A year ago tomorrow...

How is this possible?  This picture was taken last year out trick or treating:

Now he barely fits in either the stroller or the bear hat, the paci is long gone (moment of silence for paci) and he's rip ready to go trick or treating in the Hamburger costume!   Looking forward to some fun with the Diddies ransacking their neighborhood tomorrow evening and then bartering for candy with the kids.

- Trick or Treatin' mama

Where to start?

Yes it has been a long time since my last post but in my head I have good reasons, so that should count for something! Since my last post we attended the 100year Pendleton Round Up, Grandma turned 82, Hank continues to kick booty in soccer, Evelyn got braces and is getting a B in Math! Truman turned 2, changed daycare and we've gone through yet another sleep training phase, Rodney is no longer with PopCap and in search of his next adventure and me? I'm just trying to keep up and clearly not spending the appropriate amount of time blogging!

The Round-Up was awesome! Got to see some friends that I haven't seen in awhile, spend the weekend with family and our friends Bryan and Caralie, drink some Ptown and cokes in the LBR, buy Truman some cowboy gear and relive one of the many reasons I love my home town.

The fam ready for the Saturday of Round-Up! Let'er Buck!

Truman in his new Ptown gear - tough enough to wear pink day!

Bryan, Caralie, Myself, Rodney and Jeff in the hospitality bldg bringing down the rent.

Truman and Grandma checking out the Westward Ho Parade

Celebrated Grandma's 82nd bday with a good ol' fashioned fish fry with the trout we caught in August at Wallowa Lake - perfect way to cap off an awesome week~

The birthday girl and her posse

She's still got it! Able to pull fish bones out in one pull.

Truman's second birthday was awesome! Family and friends came over to the house, the sun was shining and cake and ice-cream aplenty. Truman woke up to a new train set and finished out the day with lots of other wonderful toys, books, pj's, blankets and most importantly feelin the love!

That about covers the main headlines...Truman is still working on figuring out how to get to sleep consistently, for some reason its much harder now than it was from months 14-23! His new daycare is awesome, close, in-home, with Miss Maureen who is wonderful! He does projects everyday, learning colors, letters etc and wakes up looking forward to going to 'school' LOVE IT!

Rodney and I are getting ready to have our Birthdays, 35 and 36, holy crap where did that time go? WOW! Looking forward to many more!

- shuwee that about does it mama

Holy busy weekend batman!

Well this weekend we had a state softball co-ed tourney, trip to Jubilee Farm, Hanks first soccer game and his pre-bday dinner at XXX Root beer!  All while dealing with Trumans new found dislike for sleeping! 

I don't even know where to start with the weekend as some of it is a little hazy from sleep deprivation.  The Truman aspect came out of nowhere and I was struggling quite a bit with why it started and how to 'fix' it.  After a few really rough nights of screaming mama, crying, bailing out of his crib, breaking out of his bedroom etc I wasn't quite sure where to start.  After some input from friends and families I converted his crib back into a crib (mostly to slow him down) and stayed within his sites he seems to be able to sooth himself to sleep (starting back from square 1, which I hear we'll do time and again)!

As far as the rest of the weekend our trip to Jubilee farm to pick our fruits and veggies for the week was awesome! it started out with a trip to Target for some rain boots and ended with picking blackberries!  Some pics from our adventure:

Next was a trip to Kent for Rodney's state co-ed softball game, the weather continued to cooperate and we got to see Rx win a game before heading back home to rest up for Sunday!

Sunday morning rise and shine at 6am but at least Truman slept all night in his crib (a win and I'll take it!), Hank woke up ready to take on the day and we spent most of the morning preparing for his very first soccer game, wuhuu!!  He did awesome, scored 3 goals and showed he has that sports instinct that you can't teach.. HE'S GOT IT!  Was a lot of fun watching him in action, I think it would be good for everyone at the next game to have him in the whole time as he tends to get himself into trouble on the sidelines ;) Some pics of the action:

Last on the docket for the weekend, but definitely not least, was Henry's early bday celebration with family at XXX Root beer!  This is quickly becoming our family hang-out and I see many bday adventures here in our future.  GIGANTIC root beer floats all around, and 1 root beer shake for Michele (hanks mom) and burgers, fries, onion rings, fish and chips and the list goes on!  Henry got some great bday gifts and even got on a table and had happy birthday sung to him.. so proud of him!  (Rodney got video that I'm sure is priceless)

So now as I sit here on the couch, enjoying my 'free time', the first free time I've had before 10pm in about 7days, I'm searching for that second wind so I can get us packed up and ready to hit the road to Pendleton tomorrow for a full week of Round-Up activities.. SO EXCITED!! 
(pic from a past Round-up)

-Let-er Buck Mama!

Bloggin aint easy!

Man I had no idea how difficult it would be to stay on top of blogging!  I started out like wildfire and have piddled off here recently.  I'll try to get back in action just in time to blog about the ROUND UP!! LET'ER BUCK!

After watching Food Inc and doing some soul searching we've decided to try and change what and the way we eat so Rodney's been cooking some yummy meals with our Baron Farms meat (grass fed) - tonight is Beef Short Rib tacos YUM!  Tomorrow I'll pick up our first fruit and vegetable package from the Jubilee Farms Co-op!  Next year its from our own garden, going to have to dig deep and find a green thumb somewhere ;)

Hank started kkindergarten this past Monday, what an exciting day! Michele, his mom, says he LOVES it and is up and I imagine he'll be leading the pack in no time.

We celebrated Evelyn's bday last week on the 26th... the big 1-3 going on 17 ;)  Was a great dinner at Benihana's with friends and family... gearing up to start 8th grade next week, holy smokes how is that possible??

Truman is growing before my eyes, I swear everyday I pick him up from daycare he's grown or changed in some way.  Starting to say complete sentences... over and over and over and over and definitely testing his mama!  He's singing songs, ABC's, ba ba black sheep, twinkle twinkle and happy birthday, he's my American idol <3 

Getting ready to enjoy the long holiday weekend with the kids and grandma and grandpa, some house projects are on our agenda... and as Tank says... "I don't know, maybe a trip to Bed Bath and Beyond if there's time".

- busy mama

Vacation!!

Much needed get away for us last week.. this was the first vacation we have taken since before Truman was born, somewhere close to 2 years since our last one! Took the whole fam damily to Wallowa Lake (OR), Rodney found an awesome cabin on the lake, packed the kids, our crap-ton of stuff and loaded up the new Bullington family mobile (71 GMC Suburban) and hit the road.

We took a drive through Wallowa valley with Grandma and got to hear her '100 year old stories', caught fish, played scrabble, rode the bumper boats, went to the top of the world in the gondola, did some tubing in the lake (thank you Deckers!) and made some memories (thank you Mom, Dad, Grandma, Evelyn, Henry, Truman and Hubby!)... all you can ask for! (well maybe a little more sleep but I figure I'll get that in about 18years or so)

We've got over 400 pics and about 20 videos (excellent job family!) Rodney is working on putting them all together, when the masterpiece is finished I'll make sure and post it here as well... until then here is a little glimpse into the fun that was had and what I like to call our 'little piece of heaven'!

The evening view from the deck of the cabin...awesome!


A family dip in Wallowa Lake (sans Truman, he'll get his turn next year) Did I mention it's a glacier made lake?


- back to reality mama

The Birthday Quarter!

We are quickly entering the birthday quarter so it is quite fitting that today Truman got excited about a birthday one of his classmates had... when I picked him up he said 'birtday party mama' and then proceeded to sing the first line of Happy Birthday!  I asked him if he had fun.. 'YEAH', did you have a cupcake? 'YEAH', did you sing Happy Birthday? 'YEAH MAMA' with a big ol smile on his face :)  So I think we are no officially ready for the birthday quarter~

Evelyn's bday is 8/26, I hear Benihana's and a family bbq are on the docket.  Grandma LaVerne kicks off September by turning 81 on 9/10 and Hank the big 6 on 9/16,!  Truman turns 2 on 10/8 and Rodney and I have our bday to finish out the quarter on 10/24... how bout that for a busy couple of months? Its a good thing Truman has figured out the first words to the Happy Birthday song, he's about to get really good at it ;)

On a side note I think we have made it over the paci hurdle, he asks for it in desperate times of need, in the car when he's tired, at bedtime if he's struggling to go to sleep he looks in his woobie pocket hoping paci is there... overall I'm very proud of him (and of me for not giving in)... however now he has taken to sucking on his fingers instead, his thumb, 2 fingers, 3 fingers, his entire hand and sometimes two hands! I'm not sure which is worse? I'm pretty sure he's teething so whatever he needs to do to make his mouth feel better cutting those teeth I'm all for it!

- growing up aint easy mama

The beginning of the end of Paci

So tonight we officially lobbed off the head of Mr Orange Paci... this is the same pacifier that Truman got in the NICU at Evergreen hospital some 22months ago... yes the very same one!  We've had a couple of close calls, one specifically at midnight in Target doing some Christmas shopping when he was 2mo old, a few panicked moments during moves, car rides and the most recent one was having it fall out of the car in the Dr's parking lot only to return 30min later and rescue it from its demise!

Why the same paci you ask? Truman wouldn't have any other, he's a one paci kinda guy.. believe me we tried!

Over the past month or so paci had seen better days, the plastic around the outside had come off and he had successfully tore the actual paci!  I started to worry about... what happens if he rips it and then sucks it down his throat? what if.. what if.. so tonight as I'm looking at his paci, hanging on for dear life, I made the decision to rip off the tip and show Truman that his 'paci was broke' :(  it took a few minutes of explaining paci was broke and that mama couldn't fix it and some coaxing to get him to throw the tip into the garbage but he did it.. I told him how proud I was of him and he smiled only to return to the garbage a few minutes later asking to pull the piece of paci back out (having changed his mind).

Now we have whats left of the paci, he tried multiple times to get it to work as his old friend had but no luck.. however it did take its rightful place in the pocket of his woobie to survive another day!

Bedtime went okay, he gnawed on paci, held his woobie and asked a few 10x just to confirm.. 'paci broke?'  so far no tears for the first night - well, at least for him... I can't make any promises for myself ;)

Grandma posted an 'ode to orange paci' on facebook tonight that says it best..."You were the comfort for our little boy during times of discomfort and times of joy. You've accompanied him to places far and near, you have been his best friend for over a year. So now its time to say goodbye, Your work has been stellar we can not lie. Goodbye Orange Paci you've been such a friend, rest, relax your time is at end."

Orange Paci.. 10/08/08 - 08/09/10 you will be missed!

- another step forward mama

Clumsy!

Okay so I talk a lot about Truman's traits and whether they come from me or Dad (Rodney), well one that I'm fairly certain comes from this side of the house is Truman's clumsiness.. I swear a day doesn't go by where that kid falls off a table, a step, runs into a wall or just trips on his own feet.. (guilty as charged on all of those)

Notice the nice purple hue from a few weeks ago smack in the middle of his forehead from falling and hitting his head on a corner.. our little bruiser~

Last night he pulled a new one off the end of the kitchen table bench and you'd think the fact that his highchair caught his fall would have been okay but nooooo he hit his head and neck on the highchair pushing it back away from the bench allowing him to continue to fall backwards all the way to the ground.. needless to say that was the beginning of the end of our evening~

Overall good spirits today, (minus a pretty good coughing spell last night )or early this morning depending on how you look at it.. played with some cars, at some Trix, yes I feed him sugary cereal because its THAT good and we got to see deer eating apples off our trees this morning - I love being home~

- clumsy just like his mama

I swear it hasn't been that long since my last post!

How in the world has it been almost 2 weeks since my last post!  good lord.. work has been really busy and taking up my evenings and in the priority of things you may be surprised that the blog (apparently) comes last.. lol

We've had a weekend with grandma, grampa and grammy which was fun.. took a ride in our new family rig.. as Truman calls it.. 'the burban'  LOL  its a 1971 3 door suburban and its awesome!  Lola (the 67 pickup) is going to a new home and we plan on spending lots of family hours in her replacement.

The terrible twos are kicking in fast and strong and I'm continually amazed that people usually decide to have more when their children are this age... how is that?  Its a lot of fun to catch moments where he's doing something on his own and looks like such a big boy, can't believe how fast THAT happened! (then I realize that THAT's the reason why people decide to have more lol)

I finished up the 'Columbine' book and I wouldn't call it an easy read but it was interesting.. covered a lot of evidence and findings that were released after the 10year anniversary.  Scary stuff so its time for some lighter reading :)  I've started the book, Intuitive Parenting, first couple of pages talks about not worrying about paci or no paci, crying it out or family sleeping...it shows humor in the light of parenthood - my kind of book!

- bloggin mama

Not quite sure how this happens

I blink and its Sunday... and not just Sunday but Sunday evening!  Had a good, busy weekend with the boys... got some more stuff unpacked and the Shoreline house finished up... almost like it never happened.. (almost)  The boys, Hank and Truman, played HARD this weekend... sprinklers and playsets included...

Hank is such a good big brother, he plays great with Truman and genuinely cares about the new things he does and laughs at the crazy funny things that happen when they play... its such a good time watching the two of them grow up together!  Now don't get me wrong when they are having a rough day together the thought of how much we could get for a couple of healthy white kids on ebay crosses my mind..but only for a split second ;)

Spent most of my free time this weekend either working or cleaning... ha ha.. free time.. that's funny... Rodney and I have decided that a family vacation is in order and so that's exactly what we are doing!  Late August we are getting the gang together at our little piece of heaven (Wallowa Lake OR)... Rodney found this great cabin that will fit all of us, we'll get to see our friends, the Deckers and possibly I hear from a little birdie the Boethins!  So the countdown has begun for that adventure along with possibly our first weekend away from Truberto in the middle of August to go see the Wright's in Portland... we'll see how that pans out, I know I can talk a big game right now a month or so out but I'm pretty sure I'll be having second thoughts here aaaany day.. lol

- back at it tomorrow mama

How is it only Thursday?

This week, while good and productive, feels like I've tried to shove 2 weeks into 1!  Had a great time catching up with my friend Mandy last night, Truman even gave her a good night kiss! (big doins)
Work has been crazy busy... good.. but definitely busy.  I've done some trainings, some doc writing, some bug filing even a few releases.  We are still slowly getting more of the 'stuff' put back into its rightful place in the house but we've got time so I try to enjoy things like watching Truman play in the pasture after school :)  He says, 'back home' and 'daddy soon' right after I pick him up and then the closer we get to home he says, 'pasture' and 'tire swing'... lovin the country life (just like him mama and daddy).

- almost Friday mama!

Kookaburra Black Liquorice

If you haven't tried it go out right now and BUY IT!! SOOOO GOOOD!! Its really the little things~  That on top of Truman having a good day at school, fun evening playing outside, easy bedtime, Evelyn feeling better, getting the lawn mowed and raked, getting to see my friend Maverick (Mandy Decker) tomorrow night and the yummy egg/turkey bacon sandie we had for dinner its been a damn good night!  Simple things can result in some pretty complex emotions~

- it's the simple things mama

Better today

Today was one of those days where things seemed better, the kids got along better, Truman was less '2year old-ish' and I got to enjoy some fleeting moments of cuddle time.   I swear that in the last 2 months he has turned into a little boy right in front of my eyes and I need to slow down and enjoy the milestones (even the ones that have me pulling my hair out ;)).  Hank and Evelyn even had moments today where they battled but seemed to be getting along and having fun with it - sounds crazy but we'll take it!

We have about a 1/2 load left at the other house, got another load of big stuff this evening... lots of work behind us and ahead of us but hopefully we'll hear good news from Bank of America this week and the stress level will go down a notch.. fingers crossed!

Gearing up for a big week at work, new role with good challenges... I have my to-do list ready to tackle!

- remember these moments mama

Today was exhausting...

Today was one of those days where at 9pm at night I look at Rodney and say... shuwee, we made it!  Not sure if it was the heat, the kids being at each other, the fact that we haven't had a break in quite awhile or all of the above but WOW I'm beat!

The kids did have a great day, spending the morning with Grandma and Grandpa,  playing on the playset and outside in the water, come to think of it they should be exhausted too! (maybe that was part of our problem this evening).  I told them a little known fact that when Jeff and I were growing up we didn't have big water slides so instead we would run through sprinkler that wasn't on for our entertainment and then we would put water on the driveway and roll around in the puddles.. LOL

Got some more unpacking done,  mediated some disagreements, the grass unloaded from the back of the truck and Bull's working on a yummy dinner... oh and I'm having one of my favs... pink grapefruit juice and K-1 (vodka)... mama's little helper~

Here's a couple of good pics from today!

- enjoy your drink, get up and do it all over again tomorrow mama

Happy 3 year Anniversary!

Three years ago today we were joined by family and friends at our home in Sammamish to celebrate this wonderful day... this was only after spending 3 months prepping the house/yard and a full week of finishing up the details and getting everything set up!  We had the Valentines, Maxfields and my family move in with us for a week, which we are still so thankful for, and we all worked our butts off!

Saturday July 7 2007 was a beautiful sunny day, our family and friends joined us in the pasture under the tree, some already with drink in hand:) where we exchanged vows, laughed, cried and cheered the beginning of a new adventure!  We enjoyed great BBQ, some yummy Lemon Drops, many a chocolate cake shot and a very tasty cake (thank you Gigi!).  Now when I look out at that tree with the hearts carved into it I smile thinking about that day and all the people involved.  The same people who still, to this day, provide us with support and love to get through hard times and food and drink to help us celebrate the good times.

Our first 3 years have provided us some growth opportunities as a couple, as individuals and as a family and every minute we spend working on getting through those times together is worth it.

- mama hearts daddy

Mama, Mama, up-peas up-peas....

We've been having a rough week at the house... Truman's still sick, no fever (knock on wood) but his cough is somethin else.. ugh.. hurts me to hear it :(  I've now successfully picked up the cold and man do I feel like crap... the first thing I thought of was WOW I made Truman go to daycare feeling like this? lol

Along with entering the terrible two's (early) Truman is extremely clingy to me... I know I know someday I'm going to wish for this but right now I look like one of those commercials where the kid is hanging onto the mom's leg while she drags him along... all the while he's learned a new high pitch whine that I'm pretty sure could break a glass if he held the note long enough ;)

I know right now he's testing boundaries and figuring out how to be independent (when he wants to) but I think a lot of the clingyness right now is due to the amount of change he's had in his little world in the last 6mo.

• We move out of the only house he's known
• He breaks his arm and has to get a cast
• We try a big boy bed (fail)
• Only sees Nanny (Elizabeth) every once and awhile
• Starts daycare
• stops taking Paci to daycare
• Has been sick for almost 2mo
• Is starting to pay attention when people are around and when they aren't but doesn't quite get the schedule concept so sometimes he sees Henry and Evelyn and sometimes he doesn't... and sometimes he sees Daddy in the evening and sometimes he doesn't (depends on work and traffic etc).  Loves his Gramma, Grampa and Grammy but they come for awhile and then they go back to 'Penton".
• We move back to Sammamish (long story... different blog post)

That's a lot of change to deal with even for a grown-up - no wonder he's clingy and doesn't want to get to far away from mama (I wouldn't either!)

Like I said... I know someday I'll miss the clingy and want to hear the words.. "Mama, Mama, up-peas, up-peas" but right now I'd just like to be able to do a load of laundry or walk into the other room without a piercing scream crawling up my spine!

- mama, mama, mama

Tired and Sore.. and not necessarily in that order

Its been a few, very loooong days, since my last post, a longer blog coming about all of that once I have control of my arms and hands again and it doesn't hurt to move!  A bunch of manual labor was done over the weekend and I have to say I am one out of shape mama.. lol

Trumans been fighting that same cold all weekend and it took a turn for feverville Sunday afternoon :(  The little man actually slept 14.5hrs last night and while that would be awesome on a weekend (when he's not sick)... on a Monday where I know its not going to have a good outcome, isn't much fun.  So we stayed home today and Doc says ears look good and chest sounds fine so hopefully he'll continue to fight off the bug.. fight Truman fight!

- back at it tomorrow mama (hopefully)

Runnin around like a.....

Chicken with my head cut off... which I've actually seen live and in person (story for another time)!  Quick post, Truman's cold has stayed a cold.. booyah! working hard at keeping his head dried up with decongestant and antihistamine (they might be the same thing but you get what I"m saying).  Drop offs to school have been way better this week so that's been nice!
Work is busy, kids are busy, hubby is busy, life is busy.. shuwee!  more to catch up on later just wanted to let my blog peeps know I'm still alive and kickin'!

- just breathe mama

Happy Father's Day!

Truman has thankfully marched through this weekend with no-fever but definitely yet another cold from the petri-dish I like to call daycare! 

The Pendleton fam made the trek on Friday and we've had a busy yet fun weekend all ending with Grandma LaVerne getting to attend a Mariners game today with Mom and Dad.. they even WON.. bonus!  Fathers day was pretty low-key, Truman delivered his 'wake-up daddy...take it' card this morning which was melt your heart cute of course and then Miss Evelyn came over to spend the afternoon with dear ol' Dad and she brought some yummy homemade sweet treats and a very nice card with some authentic Evelyn art.. awesome!  We will be celebrating a belated Fathers Day on Tuesday with Hankers, some boys bbq bonding time with football throwing I'm sure - probably a little x-box thrown in there for good measure ;)

In honor of Fathers Day I want to share the following thought that came to me this weekend in thinking about a situation that is clearly different for mama's and daddy's (disclaimer, those who don't like over sharing should probably stop reading now)  When a Daddy has to use the restroom they go in, lock the door, possibly read an article or two and then come out refreshed and rejuvenated... when a Mama has to use the restroom it usually involves sneaking into said bathroom, door slightly cracked in order to hear what's happening on the other side, she'll have 30sec to a minute maybe 2 if she's really lucky and then usually ends up cleaning up and flushing with the little one standing in front of her chanting.. 'mama potty, mama potty.. I flush?' leaving the bathroom quickly making sure she and the little one get their hands washed and wondering... 'did I remember to flush?'

Happy Father's day to my Papa (Lonnie Read), my Grandpa (Charles Chandler) and my Big Daddy (Rodney Bullington) ;)  I am so lucky to have each of you in both my and Truman's life!

- get some rest, Monday will be here soon mama

Another fever...

UGH.. was hoping to make it through at least a week without a fever but alas that is not my fate :(  Truman slept like poop last night and I had a sinking suspicion that he was fighting off something, low and behold this morning he has a little temp of 99.  So I stayed home with him right? (you might be asking yourself) and my answer is (as Truman would say) 'Nope'... loaded him up and took him to school - oh the guilt!!

My reasoning is as follows (translation: how I'm making myself feel okay with taking him to school this morning): rules at school are temps below 101 are okay, he ate/drank fine, had a wet diaper and was active this morning and most importantly, being sick is part of growing up (taken me a long time (19mo) to be able to say that)!  I remember the rule at our house was 'no puke, you're going to school'!  Well, with that said, I'm pretty sure I'll be getting a call this afternoon to come pick him up but until then I'm being strong, getting some work done and sending 'be strong' vibes to Truman <3

- he'll be fine mama

BUSY!

Work has been crazy busy this week!  I was supposed to be in class Monday and Today but 'site-up' work kept me in the office and runnin :)  My people skills have been working double time with my technical skills, and sometimes one doesn't always go with the other... shuwee, only Tuesday and while I enjoy the challenges and being in the middle of the action when I close my eyes at night I definitely enjoy the get away (via dreamland) lol

On the sleep and school front I think we have turned the corner, no tears at drop off two days in a row and laughing and smiling at pick-up... very little screaming/tears at bedtime so I'd say progress all the way around!

I swear there are days where I pick him from daycare and he has grown or changed in some way, today was one of those days... he was happily standing at the gate on the playground waiting for mama and talked me through the normal things we do... go in and pick up his lunchbox and grab his blankie... then wave goodbye to Ms Rita, wash our hands at the gate and say goodbye to Shadow (the donkey)... one of those days today for sure!

-growing right before your eyes mama

Family weekend - ROAD TRIP!

After getting everything packed up and kids loaded in the car we hit the road Friday morning.. it was a long first leg to Yakima... Truman didn't nap so he was pretty crabby, Hank and Evelyn were getting their car-legs under them so we got a few "are we there yets" and we were all anxious to get to Pendleton for the big surprise! 

Had lunch at Miners in Yakima with Rodney's dad Grandpa Harold, was good seeing him and was great feeling the sunshine on our newbie skin ;)  Hit the road a little later than planned but Truman crashed out and slept all the way into Pendleton (wuhuu) because mama was loosing patience with the crabby-kins!

Mom's retirement party was awesome and operation Jeff surprise was even better!  Mom was completely in the dark, she screamed and cried and did all the things a great surprise will bring ;)  Lots of people showed up to show their appreciation for Mom and it was very cool to be a part of it.  The kids and Rodney did great after being stuck in the car for 5hrs, in a place with strangers and no other kids.  Rodney came to the technical rescue getting the slide show up and running - with a little Ptown and coke help!

The weekend was great, the sunshine was fabulous... we hung out outside a bunch, played ping-pong,had squirt gun battles and had Big Johns Taco Pizza.. THE BEST!   The most important part was that we all got to spend some quality time with each other - a little more, at times, than some really wanted to but that's all part of being a family and being on a road trip! (Don't cross this line... quit touching me... stop making that sound - all phrases heard this weekend)

Was hard to load up and head back home this morning but the drive back seemed easier, still trying at times with everyone tired and not real excited about being back in the car, but overall easier (travel-wise).  Rodney made a wonderful dinner tonight, Truman went to bed without much fuss and now we are sitting eating chocolate chip cookies that Miss Evelyn just pulled out of the oven.. WINNER!

Back to work tomorrow, 2 days in class - Effective Technical Writing

- rest up tomorrow we start all over mama

Time for a break

Work was TOUGH today but its funny that on days like today I seem to enjoy my job the most.. whats up with that??  Just wrapping some stuff up for work before signing off and heading to P-town to celebrate Mom's retirement!! Should be an awesome weekend and we are all looking forward to getting the road-trip behind us tomorrow ;)

Truman actually had a great drop off this morning, NO TEARS, of course just in time for a 3-day weekend to start all over on Monday.. lol

Tonight was a very big night for Hankers (Henry), we all loaded up and joined Michele (his mom) and Gammy (Michele's mom Gail) for his Montessori Kindergarten graduation! It was so cute and surprisingly emotional, the teachers did a great job of putting together photos from parents into a nice slide show and darnit if those tears didn't jump out of nowhere when Henry's pictures showed up... we are all so proud!

Fighting a cold (UGH), laundry is going, Rodney cleaned the car out so its ready to roll in the morning, now its just time to VOTE FOR TRUMAN and then head to bed!

-looking forward to sleep mama

Sleep oh sweet sleep

Well the turned around crib seems to be working like a charm... we still have the initial freak out of me leaving the room BUT its very short and the sleep that comes after it is so worth it!  Still struggling with the drop offs at school but had another day without Paci there and didn't ask for it until bedtime last night. progress on that front!

Had a good time last night with the Cruiserheads (Land Cruiser peeps), the boys played and ate BBQ and the mamas got to chase kids and talk.. all in all a good Tuesday night~

- made it to Wednesday mama

Superstitious

Last night Truman, for the first time in months, actually slept through the entire night... It was something out of a fairy tail;). Given it was of course a weekday I didn't sleep in but did get to get up and take an uninterrupted normal length shower and then was able to make breakfast at my leisure (overall an A+ morning!)

Drop off didn't go to well so I'll take points off for that today but he did go all day at school without his Paci so I'll keep the grade up there... When I got to work I had an email in my inbox from Parents.com letting me know that Trumans picture is in the running for a cover contest we submitted him for! Fun to know that I'm not the only one who thinks he's cute ;) (you never know!) and then to top it off I heard back from the bank with some news regarding a loan modification (anything is progress at this point) we've been working on this for months now!! All of this happened before 9:30am! The superstitious side of me almost packed my stuff and went home...it's been awhile since we've had that good a day! (knock on wood)

On the crib note...still crying out when i put him down for bed but it's only for about 4min and no escape attempts yet..but I can see him eyeing those side rails;)

- don't wash those socks, they might be the key mama

Take a breath...

Over the past couple of weeks on the tail end of a month plus of sicky and now this sleep (or non-sleep) phase I've noticed myself on edge and mostly about Truman; him being safe or doing or not doing something etc... to the point where I'm even telling myself, "Kelli he'll be okay, just take a breath".  Rodney has been telling me for the past week that I need to relax or I'm going to give myself an early heart attack (in a nice constructive way of course) ;)

It's TRUE, I'm going to make a conscious effort to just let him be a boy and let he and Henry be boys together.. UGH, its so hard to step back and let him learn on his own - but apparently taking a dive out of the crib and breaking his arm was okay ;)  I want to make sure that I'm not adding to his separation anxiety!

I want him to exert himself, put himself out there, feel confident and competitive, pick himself up when he falls down etc... its my/our job to start teaching him those things now!

- not always all knowing mama

Patience and sleep deprivation are like oil and water

Over the past few days we have entered a new phase here at the Bullington house...Truman no longer wants to be in his crib and makes multiple athletic attempts to flee said crib! If memory serves, the last time this happened he ended up with a cast on his left arm for 3weeks...soooo out of the crib we went, mattress on the floor, gate on the door and screaming for mama before passing out curled up in his blankies next to the gate:(. Rough stuff to sit through again but I know that teaching him good sleep habits now will benefit him in the long run so I push through! 2.5 hrs the first night, 1 hr the second night and up from 1-3am with mom in the floor and then 45min for nanny last night but ended up back to square one due to a lack of patience and sleep!

Had a fun girls night out with my ladies Mamajito and Kiddy, went to The Loft in Edmonds for drinks, appies and some much needed and appreciated girl time:). Because I caved and Truman slept in the bed with me I actually got to sleep until almost 8am ahh sweet sleep how you are needed!

I've really been stressing about what to do, not sure Truman is really ready for a big boy bed, stressing because he's been sick and not getting good sleep etc etc. But today as I was getting ready to put him in his crib for nap trying to hit the reset button seeing if maybe I pretend the last week hadn't happened he would to. I look up and notice that the back part of Trumans crib that sits up against the wall is quite a bit taller (good 6-8in) than the front and something so simple that had eluded me for the past 4 days clicked! I turned Trumans crib around so the tall part is in the front, did our normal routine and put him down for nap...he cried for about 7min and is sleeping soundly!! Wuhuuu!! Small victory, I'll take it!!

I've officially bought us a few more days until he figures out his next escape route, (which could be a doozy) until then I think we will all sleep a little easier, including Truman...a little;)

- time to relax a little mama

Another milestone!

How does this happen so fast?? One minute I'm wondering if the two lines mean I'm pregnant and the next he's crawling out of his crib ready for a big boy bed!  Last night Truman tried 4 times to escape the dreaded crib, 3 successful and 1 not so successful concerning me that he was going to fall in a bad way and end up with another broken bone or bump on the head... SOOOO I yanked the crib mattress out of the crib, put it on the floor, gave him his blankies, made sure the gate was up and tight and we entered the milestone of BIG BOY BED!

Now it wasn't all rainbows and puppy dogs, not by any means... 2.5 hrs of screaming at the gate with the only calm quiet time being when either Daddy or I was in the room with him.... BUT in knowing that he needs to learn that its okay when we leave the room and that he re-learns how to fall asleep on his own in his big boy bed, in the end we just let him get out of the bed, stand at the gate with his door open screaming at us.. lol - we would respond from downstairs with a, "we love you Truman, go nigh-night," and after about 20 (hard) minutes of that all was quiet!  I went up later to see where he landed, expecting fully to see him asleep on the other side of the gate on the floor but wouldn't you know it he had made it back over to his mattress and fallen asleep half on and half off (his way of telling me that I hadn't necessarily won the battle) ;)  Only one wake-up during the night that required me to go in and put him back to bed but after that he slept really good until 7am - way to go TRUMAN! 

The first time around we did sleep training with him I believe it took 4 (rough days) - I'm hopeful that this second round in his big boy bed won't take as long... but I've been wrong before ;) (once)

- milestones are sometimes hard (for everyone) mama

Too tired to blog

Looong day, ear infection in both ears, gagging on the new medicine that we get to take twice a day for the next 10days..gee excited about that! A 30min nap in the car which led to him passing out on me from 3:30-5pm! Note to self, wake sleeping babies!

Truman had fun with Daddy, burning off some energy before our first attempt at bedtime. After 35min of hysterical screaming and a successful escape from his crib (sans broken bone) we got him out of bed and he snacked and danced to music videos, hilarious!!

Gate is up, baby is down (for now) and I'm ready for nanny to take over for the day tomorrow..pretty sure Truman is too;)

- go to sleep mama!

Weekend festivities make a mama tired!

We had a great weekend with the kids and Gramma, Grampa and Grammy, outside of Truman coming down with yet another strain of a, not so common, cold:( man I just wish that he would fight this off and feel better! Rough couple of nights, up every 4hrs, getting puked on, having a 27lb little boy that's a bazillion degrees wanting to lay right on top of you and then listening to him cough and gag through the night...break a mama's heart! Other than that the kids had a good weekend, went to a movie, had a road trip to Whidbey and then spent today playing video games and watching movies! I wrote a family blog at Incredibulls.org that shows pics and gives more detail about the weekend.

I'm exhausted but only because its takes a lot of energy to make sure everyone is fed, bathed, clothed and sleeping (not as much as I would have liked) for 3 full days and most importantly making memories! I have to thank Rodney for putting together the day trip and doing the pre-loading and packing the night before! It takes an amazing amount of determination and gumption (patience would help too if I had any) to load up a family of 5, plus gramma, grampa and Grammy and Waylon and Cooper! but it is all worth it for the stories, the laughs and the chaos:)

- back to work tomorrow mama

Coughing and more coughing

Ugh!! This whole building of the immune system sucks!! Truman came down with yet another fever last night, looong night of no sleep and a lot of snot and coughing:( It would be nice to get this month long set of colds under control!

So today instead of heading to Whidby for a parade both Truman and Grandpa were under the weather so when nap time rolled around Rodney and I loaded up Evelyn and Henry and went to the matinee show of Shrek 4 in 3D! It was pretty good, expensive but good... Since when does it cost $45 to take a family of 4 to a matinee??? Sheesh! But the time and experience and little catnap I took was worth every penny;)

Nighttime so far has been a bit challenging, Trumans coughing spout lasted almost 20min, gagging and everything...not fun! Trying vicks on his chest and feet, cold and hot air humidifiers (does that negate the positive aspects of both of them?) and warm apple juice... So far they have been less but the fever is definitely back, I'm betting in another ear infection but since we just got off the antibiotics for the last one i've been pushing the garlic oil in the ears and fever/pain reliever meds to combat the fever...going to give it to Tuesday before heading back to the Dr...AGAIN!

-could be another long night mama

Family

Yesterday I got to talk to my grandpa Chandler, he is simply awesome!  Had back surgery at 90years of age and is complaining that he isn't able to get out on the ranch like he wants to...I can only hope to be like him when I'm 90~    I miss my Chandler family and hope to get to see them this summer for a bit and catch up!

Rodney and Truman at the Chandler Hereford Ranch in 09

My Grandpa, Charles Chandler (09)

We had thought about loading up the kids and dogs and heading out of town this weekend to Pendleton but have decided to stick around and check off some to-do items instead (grown up decisions aren't always the fun ones).  BUT Gramma, Papa and Grammy are headed this way and we are all very excited to spend the extended holiday with them!  Truman asked about sissy, enry, gramma, grammy and papa ALL THE WAY TO SCHOOL TODAY :)  however it didn't change the fact that we still had tears at drop-off.. bummer

I'm hopeful that future summers will hold RV trips across the US and camping trips in Gramma and Papa's 5th wheel at the lake!

Wallowa Lake trip 08

- chaos is what memories are made of mama

Sissy's are awesome...

Evelyn had a history night tonight and Truman was sooo excited to see her, Margo and Jon it was pretty cute:) I think it's amazing how he sees sissy every other weekend but yet he still knows in his heart that she is his one and only sissy and he loooooves her, that bond is so sweet <3.

- sweet moments are captured in your heart mama

Finished my book, even started a second one!

That's right it's been quite a few years since I've read a book that wasn't work related or about being pregnant or having a baby or toddler! I had forgotten how much I enjoyed reading someone else's words, their thoughts, stories and life in general. So I want to thank you babe (aka Rodney) for the wonderful mamas day gift it has brought back something I forgot I enjoyed. I'm learning that it's important for us mamas to remember those kind of things because its easy to get wrapped up in the bazillion other things we are responsible for! Now onto my next book, "Dear John", might as well throw a love story in there before I read "Columbine" which is next on my list;)

- back to reading mama

Transition from Monday to Tuesday... things are looking up

Yesterday afternoon was Truman's 18mo appt (a month late) - the appt went great, he wow'd all the nurses with his vocab and his Dr said everything looked great!  A little fluid in one ear (remnants of his recent ear infection) and he definitely has a cold brewing but that it was getting better.  He's in the 97% for height and 50-75% for weight - hear that Seahawks?? ;)  He received two shots, which he did not appreciate, but was swayed by the cool soccer band-aids and an Elmo sticker. 

During my discussion with his Doc we discussed his 'Paci' - (pacifier) and she has given me a date of 6/1 - only at night and by the end of June NO MORE!!  okay okay, I know he'll be fine and he doesn't need it and its a germ factory at school but hmmm.. not sure either of us is ready for this one! ;) (I know Rodney is)  I'm sure its just like sleep training, a rough 3-5 days and then he's over it but its those rough 3-5 days that I do not look forward to!  I'm also a little sad, this is really the last remaining 'baby' item for him... we've (amazingly) had the same pacifier since he was in the hospital.. SAME ONE! only a few holy shit moments, one specifically at Christmas when he was two and a half months old we were at Target doing some shopping and got to the checkout with NO PACI!  Rodney and I then took another 30min, backtracking through Target and received our Christmas miracle ironically on the ground in the diaper isle... !  I'm sure we'll both be fine and move on without it, but between you and me it sure is nice to be able to give him that Paci for instant comfort and a little peace and quiet ;)

On a more positive note this morning Truman slept until 6:45am... WUHUU!! I actually got a shower without interruption (bonus!) Traffic wasn't bad, Truman was in a good mood so I was hopeful about a good drop-off.  We said hi to Shadow the donkey, the ducks and the goats, walked into the classroom...so far so good... we walked into the playroom with the other kids and he was a little clingy but no tears and then the big transition from mama to Ms Rita..   NO TEARS!!  there wasn't actually a smile either but NO TEARS!! I'm considering that a 'W' for today!!

- progress today mama

1, 2, 3, 4, 5....

Had a great weekend, date night was awesome... Mexican food and pink flamingo margaretas at Mexico Cantina Y Cocina, and Iron Man 2 - it was an entertaining flick and nice to get out with Rodney for some adult time...even though figuring out what we were going to do was a little bumby but all in all it ended up being just what we needed.

Truman's cough is getting better, slept pretty soundly last night which is a welcomed change... still woke up earlier than he should have and if its possible to wake up on the wrong side of the crib then Truman did! super crabby!  This is not usually his MO so I'm wondering if maybe today at the Dr (have his 18mo check-up a little over a month late) we find out he's got an ear infection or something going on because WOW, Mr crab cakes this morning!

Not sure how many time I heard the word, "this, this, this, this" on the way to school this morning and went through everything in the front seat, and most of what I could reach in the back, to find out what 'this' he was referring to with absolutely no success!  by the time we pulled into school we were both frustrated, I had counted to 10 multiple times both in my head and outloud (might as well teach Truman to count in the process of gaining patience) and I knew it wasn't going to be a good drop-off... aaannnd I was right, crabby about taking his jacket off, wouldn't let go of the paci, snot running down his face along with some tears.. BUT by the time I walked out the door (20sec later) he had stopped crying and I heard him talking to Ms Rita... little booger~

- Monday morning's hard for everyone... even Truman, mama

Taking care of some business, sleep business that is!

When Truman napped today so did I! It was fabulous given not much sleep has been going on, mostly coughing:( Nanny (Elizabeth) is coming over tonight to watch Truman for a bit and he is very excited! Rodney and I are having a date night, not sure what is on the agenda but I know it won't involve making Mac n cheese or listening to a monitor! (at least until we get home) :)

-time to go out mama!

Always learning something new

As a parent I learn something new everyday most often about myself! I've come to the realization recently that, given things are kind of crazy right now in the Bullington world, I am trying to control everything else around me! I need to not only ask for help but actually let people help...it's a two part system!

So starting right now I'm loosening my grip on things, letting things slide (but not to far), communicating my needs and expecting more of others - we only get one turn on this ride and when the shit gets deep it's the choices we make and the people we give a rope to that will pull us through...

- loosen up and dig in mama

Let's just forget about Wednesday

WOW - yesterday from about 4:30pm on was barely a 2 on a scale of 1-10...between traffic and a very unhappy, tired and hungry Truman...I'm pretty sure I'm going to need another box of hair color sooner than later ;)  Rodney did have a yummy dinner in the works for Jr when we got home so that was very helpful because he devoured all of his dinner and dessert!  We quickly zoomed through bath, a little Pajanamals and then book to get him into bed before he officially turned into a pumpkin! Not sure if it was the traumatic 2+hr car ride home for him or just the extreme exhaustion but Truman actually slept until 7am this morning! and no I will not be repeating tonight to get the same results...  that's all I have to say about Wednesday... moving on

-today is a new day mama

"Oh the places you will go"

Today was a good day, minus the sleep deprivation I seem to be having... had a good productive day at work, problem solving with my friend Cat, a laugh filled lunch with my friend Dana and continuing to learn new things regarding the opportunities and challenges I have at work. 

Pick up from school today for Mr Truman went great, he really is starting to enjoy it, the learning, Ms Rita, his friends and especially playing outside!  The napping is still a struggle, which attributes to today's earlier post and yet another tough bedtime tonight.  I had every intention to get Truman down early tonight however traffic said otherwise so we'll give it a shot tomorrow night.

Now with that said tonight on our way home Truman was starting to get fussy (as he does after not much of a nap and an extended time in the car) so Rodney came to the rescue with Wonder Pets on his iphone and some headphones... here is the picture he took.

When I took a closer look at this picture I saw a little boy growing up right before my eyes and the world whizzing by all around him!  Here is that same little boy only a short 19mo ago~ 

"Oh the places you will go" Truman, we will try and keep up with you!

- take time to enjoy the moments mama

Where did my sleeping angel go?

Okay moms and dads of the world, how in the world do I get Truman to sleep past 5:30am??  This, in my very honest opinion, is WAY TO EARLY for anyone in our house to be up!  Had a good conversation with my friend Caralie this morning and I'm going to try the ol' theory that sleep begets sleep and instead of fighting him to stay up until his normal bedtime (6:45-7pm) just putting him down earlier when I see that he's tired... because he's definitely more tired now that he's in 'school' all day!  I will let you all know if this theory proves True or False tomorrow, in the meantime feel free to send me any other ideas you may have or tricks up your parental sleeves ;)

On a different front we are getting one of our Land Cruisers fixed today (the 80) very exciting, been a year+ in the making so Truman and I got to spend some extra time with Rodney on our way to dropping the 80 off at a shop and then him off at work.  I didn't take it as a very good sign that Truman started chanting 'home, home, home' about 10minutes before we got to school so drop off was a little rough this morning. We didn't have immediate tears but definitely flowing when I stepped out the door, I'm hopeful by the end of this week he will be handling drop-offs like a champ!  He did yesterday, for the first time, tell me one of his 'friends' names... it was pretty freaking cute!

- your baby's growing up mama

Time for my 'pull your head out speech'

When I was a coach (and probably a player to) there were moments in time where I would deliver my 'pull your head out of your ass' pep talk, well I'm dusting it off and bringin' it back!

I didn't post yesterday because I had one of those weekends where I wish I would have pushed myself to do more.. to be involved.  Those types of times are hard for me because I'm definitely a 'pusher' of myself and even those around me but for some reason this past weekend I just couldn't get things going.  So I'm going to just pass of this past weekend as an okay weekend but had the potential to be better so watch out next weekend! ;)

We had a good morning at the house, Rodney got up and made breakfast for everyone and we all got out the door on schedule.. (small victory!)  Trumans drop off was less than stellar this morning but I'm sure that comes after a weekend of just hanging out at home with the family.  He seems to have yet another cold, not sure how many different strains of this same cold there are but I"m pretty sure he's working through all of them at this point!  Have my coffee, my headphones and I'm ready to go~

- pull your head out mama

Officially a hard day

Well we started off the weekend with last minute plans to go to Olympia for Rodney's coed softball tourney, 3 kids, 2 dogs, 2 adults (I use that word loosely) and our stuff for the weekend to support all of the lives previously mentioned... And just as fast as we had plans we decided it was crazy and poof the plans were gone. This morning there was talk of me loading up the kids and heading there for the day however with the boys waking up at 5:30 and 6:30 respectively and Truman starting to come down with yet another cold I decided against it and I will say now, in hindsight, that that decision was the start of a very long day (regardless)!

(insert lots of crying, clinging, laughing, deep breaths, counting, eating, completion of some chores while Truman napped and timers set for tv and video games)

After a very loooong day for everyone Truman was absolutely exhausted and took 35min of hysterical crying to finally pass out, Hank went down relatively easy and has already slept through another Truman crying episode. Evelyn was a good help today, cuddling with Truman and playing xbox with Henry she's now enjoying some by herself time playing WoW and me??well... I am sitting here typing up my blog while some wonderful Loreal hair-dye works its magic on my gray hair...which after today Loreal has their work cut out for them;)

-tomorrow will be better and free of gray hair mama

Date night, up early, not a great drop off - but it's FRIDAY!

Had a date night last night with the hubby, he picked up Sushiwave sushi for dinner.. YUMMOS and the move 'The Imaginarium of Dr Parnassus' - Heath Ledger's last movie.  The movie was pretty good, entertaining, interesting story of good battling evil and a good cast.  I wouldn't say its a ten but I didn't fall asleep which makes it above a 5 at least ;) 

Truman was up bright an early this morning, not sure whats up with that - 6am makes me lie in bed hoping and wishing that he will find his paci and go back to sleep for just another hour (is that really to much to ask?)... but alas, the 'mama, mama' chant was getting louder and louder.. he even tried using 'poo poo' to get me up there but I'm onto his tricks!  So, up early means a sleepy boy on the way to school this morning, good luck Ms Rita getting him to 11:30 for nap!  Drop off wasn't all that great, there were tears but less screeching so I'll take that as progress.

Splurged for a carmel macchiato this morning, YUM, so now I'm ready to attack this Friday!  The sun is shining and its amazing how it makes me think deeply about... everything else EXCEPT work ;)  Sheesh how do people in California or Arizona live there AND go to work everyday?  Anyways, looking forward to having Evelyn and Henry this weekend, Truman has been talking about them since Wednesday, believe me that's a lot of 'sissy, sissy?' and 'enry, enry?' to answer!

- you made it to Friday mama

I can see the light...

This morning it happend, okay well close to happend.. I got Truman to school and he was a little fussy about walking into his class but so far so good, got in the door, still no tears, saw Ms. Rita - even said hi, still no tears!  He started talking about his class, saying hi to the kids (all HUGE progress).  At the time of hand-off there was a little clinging, a small amount of screeching but NO TEARS!!

Did you hear that? that's the huge sigh of relief I gave as I walked out the door, got into my car and headed to work :)  Now I know that it is a baby step of progress and I will take it as such, each day will be different but I'm going to put a 'W' down for this morning!

- booyah mama

Houston we have progress!

It was nice being back at work, got caught up and plan in place for the rest of the week...and during the afternoon I thought to myself how is it that yesterday I just wanted a break, time to myself and now I'm missing Truman terribly...thinking about driving to daycare and busting him out ;) damn those mama hormones!

Left work a little earlier than usual because I figured it had been a long day for him at daycare and was anticipating a rough pick up and drive home...BUT I am happy to report that there were no tears at pickup!!! NO TEARS!! He took an hour and a half nap, played great and did I mention no tears at pickup! I even had to go back into the classroom to change him real quick and I got laughs and smiles NOT freakout:).

Rodney has basketball tonight (my king of the boards) and Truman went down better than he has in a week or so, house is picked up, laundry started...going to read a work document and then some more of my book...oh and finish off the Swedish Fish!

- that's progress mama

Back at it!

Between the bag of O's being dropped in the back, the paci thrown someplace not easy to find while driving on the freeway and a shoe and sock both off by the time we got to daycare today we were both a little fried!  So drop off was what I expected it to be, Truman actually did stop crying for a few minutes while I held him and talked to Ms Rita about how he was feeling and trying to figure out a word he's started saying (after last week) - he puts his hands behind his back and says "pabum".. lol.. she had no idea either.. ahhhh!! lol  However when the handoff was made the tears and screaming (with no sound) started :(  shhh.. did you hear that? it was the sound of my freaking heart breaking!  We'll see how he does today, could be a short day if that damn fever comes back, fingers crossed!

- get to work mama!

Stay at home mamas are saints

So just a disclaimer here that you may not agree with my thoughts in todays blog... First of all just like the title states I'm pretty sure that my thoughts when I was young and didn't know any better, that I would have babies, quit my job and stay home with them... I know now to be foolish not because it isn't rewarding or fun it's just a shit load of hard work!! Stay at home mamas are saints!! I found myself today with my half my body inside Trumans blowup play house with my head laying on his wobbie half asleep singing songs to him so that he would just stay still for a few minutes! This and thinking that I would 1) try and work at all today from home and 2) heaven forbid get a load of laundry done...noooo! SAINTS I tell ya! Now that's not to say that working moms have it easy we have our own sets of challenges I'm just sayin'.

So with that said Truman is feeling much better, spent most all of the afternoon after his nap without a fever over 101 so i take that as progress and he ate some lunch and dinner...wuhuuu!! Back to work for me and school for Truman tomorrow (which I'm sure he'll be thrilled about!)

Hank is with Rodney at Costco, they even took the dogs with them!! Which leaves me all alone...to myself!!! Holy smokes!! So I do get to get some cleaning done, a load of laundry in the washer and some work done all before sitting down to write my thoughts for the day...talk about an awesome end to a Tuesday!! (thank you babe!)

On a new front, with my mothers day gift (iPad) I have decided that I will take advantage of the cool ibook app and actually read a book! Now let's not get carried away with book club invites just yet I'm going to try and ready one book over the next couple of weeks and see how it goes....most the time when I try and read in the evenings I get about 3 pages in and am dead asleep last night I made it 12 pages!! Reading "The Glass Castle" by Jeanette Walls...so far so good!

Oh p.s had I not been home today with Truman I might have just missed out on this shot...(being home has it's perks) ;)



- back to work mama

Being wanted vs being annoyed

Wow what a long day, Truman had his ups and downs between fevers, runny nose, super sleepy, hungry, not hungry, playing and melting downs... During the day I found comfort in the fact that I could get him to calm down or to sleep by holding him because I knew he felt bad:(. However towards the end of the day after he woke up from a second nap he was sooooo crabby and sooooo clingy that I couldn't get his dinner made and he wouldn't go to Rodney so I was bordering on annoyed, which of course I felt bad about... But that feeling passed after he got a nice steam shower with dad and that smile and sweet boy was back;)

Went down somewhat okay, think he's probably coming down with another cold but only time will tell! He had a eucalyptus steam shower, has a vicks hot vaporizer going and garlic drops in the ears for precaution. We'll see how tonight goes and make the daycare call in the morning. I'm pretty sure the separation anxiety is only going to be worse once we do go back but I'll save that for tomorrow or Wednesdays blog... Lol

-you made it through today mama