Can I talk to my dad?

Logan’s 1st experience talking on the phone.

iPod

So the older boys are jamming and listening to their music and Logan is feeling sad because he wants to listen to  music too.

So he says, “Hey, Mom, can we just stop at the store real quick and get me an iPod?”

This from a three year old!  Ha!  If only it were that easy….

A season of change….

This fall there will be quite some changes for our oldest son. They will be rough changes, and may even hurt, but the end result will be magnificent!

The first change:

On September 30th Isaac will be getting braces. He has a terrible cross bite that they have been trying to fix with his front two teeth for almost two years. They put something called “ramps” on them to extend them and help correct his jaw, but there’s been little change over years when this was supposed to take months. Add to that two of the other front teeth are also behind bottom teeth. So we’re getting nowhere. (Plus he keeps chipping off the enamel from the ramps, but that’s a whole different story!)

So the best solution to this problem (and to avoid worse problems in the future with his jaw) is to put braces on. The braces will be on for six to eight months. So by next summer, he should have a brand new smile!

The second change:

Isaac was referred to an ENT for his large tonsils. The ENT did a scope to look at the tonsils and adenoids and highly recommended they come out very soon. His adenoids are almost completely blocking his nasal passage, which explains his breathing issues and speech problems, and his tonsils are doing the same in his throat.

So on October 26th he will be having a tonsillectomy and adenoidectomy. If there are no complications (and because he’s older), he will be able to come home the same day.

He has a prescription specifically from the surgeon for two weeks of ice cream (or “rice cream” in his case, or sorbet—no dairy for him) for only him. He is not to share it with anyone because you don’t share your prescriptions. :) And it is the only time I will ever let him eat ice cream for breakfast.

Although the outcome of this surgery will be a very good thing, Isaac is quite nervous about it. Any support, encouragement and prayers are appreciated. He will have to essentially relearn how to talk and will get worse before he gets better.

I keep telling him that he will be a changed boy within a few months time!

Where’s the real dinosaurs?

On a recent visit to the zoo, my boys were quite excited about the special dinosaur exhibit (robotic) that was there.  Isaac and Eli had seen this before, years ago, but it was a first for Logan. 

We decided to wait until after lunch to see the dinosaurs thinking it would be less crowded.  This was very hard for  Logan because he was so excited about these dinos.

Finally the time came.  We were walking through and as I was pointing out the different dinosaurs, I felt a tug on my shirt from Logan. 

“Yes, Logan.”

I lean down and he whispers in my ear, “Mom, where are the  REAL dinosaurs?”

He was so disappointed that these dinosaurs weren’t real that he didn’t even enjoy the robotic ones.  Poor kid.  Makes sense though.  Every other animal we saw was alive, so he was assuming the dinosaurs would be alive too.

Busy with summer

Here I sit wondering how another whole week went by and I didn’t blog at all.  One reason:  summer. 

Funny how when spring is upon us and we’re anticipating summer, I always wonder how will we ever have time to just go to the beach for the day or the pool or have playdates at the park.  There’s too much to do!  And then summer comes and I go, oh, yeah, there’s time.  Other things get put aside.  It’s the lazy days of summer.

This week was a hot one.  On Monday I had to report for  jury duty bright and early.  After going through all the procedures, we were waiting to be escorted up to the courtroom and the baliff came down to tell us the case had been settled.  I was quite happy because this meant I got out of three days of sitting through a trial.  Woo hoo!

On Tuesday we went to the beach with Auntie T and Cousin Matthew.  The boys had a blast.  And it was nice to see my long lost sister.  I had not seen her in a month!

After the beach, we went to pick up a new member of the family:  a leopard gecko.  The boys were so excited!  The gecko came with the name “Louie” from his previous family, but the boys wanted to change it to “Lightning.”  Then it was changed to “Thunder” by Logan.  A couple of us keep calling him “Cricket,” because that’s what he eats.  “Did you feed Cricket?”  The boys will say, “Mom, he’s a LIZARD!'”  Oops.  So we’re thinking of changing his name to “Cricket” just because some of us keep calling him that.

The boys love the lizard and are having fun catching crickets to feed him.  He does have cute little eyes, but other than that, I stay away from him.  Josh is quite taken with him too. 

The rest of our week consisted of pool days or beach days.  Not much else to do when the temperature is 90 and the humidity is 100%.  I am looking forward to cooler days, but I am also just trying to enjoy these last hot days of summer. Before we know it those cool day will turn to cold days and then frozen days and we’ll all be stuck inside. 

Not sure when school will be starting around here.  I have finally decided on all our curriculum and it will be ordered this week.  We’re sticking with a literature-based curriculum as our core and adding it lots of other stuff.  The boys are even going to be learning Spanish this year and I  hope I will be too.  I found a GREAT deal on Rosetta Stone. 

That’s all around here.  Josh went fishing this morning and caught about 20 blue gills (BIG ones!) so we’re getting ready to fry those up.  Yum!

Catch ya later!

Blessings.

My lil’ cows…

 

Aren’t they the cutest cows you’ve ever seen?

Camden didn’t want to take this off!

Stuck at home

This is what you end up resorting to when you’re stuck home all week in the summer with no car.

Two years

Camden had his two-year check up.

He weighs 26 lbs., which puts him in the 25th percentile for weight.  And he is 35 in., which puts him in the 75th percentile for height. 

I still can’t believe he’s two.

He is repeating EVERYTHING that’s said around here and putting two or three words together.

We often hear him say, “Ow.  That hurt.”

Or, “I try” (referring to food or a drink that you have).

Or, “I wanna go out” (referring to going outside).

He listens carefully to what is around him and repeats it all.  Very funny. 

We’ve gone through a recent terrible phase with sleeping issues, but I feel like there may be a light at the end of the tunnel.  He slept through the night two nights ago (a miracle!), but was up again last night.

One night I was so exhausted that I plopped him down in the recliner, where he quickly fell asleep, and I propped pillows up along him and went back to my own bed.  :)

I woke up at 5:30 a.m. and came out to check on him.  I found him laying on the floor.  Oops!  Apparently he fell out of the recliner but never woke up. 

It’s terrible the things I’ve resorted to at night.  I feel like a bad mom sometimes, but it has been two years of this and some nights I am so exhausted. 

Overall, I see him growing out of the baby phase and entering into the toddler phase.  Seeing as how he’s the fourth, he is constantly wanting to do the big boy stuff and I’m sure will appear older than he is.  This makes me both sad and happy.  Sad that we’re forever done with the baby stage, but happy for the independence it brings.

Brown Cow Fest

So last Saturday we attended Brown Cow Fest.  For those of you who don’t know what this is, it’s basically a dairy farmer throwing a party. 

Logan and Camden were thrilled that the cows were right there by the people and they didn’t have to hike a 1/2 mile to see them, like they do at home.  They could just hang out by the fence watching the cows.  And that’s just what they did.  Sat and watched the cows.  Mooed to the cows.  Talked to the cows.  Threw apples at the cows.  It was pure cow heaven for those two little cow lovers.

As we were leaving (with our two little ones yelling “MOO!”—which I guess must be “goodbye” to the cows), Logan says to me, “I wish I could live here forever.”

“Where, here at the farm?”

“Yes, Mom, with the cows.”

It didn’t seem to matter whether Mom or  Dad or brothers were with him on the farm.  Just as long as the cows were close by.  Yes, I think when he says he’s going to be a farmer, there may  just be some truth to that.