Monday, November 26, 2007

To Christmas Letter or To Not? That is the Question

Every year about this time I begin going back and forth. Should we do a Christmas letter? I am a person who loves reading all those letters that start coming in the mail about this time. To hear who is moving, who is pregnant again, what the kids are involved in, etc. warms my heart. It is sometimes the most uninterrupted conversation I can have with my friends (sad, I know). However, does everyone feel this way? Do people care about what we are doing? Do people want to know that Fish is almost sitting up, that Treefrog wipes his poop on the wall when he gets mad at us, that Fish vomits almost nightly, that Treefrog loves fart jokes now . . . maybe I should rethink the content of this letter.

Sunday, November 25, 2007

I Did What?!

I think I must be crazy. A couple of weeks ago, maybe I was bored or something, I did something I've never done before. I did something I never thought I would ever do. I. signed. up. for. a. half. marathon.

In my craziness, I didn't really factor in what this would do to our life. Ben and I choose to make exercise a part of our everyday life, but a half marathon means some SERIOUS training. At times, I will be running for over an hour (not including the warm up, cool down, and shower time). Today I ran 3 miles with a friend, so we were a little late getting back. Treefrog was still awake from the nap he is supposedly done taking and Fish woke up about a minute after Ben left to do his run. People, how am I going to fit in over an hour of running when I can barely fit in a thirty minute run?!

Ben is great. He will make sure we have the time and he will push me out the door when necessary. Still. I must have been crazy because did I mention there will be times that I will be running OVER AN HOUR? Sheesh.

Thursday, November 22, 2007

Happy Thanksgiving!

Happy Thanksgiving one and all! If you don’t celebrate Thanksgiving, I hope you have a wonderful day too☺

By the way, apparently I was trying to kill Fish - the vomits were probably due to starting solids too early. The last time we were at the doctors (you know, when we got the antibiotic) he said to go ahead and start feeding him solids. Start with rice cereal and then if he tolerates that well, move quickly into other foods. Well, he tolerated rice cereal pretty well and so I started apples a couple days later. The vomits didn't start right away so I didn't connect the two (probably should have though . . . ). When I first noticed the vomits it seemed connected with the antibiotic since it was happening within an hour after taking the medicine. After a while, he started throwing up after he nursed each time. So there you go. Me, force feeding my child (the one I didn't want to start on solids this soon anyway because he may be my last biological child and I want to nurse as long as possible).

Wednesday, November 21, 2007

Sick for Thanksgiving

So, we have had the vomits in this house.

Treefrog was consumed by vomit (or maybe it is more realistic to say I was consumed by his vomit) a couple days ago. Fish has been on our first! ever! antibiotic! for an ear infection I had no idea was looming. Treefrog is totally back to normal now, but Fish is inexplicably throwing up. Like projectile throwing up. Yeah, you're glad you stopped by.

I'm slightly worried that he is allergic to penicillin and that every time I dose him I am one step closer to his throat swelling shut. We haven't had to deal with any allergies yet, so I am hoping this is just a fluke virus. Let's hope I'm right.

Thanksgiving this year is at Ben's uncle's house. We will go with homemade rolls, vegetarian stuffing muffins (cause I don't eats the meats!), and a pecan pie (because I can't stop thinking about how good a pecan pie would taste - I think Mir put it into my head from her previous holiday posts). It will be a delightful day if I don't have to catch anyone's vomit.

Here's to hoping!!

Monday, November 19, 2007

I've been Busy

Yeah, so posting has gone to the wayside. Unpacking has taken its place!! We are mostly moved in (there is a lingering table, chair, and decorative window at the old house) and our boxes are down to just a few in the dining room and a few in the office. That's progress! Treefrog has really adjusted well and Fish is getting closer and closer to sleeping through the night. Ben is just so much closer to work now (it's a minute walk as opposed to a four minute walk!!). And I have very little that has changed:)

Well, I guess I did sign up for a half marathon. So, there you go.

Treefrog just decided he was all done watching Thomas. That means I'm all done posting.

Monday, November 5, 2007

Savoring the Moment

Here we sit, drinking wine, surrounded by boxes, knowing that we still have more trips to make to the "old house." But. We. Are. Here.

Thank God.

Saturday, November 3, 2007

Wahoo!!!

We are moved (mostly)!!

Friday, November 2, 2007

M.O.V.I.N.G.

Hi Internet. I didn't fall off the face of the earth (I know a lot of people care at this point - soooo many comments left!). We are trying to move. Fifteen boxes went over yesterday. Some more boxes will be packed today. Hopefully we'll have occupancy tomorrow.

I'll keep you updated as I have energy.

Wednesday, October 31, 2007

Five Months and Counting

Today marks your fifth month on this earth. It is going so fast.

You first rolled over at two weeks (most people will think that is a misprint, but it is not). By one month you could (and would) roll both ways.

At two months you were so aware of your surroundings. People often thought you were so much older because you were a hefty baby, but also because of how aware you were of everything. We had a little misunderstanding with the insurance company this month (they thought you weren’t born. Apparently the c-section charges didn’t clue them in and we needed to sign some papers or something).

By three months you were starting to move. You and I went and visited your great-grandparents in West Virginia and you loved having all the attention. You spent many hours in the arms of your Nana, Maw-maw, and Pap. So many hours, in fact, that you were slightly spoiled over the next week.

At four months you had a mind of your own. You saw something you wanted and went for it – cords, balls, string, anything Treefrog was playing with. Your verbal skills became apparent as you fine-tuned your raspberry. Your first tooth appeared this month (October 22 to be exact) and I fear my nipples will never be the same.

Five months went by so quickly. I fear the next five as you become even more mobile and head-strong, and yet I look forward to your next milestones; to celebrate them with you.

Fish, you mean the world to me. I love you so much and cannot imagine life without you now. May you always be comforted in the love of your family!

Tuesday, October 30, 2007

Maybe I was a Tad Hasty

We'll see. I have received "confirmation" that we will indeed be taking occupancy of the house this Saturday. Ben remains optimistic. I remain, well, tired. But, I did start packing again today.

I also scheduled Fish's four month well-child check up. Uhhh, Wednesday I'll be posting about his fifth month breathing air . . . so there you go (stated with a heavy Greek accent). I'm a little off, but who's counting?

And, after two years (of no coverage - we are supposed to afford teeth work how?!) we will finally be returning to the dentist. All of us. On the same. day. I might not be the best planner.

Now, back to packing.

Have I mentioned we are moving in four days?

Monday, October 29, 2007

Taking a Peek

Each day as we are walking to dinner (we live on a college campus and eat lunch and dinner in the cafeteria daily) we pass by our "New House" as we have deemed it. Each day one of us says, "Let's just take a peek." Each day we are sorely disappointed at the progress.

Did I mention we are moving in four days? I think I was wrong.

It occurred to me today that the things they have left to do will most likely not be done in four days time. I am saddened by this, but mostly it makes me tired. I am trying to create a stable environment for Treefrog and Fish, but each day we step around boxes and each day I pack a little more of our belongings and each day our stability drifts away.

I am tired. Tired of my life being confined to boxes, tired of vacuuming around those boxes, tired of stepping over the boxes, tired of watching the s l o w progression of the house, tired of being asked when we are moving or if we have moved. I'm tired people.

Saturday, October 27, 2007

Two and a Half


You are asserting your independence each day. I hear “I did dit” only a few times a day (or maybe a few hundred times). If I happen not to let you ‘get it’ you will break down as if it was the most important thing in the world for you to do.

You have become an amazing big brother. Fish is constantly enthralled with you and looks up to you already. You love to give him kisses and hugs and have started asking if you could pick him up.

You are so smart. You have all of Go Dog Go memorized and you read it to Papa after pulling it from his hands and declaring, yet again, “I did dit.” You know your ABC’s and you can count to 20.

You are athletic. You run so fast. One of your favorite activities is going for a run or walk with Papa or I and then stopping by the track so you can run a couple of laps. You throw the ball, or anything round for that matter, with so much gusto that I am often taken aback with your power.

Celebrations are so much fun for you. Just tonight you asked if we could have a birthday cake. I really don’t think it would have mattered who we celebrated, just that we celebrated. We had cheesecake, sang “Happy Birthday” and you blew out candles (courtesy of Yia-yia).

Tonight you went to bed in your Thomas the Tank pajamas and told me that he says “Choo, choo!” You kissed both Papa and I and said that you “lub” us and that you want to go to church tomorrow. You look so peaceful when you are sleeping, angelic.

I love you, Treefrog. I love that you are ours.

Irony at work

Yesterday a friend came over to help me pack. Treefrog was with his grandparents, so we tackled his room. We worked efficiently, organized hand-me-downs, and also got the linen closet mostly packed.

Aaaaaaaaand then they told us we wouldn't be moving until the weekend.

Awesome.

So, back to my mantra from the last post: Did I mention I'm moving in a week?

Thursday, October 25, 2007

Boxes, Boxes, Boxes

Well, three more boxes down and about one million left . . .

Have I mentioned we are moving? One week from today, actually. My life is filled with boxes, which are stacked, and giving me an aneurysm because I fear the boxes will collapse with my two year old underneath. Mmmmm, good times.

So, I'm taking a break from packing and cleaning to catch up on my obsession. Blogging (mostly reading other blogs) makes my heart warm.

I attend a Bible study every Thursday morning. I live in an area that is teeming with moms (product of a suburb of a major city I guess), so one of the perks is childcare. For two blissful hours, I get to talk and eat with no child attached to me (oh, right, I guess we sometimes open the Bible as well). This morning, when I went to pick up the kids, one of the women in the nursery said that she thinks Fish has colic. Uhhhh, okay. You should probably know that though I have very energetic children, they are, without a doubt, some of the easiest babies ever. Ever. I know this is not a product of my stellar parenting skills. We just create pretty laid back kids is all. So, when I inquired as to why she thought Fish has colic, she replied that it is because he cries at about the same time every Thursday. She then follows this expert opinion up with the statement that he is very easy to calm down.

Hmmmm. Every thing I've ever read about colic has told me that it usually happens more than once per week and the kids aren't usually calmed down very easily. . . . Yep, sounds like colic to me! I did, however, thank her and told her I'd watch for it. I'm not sure what I'm watching for (more crying? easily comforted?), but hopefully she was placated.

Did I mention we're moving in a week?

Tuesday, October 23, 2007

Transitions

About two and a half years ago, my first child was born. Treefrog had some heart issues that caused him to stay in a children's hospital for about eighteen days. During this time, Ben accepted a job roughly 3,000 miles from where we were currently living. I willingly went along with this, because, well, I'm insane. We moved here to the Great Northwest and have loved every minute of it. This is a place where we feel like we actually fit in.

This year, Ben accepted another job. This is with the same school (he works in higher education with student leaders), but it is more time, more money, and a different house (the university provides housing for people in his position). So, a mere four months after our second child was born, we are in the midst of packing boxes once again. This is all very reminiscent of two and a half years ago (only this time I have a two year old who is loving! all! the! boxes!). In addition to Ben's new job and the move, I also am taking a new job. It is just a ten hour per week gig, but it will still be a significant chunk of time away from my family.

I'm feeling very overwhelmed these days. I'm crying at the drop of a hat (or a misplaced wallet, or a forgotten load of laundry . . . the list goes on) and I am having an extremely hard time motivating myself to get things done. I hope this is temporary, but temporary has been going on for about a month and a half now, so I'm not so sure anymore.

I'm tired. I want to be all done moving and all done with change. When will that happen?

Monday, October 22, 2007

Rack, Shack, and Benny: Oh, How I Love Thee!

Mornings in my house are sometimes a little hectic - especially Monday mornings. I know, I know. Everyone's mornings are hectic. You can stop reading now if you so desire.

Ben is the one who gets up with our early riser - Treefrog. I'm pretty sure Fish would sleep all day if given the opportunity (and, of course, if he didn't need to get his boob-fix!). So, Ben is up for . . . let's just say a while before I get up. [It wouldn't be anywhere near 2 hours most days. No, I'm sure I don't get that much more sleep.] In those two hours, Ben manages to give Treefrog breakfast, oversee the dressing, and play in the playroom with him. By the time I get up, Treefrog is begging for a video. So, while we get ready we gladly pop in a Veggie Tales video. This buys us a half an hour or so to do all the things we need to.

This is our routine now. I have to say, it took us a while to get this down. To say that Treefrog is an active two-year old is an understatement. From the instant his eyes pop open he is all energy. For a while (like the first 20 or so months of his life, not that we were counting), Treefrog refused to watch videos. We had to teach him. Yep, that's stellar parenting right there. You people should take notes. I'll wait for you to get your pen and paper.

Got it?

Okay, so it took little steps. First we had to coax him into sitting still for a few minutes. We normally had to sit with him and talk through the video to try to make it interesting. This bought us about 15 minutes on a really good day. Eventually, we were able to leave the room for a minute. Then those minute-reprieves became two minutes and on and on. Until, finally! We were able to have an entire half hour to ourselves!!

Veggie Tales is our friend!

Call me if you need more parenting advice *wink wink*

Saturday, October 20, 2007

Sand in places I've never known

The beach trip has turned out to not be that bad. One of the friends along is asserting her teenager-dom, but we are getting along okay so far. Here are a couple of pictures that I thought I'd share.







Moments later Treefrog was literally blown over by a wave. We went back to the house to change just in time for him to come back down to the beach and do this:









And this is where I spent most of my day feeding one of my addictions:















This is the first time I've tried to post pictures (obviously since it is only my second post and all). I may have a few more tries before I get it right. Edited to add: It looks like I finally figured it out. It was actually blogger's problem, not mine (Yeah!! I'm not a complete idiot!!)

Friday, October 19, 2007

Why do I do this to myself?

So, I have been reading blogs for over a year now and have just felt the need to join in. I'm not sure if this will be a short or long road, but I've started walking nonetheless.

Here are the major players:
Me, I'm Ashlee and I'll get around to filling out my profile one of these days.
Ben, he's the husband (5 years and counting)
Treefrog, the oldest son (2 years old)
Fish, the youngest son (4 months)

Yeah, like I really named my children that. But, for now, that's all you're getting *kisses*

I want this to be a place for me to record bits of our life. I'll probably use this on more than one occasion to do a little venting (I've already got a couple posts up my sleeve about this weekend!). I guess the only thing left is to begin. . .

This weekend (as in Ben is packing as I am typing!!) we are taking the kids to the beach. Ben's mom and dad have the family's beach house for the weekend and they invited us along. Now, on a normal basis it takes a while for me to get excited about having to pack up everything we own in order to sleep in a different bed and throw our schedule to the wind (sleeping? who cares about sleeping?! Let's watch a video instead!). This time, however, I have even MORE exciting news. Not only will 4 adults, 2 teenagers, and 2 small children be cramming into a house with only 3 beds, Ben's parents agreed to allow his two teenage sisters to EACH. BRING. A. FRIEND. Awesome.

Stay tuned for more . . .