Ten on Wednesday

1.  I am currently checking my email, starting my blog post and playing on FB while sitting in the bathroom.  Apparently this is the only place my children won't come looking for me!  If I sit at the desk, Ashton climbs onto my lap then off of my lap, then back on my lap then opens the junk drawer, takes stuff out and throws it all over the kitchen and tries to stuff it down the register vent.  And, I am banned from taking it into the living room due to what happened last time I may or may not have left it on the couch:)  No worries, Jason is out in the living room with them.

2.  Grant threw up once Wednesday and acted fine the rest of the day.  J stayed home with him on Thursday just to be sure he was ok.  Good thing because he started throwing up in the afternoon.  He was fine Friday until afternoon and then the poor thing threw up 10 times.  I felt so bad for him.  I have bleached this house top to bottom, done more laundry than I think I have done in my entire life, opened the windows when it is only 30 outside and I have even bought new toothbrushes.  This bug needs to leave our house NOW!

3. Ashton has become a little handful.  Ever since he had sprite when he had the flu, he is refusing to drink anything but sprite.  He finally gives in by the end of the day because we don't give it to him, but it is a constant battle all day long including many attempts of throwing himself on the floor in a full out tantrum.  He also went from eating everything one day to nothing the next day.  He spits out all his food at meal time and then gets down and goes right to the pantry for a snack.  Stinker.

 4.  My little helpers.  They actually cleaned the whole floor.  Too bad I had already done it.  Note for next time: set them up with mop and pine sol and let them go!

5.  Ashton has started talking like crazy.  He repeats almost everything you say and has started a few phrases.  His favorites are "A en Nol no no" (Ashton Nowell no no), "mo nanas peas" (more bananas please) and "hee go" (here ya go).  Lucky for us he has also started saying mine.  So, the referee aspect of parenting has officially begun.

6. On Sunday we were so burned out from being stuck inside.  It was too cold to go out and no one wanted us in their house so we took a family trip to Costco.  It was the perfect place to let Ashton run through the aisles and burn some energy.  Grant rode in the cart the majority of the time because he was still really weak.  He was thrilled to come home with "little chicken samwhiches" though.  The Tyson microwave chicken samis are his absolute favorite.  My favorites are the pineapples and bag of avacados.  My mother loves the Boudins sourdough bread.  What is your Costco must have?

7. Have you seen The Bible on The History Channel?  If you have, what do you think?  If you haven't, you really should take some time to watch it.  We are faithful Amazing Race watchers so we had to do catch up on Sunday afternoon.  I did not grow up in Christian school like everyone in this town and I was only an occasional church goer so being surrounded by people who grew up studying these stories is quite intimidating for me.  I have tried to listen to The Bible on CD, but I am much more of a visual learner so I am thrilled with this awesome opportunity to put a visual spin on all the important stories of The Bible.

8.  I just finished season 2 of Downton Abbey.  So good.  Kinda sad to think there is only one more season for me to catch up on.

9. Ashton has decided that sleep is overrated.  He has taken a 45 minute nap the last few days, is waking up at least once a night and wants to start his day at 6:30.  This tired momma is really looking forward to a sleep in day on Friday and Saturday!

10.  Blessing of the week:  seeing Grant come back to life after the flu.  It was scary there for a while after watching him throw up for 3 days in a row.  His poor little body is skinnier than before and he can barely eat two bites without being full, but it is so nice to see him have energy again.

Ten on Tuesday

1.  On Saturday, we headed out to eat to one of our favorite spots.  We had to wait for a few minutes.  As we were standing there with all the other people, Ashton walked over to a random grandpa, put his hands up like he wanted to be picked up and the guy actually picked him up.  I just about died.  How exactly do you teach stranger danger to a 16 month old that has no.fear.of.anything?

2.  As Grant was ordering his dinner, the waiter asked if he wanted fries or apple slices.  He actually chose apple slices and ate them before he even touched his chicken fingers.  Proud momma moment.

3.  A few minutes into eating and Ashton grabbed my hand and wouldn't let go.  I couldn't figure out what he was doing.  When I asked him what he wanted he said a-men.  Nothing like being reminded from your 16 month old that you forgot to pray.

4.  The other day I made the mistake of pressing the back button on my profile picture. My first ever profile pic was taken on my 30th birthday vacation to Punta Cana.  Two observations were made....1- I can't believe I actually let Jason talk me into growing my hair out long.  It looked hideous.  2.  I can't believe I have wasted 6 years of my life on Facebook.

5.  Experiencing a bit of de ja vu this week.  We were minutes away from leaving for church on Sunday and Ashton started whining.  I trusted my intuition and decided to stay home with him.  Not 20 minutes later did he throw up all over me.  5 times.  I would have been horrified if we got called out of church because Ashton threw up all over nursery.  He proceeded to have the exact same flu he had two weeks before.  Needless to say, I have been cleaning like crazy.  Thank God the rest of us haven't gotten it again.

6.  Being stuck inside for 4 days straight is starting to make me go nuts.

7.  Since I have a lot of time on my hands, I decided to start pricing items for our garage sale in April.  It took me forever to go through the newborn clothes.  They brought back so many good memories.  I wanted to keep them all. 

outfit Grant wore home from the hospital. 

8.  Side note:  I am a horrible garage sale pricer.  I price with my heart and not with my head.  I will probably have to go back and reprice everything before the sale.

9.  Grant drew his first person the other day.  Up until now, he has drawn a lot of lines, a few circles and occasionally something he claims is a G.  I couldn't have been more proud when he brought me his picture the other day of daddy.  Apparently Grant sees daddy as a tall, slender man with a big smile and a lot of hair-even on his feet!  I love this kid.

10.  Blessing of the week:  a good neighbor.  When we moved to this rental house, I was totally dreading it.  The location is not ideal in my book and I was so nervous that I wouldn't feel safe with our neighbors.  Right away we got to know our neighbor to the right of us.  She is a single mother with two daughters and she has been amazing.  On Sunday, she brought us homemade apple pie and kept Grant at her house for a few hours while we rested with Ashton.  She has been such a blessing and has made this transition so much easier for me.  I am so thankful for her!

1.  Ok, so this tummy bug is really starting to annoy me.  A week later and I am still trying to get over being exhausted and nauseous. A few times this past week I have actually put Ashton to bed and then tucked myself in.  At 8 oclock.  Jason and Grant were still awake.  I couldn't tell you a time I have ever done that before.  Needless to say, I have been totally discombobulated and have no idea what day it is and just found out it is actually March now.

2.  L was the letter of the week in our house.  Lots and Lots and Lots and Lots of Laundry, Lysol and Lysol wipes.  A little spring cleaning you might say.

3.  Jason has taken to calling Ashton Linus due to his new found attachment to his blankies.  He loves these two blakines and carries them around wherever he goes.  I am a little concerned because these are from Grant and we have no backup!

4.  I read this on another blog and thought it was so true.....  if you want to know what someone is afraid of losing – watch what they photograph.

5.  I am so afraid of forgetting how cute and fun the boys are right now.  Their passion for life is something I don't want to ever forget.  Especially when they grow to be teenage boys.  I always try to capture the perfect picture but have recently decided that capturing everyday moments IS capturing the perfect picture.  Years from now, I want to look back at pictures of the boys in the moment rather than having a perfect smile on their face.  Hence the following pictures I tried to capture on Sunday after church that I just love because this is our everyday.

6.  Grant was pouting because he did not want to sit for a picture.  Ashton was going with the flow as long as he could hold onto the mini screwdriver seen in his hand.

7.  Then Grant decided that he would smile as long as he was able to hurt Ashton in the process.  Typical everyday occurrence.

 

8.  Then finally I get the perfect picture.....Grant actually showing love to Ashton by protecting him from falling off the fireplace stoop.  This does not happen often in our house so to capture it, is perfect!  (He wasn't actually falling btw, he was too busy chewing on his toy.)

 

9.  Hard to believe, but it was a year ago that we sold our house.  Just the other day, Grant asked when we could go back to our regular house.  Broke my heart a little to think that he remembered it (down to his blue room) and that when we move out of our current house, it will be that much harder on him to leave. 

10.  Blessing of the week:  fun opportunities to get out of the house.  A local church has an indoor playground that you can take your kids to at no cost.  It can be crazy full of kids, but it is a great way to get out that winter energy when you are sick of playing outside in the freezing cold.  Also, we enjoyed a play date with my moms group at Deanna's Playhouse- an AWESOME place to take kids to work off large amounts of energy.  You do pay for this experience, but it is SO worth it when you see how much fun your kids are having!

1.  Ten on Tuesday was delayed due to the fact that we all got the norovirus on Monday and getting online was the last thing we wanted to do yesterday.  We are all still home today recovering, but we hope to be back to 100% tomorrow.   I truly hate watching my boys get sick, especially when I can barely take care of them because I am sick right along with them.


2.  I spend every Monday with a beautiful little girt that is having a pretty major surgery today at 11.  She was born with a cleft lip and palate.  This is her second surgery and from what I hear will be the worst.  The surgeon will be taking thin tissue from her cheek and covering and forming a new palate in mouth.  The recovery for this is lengthy and painful.  Please pray for all involved today and in the weeks ahead. 

3.  I heard this quote this week on GMA and just loved it... "you never know how strong you are until being strong is the only choice you have."   Wow, that is so true.

4.  5 years ago I thought I was a "strong" person after going through years of infertility.  But I was really just a naive person.  I was a woman who thought trying to get pregnant, injecting myself with needles full of fertility meds, watching everyone around me get pregnant and dealing with miscarriage had made me "strong".   At this point 5 years ago, I had no idea what strength really meant.

5. I finally decided to see what all the fuss is about, so I cued up the Amazon Prime and settled in to watch Downton Abbey.  I finished Season 1 before the day was over.  Totally hooked!

6.  If I didn't just get notice that my library book that I have been waiting for is available, I would be watching Season 2 right now.

7.  Recipe of the week:  granola bars.  These really do taste like no bake cookies.  So yummy.  I used quick oats and they are fine.  And, I don't have wheat germ so I left that out.  I also swapped out coconut for some craisins.

Source: themarathonmom.com via Krista on Pinterest

8.  I wrote this post on Monday before I got sick.  I also overindulged in these bars before I got sick.  Needless to say, they don't look so good anymore...

9.  The other night Grant woke up screaming because there was a "squirmy monster" in his room.  Even at 3 am this kids cracks me up with his creative adjectives!!!

10.  Blessing of the week: health.  After suffering through the tummy bug, I am happy to only have to go through that once a year (knock on wood).

Ten on Tuesday

1.  I forgot to give you all the update on my dryer meets the crayons drama.  Per google searches, I rubbed the major spots with soap (dove bar) and then soaked them in really hot water and a full scoop of Oxiclean in the washer all night and then ran a load on the hardest cycle.  Most of the clothes came clean after that first cycle.  A few of them had to go through another cycle and I just decided that my white leggings are just going to look like they are tie dyed.  Good thing I only wear them underneath my ski clothes!

2.  As for my dryer, I tried everything that crayola and google searches suggested.  I finally took oxiclean and rubbed it on the inside of the dryer with a magic eraser and wahlah my dryer looked brand new!  I ran a wet wipe all over it and left it to dry out overnight just in case- I wasn't sure about using oxiclean like that in the dryer!

3.  What did we ever do before google and oxiclean????

4.  Ashton seems to think he has to be a grown up boy all of a sudden and I am less than pleased.  He thinks he needs to walk down the stairs instead of slide on his tummy.  He is also answering questions by either saying no or by shaking his head yes.

5.  Grant got into his preschool!  We are so excited.  Now we just need to figure out how we are going to make it work since the only days they offered the program we wanted are the days that I work.  I am so thankful my work is flexible and will allow me to take time off to help in class.

6. What happened to normal boxed Valentine cards?  The neighbor was showing me her valentines and I could hardly believe the creativity you have to put into a valentine card these days.  Some moms even made their own candy.  I am not sure if I am ready for all of this school mom competition.

7. Do you like bananas?  If yes, then you NEED to make this recipe.  I had bananas in my freezer that needed to be used so I made it the other day and had to fight not to eat the entire pan before Jason got home.  I really wish the pinterest picture was actually of the bars!

Source: lifessimplemeasures.blogspot.com via Krista on Pinterest

8.  Anyone else feeling the urge to put out Easter decorations?  I know there is still a lot of snow out there, but I really think it would be fun to bring out the eggs and easter bunnies to help us feel like spring is around the corner.

9.  Last night Jason snuck a few chocolate covered peanuts from the freezer.  Grant looked at him and asked what he was eating.  Jason fibbed and said nothing.  Grant looked at him and said, "yes, you are eating something daddy.  I smell chocolate!"  Yes, he is my son.  He can smell chocolate from a mile away!

10.  Blessing of the week: my job.  Some days I struggle with going to work because I really just want to be home with the boys.  But, I know it is good for them to get out and socialize and when it comes down to it, I really do love the adult interaction a couple days a week.  And, I am really blessed to work for a Christian organization that is flexible and allows me to leave early to go serve meals at the mission or pick my kids up and take them to dentist appointments. 

15 months

Ashton Nowell turned 15 months old on January 18.  He has grown so much since October, I can hardly stand it.  Luckily for me, he is a snuggly little guy so I still get baby snuggles every now and then.  By this age, Grant was totally done with it so I feel blessed that I get extra time with my little love!  This is what he has been up to the last three months...

* he is still a little guy.  At his check up he weighed 19 lbs 12 oz and was 30 in long.  It seems impossible, but Ashton weighs a pound less and is an inch shorter than Grant was at 15 months.  Dr S is not concerned since Grant was in the same size range.  We obviously just have small babies.

* as mentioned above, he is my little love.  I was always bummed that Grant was such a daddy's boy.  Well, I got my mommy's boy with Ashton.  He comes up to snuggle and puts his head on my shoulder all the time.  Whenever I am in the room, he wants to be held by mommy (which doesn't happen all the time btw) but he is always trying!

first haircut!

*he says ba bye, momma, dadda, grandma, grandpa, hello, apple, car, ball, off, up, and tries to say ashton but it comes out a en.  Its pretty cute.  He also signs more, all done, please and thank you.  Just recently he has started saying ma for more but usually he prefers to sign it. 

* he is a adventurous boy.  He climbs anything he can.  He crawls into small spaces.  He runs whenever he knows you are going to change his diaper.  He goes down slides like a 5 year old and then climbs back up and goes again.  He literally never stops moving from the moment I get him out of his crib to the minute I put him back in there.

*he LOVES food.  His favorite right now is clementine oranges, bananas and green beans.  He will pretty much eat anything you put in front of him though.  He drinks 3 glasses of milk a day and I just finally broke him from his night time bottle last week.  I know, it was way overdue but this little guy was hooked.  Or so I thought.  It only took one night for us not to mention it for him to be over it.  Ok, maybe it was me that was hooked :)

*he always has a smile on his face and has a laughter that is just contagious.  All if takes is a smile to him sometimes and he just busts out laughing!

*he loves baths.  I can barely get his clothes off before he is attempting to climb into the tub.

* he has a "I can do it myself" attitude.  He feeds himself with his fork and spoon and if he can't get it to work, he wants you to put the food on the fork and then hand it to him so he can put it in his mouth himself.

* everyone that sees his sneaky eyes, says that we will have our hands full with this one.  I totally agree with them!

*he loves to read.  His favorite books right now are the Daddy book (was also Grants favorite) and Brown Bear.

*he has become a much better sleeper than he was at 12 months.  He goes from 8-7:30 on a good night.  Every once in a while, he still sneaks in a bad night though.  At 14 months, he was down to one nap a day- usually from 1-3. 

loves to cuddle his blankie!

*he loves his older brother and wants to be just like him and do everything he does. It is interesting for me to witness all of this sibling interaction since I was an only child. 

*he loves to dance and does a cute little number where he stomps his foot down every time music starts.

This stage of life is so fun.  I love watching Asthon explore the world and even though I just did this with Grant 2 years ago, I have already forgotten just how cool it is to turn a light switch on and read the same book over and over again 50 times.  I look forward to the adventures the next three months will bring.  We love you so much Ashton Nowell.

1.  I read this on another blog last week and just loved it, " Life sometimes seems cruel as time marches on without any regards to my grief."  I admit to feeling that way many times over the last five years...

2.  Grantism of the week:  Grant tooted and I made a comment about it.  He looked at me with a very serious look on his face and said, "I didn't toot mommy, you just heard the wind from my toot."  Silly boy.

3. On our anniversary, we took Grant to the dentist for the first time.  Romantic, eh?  I decided that I wanted Jason there just in case Grant acted out because he is usually better behaved when Jason is around.  We made the appt over our lunch hour so we could take him to lunch afterwards if all went well.  He did awesome and he chose to go to Wendys for some chicken nuggets.    Of course, it didn't hurt that the dentist had a train going around the top of the room.  He is already asking when he can go back.

4.  We are in the very beginning stages of our house building project.  We had plans drawn up a couple years ago, but we want to make some changes to them.  Have any of you built houses?  If so, is there any advice you have for us?  Anything you wish you had in your house?  Anything you would change?

5.  Anyone else from the area feel like we are all freaking out just a little too much over the snow lately?  I guess I can't judge too much since I don't have kids in school, but it seems like they have a snow day every other day lately and it is barely snowing.  I remember walking through snow drifts as tall as I was in college and nothing closed.  Why the sudden panic every time a snowflake falls? 

6.  I have already started my lent cleanse.  I have found tons of clothes to get rid of and have started pricing baby items for a garage sale.  Next up, raid the toy box when the boys are sleeping.

7.  Our new game = where is Ashton getting a tooth now?  Currently, he is getting a molar and a front bottom tooth.

8.  I hit up the outlets this weekend.  There is just something so thrilling about getting a good deal:)

9. My mom had some follow up surgery on Monday.  Everything has gone well so far and we are praying that she will be home by the weekend.

10.  Blessing of the week: baby Haylee Quinn.  A good friend of mine went in for her weekly check up ( I think she was 37 wks) and the baby's heartbeat was slow.  She went directly to the hospital and was sent in for emergency c-section.  Baby girl had the cord wrapped around her neck.  I am praising God this week for blessing her with life.  When you hear of instances like that, how do you not believe in a higher power?  If her mom didn't have her appt that day, Haylee wouldn't be with us.  It gives me chills.