It's Like Christmas All Over Again!

So says my five-year old, who has been "celebrating" Christmas for three months now. He takes random toys from around the house (believe me, there is plenty to choose from, I swear the stuff is breeding) and "wraps" them in one of Dad's boots (for a stocking, don't you know?) or in one of my dish towels.

Then he "gives" them to his brother or sister or me. By "give" I mean, he says it is for you, then proceeds to unwrap it himself and tell you all about it, but don't you dare actually try to take the toy and play with it!

I finally got so tired of him carrying around his father's boots (of questionable cleanliness) that I went out to the garage and gave him his actual stocking.

Although, I have to admit, think about how much better off our finances would be if I could just wrap up any old thing around the house in a dishtowel and give it to someone as their present - especially if I get to then take it back, wrap it up again, and give it to someone else!

Somehow I think if I tried that at his next birthday, it wouldn't fly.


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WWJW - What Would Jesus Watch?

We had dinner at my parents' house last night (Yay Mom for making me a nice dinner when I am so sick!) and my husband drove the boys home in his truck (since he met us there after work) while I took the baby in the van.

He told me that on the way home, Isaac asked if God had DVDs in heaven. My husband said, in typical parental fashion, "What do you think?"

"No, I bet God has On Demand!"


Ahahahahahahahahah!!! I wonder if He watches America's Next Top Model with as much anticipation as the rest of the world? LOL

This Is What Happens When You Get Up at 5 AM Every Freakin' Day

Dear Son,

Please sleep later in the morning. This way you can avoid these crash'n'burns in the middle of the floor surrounding by spilled Cheerios. Also, I'd enjoy sleeping longer in the morning.

Thank you,
Mommy

Second Son, NOT Same as the First

When I found out our second baby was also going to be a boy, I knew theoretically that they would be different, but in reality, I totally prepared for the baby to follow in his brother's footsteps.

Boy, was I wrong! The adage "no two children are alike" is true. So very true. I am sorry I doubted you, adage.

Our first son had colic, and cried almost constantly (or that was what it felt like at least) for the first four months. Second son was a peach! He slept through the night after only a few weeks, and the best part was that he didn't wail for three hours before doing it, either. Isaac, even up through age two or three, took a lot of work to put to bed and usually still cried or fussed himself to sleep for a few minutes. Thad was so easy - you just laid him down and walked away. No fuss, no muss.

Of course, as Thad grew out of babyhood and into toddlerhood, the personality differences became much clearer. Thad is a very happy child, but on the rare occasions he got upset or mad, it was like a hurricane blew in, wreaked havoc, and then left - all in the space of minutes!

Thad is now three years old. He was a really late talker - in fact, he is still catching up to his peer level. We have had some concerns over his developmental delays. At 2 1/2 to 3 years old it is hard to tell whether he is just displaying extreme toddler angst or if there are deeper issues at hand. We've had evaluations done, but no one was willing to give a hard and firm diagnosis - we'd have to take him down to Children's hospital in Seattle to do that, and I am just not willing to put him through that yet. The evaluations done here were harrowing enough.

These local evaluations did qualify him for occupational and speech therapy, which we will start soon. They also qualified him for the public pre-school program aimed at children with developmental delays. He started the one-on-one prep class with his teachers in December and has done really well; we hope to integrate him into the classroom with the other children soon!

He is such a soft-hearted sweetie with a 1,000-watt smile! When he is adorable, he is the most adorable boy on earth. When he is cranky, you want to tear your hair out! I am not sure which son is more persistent - they just wear you down in different ways!

One of my favorite Thad quirks is how he will ask for something 23 billion times until you finally say, "Oh, Thad, would you like some pretzel sticks?" and then he will happily say, "Okay!" like it was all your idea - and a great one at that.

Another thing he does is say thank you - to everything. He'll be having a temper tantrum over watching a show and I'll get down and take away the DVD case as his punishment and when he calms himself down, I'll give it back to him and make him put it away. "Thanks" he says. Hahaha. Silly boy.

For a long time, he wouldn't give hugs, but he has now decided hugs are awesome, so he gives everyone one! He likes to reach around both your arms and squeeze with all his little three-year-old strength. I just love it!

I have a feeling that Thad will give us a hefty set of challenges that are completely different than his older brother's; I also think he'll bring us some of life's greatest joys. My heart swells when I spend time with Thad - he has that effect on you!

No Etsy Seller of the Week this Week

Why, you ask?

Well, I forgot. Ha!

Our baby has been waking up in the middle of the night the last few nights and it takes about 2 hours to get her back to sleep again. I am pretty wiped out and as a result, my brain is foggy.

I'll be more ahead of the game next week, I hope!

So, instead, I'll share a story about my family life - lucky you!


I usually manage to luck out during the week and have at least one grandma available to watch at least one of the kiddos. But not Wednesday last week. My mom was working or busy all week and my mother-in-law had watched the boys the day before so I could get some orders made and mailed.

So, I hauled all of us into town to both the post office (where I had to stand in line because I had international packages to mail) and the shop where I sell, to restock. First of all, hauling three little ones under age five ANYWHERE is not pleasant and takes about 1/2 your day just to get them all ready and loaded in the van. Then, my 4-month old is apt to cry when we are still 15 minutes from anywhere. Which then makes the almost-five year old start yelling and crying. And that sets off the three-year-old, who doesn't cry when the baby does, but will start yelling when his older brother does.

So usually by the time I've got them all dressed, fed, in the car, and then listened to all three of them lose their minds for the last 15 minutes - you can see that I am not really in the mood to haul them all out of the car and actually be seen in public. Which is why I never go anywhere.

I keep telling myself that in a couple years or so, this won't be nearly as much of an issue. Then I think "what if it is?" and get a mental image of driving around with a crying 12-, 15-, and 17-year old in the car; which makes me laugh and I can somehow make it through that moment without selling any of them.

So, we get to the co-op where I sell. I madly put out the measly few things I've managed to make above and beyond orders that week and pay my rent. Meanwhile, I've got the baby strapped to my chest, and my head is on constant swivel to make sure my boys aren't destroying anything (the 3-year-old managed to "redistribute" about fifty business cards from other tables the last time I took him with me.) But we get in and out without any damage and not even any screaming! I am thrilled.

On to the post office! If you've stuck with me this long - well, I am impressed! :) Thankfully the line isn't very long. My younger son immediately starts walking laps around the island divider thing that separates the line from the counter. Then my oldest decides to follow him, which quickly erupts into a game of chase. I put a stop to that immediately and praise God they listened to me and kept it to a walk after that.

The highlight of the trip was when my three-year-old stopped in front of the waste bin, pointed to the "W" in "Waste" and said, "W!"

I don't even know if my almost-five-year old could point out a W! I have tried working with him, but he is way more interested in drawing trains. He knows the alphabet, and the letters in his name and that is about all he cares to know right now. I figure he still has a year of pre-school and kindergarten to learn these things, so no pressure!

After the post office, I had to sit in the van in the parking lot and nurse the baby. No way was she going to make it the 20-plus minute drive home and no way was I going to listen to the kids screaming that whole way!

Well, there was a little slice of my life. I made it back home in one piece, and so did the kids. Although if you had told me 10 years ago that going to the post office and dropping in on a shop would take me three hours from the moment I put on my shoes to the moment I took them off back home again, I would have laughed you out the door!

Might I just add one thing? I love my kids to bits! As much as they can drive me crazy, being crazy is the best thing that has ever happened to me! :)

Wheeee! Snow!!

I love snow. I love to see my yard covered in snow. So I was thrilled when it snowed all day yesterday. We now have seven glorious inches covering all the trees, grass, deck, fence - it is so beautiful! And instead of warming up immediately and melting away, it is a nice and toasty 20 degrees out. So the snow is still all sparkly fresh!

Ok, so some things I don't like about snow and cold weather. . .our electric bill, for one. Icy roads for another. Not being able to take the boys outside to play in it because it is TOO cold, yet they still can see it out the window and ask to go outside every 10 minutes.

Thaddeus (17 months) wasn't too thrilled about it yesterday. I pulled him around in his little sled and he was barely ok with that, but when I tried to get him to walk in it, he just stood still, like a stuffed bunny in his big puffy snowsuit, and refused to move. Isaac, however, finally has turned the corner. He is three and thinks snow is about the best thing EVER - which thrills his dad, because he is exactly the same way.

My husband is nuts over snow. If it is on the verge of snowing, he won't even sleep. He just lays in bed, staring out the window, waiting. It drives me crazy because if it does snow, he is too tired the next day to even really enjoy it, and if it doesn't snow, well, then he is just tired and crabby.

Anyway, here is a picture of our yard in the snow! :)