Brotherly Love

This afternoon, when I got off work, I went to my Mom & Dad's house where my mom had been watching the kids all day. They were already outside, and after greeting me, they started to meander towards the back yard. Ashton resolved Sadie's melt-down when she couldn't figure out how to get down the retaining wall - he showed her how to sit down on her bottom and scoot her way down - so helpful. Then my mom and I started to follow them when Ashton said, "Mom, you and Nana stay in the front yard and Sadie and I will stay in the back yard." I told him that he would have to keep a close eye on Sadie and be responsible for taking care of her. He reassured me that this was what he wanted. I ended up stepping in when Sadie went to follow her brother up into the treehouse, because the ladder used to climb up it isn't exactly meant for a 1 (or almost-2) year old. I can't tell you how many times, okay about 10!, Ashton kept telling me to go back with Nana and that he would watch Sadie and that he needed her to play with him. It was so precious. I have this mental picture of them on the trampoline too, Sadie tackling Ashton, and Ashton graciously taking it and laughing all the while. She's good for Ashton, because he usually doesn't get to rough-house until Dad gets home from work. Plus, I just plain appreciated them laughing about it and not turning the situation into a fight! :)

Then tonight, as I was tucking Ashton in to bed, I told him how happy it makes me to see him being such a good brother, taking care of his sister, and having fun playing with her. He instantly started crying, saying "I'm going to miss my sister when I grow up." They were real tears that he used his blanket to wipe away. :( He even had to repeat himself because I couldn't understand what he was saying through the tears! As a mother, this made my eyes water up too. But I was optomistic for him and I told him that he won't ever have to leave her and that as a family we will always stick together.

After going through the bedtime routine (singing Jesus Loves Me, Twinkle, Twinkle Little Star, Happy Birthday, ABC... and then praying) I got up to leave his bedroom and he said, "When I am 51 will you still live with me?" Of course, I told him Yes, for as long as he wants me to live with him, I will. :)

I can understand his sensitivity to separation, after all what 4 year-old wants to think about being separated from his mom, dad, and sister?? And some nights he'll talk about his 3-year old friend whose Dad is already in heaven. And to top it all off, he's trying to get a grasp on eternity in heaven (aren't we all?!), how he'll get to heaven (he wants to fly in Mom's arms), and what we'll do for forever! He's such a deep thinker. In fact, tonight he asked me if God is a body or a spirit!

I just love these kids. :) Here is a picture of Ashton holding Sadie like he "used to do when she was a baby - with a pillow on his lap, and Sadie laying on the pillow." Oh, and he's reading a story to her this way. ;)

Stranger Things Have Happened...

...but this is this most recent mystery: Sadie has started adding "-ia" [pronouned eeh-uh] to the end of her nouns, especially people's names. It started yesterday when she kept calling me "Mom-ia." I was about to go bonkers by the end of the day! I don't know why it bothered me so, but it did. :) And Daddy or Da-da has been replaced by "Dad-ia." I guess Ash-ia is too hard to say so Sadie calls Ashton "Idea." When we correct her, she just says, "no, Idea," reinforcing her original pronunciation. If I didn't know better, I would be afraid that Sadie was regressing in her speech! Here she used to speek good, but now this! I am trying to not let it get to me, and I don't correct her very often because I don't want this to become a control issue / attention-getter, so hopefully this silly talk will end soon. ;)

Sadie also has a thing for pointing out all other babies that she sees in public (nevermind some of them are as old as her, maybe even older). Last night Aaron took the kids to play at The Toy Store while I grocery shopped, and when we all got home he told me that Sadie saw a 4 or 5 year-old girl in the store and pointed at her and said, "bab-ia"!

Consignment Sale

So this last Wednesday evening Angie and I went to Independence MO to the Just Between Friends consignment sale. It is all children's clothing, maternity clothes, and other baby gear (similar to Mommy and Me, Animal Crackers, etc.), for sale for a few days, twice a year (this time they were selling spring/summer clothes and next time it will be fall/winter stuff). I wanted to go the last time there was a sale but it didn't work into my schedule, so I was excited to finally be able to go.

Since I'm pretty well stocked up on toys, books, cribs, high chairs, etc, and since I'm not pregnant, I was mostly in the market for children's' clothes! Before I went, I got all the kids future clothes out of storage to see what I already had, and what they still needed. So I went with a list! Oh, and we went the night before the sale was open to the public (it's really a sneak preview for pregnant / first-time moms) because I won a pass from a BeCentsable giveaway!

I must admit, I was surprised at the size of the event -- I thought it was going to be a huge area (like the Expocentre), but it was really the size of about 1/2 the Expocentre. Anyway...technicalities! My only other observation was that the clothes weren't as high-quality as I thought they were going to be. It looked like some mothers had owned the clothes and reused them on all 4 (for example) of their children, and then decided to still sell them at the consignment sale! Needless to say, some of the clothes were out of style and others were just kind of plain. I guess since we were going to a sneak preview, I thought there would be a bunch of good stuff, you know?! If I didn't know better, I would have thought we were there on the last day or so!

Anyway, you wouldn't know I was somewhat disappointed by the fact I had a $235 bill, would you?! No, I don't think I picked up crumby stuff. ;) But I don't think there was much left after I was done either! And I stuck to my list. :) In total, I got 54 pieces of clothing...that's an average of $4.35/piece. While these weren't garage sale prices (obviously), compared to paying full price, I still feel like I got a good deal. PLUS I really like the idea of reusing clothes instead of buying new. In fact, I'm not sure which makes me more excited -- being "green" or saving money! As usual, it was easier to buy clothes for the girl than it was for the boy... Plus, I bought clothes for Sadie in 2 sizes (18-24 months and 2T) and just needed one size for Ashton (4T). So while Ashton only needs 4T clothes to get him through this summer, Sadie will need 24 months and then 2T as well. (And since she'll quit growing as fast, the 2T clothes will again fit her for a while next summer. Yay!)

I bought Sadie 4 dresses, a jean skirt with a matching top, 1 pair of jeans, 3 other pants, 1 swimming suit, 1 button-up sweater, 1 zip-up jacket, 10 shorts/capris, and 16 spring/summer tops. I bought Ashton a pair of dress shoes, swimming trunks, a pair of pajamas, a KU mesh tank top with matching shorts, 3 pairs of pants, 3 pairs of shorts, and 4 shirts.

My analysis: My eyes did bug out when the cashier read "$235 dollars please". I wasn't planning to spend that much! I still am not sure if I would have spent that much over the next few months (you know, in like several individual shopping trips) if I hadn't gone. But I stuck to my list so I feel justified....who knows. Garage sales have been slim pickin' for me the last two years, so I wanted to give this a try. Besides, the 6 hours of girl-time, without kids, SHOPPING! was worth at least that much! ;)

Sometimes I Scare Myself...

A couple days ago I was in Aldi grocery store, just me and the two kiddos. We had just walked in when Ashton informed me that he needed to go to the bathroom. As you know, the store isn't that big, but the bathroom was in the furthest corner from where we were. So instead of dodging the after-work dinner rush with my cart in tow, I decided to park the cart in a less-populated corner so I could get Ashton to the bathroom before an accident happened! On the way to the bathroom I began to picture how I was going to go in with/help Ashton while also holding Sadie. Then it dawned on me -- where's Sadie? I turned around completely baffled as to where she had gone! There she was -- sitting in the top portion of the neatly-parked shopping cart, with her neck craned to see where we were going! I was embarrassed and horrified as I backtracked to retreive my other child. :)

What could be worse?

I'll tell you -- doing it a second time. Today we were in JCPenney's when Ashton again let me know he needed to use the restroom. Once again, I parked the Sadie-bearing-stroller in a remote corner outside the women's restroom and was on my way inside (after all I have not had to deal with an Ashton-accident in public and I want it to stay that way!) when Ashton asked, "Sadie come in too?" Without missing a beat I made a U-turn and shook my head in disbelief over my terrible parenting, thankful that Ashton was on top of things!

And to think: I'd just decided I was willing to have more kids...

Sadie Walks!

I feel as though the first day Sadie "walked" was Wednesday May 28th. One week shy of being 11 months old, she actually walked away from me, instead of her couple steps toward me she had been doing (with great coaxing) for about a week. It caught me off guard and surprised me when on her own initiative she turn around and went away from me without trying to grab my finger and pull me along! Every day she gets a little better at walking, now going up to 5 feet at a time.

I'm Struggling

As I sat in the recliner in Sadie's room last night rocking her asleep, I felt her tiny cool breath on me as she exhaled. She was asleep and the only light in the room was the moon shining through the blinds. Yet it was just enough for me to see her silhouette. I was saddened at the realization that Sadie is getting big. She's not my "little baby" any more. She talks (okay hollers), laughs at jokes, is smart (understands no and pushes the limits anyway), and is getting tall! Especially now that I can compare how far Ashton has come since the day he was born, I can see how Sadie is quickly on the road to being as big as Ashton. It makes me sad that soon I will not be rocking her, holding her as she sleeps. Aaron often jokes around with Ashton asking him if he will still (fill in the blank) when he's in high school; I suppose Aaron talking like that doesn't help me.

Plus I wish I had more time alone with Ashton.

Bad Day

I had a bad day. Okay, a bad half-of-a-day. But it was a BAD half-of-a-day. Both of the kids are half well / half sick. Sadie is strong willed, I tell you -- she gets cranky and more determined when I tell her "no." And she's only 8 months old! I can't believe it -- the 8-month-old was more testing than the 3-year-old. So between her being half sick and challenging, I spent my entire afternoon changing poopy diapers, scrubbing poopy clothes, telling Sadie she couldn't pull my hair only for her to try harder, distracting a strong-willed Sadie from pulling my hair, only to do it over and over and over again. Aaron also got home late from work (I knew he would be 1.5 hours late, but not 2.5 hours). At one point, Sadie was crying, Ashton was crying (because he was being disciplined for hurting Sadie), and I was crying. I so desperately wanted to get out of the house and be by myself. I don't know if I'm cut out for this Mommy business (a little late now, hunh?). Do I REALLY want more kids??

I had a whole other post I have been wanting to write, but haven't gotten around to. And I am still not going to discuss it in great detail right now, but it HAS TO BE related to my day today -- I am so out of touch with God and our relationship is mostly historical. Therefore, I am unintentionally depending on Aaron to make me happy and/or complete, instead of getting that from God. And this has to do with my day today because when I am not in communion with God I am able to see the devastating consequences. I am disappointed in myself for the way I acted today, for the way I lost my calm, and for the things I said. I am sorry and need to ask for forgiveness. And I am convinced again that I can not do "it" on my own -- I am in need of my Savior.

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?!?

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.

Milestones

Forgive the impersonal nature of this blog -- it is more just for my benefit.

Sometime during the first week of January Ashton started wearing "boxers" instead of diapers. All the time. He figured out a way to get up on the toilet all by himself and took the initiative to keep his stepstool right next to the toilet. Off and on over the past year we've asked Ashton if he wanted to go potty on the potty chair and he would say "no" and we would leave it at that. Then January came and he decided it was time! It really happened "just like that." Two weeks later, I finally bought a waterproof mattress pad, and now I'm letting him wear his "boxers" to bed. Potty trained: one month before turning 3.

We finally bought some area rugs for our house, so now we're more inclined to let Sadie spend time on the floor. On January 14th I realized Sadie should be sitting up by now and so I set her up for the first time. Sure enough -- she can sit!
Sitting up on own: 6 months old.

December 11th Sadie got up on all fours for the first time. And for about 5 weeks, she would just shake forward and backward, and maybe fall forward. But this week she actually crawls! Don't get me wrong, she's not fast or anything...yet.
Crawling: 6 months old.

January 24th we woke up and Sadie's first tooth had finally broken through the surface of her gums.
First tooth: 6 months old.

...On my mind

In order to finally blog, I'm putting aside my list of things to do. Because it is such a busy time of year, the list may never get done... I have so many mental notes of things I want to blog, so we'll see how many I remember.

About a week ago, Sadie, Ashton and I were at my grandparents house. I put Sadie down to sleep on a comforter on the floor of one of the bedrooms. (Fortunately, she's totally different than Ashton was when it comes to sleeping -- I can [and do] lay her awake in her crib and she'll put herself to sleep.) When it was time to leave my grandparents house, I went into the bedroom to get Sadie and lo and behold she wasn't where I had left her. My mind quickly started going every which way as I quickly scanned the entire room. She was nowhere. She rolls around a lot, so the only reasonable explanation was that she had rolled under the bed in that bedroom. I lifted up the bed skirt and sure enough -- there she was -- peacefully (but still breathing) asleep! That crazy girl will never live that one down!

On Thursday my boss gave me my paycheck AND a Christmas bonus/gift!!! I am so excited, thankful, and blessed. God is so good. (And Curtis too.) I hadn't even thought that far ahead about this years' potential bonus, so it caught me especially off guard. As I explained it to him, it's like Christmas is free this year! How freeing -- it makes the holiday more enjoyable.

It's somewhat beside the point, but it's a shame that society makes Christmas so expensive -- like save-all-year-or-go-into-debt-expensive! I feel as though this is the first year Ashton kind of gets Christmas, at least more than ever before (duh). Along with that ability of his to understand, I need to do my part and put it all in perspective for him. I notice at every new commercial he sees, he suggests another gift he'd like to receive. Where did he get that idea? Perhaps from all of us asking each other what we want for Christmas! I need to do a better job of emphasizing the meaning of Christmas and if anything -- giving to the less fortunate. This is something that's been on my mind ever since I explained to him what Thanksgiving is about, and I know I have a lot to figure out still! I'm just thinking out loud.

Sadie's in love with her toes and with rolling over. I love her so much.

Ashton's cast comes off tomorrow! Hopefully he doesn't struggle with walking again like I did 19 years ago when the cast came off my broken leg. Ha. Only my family will appreciate that last sentence. Let's just say it wasn't pretty (or quick).

Ashton has said so many funny / noteworthy things lately that I wanted to blog about and now I can't remember any of them. Arggh. I've learned my lesson. As soon as he says it, I am going to resist the urge to be lazy and I will immediately go write it down. He is so smart these days, I'm sooo amazed. (I wonder if it's those Expecta Lipil pills I popped every day. Or for that matter, I wonder if it's because he was breastfed for so long. Or maybe I'm just biased. =) )

I've reminded myself of something Aaron told me today. I was washing dishes and Aaron was drying them when a loud bang came from Ashton's room. Ashton called Aaron's name and when Aaron went into Ashton's room, the miniature car collection of Aaron's (from when he was a child), had dropped from where it had been. Aaron asked Ashton how that happened. Ashton's response started with his response to every question. "Um. Hmmm." Then, "me be naughty." At least we can agree on some things.