Is It Spring Yet?

My Superstar

Just for fun!!!

Those Two...

Today was a like a warm summer breeze -- something I only long for. Notice I said like -- there certainly was no warm summer breeze, but something else I usually only long for happened! Today the kids played pleasantly for nearly 30 minutes straight. The toys that we've accumulated over the last three years finally entertained the kids (rather than me being their source of entertainment), nobody got hurt (thus allowing me to remain seated for such an "extened" period of time), and nobody picked on anybody else or whined or complained about anybody else. Halleluiah!!!

However, it did amuse me that what kept Ashton enertained were Sadie's toys.

And what kept Sadie happy were Ashton's toys.
Don't ask me what I did during those 30 minutes; it's disappointing how I savored the time as my own. (I applied shoe polish to my hubby's shoes.) But that's not the point -- the 30 minutes is what's noteworthy.

That Sadie girl -- I swear -- every day she does a little bit more than she did the day before. She's been climbing anything and everything in order to stand up. Then, she's refined a little more the getting/falling down process. Yesterday, I found her literally going through and emptying out her toy box! Now today, she's actually (slowly and wobbly) moving along the object that's holding her up (i.e. coffe table), and going back and forth between it and whatever is nearby it (i.e. walking toy), always holding on to one or the other. This evening she went up 5 or 6 stairs before tiring out! Now if only I could get her to advance in the eating department! We did the rice cereal for a while, moved on to oatmeal (which I personally would much rather have), but because it gave her terrible diaper rash, we are now back to the rice cereal (1-2 T once a day). Now that the diaper rash is gone, I am afraid to present anything new! Perhaps I should give her cereal more often so she 1. can grow and get the nutrients she needs and 2. get better at this eating from a spoon thing! Duh.

And Ashton. Let's just say that his memory verse from Sunday school sums up our latest challenge. 2 Timothy 2:24 "Be kind to everyone." Yesterday Ashton bit his sister's ear. I was so mad at him -- perhaps the maddest ever. Had he bitten her ear any harder, we would have been in the ER. Fortunately, it only left teeth marks and varying shades of purple, pink, and red. And I'm trying to get him to not be so bossy and demanding. I've let it go on for a while now, because at first I was just happy to be able to understand him and communicate with him. Now we're practicing asking for things by saying, "May I ... please?" Lord help us. The other day we were at the library when Ashton saw Kyler. You know -- the Kyler -- the one who reads books and plays his guitar for children all over town, i.e. the library, the Toy Store, my father-in-law's church, etc. (Come to think of it, hiring Kyler to headline a child's birthday party might not be a bad idea.) Anyway, either Ashton was starstruck or else he's more like his mom than I knew. He was shy and bashful. I could identify with Ashton. While other kids were running up to Kyler, Ashton followed my all-too-common mantra "only speak when spoken too." That was my observation...

I've found myself rejoicing today at a new sister in Christ. A 12 year-old girl who is a family friend of ours, has a softball size cancerous tumor in her inner ear. God is using the Christian girl's family to draw others to Himself. Check it out. So anyway, it's reminded me: measly little me is rejoicing; imagine how much more our Lord and the angels are rejoicing!!! Ahh...I love it!!!

Random news. My left wrist hurts again from shoveling. I'm reminded that this is the wrist I fell on last year and sprained. No wonder. Walgreens went to uniforms...cracks me up seeing Aaron wearing the same royal blue dress shirt with Walgreens embroidery and matching neck tie (with the W emblem) every day. Ha ha ha. Sorry honey. I just don't get it -- a uniform dress shirt and tie?!?

Around Our House

We are going through another phase at the Belland house, or should I say zoo. One day Ashton wanted in baby Sadie's (there I go again -- calling her Baby Sadie, as if that was her proper name) crib. He climbed in and somebody brought it up that the crib is like a cage. Next thing I know, Ashton is pretending he's a caged giraffe. Well, that was at least a month ago and now here we are. Ashton no longer calls Sadie by her name like he used to; now she is "baby giraffe." Aaron and I are "zookeepers," and not just when "big brother giraffe" is in his cage; sometimes when big brother giraffe needs help on the toilet, even then he'll yell for one of his zookeepers. Ashton loves being a giraffe in Sadie's crib -- he takes naps, eats hay (megablocks), and does tricks for the zookeepers. Well, for the longest time, whenever both Aaron and I are off work, we refer to those days as "MommyDaddyAshyBabySadie" days. But as I was tucking Ashton into bed tonight and informing him of another MommyDaddyAshyBabySadie day to come tomorrow, he corrected me. It's a "BabyGiraffeBigBrotherGiraffeZookeeperOtherZookeeper day" tomorrow!

Another Ashton quirk: Ashton is a very neat, tidy, organized boy. He's always been bothered by drawers and cupboard doors not being completely closed. He takes a garment off and puts it in the hamper before he takes another piece off. He carries the tissue paper from his gift bag to the trash can before pulling out the actual gift. So I knew he was orderly, but I was reminded just how observant and organized he is when I went to reach in the refrigerator for the Velveeta cheese and instead grabbed the Glad Press'n Seal!? I guess because the Press'n Seal box looks so much like the Velveeta box, he thought the Press'n Seal was mistakenly placed in the aluminum foil drawer when it should be in the refrigerator right next to the other Velveeta cheese box!

Well it is Valentine's Day (thanks hun for the beautiful roses and calla lillies) and here I am sitting in my sweats and a t-shirt. But Aaron will be home from work any minute now so I think I will go change into something a little *sweeter*.

Ramblings

Sadie's second tooth came in Monday, February 4. She's a fast crawler now and she really likes those floor registers -- AGGHHH! She can almost climb up to a standing position, but sometimes only to her shins (if that make any sense). We definitely need to lower her bed again tomorrow. Anyway, she wants to be in these tedious positions so badly, but once she gets there, she can't quite hold her own, and often ends up falling. It doesn't make sense to me why she so badly wants to do that over and over again!

I ordered some new reusable grocery sacks online. I'm really digging them; they are fun. However, I was surprised by the material. It's like windbreaker material. Now I'll just wait and see how they actually work! I'm excited.

I've figured out how to remotely access my office computer from home, but I haven't worked out the kinks of getting the software programs I need. I'm tired of thinking about it.

Tonight Aaron and I went out for dinner while Aaron's family kept the kiddos. What a nice change! About 70% of the time Ashton likes to sit on Aaron's lap while we eat (as I type that I realize how ridiculous that is), so Aaron got to eat without Ashton on his lap, without Ashton climbing on him (he often stands while eating too), without wiping Ashton's fingers constantly in order to keep the two of them clean. I got to eat without having to constantly scoot stuff out of Sadie's grabby reach, without removing napkins from her mouth (yes, you read that correctly), and without shoveling my food in before Sadie's next impatient outburst. We got to eat at our own leisure and have adult conversation. Halleluia! Then we went and watched Fool's Gold -- a good movie. We picked Sadie up and now Ashton is having a sleepover at Oma & Opa's.

Yesterday Aaron asked me when we're going to have our next child. I had kind of assumed we'd space all our kids out like we did Ashton & Sadie -- aproximately 2 years apart. And I liked having a summer baby. But as I have been thinking about it more today, I've been thinking that it might be kind of nice to have the kids closer together so that we don't drag out the number of years before the last child leaves the house. If we got pregnant now, we'd have a November baby (not digging that), but Sadie would be nearly one and a half. PLUS, I've been persuaded that birth control pills aren't for me... All that to say, who knows when the next baby will be! My dear friend Angie, and her husband, are going to start trying to become pregnant here in the next few months...it would be fun to be pregnant with her. AHHH! I can't believe I'm talking about this. It does NOT feel like Sadie is 7 months old! It feels like she was born only 2 or 3 months ago.