25 Things I've Learned Through Parenting

I posted these on my facebook profile a while back, but they still hold true today. Even the comb over part.


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1. Oxiclean.
2. The comb over looks just as silly on a 2 year old as it does an old man. 
3. You don't need to spend a ton of money on toys. Sometimes a plastic bowl filled with water and a sponge are enough to keep busy for hours.
4. My dog is a saint.
5. While I covet uninterrupted sleep, I quietly enjoy the few minutes I get with my baby every night. It reminds me of those early days with her.
6. I loved my husband like crazy before, but nothing beats watching him be a dad.
7. Not only did the love in my heart grow with each child, but so did my arms' capacity to carry exponentially more stuff and little people. 
8. I actually look forward to sloppy kisses.
9. If I clean up the playroom the night before, I feel like a whole different person in the morning. My stress level is so much less when it's picked up.
10. If there aren't stains on it, it can be reworn. This goes for their clothes and mine.
11. A happy marriage makes for happy kids (I actually learned this one from my parents, but now that I live it, it means so much more)
12. I never thought I'd be so happy to hear a baby cry as I was on that first day.
13. I never go anywhere without at least 3 binkies. If I do decide to "run" somewhere and forget, inevitably, THAT'S the time that she'll use those lungs to their highest capacity.
14. Did I mention Oxyclean?
15. My 2 year old eats as much as a full grown man. I don't know where he puts it.
16. Grapes, waffles, ritz crackers, and PBJ have gotten us through many a meal. And that's ok.
17. Mr. Noodle is a silly, silly man. And Sesame Street is just as much for adults as it is for kids.
18. Dandelions are magical.
19. Mirrors are also magical. 
20. Routine is important; so is being able to bend said routine.
21. I will never have blue eyed children. 
22. The sweetest sound is hearing my son sing.
23. A small calculator provides hours of entertainment.
24. Grocery shopping solo is a rare, but exciting treat.
25. A good babysitter is worth every penny.

My blog is not fancy...

...but I guess that is fitting for my life. We aren't showy people here. In fact, a couple weeks ago, we did The Big Closet Purge of '11 and gave four bags to goodwill. Mostly some still-decent stuff from college (which couldn't really be that many years ago, right?), and some that Stacy and Clinton would have loved to use as fodder on their show. But now it looks like we're moving out. As a result of the great giveaway, I now find myself wearing the same clothes overandoverandover again.

I'm also very thankful for Febreze :)

Well, so much for that...

Allow me to quote the last line from my previous blog post.

"Maybe I'll blog again before we have our third child ;)"

So about that...

Cara Nicole was born in April 2011 and I most definitely did NOT blog before I had my third child. Whoops! It was a pretty uneventful pregnancy - we found out when we were about 30 seconds pregnant, so it was an impossibly long 39 weeks, but I survived. She was born in a hurry, and appropriately on 4/13, giving me one of my favorite Bible verses from Philippians to recite through the lesser contractions. She's such a peach - I wish each and every one of you could meet her. You'd honestly want to give her a pony.

The only real speedbump in the pregnancy was that I did end up with Bell's Palsy at 36 weeks, which was very surreal and bizarre. If you've ever known anyone who has had it, you know what I'm talking about. I basically lost the use of the entire left side of my face for 3+ months. Friday I was fine, and Saturday, I had no moving parts on the left. Couldn't pucker, couldn't wiggle my nose, couldn't close my eye or lift my eyebrow. I told God that I was really OK with this whole thing (though I could definitely see how it could throw someone into a very depressed state), as long as I could get my eye back and my mouth back. I told Him He could keep the forehead wrinkles. See? Compromise.

That was the end of March. I didn't get "full" use of my face back until July. I say "full" because it still feels strange to me around my mouth and cheek, though outwardly you'd never know. It was most definitely a test of faith and my optimistic nature though. Every twitch caused much rejoicing, and every time I could close my

eye a little more, even if it was only a millimeter, was awesome. It was hard to go out in public because I felt like I looked so strange, but my family truly kept me positive. Not once did my kids make a comment about my face. Not once did my husband make mention of the fact that I looked freakish. I love them all dearly.

And here they are (minus the biggest one... he's at work:)

WOW...

ok, first let me apologize.

I'm not much of a blogger, I guess. It's been nearly 10 months since I last blogged! A lot has happened in our lives since then - Asher has gotten a trillion teeth, taken his first steps, started running, spewing lots of words, knows several of his letters and numbers, and is starting Kindergarten! (ok, that last one is a lie) We've also welcomed another member of our family into the world - Joelle was born August 3, 2009 :) Asher loves her, the dog tolerates her, and we're smitten as well. She's had a pretty bad case of reflux these past 2 months, but we're hoping that with a little heartburn/reflux medication, she'll be able to sleep and eat much more comfortably. If I can figure out how to include pictures, I'll give you a peek at our princess!

(did that work? If it did, I'll try posting one of Asher, too!)

He's getting so big!

Our house is coming along, too. We've started tiling the kitchen floor, and just recently painted it a very bold brick red color. I was nervous that it might be too dark, but it's really homey! I'm loving it more and more each time I step into the room. It makes me want to paint all the other plain areas in our house. Next summer, the goal is to landscape the front, and work on putting in a patio out back. We're savers (as opposed to spenders), so it might be a challenge to get the dreams from our head into reality. We can go into Lowes and mentally spend thousands of dollars, and leave contentedly having spent nothing.

Time to take advantage of two sleeping kiddos - house cleaning time! Maybe I'll blog again before we have our third child ;)

Happy New Year!

It's been a while, blog world...

We've reached the 10 month mark! Ash is (mostly) sleeping through the night at this point, saying "dada" all over the place, pulling himself up all the time, climbing behind the couch, getting into our electronics, walking with help, standing without holding on (well... trying really hard... good thing his bum is padded!), and generally being a monkey and causing trouble. We love it! He has such a great personality. It's such a joy to wake up in the morning and see that little open-mouthed grin.

Asher's first Christmas was productive and fun. He got to visit with all his little baby cousins (all of whom were in bellies last Christmas), and meet some relatives he'd never had the opportunity to meet before. We still haven't been up to New York with him yet, but one of these weeks, we'll make the trek. I'd like for my NY friends to meet him, and it would give us the chance to see how long a 6 hour trip will *actually* take. Maybe we'll go when the weather shapes up. Right now, I think Syracuse has had over 100 inches of snow this winter. That's about 100 inches too many, in my opinion.

Which brings me to my next point. As much as I'd love to bundle him up and take him outside to get some "first winter/snow" pictures, I can't bring myself to do it. I don't like winter. Snow stinks. It's pretty the first time it falls every year, but after about a week, I'm over it. Hopefully my lack of interest in taking these pictures won't cause emotional scarring for years to come. I think he'll deal.

Anyhow, time to take those beloved monthly pictures! I can't wait to look back on these someday and see how much he grew from month to month. Hopefully he'll smile... maybe I'll give him a puff (or twenty) to distract him. :)

Asher - the Super Crouper

Hooray.

Asher has his first real cold.

I don't mean one of those little snot kind of colds - we're talking the mother of all colds.  Pulling on his left ear, fussing ALL night, coughing up small furry animals, and emitting enough green snot to fill the Grand Canyon.  

Up to this point, he'd been sleeping really well.  We had started solids, so he was getting more full at night after dinner, and sleeping longer stretches... and then *BAM*, this cold hits (or is it *BAM,*?).  He seemed out of sorts on Saturday, but slept really well that night... probably because we were out and about all day.  He was tired out!  Sunday, he developed this nasty hacking cough, and barely slept at night.  Needless to say, Monday was a rough day for both Adam and me at work. 

It's Thursday now, and aside from the occasional lingering hack, he's back to his normal, happy-go-lucky self.  I've heard that once they have Croup, it comes back often through their infant/toddler/young child years.  Awesome.  For now, sayonara, Croup, old friend... I hardly new ye.

Who does Asher look like?

MyHeritage: Look-alike Meter - Family search - Free family tree

Asher's life in pictures!

This version is definitely the best one... best $3.00 I ever spent :)

My first blog!

This blog is a way to keep in touch with our families through pictures, videos, and notes. Asher is growing like a weed... I can't believe he's almost 3 months old!