The Bus: Coming Along Nicely

I am just so proud of my hubby who has been working so hard to get the bus (BOV) ready for us to take a family trip.  Here's a peek at how things are coming along.

Insulation and Framing: If you haven't been around a lot of bulilding projects these pics probably look like a bunch of nothing, but they are evidence of progress and hardwork.

Vapor Barrier

 Insulation

Framing

Our Master Suite.
OK, so it's a fold away double bed with storage cabinets on the side. (or at least it will be.)

Shower and a luxurious tub for the kiddos.

 One of the bunk beds-to-be

That's all for now. Check back later.

I didn't forget

Yesterday Mommy's favorite little man turned 1 1/2 yrs old.   Yaaaayyy!!  OK, so it's not an actual birthday, but any excuse is a good one to celebrate your children.  Here's him then and now.

1 1/2 yrs

1 yr

Newborn

2010-07-25

Mommy's Little Man is almost 1

So it has been quite a few months since I posted. I am honestly not sure anyone reads this, but I still would like to make some notes for myself if no one else. What's happening? Ian is almost 1!!!! It's such a monumental milestone that I can hardly believe is already here. Has it really been that long? When I look at that handsome happy little man I can't believe he's been with us 11 whole months. Here's a recap of his first year so far (you never know what he'll be doing tomorrow).

Birthday
Ian is the sweetest, most beautiful boy I've ever seen. He likes to sleep all day and eat all night, but he's mostly content.

Rolling
Week 1. He was rolling over the week he came home. I thought Kenneth kept turning him.
Up on his elbows
The nurse at the pedi's office was so surprised that at 1 month he could prop himself on his elbows.
Smiling/Laughing
Thanks to his silly sister, Ian is laughing and smiling all the time starting around 2-3months. I don't remember exactly, but he is one happy little boy.
Eating
Despite his chunky appearance, Ian is not much interested in solid food and isn't ready to start eating until 6 months.

Sitting
This milestone takes a bit longer and Mommy starts to worry, but finally 9.5 months my thoroughly laid back little man is willing to sit unassisted on a regular basis.
Crawling
Motivation. How do I get Mr. Content to move forward instead of turning and then rolling where he wants to go? Answer? I wait. At 11 months Ian decides army crawling is an acceptable means of getting objects straight infront of you.
Standing
We're still working on the milestone, but since he will stand leaning on a couch if there is something desirable on it, I thought I'd make note of his progress.

He's definitely not his sister. He is the tortoise to her hare, but at least he's moving in the right direction, just a little slower than most. He's an observer, content to watch the race. Always looking about and taking things in. He makes me think of the Laurie Berkener song "Fast and Slow" I think it's called.

I don't want to go fast,

I go slow.

It's the way that I move.

I'm a turtle, you know.

Join me as I go by.

We can laugh.

We can cry.

We can breathe, we can sigh,

We can talk about why

We never go fast

Only slow.

Well, there are three weeks left until he hits that big numero uno. We'll see what my little sugar dumpling has instore for us.

Memorial Day Weekend

Happy Memorial Day to all of you. That's actually a strange idea because the meaning behind the day is a bit sombering. Guess it would be more appropriate to say I hope this Memorial Day finds you doing well.
That said, we have had a wonderful weekend so far. This is the first weekend since we started moving that we've really been able to relax a little and just hangout as a family. We even entertained for the first time since we moved. It's been nice spending time with family, spending time with some new friends and having a house full of kids, just hanging out, eating, drinking, playing.
I didn't get any pics of the kids except Eliza in her pink dress cheesin'. I'll have more pics of Ian later. :)

This is mostly just for me

So I was watching the kids this morning and thought I needed to make some notes about them at this point in our lives (especially since I'm not quite sure where their baby books are this early in the move.)
They adore each other so much at this stage, I can hardly believe it. Ian just stares and smiles and laughs at Eliza. He is such a laidback character but she brings out the silly in him. Sometimes he just looks at her with a kind of amazement. I usually insert words for him, seeing he has none of his own, like "wow, little girl, you are silly." She loves his attention and always asks to hold Ian and is always looking out for him by remind me not to leave him when we go to the store (as if) or being sure he gets something to eat too. She is always so kind to him or at least she tries to be. She can be rough at times with him, but her intentions toward her brother are all good for now. I just love the relationship that is growing between the two of them and need to get a pic of them staring at each other face to face to capture that mutual interest and brother/sister love they've got between them.
Life is good these days. Eliza is crazy as ever, but so smart. She loves Dora, Ni Hao Kailan, iPhones, iPads, and bubbles among MANY other things. She loves to learn and asks far too many questions and gets into too many things, but she is a truckload of fun in a tiny packet. She laughs louder, cries more intently, hugs stronger and yells with a level of vigor greater than any 2 yr old I've met. She is a bundle of emotion, yet so polite and mannerable saying, "yes, you may..." and "I'm sorry, it was an accident." I love her spirit.
Her brother is her ultimate contrast. Where as she fussed and complained her way through every milestone quickly (except nighttime sleep) he is content to do everything slowly and quietly. They are the tortoise and the hare. She loved plain oatmeal and water and refused the fruit, he will ONLY eat his oatmeal with plenty of fruit. He has 4 teeth and counting at 7 mos and she was just getting her first at this time. And the list goes on. He can lay in his room with his toys for hours just playing away. He usually goes to anyone who wants him eventhough he's getting a little separation anxiety now. He has an infectious personality: when he smiles, you have to smile and when he pokes his little sad lip out you almost cry. He's my sweet, happy, chubby little quiet man. I'm not sure who he'll be in a year or so, but right now he's Mr Content and I appreciate the break. So that's the kids right now.

Birthdays

So I told Eliza yesterday that it was going to be my birthday, but being 2 I didn't expect her to remember. Well, she did and she (unprompted) said she was going to get me sprinkles, chocolate and uh coffee. Does my girl know me or what? She didn't say steak, but 2 out of 3 ain't bad.

My Little Dude

So with facebook as my primary means of sharing pics, I've fallen short on documenting the first year of my little one's life. Fortunately, he is still a little one and not doing too much exciting yet, but the blogging is back on. Come to think of it, I think the only milestone I missed was solid food. Ian is eating "real" food and by real food I mean baby food. He's even starting to stare down our plates. He's not quite ready for steak, but he'll get there soon. Everything with him seems to be happening later than Eliza except for the tooth (and the fact that he's almost her weight already.) I do see progress though. He's just not in a rush to do anything, but I'm ok with that. He's laidback and maybe that's what we need right now. I just hope he stays as even-tempered when he is a toddler b/c two temperamental personalities would mean checking myself into a sane asylum just to get away from the craziness. LOL. I love mommy's girl, and she is so entertaining but she has enough emotion for an entire household: mad, sad, happy, silly and that's all at the same time. Somehow it seems the only feeling she has for her brother is love. Guess he has that effect on everybody. Well it's nighttime and i'm rambling. Goodnight.

Ian has a tooth

You probably thought the pic would be of his new tooth, but he was not cooperative so here is a pic of me TRYING to get a pic of the tooth. It really is there. Yay Ian!!! You're almost ready for steak. :)

Mornings and Me (and Ian (and Eliza))

If you know me at all, you're probably aware that I am NOT a morning person. Anything before 8am is pushing it for me. Some of you may be sitting in judgement of me right now, but it's just how my body clock works. If I have to be somewhere before 8am, I do it and am usually a little early, but that's the absolute necessaries and I pay for it come afternoon. I didn't realize just how bad me and mornings were until today.
Ian, my sweet, content little man often wants to "talk" between 4 and 6am. This morning it was 5. I tried to convince him to go back to sleep, b/c with having been sick I was even more tired than usual. Finally, I consented to coming into the front of the house so at least Kenneth could sleep. I guess my little man was a bit loud b/c soon after we made it to the front, Eliza shrieks out a "Mommy." I go to check on her. She says, "put Ian down." I doubt she can see my face, but my silence must have conveyed to her that I wasn't going to do that. So I carry both kids to the family room. I put Ian in a chair and Eliza on a couch. Ian is still talking so I hand him one of those scrunchy sounding baby books with the rings on it (thanks Daddy) and Eliza and I lie down on the couch.
Minutes later I hear big, full, joyous laughs in the dark. IAN IS LAUGHING. For those of you who don't know him. He isn't a laugher. He smiles, but rarely laughs. He's just so laidback. So Ian is laughing very loudly and babbling in between laughs. It's cute. It's sweet. And me? All I can think is "ok, he's enjoying himself so I can get a little sleep."
Don't know how we got a morning baby, but I'm going to have to find a way to like mornings or I might just miss some important moments.

Ian is 6 months and other news

So Daddy is in the hospital which makes me sad, but I can rejoice that Ian is 6 months and everything went well at his 6 month checkup. He is a healthy 16lbs 15oz and 26". His head is big. A growing head is a good sign of brain development so that's fine by me. I'm just glad that he is doing well. He isn't doing much exciting right now, but he's such a laidback little guy that isn't much of a surprise. Well here he is:

Just a few pics of the little people

Sleeping in on a Saturday morning in Mommy and Daddy's bed.

Back in Business

Eliza making cookies.

Hanging out. Aren't they cute? Look how big he is compared to her. Hard to believe they're 20 months apart. :)

So it seems I'm starting to adjust to life with another baby. I know..."Isn't he 4 months old?" Yes, he is, but it's taken 4 months to adjust our lives around him. The tiredness, the excitement, the wrench thrown into Eliza and I's daily routine...I think I'm almost over it.

I love my little ones, but with each there is so much you just can't be prepared for. At first maybe it's the getting behind on chores b/c they want to be held or it's spending time with family which also takes away from the time you have at home to do what needs to be done. I'm not complaining. I love that I have a wonderful family to spend holidays with and a growing set of friends to help keep me sane, but children are certainly an adjustment. And in some ways, I think when you're an at home mom it can be more so because you don't have the structure of a job to set the pace. YOU have to do it and with diapers to be changed, toddlers constantly chattering, baby crying, it's easier to just say "tomorrow we'll get back to daily lessons and craft time and laundry on Tuesdays, Thursdays and Saturdays. Today I'm just going to enjoy my children and do what NEEDS to be done." Ofcourse, ONLY what needs to be done gets done and you get caught in the constant game of catch up which drains you that much more. You dream of life with a maid service to do the never ending laundry and those wretched dishes and feel guilty when you are doing housework instead of investing time in the kids so you do something with them and when you're finally feeling better about things and ready to get to work you remember, "That's right I have a husband too. I probably should spend some time with him ." :) And so it goes.

But at some point (at least on good days) you find yourself feeling more rested and energetic (maybe it's caffeine, maybe not) and you get the dishes done and a few loads of clothes, you sweep, you dust, you blog, you write some ABCs with your toddler, you read a book to your infant, you bake brownies and cookies and fix a nice meal all without muttering to yourself about how you hate doing it and you realize that just yesterday it seemed impossible to get all those things done in one day without passing out at 6pm. That's where I am today. Sure, there are still loads of laundry to be done, but today is a good day and I thank God there are many more to come. So now it's back to work.

Eliza is 2!!!!!!!

Just a look at how far our little girl has come.
Left to right:
2 days, 5 mos, 7mos
2yrs, 1yr

Mr Smiley

Elephants

So I noticed Eliza was quiet and went to see what she was doing. She'd gotten one of my bins off the shelf and was digging through it. When she saw me, the look on her face and the fact that she promptly began putting everything back in it said that she knew she was doing something she ought not be. I said "somebody is in trouble and I'm going to give you one guess who. Her name starts with the letter E..." She looks at me and with a smile says, "elephant?" Yep, best way to get out of trouble when you're under 4 is to say something cute and unexpected.

Mommy's little dude

Just wanted to post some pics of the little dude. When Eliza was his age you were never without pics so I don't want to cheat my little boy out of his photos. Here he is being him.

Picking oranges at the orchard

Picked oranges at an orchard in McAllen. Thought Eliza might like it because she likes to pick stuff, but she just wanted to ride in the wagon. Madison was a good sport though. We had to pick a 1/2 bushel which is quite a large bag.

We had dinner at a nice mexican restaurant after picking and Eliza fell asleep to loud and annoying Mariachi music. Who would have guessed that my nonsleeper just needed loud noise to sleep? My theory was that she just went to sleep to block out the noise.

More Eliza