Life with a Toddler

In case you cant see - sam is spoon feeding piper - apparently "she likes it" -
this was after he put water in her food because... yep you guessed it "she likes it!"

I need this sign in my house

The past 7 days

Earthquake?  check

Hurricane? check

Mass Murderer? check

Yep you read that correctly… apparently while the news was busy covering the Hurricane a Mass Murderer was in the area - they found his car about 2 miles away from our house – they blocked off the road where we grocery shop and buy pizza – they had convoys with swat teams and TONS of police officers – it was pretty crazy (or so I heard) and I had NO CLUE until after the fact. The story is pretty sad ( he was a Capt in the Army going thru a divorce – he killed his soon to be ex-wife, her boyfriend, her boyfriend’s son, and then his MIL - he didn’t kill his daughter but dropped her off at a local hospital).

Its been a C-R-A-Z-Y week!!!!

Super Porridge

So, as you know I am not a chef , a cook,  ok so I dont make anything...haha

But I wanted to try something with Hannah called Super Porridge - its not really "super" right now but as she gets older I can add things to it to make it very healthy.  This was so easy too -

I bought some rolled oats from The Fresh Market - I measured out 1/4 cup and put it in the blender for about 2 mins - then I added that to 1 cup of boiling water and cooked for 10 mins - thats it! See, I told you it was easy.  I cooked it the night before and when I heated it I added some breast milk to thin slightly - although Hannah seems to like it thick not runny.  I have tried bananas and green beans and she hated both but this porridge - she loved!! She was grabbing the spoon - so cute!

Hurricane Irene

We got lucky with the hurricane and really got mostly rain - had some high winds but no damage and we didnt lose power - thank goodness - our tiny little creek which is usually a few feet wide is now about 20 feet wide - its pretty crazy out there!

Pinterest

If you're familiar with Pinterest this idea has taken storm - of course I thought I would try it too - I bought about 20 boxes of crayons when they were on sale at BRU for 25 cents - this project took 3 boxes plus a few extras - I glues them to a canvas board and allowed them to dry

Then I melted them with a blow dryer

They took a few minutes to heat up and then they just started to pour - it didnt turn out as cool as the ones I saw online did but cool none-the-less -

This will go in the play room

End of Summer Carnival

Sam's school had an end of summer carnival today - face painting, bounce house, food, and fun!  Sam sat in atop the slide staring at the bounce house -I asked if he wanted to go in - he said yes after everyone was out - LOL - I was like ummm, yeah that wont happen...

He finally decided to go in and had a blast!

He got some "arm" painting - haha



Here is his artwork - showcasing "water colors"

A perfect way to end the summer!

The culprit!

When I picked up Sam from school today his teachers were very concerned about Sam's cough and suggested I get him seen ASAP - so I called the ped and gave them all the details - crusty eyes, fever, runny nose, cough - They seemed pretty convinced the cough was croup and unless he had labored breathing (he didnt) they wouldnt treat him for it - its viral and needs to run its course - after a few minutes the nurse told me I could still bring him in for a check as it sounded to her like he has an ear infection.  I thought to myself "he doesnt have an EI  - I would KNOW if he had one"... my mommy instinct told me to just get him looked at so we went in.  Sam wanted to go to the doctor  - he asked me several times when we were leaving (when daddy gets home) but once there in the doctors office he freaked - he didnt even want to get weighed - didnt want his temp taken - nothing - it was a battle!  Anyway as soon as she looked in his ear she said :

"oh - he has a nasty ear infection"

*GASP*

*DISBELIEF*

What???  He does??? Are you sure???  How did I not know this?  He wasnt pulling on his ears - they weren't red - he was sleeping fine (besides his cough)

I felt horrible that he had been feeling like crap and I didnt even realize it - I asked him if his ears hurt - he said "yes".   =(  I guess next time he gets sick I will ask first thing!!!

Anyway we leave there and head to CVS to get his abx - we wait and wait and finally the pharmacist realizes they called in the abx to a different CVS - grrrrr!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

While waiting for 45 mins we eat funyuns, gummy worms, and water - then Sam gets bored and starts playing with all the generic Zyrtec bottles - I am like "Sam.... stop!  Sam leave those alone"  Until he looks at me and says "Ohhh I found a dollar!"  I look and look again - he found a TWENTY dollar bill!!! OMG!  I tell the pharm and he says "keep it"  so being the good mommy that I am I put it in Sam's savings account.

It was a long evening but glad to know Sam is on his way to recovery.... oh and twenty bucks richer ☺

Earthquake

Its a beautiful day for an ..... EARTHQUAKE!!!  What??? Here in Pennsylvania??  How weird is that!

the view from my office

It was around 1:55pm when I started to feel the rumble - to be honest I thought it was the very noisy guys in our office and thought to myself "what the *&#^(*^ are they doing now??"  Then I saw things on my desk shaking and I could feel the whole building shake - ok this is freaky - everyone came out of their offices and congregated in the hallway - yep, it was an earthquake!

According to the USGS it originated in Mineral, Virgina and was a 5.9 on the ricter scale - no damage here but hey, now I can say "yeah I felt an earthquake and lived to tell about it"  lol

Light at the end of the tunnel?

After a crappy few days a few things are looking up  (no, sammy is still sick, boo!) but I found my $50 Wegmans gift card that I thought I lost - yay!  And we are about 99% guaranteed to get a new (used) car this weekend - double yay! Its the Buick Enclave - oh I love it!!!!!!!!

Now if I can just get Sam better.....

Got Yogurt?

Sam has been fighting eye crusties for a few days - well that turned into a fever on Friday and that turned into a cough - a nasty one at that!  His appetite is pretty much gone so when he asked for yogurt I happily took him to the store to get some and he happily filled my cart with 800 cartons of it.....good thing you're a cutie pie Sam!

Oh no!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

With the weekend behind me I am looking forward to a better week until.....

I went downstairs to get my freezer pack for the breast milk out of the freezer and realized the door was partially open – I opened the freezer and found all my stash partially thawed – I FREAKED out – I was screaming, crying, cussing – I was beside myself – of course no one would confess to leaving it open – I got Sam to daycare (late) and cried when I told Miss Pam what happened. Then I got to work and cried when my govt customer asked me how my weekend was…. I am just so upset! I have about 100 oz in there and as with Sam my pump supply stinks – I have been pumping on the weekends to compensate but I need that freezer stash for peace of mind when I don’t pump enough. Anyway, I tightly closed the freezer door and will add “My freezer stash” to my daily prayers (God Bless Sam, Hannah…and my freezer stash). I will thaw some out tonight and do a taste test…..

As any mom does in this day and age I consulted Mr Google and felt a huge weight come off my shoulders when I read this: “The researchers took frozen breast milk and thawed it, refroze it, refrigerated it and left it out at room temperature. Essentially, they beat it up. What did they find? Breast milk is fairly robust and does not grow bacteria easily nor lose vitamins A and C or free fatty acids (FFA) to any degree that would harm a full term baby.”

Oh heavens – I really hope this is the case for me – I cannot imagine losing all my milk…….

Thank goodness the weekend is over!!!

Sam has been fighting his crusty eyes for a few days and then Friday around noon Miss Pam called to tell me Sam had a fever – ugh! He seemed happy but I picked him up anyway. He was half asleep on the ride home but once home he fought his nap - he finally slept for an hour and when he woke his fever was up to 102. He was pretty grumpy all day (obviously, he was sick!) and only wanted mommy – Mark was on the 9/11 Memorial Bike Ride and my MIL helped with Hannah. I got Hannah down and then proceeded to try to get Sam to bed.

We interrupt this story for a side story:

I decided to try to get Hannah to nap in Sam’s crib to see how she would do. Well I was checking the monitor and Sam saw it and said “Hey, that’s my crib!” I told him yep! The he burst into tears and told me to get her out cuz she was going to “Poop in his crib” – I told him she would not poop in his crib and besides she has a diaper on. He didn’t care – he wanted her OUT! She happen to be awake anyway so we went upstairs and I got her – when I picked her up Sam shouts “she pooped in my crib!!!” she didn’t…. but he was sure she did…oy! That night when I went to put Sam to bed he said “No, that’s Hannah’s crib – I want to sleep in the big boy bed!” I was like “ok sure”! Yeah that lasted a whole 10 mins – as soon as I left he cried and got out of bed –so back in the crib he went…..

Ok back to the story…. So I get Sam to bed finally only to be woken up a few hours later with him sobbing – I knew he was sick so I got Hannah in her co-sleeper (she was in the bed with me) and brought Sam in my bed – he was very quiet at first THEN he just started crying – ugh – I knew he didn’t feel well but I was like “shhh your gonna wake up Hannah!” Remember Mark isn’t here and Sam only wanted me and I had to have Hannah in there since 1) that is where her bed is and 2) I nurse her – so MIL couldn’t really help. Over the next 10 hours one of them was always awake – except from 1-3am – they both slept, as did I. It was a looonnngggg night!!!!

His fever broke during the night cuz when I checked him he was a mass of wetness – soaked head to toe!

Sunday was fairly ok but his fever returned at bedtime – hopefully it will be gone by tomorrow.

To top it off we had thunderstorms every.single.day – we even had hail – I mean really bad hail – so bad I thought they windows were going to crack – why is this bad? Oh cuz Sam is afraid of thunder. I have tried to tell him that thunder is the angels bowling but he doesn’t care….. we went to pick up mark on Sunday and we were having a huge storm and Sam fell asleep in the car seat with his hands over his ears… poor Sammers!

I have never been so happy for a weekend to be over!!!

Life with a Toddler

When Sam grows up....

At school today Miss Megan asked all the kids what they wanted to be when they grow up.... Sam replied "a Daddy"!  =)

Tiny Hands

I love these tiny chubby hands and will miss them so much when he is grown

Mothers hold their child's hand for a short while.... their hearts forever.

Literally

I went in to get Sam this morning and his room was dark (as usual) and he tells me his eyes are yucky. I assume he has "sleep" in them and say "Oh the sandman came last night and put sand in your eyes!  The sand makes your eyes very heavy so you fall asleep!  Sam of course says "I dont like sand in my eyes" - anyway, when he gets up I realize they are all crusty (not pink eye crusty but just yucky) so we wash his face and off to school we go.  When I pick up Sam that afternoon Miss Megan tells me that when she saw Sam she said "Oh Sammy your eyese are red" and he said "yeah, I got sand in my eyes".  I burst out laughing and explained that no, he didnt get sand in his eyes... it was just the sandman - LOL!  Guess I need to watch what I tell Sam these days -

God

Sam wasnt being very nice to Hannah....

Me: You better be nice God is watching you
Sam: God?
Me: Yep
Sam: Where is he?
Me: He is way up high in the sky
Sam: Above the clouds?
Me: Yes
Sam: Way up in the high sky?
Me: yep
Sam: Can I see him?
Me: No, but he can see you and he wants you to be nice to your sister
Sam: I like God
Me: Good!  God likes you too!
Sam: Is God with the Angels?  he knows that the angels are "bowling" when he hears thunder"
Me: yep
Sam: Who is God?
... ok, I went to catholic school for 9 years and when he said this I went blank - I was like ummm, how do I answer this question????
Me: God created the Earth and the birds and the creek and me and you!
Sam: God gave us Hannah??
Me: He sure did - wasnt that nice of him?!
Sam: Yeah, I love Mommy and Daddy, and Hannah and God!
Me: We love you too buddy!
Sam: Is God gonna come down here?
Me: No but he is watching you!
Sam: Oh!  I like him!

 - Then I scooped him up and gave him a great big hug and kiss -

Cameron Station reunion aka: Condo Kids Collide!

In July 2007 we moved from St Leonard, MD to Alexandria VA - we bought a condo at the Cameron Station Condominiums and met a wonderful group of people!  At the time none of us had kids (well, technically Mark had Zac and Josh but for my post we wont count them - LOL).  So, as I was saying, none of us had kids. We all quickly became friends and shared meals and drinks out in the courtyard - it was awesome!  I was the first to get preg and had Sam in Sept 2008.  Shortly after that Naomi had Anna.... Tracy had Mia....Andrea had Adam.... Chris had Nat......Lynette had James.... then I had Hannah..... then Martha had Ali.   Now it was a full house!  How funny in just a few years we went from no kids to 8 kids between all of us!

We decided it would be great to have a reunion of sorts and get everyone together - we met in the courtyard and just shared some food and caught up - it was a great time and certainly something I hope we can do every year.  Here are some pictures of the day:

Future BFF's - Hannah and Ali

Sam wanted to help

I was painting my toes and Sam wanted to help.... he did a great job dont you think?  =)

Mark came in the living room and was like OMG what happened! He thought i was bleeding... lol

When Sam grows up....

... he is going to carry Hannah all day and show her all around the house and to the squirrels and birds too!  (his words not mine)

♥

The Evolution of a Sentence

When Sam was 12 months old he had 1 word.

At 15 months he had 3.

I was starting to get worried and wondered if he would ever talk and then at 16 months his vocabulary exploded! I think he had upwards of 25 words that month. As he got older his vocab got bigger and bigger and then came the sentences.

At first it was hard to understand most of what he said but I quickly learned what he meant.

By age 2 he was a chatterbox just like his daddy! His sentences would go something like this:

Daddy work?

Then it was:

Daddy at work?

Today it was:

Is my dad at work today?

He has been using sentences for a long time now but this morning it hit me – wow, he speaks in complete sentences now. I told him yes, daddy was at work and he replied:

Did he take the motorcycle or the car?

I was having a regular convo with my son – how cool is that!!!

What a difference a few months can make in the life of a toddler … oh and lately he calls us “mom” and “dad” – cracks me up when he does this cuz it makes him seem sooo grown up! Its even funnier when he yells “Spark!” lol

The Kissing Hand

We pulled out some new books this weekend – one of which was The Kissing Hand – It’s the sweetest story about a little raccoon who doesn’t want to go to school – he wants to stay home and play with his toys and friends. The mom tells him its ok to be a little scared but school is fun and he will have a great time. Then she tells him a little secret – its called the kissing hand – she opens his palm and places a kiss inside and tells him that all he has to do is hold his hand to his cheek and know his momma loves him.

Well this morning as we are leaving for school Sam runs over to Hannah, opens her hand and kisses her palm – then looks at me and says “Hannah has a kissing hand too!”

My heart melted….

Life with a Toddler

Our trip to the zoo!

There is a small zoo in Norristown - about 30 mins away called Elmwood Park Zoo - it has 16 acres and around 150 animals (so the brochure says) so we thought it would be a fun thing to do.  Hannah was Miss Perfect as usual and just soaked it all in and took a little nap.  Sam was a mix of happiness and whiny boy -  but I guess that about sums up any toddler, huh?  LOL

We had to get Hannah in a picture - haha

Sam's first pony ride

Right after this pic he started to cry - he wanted off!!!

His favorite part -the alligator!!