This October we:
Went to the annual College of Architecture’s pumpkin carve.
Just about froze at our church’s annual Trunk or Treat.
I decorated pumpkins and made a couple of cute BOO! pillows to go on our front porch chairs.
Painted pumpkins….and Justin enjoyed a little paint.
Put the baby in the candy basket…
Had a Halloween party and trick or treated at our house with friends.
That was enough!
I’m tired…as in sleepy, worn out, pooped. Oh, and I have to deal with a lot of poop everyday. Whew!
I try to have a goal a day. Today’s goal was to wash the nasty spit-up ridden fuzzy bear mat along with the dried spit up spotted blankets. It’s almost 11 p.m. and I JSUT finished. Some things take forever.
But, overall we had a great day. Got to a slow start with breakfast and such because I was exhausted this morning. My little friend who is with me most of the time woke up every 2 hours to eat last night. Man, I wish I could do that and not gain weight.
But when Troy came in my room at 4 a.m. telling me he couldn’t find his hat, I immediately sent him back to bed. Of course he came right back and I still had to get up and help him find his “hat”. See the picture below of him wearing a zip up hoodie with a cap? That would be his birthday present from his cousins Colt and Addie. He’s been wearing these clothes non stop since he got them! They have John Deere on them. Is it cold outside? Not when we go out there….but he still wants to wear it. Even in bed, he wears the hoodie and hat and wakes up pouring in sweat. I think it’s cute….and a little strange. But we’re all strange in our own little ways which is what makes us individual.
Anyway, we made it on a walk where…..again, I’ve the baby in the baby bjorn and am pushing the other two. Troy wore appropriate shoes and was able to run in his shoes today. As soon as we got back, he wanted to ride in the gator. I obliged.
See the little onesie Blaine is wearing? That would be my niece’s Christmas gift from my dad last year. It says “dirt makes me cuter”. Um….my niece is a girl. No offense to my dad (I doubt he even knows I have a blog) but this is not for a girl. Glad he got it for her…otherwise we’d never have it. It’s perfect for Blaine!
So after lunch for the boys, I was feeding Blaine (surprise) and decided to sit down in the living room. I just wanted some peace and quiet. Troy and Justin were on the back porch. Next thing I know, Justin is cackling laughing. When I get up to see what they are doing, I see Troy wrestling with Justin and blowing zerberts on his belly. Even now I’m not sure if he was being sweet or crossing over into the not-so-nice zone. Either way, they were both laughing.
Oh, and the BEST thing happened today. Brian came home! Early at that – this afternoon. I thought it would be late tonight so it was a very welcomed surprise. Not only just to see him and let him see the boys but I needed to take the sewing machine to get serviced. It’s a small store and I couldn’t take all of my kids in there!
Anyway, I got it done. Tomorrow Brian’s heading out for the Auburn/Vanderbilt game. To say I wish he wouldn’t go is to speak the truth. But, if it were me, I wouldn’t back out. What makes it better is that my mom is coming. Hallelujah! Maybe I’ll make her work her tail off and tell her she can’t have a nap (I might have done that in the past). 
Night!
Blaine, blaine, blaine. He’s 6 weeks old…which means he’s hit a growth spurt. Growth spurts mean he’s a hungry baby! Since I help him out in that area of his life, it means I spend a nice chunk of time feeding him. Last night it was every 2 hours. Whew! Then Troy…who didn’t fall asleep until close to 11 p.m. (trust me, I was fussing at him for a while), woke up at 5:45 this morning.
That’s early after having had to wake up every 2 hours.
So I got up and got busy. Baked some milled flax seed muffins and monogrammed two shirts. HA! Even if that would have been all I did, I’d consider it a successful day.
Troy loves thread….any of my sewing thread. He’s here trying to bargain for more than 2 pieces of thread. All he does is roll them around in his hand, fiddle with the loose string and sometimes pretend like they’re batteries. Admittedly, he’s very good at putting them back (most of the time). His favorites are new ones that still have the clear plastic cover on them. He’ll take it off and put it back on…and usually get pretty mad about it not being perfect for him.
As soon as I dropped Troy off at preschool, I loaded J and B in the stroller and went running. Today was better than 2 days ago since I actually ran the 2 miles. Walked a little more than that. But, I need to get back in shape. And, it seems to be the only time I’m not carrying a child. Pushing is easier!
A sweet friend came over with her two daughters to play. It was SOOO nice! Troy and Justin had distractions which helped me a ton. Thanks Meredith!
Oh, and yesterday Troy received a belated birthday present (sometimes these are the BEST) from my sister and her family. It’s a John Deere zipped hoodie with a John Deere hat. Ummm, he loves this for some reason. Yep, he loves John Deere but he won’t take these things off! He wore them during his nap (can you say hot?!) and when he went to bed. It’s actually helped me because I’ve told him if he gets out of his bed then I’ll take it away. He doesn’t want to have it taken away.
Dinner was sautéed sweet potatoes with turkey sausage and a strawberry/banana/Greek yogurt/kale smoothie. Delicious!
Aren’t these the cutest things ever?! They are calling cards I ordered through a company in Dothan. Couldn’t be more pleased with them. They’re so adorable!!!
My days of maternity leave are flying by. I’m flying solo this week so survival is the key factor here. Blaine is not on a schedule…nor am I trying to get him on one….it’s too early for me. However, I have to admit it makes for an interesting day while trying to cater to his sporadic milk needs.
This was taken yesterday. Before Brian leaves to go out of town for work, he gets into cleaning mode. It’s pretty awesome, yes. However, he gets stressed out if he can’t get everything on his list complete. So I decided to try and burn some calories. I thought Troy would run some. What was I thinking?! He wanted to ride. So I strapped Blaine in the baby bjorn and let the other two ride. Of course about a half a mile into it, Troy decided he wanted to run. Whatever.
So today is survival day.
Troy decided he doesn’t like the personalized plate he had for lunch. Hmmm, thanks a lot.
Blaine doesn’t like to be put down. This is a recurring issue. Sometimes the kid has to cry because…well, I can’t hold him all the time. Side note: sometimes he’s content without being held but most of the time he is not…unless he’s sleeping.
My reward for holding him: smiles, coos and laughing….then, finally…sleep!
I’ll try and update tomorrow with what we did. These photos were taken with my iPhone.
Troy started preschool two weeks ago. Well, he went for one day, came down with a fever (not related to going to preschool) and was out for two days. Maybe one day I’ll get back to that.
Anyway, he’s just a few weeks shy of turning 3 but he’s not old enough for that class. Now I know all parents say their kid is smart, bright and advanced, right? Well, this time it’s the truth. He isn’t the sharpest tool in the shed but he can hold his own. His intellectual capacity is quite remarkable for an (almost) 3 year old. His emotional and maturity level is that of his exact age. He knows his colors, how to spell his name, how to draw a few letters, knows his numbers, alphabet, what sounds many letters make, etc. No, it isn’t because we’ve drilled him. It’s because he LIKES that stuff for some reason. His favorite letter is “X”. Why? I think it’s easy to cross any two objects and make an X. Favorite color is Red (this is driving his father crazy). But he’s also intense and has a strong will. He NEEDS preschool with the 2 year olds. Many of the kids will be turning three (and a couple already are) so this is perfect for him.
He has three sweet teachers and his preschool just happens to be at our church. So he calls it “church preschool”. On many levels I’ve been happy that the baby hasn’t come yet because Troy has needed a little time to transition into preschool. It wears him out. As in he is sometimes over-stimulated when he gets home and at others he’s so darn fussy I just want him to go to bed. He takes awesome naps which has been nice – and should be nice once the baby comes!
To say that he loves “church preschool” is an understatement. He loves it. Absolutely loves it. Definitely one of the smartest decisions we’ve made. Hope I continue to feel the same way in a few months.
However….isn’t there always a “but” in things….he has been in trouble twice for hitting. Hmmm, never been a problem before. The worst he’s done is patted Justin on the head (this is something he just has to do anytime he passes by Justin). The first time it happened, they said he was provoked. Today they said he just started punching and they think he was mad. So, for now, we’ll just tell him not to hit and to tell his teachers if he’s upset about something. Crossing my fingers this is just a little stage. I definitely don’t want him to be “that” kid! On a positive note, a sweet friend of mine took Troy after preschool and said he couldn’t have been any better?! Well, that make this mother feel better. He does like to pretend like he’s punching the crocodiles…like the crocodile in Peter Pan. I wonder if that’s what he’s doing here. Only time will tell….and I realize it’s a small issue, nothing of significance but something that needs to be addressed.
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