Workin' on the Work

Well, we are finally getting back in the swing of things...only a few hitches along the way! I am back to work (at home that is), the big AJ is back at school part time and little AJ is home with me. The little one is sick, sick , sick! He has RSV right now and we just started breathing treatments in an effort to make it a little easier for him to breath. So far so good! I feel like we were sick the entire month of December and off to a great start of being sick the entire month of January. I pray we are all better soon and things will start to get a little easier.

Now that I am off bedrest and starting to have some sort of a schedule (as fractured as it may be), I can't wait to start working on the work again! We have come a long way with #1 in the last few months. He is FINALLY starting to call the colors by their names instead of by their train color which is a HUGE step in the right direction. Now, we are working on counting. For some reason #1 has no problem counting to three, but then he either starts over or skips to nine. He is such a nut. Needless to say, I am starting to put together some learning games to help him with counting,patterns, predicting and soon the alphabet. They will obviously be train centered, but I will share once I have them all completed!

A Day with Family

My mom was in town for the weekend. It was so great to see her because she lives pretty far away. So, we went over to spend the afternoon with my mom (Mimi), my aunt (Surgi) and my grandmother (Nana).

On our trip over we stopped by this outstanding educational store that is unfortunately going out of buiness. Their misfortune was our awesome find. I got severl great things for AJ's totschool. I bought 2 different sets of picture cards. One set has everyday words on oneside and a picture on another. The other set was all kids of transportation cards. 1 card had a picture of a type of transportation (like a boat) and the word on the back. Then, there was a second card with a peek-a-boo picture that you could match up to determine the whole pictures (for example: there might be a peek-a-boo picture of a tire and you had to match it up to the truck). I also bought 2 posters that had opposites and rhyming words. I plan to cut those up and laminate for later. But, the big find was a set of foam blocks (orig. marked $45.99, marked down to $25.00 with an additional 30% off). In total I spent only $33 for all our treasure. I am super excited.

Needless to say that was a not so quick detour, but we still made it to Nana's in time. AJ was super excited to see Mimi and Surgi. He immediately ran up to them and held both their hands.

Mimi had a really special present for Nana....it was an accordian names Ruby. You see, when Nana moved her precious accordian was lost over 30 years ago. She still talks about it all the time, so the kids decided to suprise her with a new one. We had no idea if she would still remember how to play!

The moment Mimi opened the case, Nana could not believe her eyes. She could not stop smiling! It was such a beautiful moment! She slipped it right on and started playing!

I guess it is like riding a bike because she played every song she could think of... from polkas to She's comin' around the Mountain (she even played You are my Sunshine and Camptown Racers).


AJ just sat back and listened intently to all the music. Then, while we all ooggled and aggled he dove right in to building with his new blocks!




After about an hour of listening to all the beautiful music (and a few not so great moments when Mimi attempted to play) we decided to head off to get dinner. No Nap AJ did pretty good at dinner, it got a bit hairy at the end so Mimi and Surgi took him outside to ride on the carousel. He loved it!



The next evening, Mimi baby sat AJ so Daddy and I could finally go see Avatar! But, before we took off, I snapped a few pics of AJ and his Mimi. AJ didn't Mimi to leave when it was time for his nap, so he made her lay down and then he covered her up before he snugged up with her. It was so precious!




We were all very sad to drive Mimi to the airport. We just hope to see her again soon! We love you and miss you!

A Day out with Daddy

Daddy came home early from work on Friday and decided to show AJ how to play croquet. No matter how many times daddy set it up, AJ just ran behind him, picked up the flags and moved them. It was so cute to watch through. AJ also didn't want to use the mallet to hit the ball. He liked the stakes instead!

Here are a few pics of AJ trying to play:


Then, Daddy took out to a late picnic lunch at the park! We had happy meals and icecream! It was such a nice time! I love when daddy comes home to play with us!

Battle Scar...

I recently came across a thread in my mom's group from a mom who was befuddled by her constant battle to get her toddler into his car seat. I could totally identify with this mom's overwhelming feeling of complete frustration at this constant battle. As I read it, I couldn't help but reminisce about my own battle the other day...

As always, we are late getting out of the house. AJ is totally uncooperative. He does not want to get his toys ready to go or put his shoes on in fact and I get my purse together to leave I see him out of the corner of my eye in the process of removing his pants. I peek at the clock...ugg I should have left 10 minutes ago. I take a deep breath because I want to scream...at him, at the situation, at my utter frustration. At the fact, I gave myself extra time to ensure we got out of the house on time and instead my son is half naked...AGAIN! Instead, like a good mom, I close my eyes...count to five...breath deep and accept the situation. He is not even 2 I remind myself. I accept that fact that we will be late AGAIN...whatever. It won't be the first time and I guarantee it won't be the last!

As I near AJ and collect his discarded attire, he sprints off to hide under his train table. Evading capture, he runs to the other side of the island and we play a frustrating game of ring around the Rosie. He is laughing...me...I can feel the anger creeping up! So, I decide to just ignore the pestilence and decide to take him the way he is. So what if it is 50 degrees outside and he is in a shirt and diaper...

I tell him we are leaving. Put his clothes in my ever bulging bag and realized I have traded my school backpack once filled with 50lbs of books for a diaper bag/ purse/ lunch box/ kitchen sink. I grab AJ's Halloween bucket, throw in a few toys and walk out the door. As the door swings shut behind me, I hear AJ banging on the window. Ahh, he is finally ready to leave!

As I open the door, he comes running into my arms. I thankfully swing him onto my hip, so what if I am now loaded with a 50lb bag and a 30lb baby. We are out of the door! Success is so sweet!

I launch my bag into the front seat and open the back door to put AJ in. As I sit down and start to turn AJ to get him into his seat I notice he is starting to try to crawl over my shoulder and over the car seat into the front seat. Oh No, you don't! I twist and turn, push and pull. AJ is screaming...NO! NOOOO! He grabs my hair as he tries some evasive maneuvers to avoid capture. By this time, all limbs are involved even my head is being utilized to try to force this beast into his cage. I just freeze for a moment waiting as see some people walking by give me THE GLANCE. You know the one... not the "I know what you are going through" glance ...not even "the I've been there" glance, but the "Look at this Crazy Lady" glance. You know the one where they glance back a few time to make sure you aren't beating your child kind of glance! Uggh!

But, I can't let up! I seize the moment when AJ pauses from his back arching acrobatic moves for a brief breath. I slip the straps on despite this thrashing and hair pulling manage to get the click. Oh, the click...you know the one! In a full sweat, I slowly remove each body part banging my head on the ceiling as I get out of the back seat.

At this point, I am on the verge of tear. I just want to scream, curse...something. Instead, I just get in the front seat and blast the AC check out my mangled hair. Why did I even bother to do it this morning? I close my eyes for a moment to avoid the flow of tear threatening to break loose. Bruise and beaten, I long for the days of absolute freedom. The days when I would hop in the car, roll the windows down with no where to go and no time to be there and just drive. Imagining where I might go, I contemplate scrapping my plans and just taking AJ to the shop and dropping him off with his father. A few precious moments of freedom. But, just as think my mind is made up, I open my eyes to my smiling little boy calling out "Mama..wuve oo!"

It is all the motivate I need to put the car in reverse and start on our journey out. Only 15 minutes late...I can still make it!

When you are handed Lemons...

You never realize how dependant you are on technology until it fails. This has been my experience for the last week. I started my week with my work/school website crashing. Actually, it was accidentally deleted by a co-worker trying to learn the program. This lead to a scramble to try to get something back upquickly for my kids. Then, in the process of my frustration, my work computer...my lifeline to the world also decided to crash. Note to self...no matter how upset, do not hit computer...it will not run well after said smash!

So, I spent all weekend on the phone with tech support trying to see if they could fix it remotely...no luck! In the mean time, I have spent every free second rebuilding my website, keeping up with students and trying to do all my work from my hubbies computer. This should have been a relatively easy transfer, but it actually much more complicated because I haven't backed up my computer in ages. This meant I lost MANY of my files, but hopefully tech support can salvage them. Oh, and I hope they don't notice the few missing letters that AJ pulled off during destruction time one day!

So, all this being said...I am backed up on posts. I have lots to share! Today, I will show you how I kept AJ busy during my meltdown. He had a blast! So, when life hands you lemons (and left over oranges from your trees)...

First, put some of the leftover lemons in a basket and drag inside. Encourage your child to pile all those oranges and lemons onto his/her dump truck...because you know he/she loves scooting around on it!

Then, have said child haul butt from one end of the kitchen to the other end pushing his/her dump truck. Careful not to fall!

Unload said lemons and oranges into the bucket...
Haul butt back to the other end of the kitchen to drop off more...

When completely out of energy from running back in forth in the kitchen, sit down and inspect the produce. Then, go take a nap! A nice LONG nap while mommy cries because she has to rebuild her entire website! :)

No lemons were hurt in the course of this activity, so all you produce lovers...HAVE NO FEAR!!!