I cought him actually trying to climb into the refrigerator! This is after he spent a few minutes turning the light on and off in the fridge!
5) Pulling stuff off: in the backpack, from the floor it doesn't matter. He can reach further than he should be able to considering his height and length of his arms. Must be octopus arms. He can get stuff off the table that is suitably in and stuff off shelves at the grocery store if he's in the backpack. Today he's been clingly and wanting to be held and I've been trying to pack etc so I put him in the backpack. He grabbed the little stuffed monkey I was going to pack for him and held onto it for about an hour while he was in the backpack. It was cute.

Well, he's awake now so I'd beter get! We'll be back Sunday! And I PROMISE I'll do pictures for Feb and add some for the blog and everything. Oh and the new babysitter is working out great.

new babysitter

I found one! Oh, glory. I tried to blog a couple days ago but the blog server was down and I've been too stressed to get back to it. But I interviewed a wonderful lady this afternoon and gave her the job. I feel so much better. Robert will be well cared for there. Robert is walking more and more and is just too darn cute for words!

Argh!

Just in the middle of everything with Robert's b-day I go to pick him up from the babysitters to find that she's pregnant and won't be babysitting anymore. So I guess I'll be starting the babysitter search all over again. That aside, Robert had a great birthday and we're really excited about his first birthday party! I guess I'll worry about a new baby sitter next week. I have a call in to Childcare connection (how I found the first baby sitter) so once she calls back I'll have to wait for a new folder of people anyways.

It's my birthday and I'll cry if I want to!

lol, just when I was mourning my tiny baby, Robert decided to keep me up part of the night last night. I realized this morning that his 2 top teeth are about to erupt, I guess he was hurting! I went in to check on him abour 1 am on my way to bed (worked last night) and he was awake and then he started to cry. I left him alone for a while but after 10 min or so brought him back to our bed until he was asleep and then put him back down-screaming. Then back to our bed for a while and then back to his crib where he cried a few minutes before going back to sleep! Then I woke up a couple hours later and stuck some blankets on him-he was all curled up and looked really cold!

And I used to do this up in the middle of the night thing all the time? I am so out of practice!

A dose of motrin seems to have made everything all better. I guess it's time for breakfast and then storytime and lunch with daddy and a NAP (for both of us!)

crazy goomer!

Robert is changing so fast I hardly know what to tell here! He's walking more and more, and learned "SO BIG" yesterday (still won't always perform on demand with company though!). He's becoming much more interactive and more interested in how things work. He spent a good while today figuring out how to get a ball in and out of his ball pounder-from the bottom. He's loving books again (went through a phase where he didn't want to sit still long enough!) and wiggles and giggles when he sees his favorite "touch and see" puppy book. We're also working on the word "no" and seem to be getting somewhere with that. Oh, and he's starting to do some preliminary climbing (thanks to his friend in nursery I'm sure!). His bottom 2 teeth aren't fully in but are clearly visable and so cute! I love seeing him with teeth and he loves to brush them! He's chewing and drooling again so I wonder if the top ones will be in soon. He is really a joy. In the past I was such an infant person that I wondered if I would enjoy him as much when he turned 1 but I love him even more and love to watch him become a person and learn and grow. Oh, the other thing I was going to blog is that we took him sledding twice this week and he really liked it! Wes took him Wednesday before he went to work and I took him yesterday afternoon.

we're walking, we're walking

Oh my gosh, he's walking. I was cooking this evening and he was playing in his plastic wear drawer and I looked up to see him walking across the kitchen. He's now walking 4-5 steps at a time, to people etc. I'm so excited!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

Robert's life

Robert's life
I was thinking this morning as I shoveled pureed pears into Robert (buy the no sugar added pears, drain and puree in the mini chopper) how so much of this year has been about "mostly". I went into motherhood figuring that would be the way it would go but with more idealistic thoughts that I would make all my baby food, use only cloth diapers, make stuff from scratch etc. Well, I have used mostly cloth diapers (about 1700 of them to date-of course I don't have that many, that's just the laundry tally!), made most of my baby food (if you count pureeing canned pears!) but still use 4-7 jars a week (for supper) as well as a yogurt a night (I think he would die if he didn't get his yogurt!), completely breastmilk (yeah!) and well as of the stuff from scratch, he eats a lot of leftovers for lunch (thankfully he still likes the baked ziti from last week, I'm sick of it!) and a frozen waffle (not homemade!) every morning. So I guess it's all evened out. I did work last night and got home safely despite the snow (although I couldn't make it all the way up the driveway!).

Wes finished the slideshow for Robert's 1st year and I got to see it yesterday morning and I almost bawled. Wow, he's really grown! Ya'll will be able to see if at his 1st birthday!

Here's a pic of the goomer

Robert's life

Robert's life
Today was Robert's first full day in the church nursery without me! He did great (and so did I). And then he had lunch with the young adults while we had a congregational board meeting (the young adults who aren't members agreed to watch the kids and they had special kid food for them). He's been a litle fussy these past few days and finally got tooth #2 (the other bottom one) yesterday and is now working on the top 2. Poor guy. He's also walking more and more, still only a few steps here and there but walking. I was telling Wesley that it's taken me almost a full year to get my life back to manageable. I feel like I can keep up with stuff (housework, cooking, church stuff etc) as well now as before (of course working part time helps too!). I can't immagine life with 2! I was going to leave a picture but Wes still hasn't downloaded pics off the camera so maybe next time!

Robert's life

Robert's life
Wow, my boy's getting so big. He's up to 31 inches tall which is plenty tall to get into the sippy cup drawer (the only one except for the top silverware drawer we didn't lock. He's babbling more now, saying something that sounds like "thank you" (tank too), "pee bo" (peek a boo), and once we heard diaper (immitating what we said back). Of course the talking is non stop one day and non existant the next. He's still on the cusp of walking. He stands well and can take a step but prefers not to! Little goomer! He's still on antibiotics for an ear infection (took him to the doctor last wednesday), he takes medicine really well! That's all for now!

Robert's life

Robert's life
Well, we're both feeling a little better today so I guess I should blog! I ended up calling in twice last week and finally went to the doctor and got antibiotics for a sinus infection. Robert's still congested but he's teething-his first tooth poked through the 19th (still not visable really but you can feel it through!) and took his first step yesterday at Clif and Hollie's new house (to mommy!). I was so excited. Of course he hasn't done it since but he is standing unassisted more, although he can't get to a standing position on his own yet (has to pull up on something). He loves pushing his 2 wagons and does it non stop (if he can find a willing parent to get him unstuck when he hits something-Wes and I have started alternating when we're both home-we each do 3 laps and then it's the other person's turn.

I'm having 1st b-day denial, I can't believe my baby's turning 1! He was just a newborn, wasn't he? Now he's heck on wheels and turning the TV on and off and getting into everything...

Robert's life

Robert's life
Today I got my first enthusiastic ovation for my cooking. Robert applauded me throughout the whole meal. And it was Kraft mac and cheese! Wes went to Nanny's for Tuesday night supper but since we're still sick I decided we should stay home. So we did and I made my favorite (and Wesley's NOT favorite) mac and cheese. Well evidently Robert sides with me on this one, he'd eat a handfull, aplaud, eat another one, clap again... It was way cute. And very appreciated.

Robert's life

Robert's life

Work's really been picking up so I've worked a bunch this week, hense no postings :(. Wednesday was my first meeting day without Robert and it was bittersweet! I was so happy to be able to spend Thursday home with him and we had a great day. Friday I worked ASC (ambulatory surgery: 6am-2pm) and was able to leave around 1 pm and ran a couple errands and went to the gym while he was at Megans. Then we took him for his first haircut and Charlie's. Robert is the 4th generation of Furr males to go to him (Wes' grandpa used to, he, his dad, and his brother all still go there) and he did Wesley's first haircut too. He did great for it! And he looks so grown up now! Saturday we spent moving Clif and Hollie into their new house and Robert started with the sniffles which culminated into coughing and throwing up (all the milk he had just drunk) in our bed this morning (yuck!). He evidently is sick enough for that but well enough to scatter all of our plastic containers around the house. I don't feel very good either so the 2 of us skipped church. Thankfully now he's napping and I'm trying to get some pictures up on the web and on a CD to print! Still no teeth but very swollen gums. However he seems to think he needs to brush his teeth so maybe they're comming? Maybe by the time he's 2 :) Haircut pictures are up on the website www.megley.com/photos

Robert's life

Robert's life

Wow! Robert slept from 9pm-9:45 am-thank heavens! But then he only napped 45 minutes all day so I am TIRED! He's a busy boy! I ended up working until 3 am and didn't get to bed until 4 am so it was heaven to be able to sleep in! Yesterday was also quite a milestone day-it was the last (regular) day that I took Robert to meetings. I talked with his babysitter and she's going to keep him while I'm in meetings. I think I'm finally ready to let go-and neither of us is enjoying him being in meetings! I think he'll be a lot happier at the baby sitter's. I'm amazed that I've been able to take him this long though-he's almost 10 1/2 months, so he's been to a lot of meetings! Poor guy. We'll, just wanted to write a quick update. I only got not quite 6 hours of sleep last night/this morning so I think I'll hit the hay. Robert's accomplishments for the day include splashing in the dog's water bowl (had to completely change his clothes!), flushing the toilet and figuring out how to click a click pen. Yikes! Good night!

Robert's life

Robert's life
Someone switched our baby for an energizer bunny... how do we get the baby back? It's been a crazy few days in Lake Wobegon. Robert is systematically destroying our house (and Wes' parents, and his grandmothers). Today he unplugged a lamp, got into a cupboard we had latched, ran amuck through the hospital, took toys away from kids at story time, chased a ball, tried to figure out the ball poppers (work better if you can walk), crawled to the person reading at story time... Last night he crawled to Wesley's set up tripod and stood with it for the longest while. It was so cute. He's also really developing a sense of humor. He points to all sorts of things and laughs. He has the dearest chortle/giggle! OK, here's a picture.

Robert's life

Christmas
It's been a crazy week or so! Robert thoroughly enjoyed all the new people and toys and well, everything and is now systimaically destroying the house (in response to the direction from Uncle Rob). He can get the bottle drawer open and the bottles out (new today) and got one of the latches of his daddy's tool box open today too. He's standing for longer and longer periods at the activity center that Clif and Hollie gave him and loves to push his wagon around. He seems to be talking some too, I'm hearing fairly accurage "dada, doggie and light (maybe?). Doggie is the only one I'm fairly sure of. He also loves the dishwasher. His schedule is all weird today-he slept a bunch last evening and stayed up til 11:30 and then slept until 10 this morning, napped from 12:45-2:30 and has been up since. So hopefully he'll be back on schedule tomorrow!

Robert's life

Robert's life

OK, OK, I know. Bad blogging mommy! So since I've found time today to pick up Christmas cards, address Christmas cards and write a Christmas letter I guess I should find time to blogg too. So what's new? Let's see. Robert is still into everything and then some. He got CD's out of the CD changer last night (oops-but not my fault-I was at work!). He's starting to get some seperation anxiety and is crying briefly when I leave him at the babysitters or at the kids club at the gym. When I say briefly I mean "whah, whah, oh, what does that toy do?" so not too bad! He's starting to play with other kids more (like at free play after story time) and to really interact and socialize. I took him with me to a contact lense re-check appointment today (I knew it would just be a few minutes) and he had a ball "playing" with an optometrist while I was in line to pay. He loves peek-a-boo and rough housing and makes very good car noises in addition to his pirate noises. Sigh, I guess boys come hard wired :)

Robert's life

Yikes!

OK, OK, I know, it's been a week and 4 days since I blogged. BUT my portfolio is in (that's where I've been-in portfolio writing land) and Robert is asleep (for now) and even though I should be cleaning I'll blog quick (and if you're good, I'll even leave a picture).

Robert is a wild man. There is no other way to describe it. Wes says that any day we'll find him on top of the coffee table. Already he's trying to open the drawer on the china cupboard, turning the knob on the CD changer, playing with the phone, getting stuff off the coffee table, eating MY FOOD, grabbing glasses/earings off of people's faces, and well, you know, just being crazy! Last night my Bible Study group went out to a local mexican place for supper and I ended up buying him his own meal (cheaper than getting quesadillas off the a la carte menu). He had part of a quesadilla, some cheerios, some rice, some taco meat and a bunch of water and was cute. Then we went to the local Christian book store to pick out our new study. He decided to roll himself across the room (never done that before), then was scooting a plastic kid's chair across the room (yes, walking, holding onto the chair)! He's still sick (juncky nose) and fussy, which is the other reason I'm not getting much done. I was debating taking him to the pediatrician today but he's still eating/drinking OK and doesn't flinch when I take his temp in his ear so I think I'll hold off for now. OK, the picture I'm leaving you is Robert of the sticky-upy hair. I'll try to update the website pics tomorrow.

9 months today!

Into Everything!
How is my baby 9 months old? I swear he was just a newborn!

Wow, what a crazy week! Robert has been pulling up onto everything the last few days and then sometimes he gets stuck (pulls up to the stairs and can't figure out how to get down...). He has also started pulling the wire cart that has plastic containers in it around the room with him. Yesterday he pulled up on the safety gate and talked with us... He can open cupboards and some drawers now (we have the cupboards locked now and he finds them frustrating!), is no longer facinated by the twanging door stoppers (what a shame, now he wants the tubing from the mini shower that's attached to the toilet that I use to rinse diapers off with).

Oh, and our house is in a constant state of disorder. Wes' mom and grandma showed up on a few minutes notice last evening and his grandma said "well, you can sure tell that there's a baby here, there are toys everywhere!". Yep, sure are!

During his brief nap times the last 2 days I have managed to write a curriculum vitae and 2 clinical exemplars for a nursing portfolio that is due Dec 1. I trust I will get it done! RMH is starting a clinical ladder program and if I can get it all done and become a "Clin 1" I will get a lump sum of $1,500 which would be rather nice :)

Anyways, Robert's napping so I'd best get some housework done before it's time to take him for his 9 month appointment! I'm anxious to hear what he weighs and whether we can start him on wheat! Happy Thanksgiving ya'll!

Robert's life

Robert's life
Well, Robert officially pulled up to standing on Friday! I was so proud! He hasn't done it all the way to standing again but does pull up to his knees to play with stuff on the sofa. He's also getting harder and harder to contain during church and I'm probably going to have to start leaving him in the nursery. You would think that since I run the nursery I would leave him in it but I really don't (unless I'm the nursery worker which I am every 3-4 Sundays or so). We took him antique shopping today and he really enjoyed the oldies music they had playing at the huge antique mall we went to (in Verona) and looking at all the colorful stuff. I had him in the ergo and he did fine (used it as a front pack so I could keep an eye on his hands!) The other big munchkin related news is that I'm going to stop pumping every morning (which I was doing to develop a stash). Lets just say that my chest freezer basket is overflowing so I probably don't need to still be creating a stash. I'm still pumping at work of course and if I miss a feeding during the day just not extra. I'm really happy that he's so far not had any formula-and I don't forsee him needing any in the next 3 months, he is just as happy with rice chex and water if he needs something while I'm at the gym etc.

OK, other news. Our good friend Philip was in a head on car accident on Saturday and was airlifted to UVA (tertiary medical center) which caused us great concern until we heard that he was stable-lots of broken bones but nothing life threatening. Wes was able to see him that evening-went with our pastor and his wife while I stayed home with Robert. Please keep him, his wife Sarah and their baby, Logan (5 months) in your prayers! They're going to have a long road ahead of them. Philip was scheduled for surgery today to have rods placed in his ankle and femur and hardwear in his arm.

Well, that's all from here. Wes entertained munchkin this evening long enough for me to finish my book-which was very good- Jennefer Weiner's "Little Earthquakes".

Robert's life

Growing Up
Robert is growing up on me and it makes me proud and sad all at once. If I have time I sit and hold him while he naps (OK, I read!) and just look at him and marvel that he's so big and yet my baby. He's working on cruising and pulling up and thinks he can stand/walk. His newest trick is waving bye, but he waves towards himself instead of away. I was unloading groceries from my trooper today and he was babbling away and I looked at him and realized he was talking to "the munchkin in the mirror" (which is what we call his reflection in the car mirror we have for him) and waving to "him". He was saying baaaaaaaaaheeeeeeeey" which sounded kind of like bye to me, but was probably an accident. It also kind of looks like he was signing milk to me earlier today (we've been working on baby sign language with the videos "signing time" (www.signingtime.com) so I guess anything is possible-but milk isn't one we've done much with, so who knows.). Well, I've got pictures for you today, so I'll stop now and just let you look at them!

Wesley climbing

Margaret climbing

And Robert being cute (as usual)

Chinese Food!

Eating Out!
We decided on the spur of the moment yesterday to go out for lunch at a local Chinese restaurant. I was unusally disorganized for some reason and didn't have the diaper bag packed right and had no food/no bib/no spoon/no snacks/no cup. What was I thinking? So anyways we decided to see what Robert would eat. Well, he likes rice and fried rice (picked out the egg and peas), small peices of chicken/pork that I shredded for him, broccoli (just the flowerets), small peices of stir fried green beans, bananas and peaches from the desert bar and he got into the sugar from my small bowl of Chinese doughnuts. He had a ball but the waiter was not amused. I did clean up the area under the highchair pretty well and we left a nice tip. Thank heavens he drinks out of a cup with a straw and was able to share my cup and drank a bunch of water. By the end of the meal he was quite adept at grabbing a hand full of rice and eating it out of his palm. Of course this was the day when everyone we knew was at the restaurant so everyone got a good look at our rice covered munchkin! At the end of the meal I took him outside and dusted him off and he looked surprisingly good! I was just so impressed at how well he does with table foods and how much he actually gets into his mouth (and how well he likes ethnic foods). I can't wait until he can have wheat/eggs/dairy and he can eat more or less what we do!

Saturday we made apple butter with Wes' extended family. Actually, they made apple butter, his cousin Kim and I watched the babies and had a good time. Oh, and Wes and I climbed a tree, I'll post a picture.

Robert's life

Busy Mommy!

Last week I was too lazy to blog this week I've been too busy! It's been crazy with work and meetings this week. Robert still does really well at meetings (if I take lots of snacks) and so far no one seems to care. I've become a co-chair of a hospital wide policy and procedure commitee and so we'll be doing weekly meetings for a while. Our new nurse director is bent on changing everything this year so lots of changes going on! Which is a good thing.

Anyway, this is supposed to be Robert's life, not mine! He is currently napping (yeah!), which he seems to do less and less of each day. We were out and about both tues and Wed morning before I had to go to work so he really hasn't napped well this week, but has done fine. I resisted the urge to dress him up for Halloween and take him anywhere, well for one thing I was working and for the other thing (to quote Dr Newsome): "they can't walk or eat candy, so what's the point". So he and his daddy went to the weekly supper at Wes' grandma's as Sheriff Taylor and Opey (since they were wifeless/motherless!). I found a pair of (small-they look like mice ears) elephant ears on a headband and wore them with my animal scrubs to work and the kids liked them :) All in all we spent $3.50 on costumes (sheriff badge and headband) so not bad! Robert is trying to pull up, is an expert at taking DVD's off the shelf, loves to pet the puppy, chase the puppy, get the puppy's bone (trying to teach Snoopy to chew and leave her bone on the sofa-never thought I'd ever WANT her to chew it on the sofa!), love to eat and to feed himself fingerfoods. This week I've been giving him little peices of cooked zucchini with olive oil and garlic powder and he loves it! Plus he's eating rice chex like they're going out of style. Oh, and he thinks the elephant ear headband is really funny!
That's all the news from here that I can remember anyways!