Wednesday, September 29, 2010

My baby

My little baby will only be a baby for 9 more days. I cant believe that her first birthday is just over a week away! I remember last year at this time, I couldnt believe it when October 1st came, and I still hadnt had her! I thought for sure she would have been a few weeks old at that time!
Obviously she was just a happy clam where she was though! However, when she decided she'd had enough of my belly she made her grand entrance in a hurry! Seems like just yesterday.

Well, we all ended up getting Jadon's cold, just as I thought. However, its been a pretty mild cold. At least for Jadon, Avery and I. Avery barely had a day or two of a runny nose, and that was about it for her! Jadon and I are still a bit plugged, and Jadon still gets runny. Derek seems to be the worst off. One of his ears is so plugged he cant hear out of it, and this morning he said his head felt like a pumpkin.

Jadon gets to go on a field trip to the pumpkin patch with his preschool in a couple of weeks! They will also be having a harvest party at the end of October. And next week is my day to take the class a snack. Not sure what i'm going to take yet. They request that we take something from 2 food groups, and that its healthy. Also, no capri suns or sodas, only drinks that are 100% juice. On the day that a childs mom takes in snack, that child also gets to be line leader, snack person, prayer person and the first to do the calendar for the day. Also, that child gets to bring an item from home to share with the class. (Anyways, I really appreciate that they request healthy foods only, and that if you bring junk, it will be sent back home. Obesity is becoming such a massive problem in the world, and it starts in childhood.) Derek and I really wish we could be flies on the wall and spend a day watching him, seeing how he interacts with the teachers and the other kids, how he plays, etc.
He has listening issues sometimes in soccer. If they play a game that he does not like, then he pretty much doesnt participate. There's one game in particular that he really doesnt seem to like. He's such a space cadet sometimes, he's often just in his own little world in soccer. They have races and he is always the last one, because he could care less about winning, he just has fun running with other kids, so he doesnt try going fast. The kid loves to play. He's all about playing, and he'll play with anyone... he's not picky! He's not intimidated by age or gender. I wonder if he'll always be like that?

Sunday, September 26, 2010

Still looking...

Still looking for a job, if anyone has suggestions! My options are quite limited to evenings, weekends, or at home jobs/businesses. Medical transcription has already been suggested to me, but i'm not a very fast typer, and I make lots of mistakes (which ultimately affects my speed.) Plus, I dont have alot of time to spend working during the day.... mainly just during preschool hours... so, like I said, quite limited! Its hard enough to find a job these days, but with my limited availability..... yikes.

I found us a house the other day, but its a bit out of our price range, so i'm really looking for something! I'm open to hearing ALL suggestions! Thank you! :)

Wednesday, September 22, 2010

Sick day

Jadon came down with a cold last night, and today he had a 102 fever, so tomorrow he will have to miss preschool. Bummer, for both he and I! ;)
He was fine all day yesterday. After dinner, we got ready to go on a walk and he had a runny nose. He was fine through the walk, then when we got home he had another runny nose, and complained that his throat hurt. By bedtime he was pretty runny and his throat was still hurting. He woke up a while after going to bed and I think was having some drainage and said his tummy hurt a little.
Today he woke up all congested and runny at the same time, and he sounds funny, but he says his throat doesnt hurt anymore. However, this afternoon he started running a fever of 102, so I gave him a little tylenol, and he ate a good dinner. Before bed I checked his temp again, and it was still at 101.1, so I gave him some more tylenol in hopes that he'll get a decent nights sleep, although i'm not counting on it. Whenever he has a cold, he wakes up multiple times at night, sometimes gagging on the drainage in his throat. Poor guy :(
He's been pretty good all day, other than a little less active when he needs to find something to do by himself. The part that worries me is that he's pretty much refusing liquids. I'm trying to get creative... i've offered him ice water (which he normally loves), popsicles, juice, and jello, and he will not have any of them. For dinner I tricked him and gave him a bunch of canned pears which are quite liquidy, and cooked carrots... he loves both of those. He's still peeing, so i'm not real worried yet... I just hope that he will take some liquids tomorrow, especially if he still has a fever.

According to the baby books, a fever is a bad indication of how sick a child is. Meaning, a child could have a horrible illness and no fever, or a very minor cold and a high fever. A child's demeanor is a better indication of how bad the illness is. If thats the case, then Jadon's cold is not that bad. Still, i'm keeping him home tomorrow. When it comes to colds, I have a hard time deciding when to let him go to things and when I should keep him home. When its another kid thats sick, I always hope that the mom will keep the child home when the childs nose runs incessantly, the child is hacking away, or has a fever, diarrhea or is vomiting. Of course theres always those mothers who take their sick kids to things and that drives me nuts. So, being the germaphobe that I am, I dont want to be one of those mothers! I debated whether to let him go tomorrow, because he acts pretty normal, but after reading in the baby books, it says that a childs fever should be below 101 for at least 24 hours before returning. And it also says that its best to keep the child home for the first day or two of a cold.
So based on that alone, Derek and I agreed that its best if he stay home tomorrow. I hate to make him miss a day of preschool, since he loves it so much, and since we pay for it.

I expect that in the next 5-7 days, the rest of us will have sore throats and runny noses. Avery's birthday party is in 2 weeks, and I just hope that we are healthy by then! For Jadon's 3rd birthday, I was just getting over a cold and had bronchitis... hopefully we wont have a repeat of that! Luckily, I did a great job keeping my germs to myself and, to my knowledge, no one else got sick. Not even my own family!

But, regardless of having a sick child all day, I still managed to get alot done around the house the last two days! The flea situation has drastically improved.... thats all i'm going to say... I dont want to jinx it!!! The house is getting organized now, thanks to having extra garage space from getting rid of all that stuff at the garage sale! Its great! I love organization!! I've done a few small things around the outside of the house too to help get it cleaned up before winter. I'm seriously dreading winter... every year I think I dread it more and more.

Back to preschool, Jadon is really enjoying it, and I love it that he comes home singing new songs. One day he was singing "Head, shoulders, knees and toes." I had just tried teaching him that song a couple weeks ago before preschool even started, and he was not interested. Of course, learning anything is more fun at school! He was also singing "this little light of mine" (one that i had completely forgotten about!) At home, he never wants us to help him with things (like writing his name, or using the scissors) so he's never had practice with things like that. Well he came home from school on tuesday with a square that Mrs Tina had helped him cut!
Socially its been good for him as well. My sweet little boy will play with anyone, and I do mean anyone..... big kids, little kids, babies. He doesnt care. I love that about him. I hope that he always is like that and will play with ALL the kids. Youd be surprised with how snobby kids these days can be, even at young ages. I will do my best to teach him to accept ALL kids and not be snobby.
Its hard to get any info from him about his days at school, but he has mentioned playing with a few of the same kids: Lincoln, Tyson and Larry. Larry is a little african-american boy, and Jadon said one day that he likes Larry because he laughs at him. (just like his dad... always wanting to make people laugh.) Tuesday when I dropped Jadon off, Tyson came bolting over to Jadon, put his hand on Jadon's shoulder and said something to him though I couldnt understand what it was. Jadon obviously understood though because he responded. Its nice to see him interacting with other kids his age and gender after having been home for 3.5 years, pretty much only interacting with his mommy. ;) I look forward to seeing how his new little friendships develop!
I asked him if he plays with the girls too, and once he said "no, they just cry all the time." But then other times i've asked him and he says he plays with everyone.
Like I said, its hard to get any info from him! :)

Saturday, September 18, 2010

Saturday

Jadon had soccer again today, and it didnt go well. His class this session has more kids in it (summer session had only 3 kids, and one kid was only there a few times.) This session has 8 or more... I havent counted.

Anyways, so Jadon's really distracted by all the other kids. Plus, today he had quite a listening problem. He's always pretty spacey, but today he was totally in his own world. It was pretty frustrating for his parents to see him not participating, afterall, we do pay for him to be in the class! Its been a bad week anyways for him, he's had a big time terrible 3's week. Really cant wait to get my sweet Jadon back!

Avery has been pretty cranky the last couple of days too. I imagine she's getting another tooth. She's got 6 right now, and another one taking its sweet time coming through. Poor girl, seems like all her teeth are tormenting her by taking their time poking through.

Tonight after dinner and bath, and after the boys had picked up all the toys on the living room floor, she stood up, took about 8 steps before falling down, then stood right back up, took 6 more steps before falling again, then took a few more steps and a few more falls!

I love to watch her these days, she immitates everything, and I can almost see the little gears in her brain working away! We've also been teaching her a few signs, and she signs the word "more" now.

Her birthday is now less than a month away and just like Jadons first day of preschool, her first birthday is going to be very bittersweet for me, and dont be surprised if I start crying when we sing her "Happy Birthday" at her party! It will be happy tears. The day before Jadon started preschool, I told him that mommy might start crying and to not be alarmed because they were happy tears, because mommy feels happy/sad about him growing up and going to preschool. Not sure if he "got" it or not, but I didnt want him to worry that something was wrong.

Anyways, I made Avery a little tutu to go with her birthday shirt, and its so cute! I'm thinking of adding a little something else to it, but not sure what yet... possibly some daisy's or something... I'll have to see what the craft store has. :)

Friday, September 17, 2010

Avery will be walking...

.... by her first birthday. This I am sure of! She took several steps tonight, and I think she realizes how much better it is than crawling. She's also good at jumping. By this, I mean she gets into a standing position from a squat, not holding on to anything, and jumps up, and actually leaves the ground, then lands and squats again. Its pretty impressive! She's got some strong leg muscles! She's always loved standing, and has always been a jumper when being held, so i'm not surprised!

Yep, she'll be chasing after Jadon in no time!

The forecast is not looking good..... rain for the next 4 days, and partly sunny on the 5th day. I'm afraid to look at the 7-10 day forecast. I cant believe how short our summer was! The rain is already beginning to get to me, so honestly I dont know how i'll survive winter. I'm going to have to keep myself and the kids very busy!

And speaking of summer, heres a couple pictures I took of Jadon one day while he was playing in the pool.

Oh Summer, how I miss your long days and warm evenings already!

Tuesday, September 14, 2010

Stepping out of my comfort zone

Wish me luck! Tomorrow morning i'm going to check out a mom's group for the first time. I'm really nervous since, as you know, i'm shy and I hate social events! I hate them because I never know what to say to people.
Anyways, i'm stepping out of my comfort zone, and i'm hoping that things go well! If they do, and if I like the group, I will join.

Deep breaths Alicia, you can do this!!!

Sunday, September 12, 2010

The cut

I got my hair cut yesterday! I couldnt stand it anymore, so i decided to go shorter. It ended up a bit shorter than I wanted (shoulder length), but its not a problem. I also had bangs cut again also. Not sure why, since i'll probably wear them pinned up and out of my face all the time anyways, but I guess I felt like I needed a complete change. So, now its shoulder length, straight again (yay!) with bangs.
The reactions I got when I came home were not what I was expecting. Derek said its a little shorter than he prefers. Jadon said "who's that?" and Avery stared and stared and stared at me. Clearly i've had my hair long and blah for far too long! But, regardless of how my family feels about it, I like it. I needed a change, and what I got was a change! Plus, i've finally accepted the fact that I wont go into a salon as plain, boring, in-need-of-a-makeover me, and step out as a super model. And I've accepted the fact that even though I take a picture in to show how I want my hair to look, its never going to look like the picture in the end.

So, now I get to enjoy using much less shampoo and conditioner, having much less hair to dry, and not having huge clumps of hair falling out in the shower.... and i imagine the shower drain wont get plugged as fast too! :)

Thursday, September 9, 2010

What to do.... what to do.....

Now that Jadon's gone 3 hours a day for 2 days a week, Avery naps pretty much the entire time, and I just dont know what i'm going to do with myself. Never do I have free time like this, so I feel a little....uh.... confused I guess? This is only the second day of preschool, and already i'm wondering what in the world to do. So far i've just been organizing the garage, getting things put into large plastic bins, and labeling them. I've got one side done, and need to start on the other side next week I guess, but i'm dreading that side as its going to be hard to organize.

I do get a half hour with Avery before she goes down for nap, and I like that! I never get one on one time with her, so I think that will be beneficial for both of us!

After I get the garage organized, i'll probably start looking into painting the house some more! I could also exersize, but that doesnt sound nearly as appealing as home improvement! ;)

Derek says I just need to relax during this time, but I'm not a relaxing like a couch potato kind of person. Its just odd having this time where the house is silent, and i'm not having to jump up constantly for someone or something. Its going to take a little getting used to.

I do miss my Jadon though.

Tuesday, September 7, 2010

Jadon's first day of preschool

I can hardly believe it, but my baby boy is in preschool now! He had a great time, and the teachers raved about how good he was and what a sweet boy he is. Of course, we already knew that! ;)
I was unable to hold it together as I had hoped. In fact, we hadnt even pulled out of the driveway yet, and I was already balling. It didnt help that on the way home (the long 2 minute drive) Derek kept saying things like "I cant believe he's in preschool... wasnt he just born yesterday?" I think he was TRYING to get me to start crying again. He's such a fart!
Derek and I could hardly wait to pick him up at the end of the morning to see how his day went! We are so proud of our baby boy! And yes, it seems like just yesterday he was born.
Here's pictures:

Eating breakfast and being a goofball

First day of school picture outside the house- he looks so grown up!

Walking in to preschool
Checking out the toys
Washing the dishes at the "kitchen" sink
All smiles when we picked him up!

Monday, September 6, 2010

Its almost here!

Jadon's first day of preschool is tomorrow! I cant believe it! It really seems like just yesterday that I signed him up for it, and now here it is 6 months later already! Thinking back on the last 6 months... wondering, worrying if we were going to get potty trained in time. The answer: no. We arent fully potty trained, but thank the Lord that they are ok with this! At least he is pee trained though... never thought that we'd get this far! Its definitely been a Very. Long. Journey. potty training him! And now, only 11.5 hours to go until the moment that we've worked so hard for the last 6 months!
I'm proud of my boy! :)

I'll let you know how it goes and post pictures tomorrow! Hopefully I can hold it together without crying!

Saturday, September 4, 2010

Garage Sale

Our garage sale was friday and today, and it went great! We got rid of a ton of stuff! I'm telling you, the key to selling your stuff at a garage sale is pricing it low! We sold all of our big furniture items, so those are no longer taking up space in our garage! We had a desk, a large bookcase, a microwave stand, and another desk. The first three items we sold for $5 each, and the last desk we gave away for free. It was ugly and no one would buy it at $2, so Derek put a free sign on it, and an older man took it off our hands for us! We even had another older man take some old tires and rims that were falling apart off of our hands for us! We were thrilled to give them away!
So, day one, we had people there going through our stuff before we even had it all out, and it was like a swarm of bees from 7:30am-11am! Then it died down and people just trickled in. We closed up shop at around 2pm.
Day two, we had a pretty steady stream of people from probably 9am till probably 12noon. We closed up shop around 230pm, got all the rest of our junk into the trunk of the car, and took it to Goodwill! So nice to have that stuff gone!!!
Our poor neighbor had her things priced too high, and she didnt sell much on the first day, so she lowered her prices and did much better on day two.

It was hard watching the baby items walk away... like the highchair that both my kids used as babies. Or the Baby Bjorn that I carried the kids in when they were tiny. And the bouncy seat that Avery spent so much time in and loved so much (until she learned to sit up.) And all of the kids clothes were hard to see go. Surprisingly, Jadon's bedset that we bought for him when I was pregnant, didnt sell at all! I even lowered the prices on it on the second day, to about $5 for a bumper, crib sheet, 2 valances, cribskirt, and quilt, as well as the mobile. Considering we spent close to $200 at Baby's R Us for that stuff, I thought it was quite a steal! The mobile sold, but nothing else did. It was sad seeing that leave too.
The infant carseat that we used for both of the kids didnt sell either, which I was shocked about too. $20 for a graco snugride that was very gently used and never been in an accident... looks almost brand new!

So we made close to $250 from the sale, and now have a nearly empty garage! Ok, not empty, but at least we can walk around in it without having to manuever around furniture, or Jadon can ride his tricycle in it. Now if we can just get rid of the fleas, I will probably use the garage in the winter time, when its too cold to go outside, and the kids can ride bikes and play around!

Overall, it was not a bad experience, and for our first garage sale we did pretty good! Although I am absolutely exhausted and I cant wait until I can lay my head down on my pillow and sleep! :)