So it's official, Dawson is teething. He has already cut one molar partially through, and the others are coming closer. The molars are just as bad as I remember them with Isaac. Dawson is in a lot of pain, and those who know him know that he doesn't deal with pain very well. The worst of it is I'm leaving him in 2 weeks... with my parents! I already feel bad for them, hopefully they don't hesitate to drug him up... I haven't!
Also, for my journaling purposes (since this is my only journal these days)
Here is a list of Dawson's words
Ball
Hi
Mama
Dada
duck-da
dog-da
stop-sta
fishies- just sounds like a lot of spitting
The latest of his words is Jesus. Which of course makes his parents very proud. He started saying it at church last week, and he would point to the pictures of Jesus and say his name. He is very proud of himself, we see a lot of his dimples when he does it because his is smiling and clapping for himself.
Dawson loves animals, especially: ducks, fish, birdies, and dogs. But I think he would love any animal if he saw it.
He loves playing peek-a-boo, but he doesn't like to completely cover his face. He usually gets one eye covered, but that's it.
He is still working on the walking thing, his biggest problem is he claps for himself while he does it, and that makes him lose his balance. But last night we caught him taking maybe even 6 steps? He's coming, but he's really not that good at it yet.
Monday, July 30, 2007
Sunday, July 29, 2007
Flaming Gorge
Okay, so Flaming Gorge was a few trips ago, but I've barely even been home since then. So time to post about this wonderful trip. We took our little family with our boat, and my Dad took Lauren, Kate, and Josh with their boat. The original plan was for everyone to come, but unfortunately Aimee couldn't miss her radiation treatments, so Mom, Jess, and Aimee stayed home. We ended up camping which was fun, but tough with a 1-year old. Dawson and I ended up sleeping in the car together, and Isaac and Dave slept on the boat.
I must say for camping, we ate really well. My Mom bought a TON of good snacks, and lunch, and Dave and I planned the dinners. We brought our little Camp-Chef fire, and cooked everything on it. It was great.
Having a newly potty-trained son on this trip was interesting. He had only been trained for 3 or 4 days at this point, and we had to teach him how to: pee on the side of the road, pee off the side of the boat, and pee in the bushes. I was worried when we got home he would drop his pants anywhere and pee, but it's been okay. When we drove through the middle of no-where and he told us he had to go, we were thankful he is a boy and doesn't have the complications girls have.
The family loved boating, we did some tubing and kneeboarding. I even wakeboarded once, but I took it really easy! The highlight of the trip for all, was fishing. Flaming Gorge isn't warm water, and it isn't nearly as beautiful as Lake Powell, but it is a fisherman's heaven. Someone caught a fish every 10 minutes or so. Josh caught the first big fish of the trip, and it was really big. Then Kate caught a little fish, which we later found out was Salmon, and I ate right up! Lauren just couldn't seem to catch a fish though. It wasn't until the last day that she caught one, and she was very proud! We enjoyed laughing at her throughout her fishing experience. We used the fish-finder on my Dad's boat, and it was amazing to see the certain areas where the fish stayed. Now Dave and I really want a fish finder on our boat!
On Thursday my Dad left in the morning for a golf tournament, and left Josh alone on the boat. (Where all the food was) We woke up and made breakfast, and we couldn't get Josh to eat anything! We couldn't figure out why, but Lauren later found that Josh had eaten almost an entire package of Oreo cookies that morning, along with some chocolate chip cookies, Fruit snacks, and who knows what else. We then knew why he didn't want breakfast.
This trip was really fun, but it would have been way more fun with the rest of the family. Hopefully they'll be there next year.
Isaac with his fish- and what a great face!
Lauren pretending this is her fish- Yeah right Lo, keep pretending!
Daddy and his boy
Me and my boys (Mr. Chocolate face)
Me wakeboarding
The fishing crew, and the back of Dawson's head
Josh and his BIG fish, which unlike most big fish stories, his fish keeps getting smaller. The fam keeps correcting him telling him his fish was bigger than he remembers.
The Biada boat- with the Skipper (Lauren)- she did a great job driving this boat.
I must say for camping, we ate really well. My Mom bought a TON of good snacks, and lunch, and Dave and I planned the dinners. We brought our little Camp-Chef fire, and cooked everything on it. It was great.
Having a newly potty-trained son on this trip was interesting. He had only been trained for 3 or 4 days at this point, and we had to teach him how to: pee on the side of the road, pee off the side of the boat, and pee in the bushes. I was worried when we got home he would drop his pants anywhere and pee, but it's been okay. When we drove through the middle of no-where and he told us he had to go, we were thankful he is a boy and doesn't have the complications girls have.
The family loved boating, we did some tubing and kneeboarding. I even wakeboarded once, but I took it really easy! The highlight of the trip for all, was fishing. Flaming Gorge isn't warm water, and it isn't nearly as beautiful as Lake Powell, but it is a fisherman's heaven. Someone caught a fish every 10 minutes or so. Josh caught the first big fish of the trip, and it was really big. Then Kate caught a little fish, which we later found out was Salmon, and I ate right up! Lauren just couldn't seem to catch a fish though. It wasn't until the last day that she caught one, and she was very proud! We enjoyed laughing at her throughout her fishing experience. We used the fish-finder on my Dad's boat, and it was amazing to see the certain areas where the fish stayed. Now Dave and I really want a fish finder on our boat!
On Thursday my Dad left in the morning for a golf tournament, and left Josh alone on the boat. (Where all the food was) We woke up and made breakfast, and we couldn't get Josh to eat anything! We couldn't figure out why, but Lauren later found that Josh had eaten almost an entire package of Oreo cookies that morning, along with some chocolate chip cookies, Fruit snacks, and who knows what else. We then knew why he didn't want breakfast.
This trip was really fun, but it would have been way more fun with the rest of the family. Hopefully they'll be there next year.
Isaac with his fish- and what a great face!
Lauren pretending this is her fish- Yeah right Lo, keep pretending!
Daddy and his boy
Me and my boys (Mr. Chocolate face)
Me wakeboarding
The fishing crew, and the back of Dawson's head
Josh and his BIG fish, which unlike most big fish stories, his fish keeps getting smaller. The fam keeps correcting him telling him his fish was bigger than he remembers.
The Biada boat- with the Skipper (Lauren)- she did a great job driving this boat.
Tuesday, July 17, 2007
The First Steps
Date: Sunday, July 15, 2007
Location: The Kirk's house
Dawson was standing against the couch where I was sitting, and he saw the Kirk's little Caroline walk across the room. It was so fun, you could literally see the wheels turning in his head as he watched her. I was laughing at this, and then he let go of the couch. He just stood there and didn't know what to do.
Date: Monday, July 16, 2007
Location: Treehouse Pediatrics- 1 year well child checkup
Dawson and I were trapped in an examination room together waiting for the doctor. Isaac was out playing with the trains in the waiting room. As I was playing with Dawson, he remembered he could stand by himself. And right there in the doctor's office he took his first step. It was so cute, and he was so proud of himself. He got as far as 2 steps, but that was it. It may still be awhile before he is officially walking, but in the mean time.... "baby steps" :)
The rest of the appointment went well. Dawson weighs 22 pounds and was in the 40th % for weight and 80th % for height. He was extremely happy and cute for the doctor, and really enjoyed the visit until they gave him 4 shots!
By the way, for those who asked... no cannoli. I didn't have any cash, and Mike's Pastries doesn't take American Express. I was relieved anyway, I didn't want to deal with the airline security stealing my cannoli. I think they might not have let me take it just so they could eat them. ;)
Location: The Kirk's house
Dawson was standing against the couch where I was sitting, and he saw the Kirk's little Caroline walk across the room. It was so fun, you could literally see the wheels turning in his head as he watched her. I was laughing at this, and then he let go of the couch. He just stood there and didn't know what to do.
Date: Monday, July 16, 2007
Location: Treehouse Pediatrics- 1 year well child checkup
Dawson and I were trapped in an examination room together waiting for the doctor. Isaac was out playing with the trains in the waiting room. As I was playing with Dawson, he remembered he could stand by himself. And right there in the doctor's office he took his first step. It was so cute, and he was so proud of himself. He got as far as 2 steps, but that was it. It may still be awhile before he is officially walking, but in the mean time.... "baby steps" :)
The rest of the appointment went well. Dawson weighs 22 pounds and was in the 40th % for weight and 80th % for height. He was extremely happy and cute for the doctor, and really enjoyed the visit until they gave him 4 shots!
By the way, for those who asked... no cannoli. I didn't have any cash, and Mike's Pastries doesn't take American Express. I was relieved anyway, I didn't want to deal with the airline security stealing my cannoli. I think they might not have let me take it just so they could eat them. ;)
Monday, July 16, 2007
Braggin' bout my garden
This is only my second year of gardening, but I've learned a lot over the last two years. This garden is much healthier than last year's was. I've gathered tips from everyone I meet who has a garden. I think I'll do a little bit better every year. We added a yard of compost from the dump this year, and that has helped a lot too.
Here is what I've planted this year, and an explanation if I know one:
Big Zac tomatoes
Sun Gold tomatoes- Yellow cherry tomatoes, less acidic, wins the taste test contests
Kellogg Breakfast tomatoes- yellow, medium sized, supposed to be very good
Green Zebra- green striped tomatoes, how the heck am I supposed to know when they are done?
Grape Tomatoes
Roma Tomatoes
Goliath Tomatoes
Pink Lady Tomatoes- never get red, only pink- really big
? tomatoes- labled as grape tomatoes, but are clearly something else!
Celebrity Tomatoes- average sized red tomatoes?
Green Onions- really easy to grow, and really convenient because you can leave them in all year, and even until next year. So you can pick them whenever you need them
Radishes- my second crop, very zesty!
Purple Beans- Just like Green beans only they are purple so you can see them and pick them easily. As soon as they hit the hot water they turn green. We just ate some last night and mmmmmmm!
Peas- sugar snap, sweet pea, and snow pea- they were great! Maybe we'll get some more in the fall
Green, Yellow (forgot to label it), and Red Bell Peppers
Wax Beans- yellow green beans basically. I just planted them 2 weeks ago in some extra space
Cucumber- not looking very healthy
Cantelope- we'll see how it does
Lots of Crook neck squash- I think this is the BEST squash so I planted a lot of them
Zucchini- just ate one yesterday
Not pictured/got cut off on the pic:
Cilantro- went to seed and spread like a weed
Spinach- too hot for it now
Parsley
Oregano
Rosemary
Salad greens
I also have a HUGE strawberry patch. I mostly feed them to Dawson because he LOVES them. But we had a few really big crops earlier this year with a few hundred strawberries in them.
Here are the pics of my garden labeled and unlabeled. Please click on it so you can see it bigger. I am really proud of how big my tomato plants are. Especially check out that Pink Lady Plant at the bottom. That is just ONE tomato plant but it is HUGE!
Here is what I've planted this year, and an explanation if I know one:
Big Zac tomatoes
Sun Gold tomatoes- Yellow cherry tomatoes, less acidic, wins the taste test contests
Kellogg Breakfast tomatoes- yellow, medium sized, supposed to be very good
Green Zebra- green striped tomatoes, how the heck am I supposed to know when they are done?
Grape Tomatoes
Roma Tomatoes
Goliath Tomatoes
Pink Lady Tomatoes- never get red, only pink- really big
? tomatoes- labled as grape tomatoes, but are clearly something else!
Celebrity Tomatoes- average sized red tomatoes?
Green Onions- really easy to grow, and really convenient because you can leave them in all year, and even until next year. So you can pick them whenever you need them
Radishes- my second crop, very zesty!
Purple Beans- Just like Green beans only they are purple so you can see them and pick them easily. As soon as they hit the hot water they turn green. We just ate some last night and mmmmmmm!
Peas- sugar snap, sweet pea, and snow pea- they were great! Maybe we'll get some more in the fall
Green, Yellow (forgot to label it), and Red Bell Peppers
Wax Beans- yellow green beans basically. I just planted them 2 weeks ago in some extra space
Cucumber- not looking very healthy
Cantelope- we'll see how it does
Lots of Crook neck squash- I think this is the BEST squash so I planted a lot of them
Zucchini- just ate one yesterday
Not pictured/got cut off on the pic:
Cilantro- went to seed and spread like a weed
Spinach- too hot for it now
Parsley
Oregano
Rosemary
Salad greens
I also have a HUGE strawberry patch. I mostly feed them to Dawson because he LOVES them. But we had a few really big crops earlier this year with a few hundred strawberries in them.
Here are the pics of my garden labeled and unlabeled. Please click on it so you can see it bigger. I am really proud of how big my tomato plants are. Especially check out that Pink Lady Plant at the bottom. That is just ONE tomato plant but it is HUGE!
Saturday, July 14, 2007
Grandma's Funeral
After falling off cloud nine last week into the hormonal abyss, I was able to pull myself together and head out to Maine for a little break from my life as a Mom. Dave stayed home for 4 days without any help and took awesome care of the kids. My Dad and I flew out to the Boston Airport on Thursday and drove up to Maine that night. Friday was the funeral for my wonderful Grandma who passed away on June 29th. A lot happened in those 4 days, and this will be a LONG post. For those of you who aren't Biada relatives, this may be pretty boring. Remember, this is MY blog, and I can write whatever I want!
The funeral was beautiful. All of the people there TRULY loved her. We all could remember how great she was, and how much she loved Grandpa. She has lived without him for a long time, and although we will miss her, we realize how wonderful it is for them to be reunited. Truly theirs was one of the great love stories. They were the cutest old couple, and they ALWAYS made us laugh. The funeral was conducted by a Catholic priest, and as I explain it, I'm sure to use a lot of words improperly. I apologize for that. It was a VERY religious ceremony that included communion, scriptures, incense, and prayers. The priest sprinkled water on her casket in remembrance of her baptism. It was very unfamiliar to me, but absolutely fascinating. I was embarrassed as I didn't have the Lord's Prayer memorized, but reciting prayers isn't part of our religion. They did the sign of the cross? and repeated many phrases so fast I could never catch on to them. Things like "The Lord be with you... and with you." and "Lord have mercy". It was neat, so different than any other funeral I've been to. Luckily I was sitting next to my Uncle Bob, a VERY religious man of the Christian faith, and he answered my questions and made me feel better when he didn't repeat those phrases either.
I had an opportunity to talk to my great Aunt Mary (Grandma's sister) who I found out reads this blog from time to time. **Hi Aunt Mary!** She is great! I had so much fun talking to her. She gave me some precious Italian recipes, and promised to email me some more. (ericabase@hotmail.com). I enjoyed this opportunity to talk with her, and get to know her better.
After the funeral we gathered at my Aunt Mamie's house for FOOD. I mean, we're Italian, eating is what we do best right? The food was delicious all weekend. My Uncle Don and Aunt Mamie are INCREDIBLE gourmet chefs, so naturally I gained 5 pounds this weekend. I also was able to stay at their house, they have a very nice camper parked outside that my Dad and I stayed in. It was very nice, thank you for letting us stay there!
All 5 of my cousins were there- and my cousin Lauri's 3 darling children. My cousin Heather (who is 4 months older than me) and I were always very close growing up, it was really fun to see her and to meet her cute friend Becky. They live down in Florida and have invited us to come down and visit them. I don't think that should be a problem ;). My little cousins Ryan and Elizabeth were not so little anymore. I was SHOCKED to find out that Ryan is in college. Wow! And Lauri and Jeff are my older cousins- I don't know if anyone makes me laugh more than Jeff. Lauri and her wonderful husband Greg (Who was up in the middle of the night rocking their little guy. What a man!) have 3 kids- Amanda 10, Kayla turning 9 on Friday, and Brandon who is 18 months old. Those girls have doubled in size since the last time I saw them (Up, not out) and are SO cute! And Brandon is SO charming, probably the third cutest boy I've ever known (Soon to be knocked down to fourth in November, I'm sure) He has a squinty eyed, toothy grin that will absolutely melt your heart. I tried the whole trip to catch it on film, but he wouldn't do it for the camera! I loved the opportunity to be with my cousins, they are so special to me. (I wish we lived closer) Lauri told me not to come back without my kids, so I guess we'll have to plan a family trip out there.
I also loved being with my Aunts- Mamie and June. They are so fun. Aunt June helped me make the cheesecake for Aunt Mamie's birthday. We call it Erica and June's best Cheesecake Recipe. Here it is:
Okay, so really I plagiarized this from the Philadelphia Cheesecake site, but it was really good when WE made it, so now it's OUR recipe.
My cousin Heather brought her Nintendo Wii up with her, and I think we pretty much played it the whole time. It was way fun, but it can be dangerous (especially if you're standing next to Aunt June.... she WILL hit you ;)) By the way, I bowled a 206. I rarely bowl over 1oo in real life. Wii boosts your self-esteem.
Here is the Wii playing station. Jeff, Aunt June, Aunt Mamie, and Greg playing tennis
Lauri, Greg, Jeff, and Aunt Mamie in ACTION!
Here we are at Drake's Island Beach. One of the best beaches ever! It wasn't real warm, so we sat close to the wall to keep warm.
The Hood blimp flew by. Why did I take a picture? I don't really know.
Cutie little Brandon. I was trying to catch his best smile, but this one will have to do. You have to see it in real life to really understand how cute he is!
Our beautiful cheesecake with New Jersey blueberries on it. ($0.99 a pint. WOW!)
Happy Birthday Aunt Mamie!
P-A-R-T-Y!
We had a lobster night in honor of Aunt Mamie's birthday. My Dad was nice enough to buy me my own lobster. There was so much other good food that I shared my lobster with my Aunt and Uncle. But I enjoyed the process, this was my first WHOLE lobster. I've only ever had pieces before. Here he is! Notice the instructions underneath him on the plate. I didn't notice them until he was almost gone.
Here is Lauri with her lobster. I had to keep asking her what to do with mine.
More lobster eating
Brandon with his glasses. Isn't he cute? He's sporting his Wee-ooo wee-oo jammies (firetruck)
I hitched a ride with Heather and Becky to the Boston airport. Their flight was before mine, so I had a few hours to go into the city. It was a beautiful day, and I really enjoyed myself walking around the city. I love Boston. The last thing I did was stop in the North End and treat myself to some real Italian food. I got caprese (Fresh mozzerella, basil, and tomatoes) and gnocci as shown below. I even got Pellegrino with a lime. As I sat and ate (alone) I wrote down the recipes that my Aunt Mary had told me. After all this writing and taking a picture of my food, my waiter said, "Oh no, she's reviewing us!" I assured him I wasn't, but I'm not sure they believed me. This meal was so yummy! I just wanted to stay there all day and eat.
This was a great trip, and I really enjoyed the break from my kids, but I was also very homesick. I was so excited to come home to my family and give them all a hug! Dawson wouldn't come to me for an hour or so, but then he forgave me for leaving him and we're best friends again. I loved seeing my family, and it's always fun to go from one side of the country to the other in the same month.
The funeral was beautiful. All of the people there TRULY loved her. We all could remember how great she was, and how much she loved Grandpa. She has lived without him for a long time, and although we will miss her, we realize how wonderful it is for them to be reunited. Truly theirs was one of the great love stories. They were the cutest old couple, and they ALWAYS made us laugh. The funeral was conducted by a Catholic priest, and as I explain it, I'm sure to use a lot of words improperly. I apologize for that. It was a VERY religious ceremony that included communion, scriptures, incense, and prayers. The priest sprinkled water on her casket in remembrance of her baptism. It was very unfamiliar to me, but absolutely fascinating. I was embarrassed as I didn't have the Lord's Prayer memorized, but reciting prayers isn't part of our religion. They did the sign of the cross? and repeated many phrases so fast I could never catch on to them. Things like "The Lord be with you... and with you." and "Lord have mercy". It was neat, so different than any other funeral I've been to. Luckily I was sitting next to my Uncle Bob, a VERY religious man of the Christian faith, and he answered my questions and made me feel better when he didn't repeat those phrases either.
I had an opportunity to talk to my great Aunt Mary (Grandma's sister) who I found out reads this blog from time to time. **Hi Aunt Mary!** She is great! I had so much fun talking to her. She gave me some precious Italian recipes, and promised to email me some more. (ericabase@hotmail.com). I enjoyed this opportunity to talk with her, and get to know her better.
After the funeral we gathered at my Aunt Mamie's house for FOOD. I mean, we're Italian, eating is what we do best right? The food was delicious all weekend. My Uncle Don and Aunt Mamie are INCREDIBLE gourmet chefs, so naturally I gained 5 pounds this weekend. I also was able to stay at their house, they have a very nice camper parked outside that my Dad and I stayed in. It was very nice, thank you for letting us stay there!
All 5 of my cousins were there- and my cousin Lauri's 3 darling children. My cousin Heather (who is 4 months older than me) and I were always very close growing up, it was really fun to see her and to meet her cute friend Becky. They live down in Florida and have invited us to come down and visit them. I don't think that should be a problem ;). My little cousins Ryan and Elizabeth were not so little anymore. I was SHOCKED to find out that Ryan is in college. Wow! And Lauri and Jeff are my older cousins- I don't know if anyone makes me laugh more than Jeff. Lauri and her wonderful husband Greg (Who was up in the middle of the night rocking their little guy. What a man!) have 3 kids- Amanda 10, Kayla turning 9 on Friday, and Brandon who is 18 months old. Those girls have doubled in size since the last time I saw them (Up, not out) and are SO cute! And Brandon is SO charming, probably the third cutest boy I've ever known (Soon to be knocked down to fourth in November, I'm sure) He has a squinty eyed, toothy grin that will absolutely melt your heart. I tried the whole trip to catch it on film, but he wouldn't do it for the camera! I loved the opportunity to be with my cousins, they are so special to me. (I wish we lived closer) Lauri told me not to come back without my kids, so I guess we'll have to plan a family trip out there.
I also loved being with my Aunts- Mamie and June. They are so fun. Aunt June helped me make the cheesecake for Aunt Mamie's birthday. We call it Erica and June's best Cheesecake Recipe. Here it is:
| 1-1/2 cups Graham Cracker Crumbs 3 Tbsp. sugar 1/3 cup butter or margarine, melted 4 pkg. (8 oz. each) Cream Cheese, softened 1 cup sugar 1 tsp. vanilla 4 eggs | ||
 Preparation | ||
|
My cousin Heather brought her Nintendo Wii up with her, and I think we pretty much played it the whole time. It was way fun, but it can be dangerous (especially if you're standing next to Aunt June.... she WILL hit you ;)) By the way, I bowled a 206. I rarely bowl over 1oo in real life. Wii boosts your self-esteem.
Here is the Wii playing station. Jeff, Aunt June, Aunt Mamie, and Greg playing tennis
Lauri, Greg, Jeff, and Aunt Mamie in ACTION!Here we are at Drake's Island Beach. One of the best beaches ever! It wasn't real warm, so we sat close to the wall to keep warm.
The Hood blimp flew by. Why did I take a picture? I don't really know.
Cutie little Brandon. I was trying to catch his best smile, but this one will have to do. You have to see it in real life to really understand how cute he is!
Our beautiful cheesecake with New Jersey blueberries on it. ($0.99 a pint. WOW!)
Happy Birthday Aunt Mamie!
P-A-R-T-Y!
We had a lobster night in honor of Aunt Mamie's birthday. My Dad was nice enough to buy me my own lobster. There was so much other good food that I shared my lobster with my Aunt and Uncle. But I enjoyed the process, this was my first WHOLE lobster. I've only ever had pieces before. Here he is! Notice the instructions underneath him on the plate. I didn't notice them until he was almost gone.
Here is Lauri with her lobster. I had to keep asking her what to do with mine.
More lobster eating
Brandon with his glasses. Isn't he cute? He's sporting his Wee-ooo wee-oo jammies (firetruck)
I hitched a ride with Heather and Becky to the Boston airport. Their flight was before mine, so I had a few hours to go into the city. It was a beautiful day, and I really enjoyed myself walking around the city. I love Boston. The last thing I did was stop in the North End and treat myself to some real Italian food. I got caprese (Fresh mozzerella, basil, and tomatoes) and gnocci as shown below. I even got Pellegrino with a lime. As I sat and ate (alone) I wrote down the recipes that my Aunt Mary had told me. After all this writing and taking a picture of my food, my waiter said, "Oh no, she's reviewing us!" I assured him I wasn't, but I'm not sure they believed me. This meal was so yummy! I just wanted to stay there all day and eat.
This was a great trip, and I really enjoyed the break from my kids, but I was also very homesick. I was so excited to come home to my family and give them all a hug! Dawson wouldn't come to me for an hour or so, but then he forgave me for leaving him and we're best friends again. I loved seeing my family, and it's always fun to go from one side of the country to the other in the same month.
Potty-training Update
I'd like to start this post by humiliating my spouse and I. Let's just say that our average age of sleeping dry at night is around 8 years old. Yes, both of us were REALLY deep sleepers and had a REALLY hard time night-training. I won't tell you which one of us was the one bringing our average up so high, but the point is we struggled. So I have absolutely NO expectations of our children night training at an early age. I accepted that long ago. But I must say that my little stud-muffin son has slept dry every night this week except one. Yes, he is basically night-trained at the ripe old age of 3. Isn't it nice when we expect the worst and our expectations are exceeded! I think so!
I must say my entire outlook on motherhood has changed since last week. This week I think my boys are the most precious things in the whole world, and I can't wait to have another one. Especially after spending the week in Flaming Gorge with my sisters (no offense girls, we love you) we are thinking boys are the way for us to go! I was amazed at the patience and concern my Dad showed to my emotional sisters. I have a tendency to laugh when girls cry, and I love watching the look of bewilderment on Dave's face when they act like, well like little girls. So the good Lord knows what he's doing, and hopefully if we get a girl someday, she'll be really tough!
I used to think that I wanted all boys, but after my little episode last week I think I may get to the point where I really want a girl, someday. Hopefully when I get to that point, I'll actually be able to have a girl! After my day of gender disappointment, I really feel for the people who don't get their desired gender. I had never experienced that feeling, and even though I think it stemmed from my potty-training issues, it hurt. And I even felt that way after I got my desired gender. I just changed my mind for a day. I can only imagine how bad it would be if I spent 5 months hoping for a certain gender only to find out I didn't get it. Yikes! If that ever does happen, you might want to stay away from me AND my blog for a long time!
Enough rambling, I love my boys- my awesome husband who potty-trained Isaac, Isaac who is now SLEEPING dry, and Dawson who just couldn't be any cuter. THE END
I must say my entire outlook on motherhood has changed since last week. This week I think my boys are the most precious things in the whole world, and I can't wait to have another one. Especially after spending the week in Flaming Gorge with my sisters (no offense girls, we love you) we are thinking boys are the way for us to go! I was amazed at the patience and concern my Dad showed to my emotional sisters. I have a tendency to laugh when girls cry, and I love watching the look of bewilderment on Dave's face when they act like, well like little girls. So the good Lord knows what he's doing, and hopefully if we get a girl someday, she'll be really tough!
I used to think that I wanted all boys, but after my little episode last week I think I may get to the point where I really want a girl, someday. Hopefully when I get to that point, I'll actually be able to have a girl! After my day of gender disappointment, I really feel for the people who don't get their desired gender. I had never experienced that feeling, and even though I think it stemmed from my potty-training issues, it hurt. And I even felt that way after I got my desired gender. I just changed my mind for a day. I can only imagine how bad it would be if I spent 5 months hoping for a certain gender only to find out I didn't get it. Yikes! If that ever does happen, you might want to stay away from me AND my blog for a long time!
Enough rambling, I love my boys- my awesome husband who potty-trained Isaac, Isaac who is now SLEEPING dry, and Dawson who just couldn't be any cuter. THE END
Tuesday, July 10, 2007
So this is love...
I have a great post coming about my trip to Maine. I haven't finished it yet, but I'll finish when I get back from Flaming Gorge. But really quickly I wanted to tell you all that I came home from my trip to Maine to a potty-trained son. My husband not only tended both kids by himself for 4 days, but he potty-trained Isaac. What a guy! It kind of makes me feel like an incompetent parent. I keep telling myself that I did the hard part, and he finished it up, but really I think he did it all. Which I guess is fine with me. I guess it means I'll have to take a weekend trip everytime it's time to potty-train a child. Yay! Now I can handle having 3 boys because I don't have to potty-train them! So Isaac has had an accident free day. And if anyone wants to know what worked for Isaac, the pull-ups worked better than the underpants and the big potty worked better than the little one. Who knew! But if any of you were wondering how awesome my husband is, now you know. When I was crying last week he told me I would come home to a potty-trained Isaac. I didn't believe him, but it sure made me feel better. And then he actually did it! Now that is true love! Isn't it?
Thursday, July 5, 2007
And the winner is....
Carrie! You're gift certificate should show up in your email. I was tempted to re-draw since I really wanted Aimee to get it, since she is sick, but I was honest! Here are the pictures.
A- for Aimee. C- for Carrie
Thanks to you all for commenting. Sorry you were wrong. Maybe next time you'll be smarter and guess boy! ;)
A- for Aimee. C- for Carrie
Thanks to you all for commenting. Sorry you were wrong. Maybe next time you'll be smarter and guess boy! ;)
My baby is one!
July 3rd has come and gone, and so has Dawson's birthday. To tell you the truth, it was a VERY low-key birthday. Actually we didn't even get him a present. **blush** I couldn't think of anything he needed, so I figured he didn't really care anyway. But I did spend a few hours making him a cake. A pretty awesome cake if I do say so myself! My next door neighbor is a professional cake maker/decorator, and she gave me access to all of her supplies. I decorated in the color of him room since he really doesn't have any hobbies or themes he is into yet. Here it is!
I sang the birthday song to him all day, and he loved that. He grinned and clapped almost every time. He has no idea what it means, but it was fun! That night we went to the fireworks that I missed last year. I think it was really wise of me to go into labor last year. Lots of walking, sitting on bleachers, and quite a bit of heat! I was wishing I was in labor again this year. As I held my baby during the fireworks, I kept kissing his face remembering the first time I kissed his face exactly one year earlier. It was a lot smaller then. HE was a lot smaller then. About 16 pounds smaller. WOW! I think having his birthday on the day of the USU fireworks makes it different than any other birthday, it really helps me remember all the events of that day as I go throughout my day preparing for the fireworks. He was born at 11:58 p.m. shortly after the fireworks were over, and would have been born earlier if my Dr. wasn't caught in the post-firework traffic. So as we drove home through the traffic, I was reminded of my Dr. driving through it while I sat comfortably in bed. I remember being so nervous that Dawson wouldn't be able to breathe when he was born because he was a month early. But of course there was a bit of foreshadowing when he let out a great deal of screaming right when he was delivered. This year, he's a lot less of a screamer. He is actually really sweet. We love his big dimpled grin that he gives us all day. We just love our little baby Daws. Happy Birthday Dawson, and if you're good this year, maybe we'll get you a present for your second birthday!
Dawson enjoyed his cake, but he really didn't eat it.
Most of this demolishing came from him crawling over the cake.
I sang the birthday song to him all day, and he loved that. He grinned and clapped almost every time. He has no idea what it means, but it was fun! That night we went to the fireworks that I missed last year. I think it was really wise of me to go into labor last year. Lots of walking, sitting on bleachers, and quite a bit of heat! I was wishing I was in labor again this year. As I held my baby during the fireworks, I kept kissing his face remembering the first time I kissed his face exactly one year earlier. It was a lot smaller then. HE was a lot smaller then. About 16 pounds smaller. WOW! I think having his birthday on the day of the USU fireworks makes it different than any other birthday, it really helps me remember all the events of that day as I go throughout my day preparing for the fireworks. He was born at 11:58 p.m. shortly after the fireworks were over, and would have been born earlier if my Dr. wasn't caught in the post-firework traffic. So as we drove home through the traffic, I was reminded of my Dr. driving through it while I sat comfortably in bed. I remember being so nervous that Dawson wouldn't be able to breathe when he was born because he was a month early. But of course there was a bit of foreshadowing when he let out a great deal of screaming right when he was delivered. This year, he's a lot less of a screamer. He is actually really sweet. We love his big dimpled grin that he gives us all day. We just love our little baby Daws. Happy Birthday Dawson, and if you're good this year, maybe we'll get you a present for your second birthday!
Dawson enjoyed his cake, but he really didn't eat it.
Most of this demolishing came from him crawling over the cake.
Wednesday, July 4, 2007
This is your brain..... This is your brain on hormones..... Any questions?
WARNING: This post may contain many potent hormones, some of which may be toxic and may cause serious brain damage. If you read it you will see the damage they have already caused in me. Read at your own risk.
After my excited high on Monday, I had a really bad day yesterday. I decided to try to potty-train Isaac, and let's just say it didn't go well. I just don't understand why he wouldn't want to go potty. I would give him all kinds of rewards, but he really doesn't want to go at all. A few months ago, he was trying to potty-train himself, but I resisted because I knew I was about to embark on the joys of morning sickness. Now I'm wondering if I missed my chance.
So after a bad day with Isaac, I started wondering what I was going to do with a THIRD boy since I can't even potty-train the first. I can't very well have 3 kids in diapers, and for goodness sakes, Isaac turned 3 in April! All you women know how this story goes... from here the thought process becomes less and less rational.
My next thought was that if these kids were girls all my problems would be solved. I mean don't they say that girls are easier to potty-train? I've heard the stories about the frilly underpants that she never wanted to mess up, so she only had 1 accident ever. The smart thing to do would have been to call my Mom. I think she would have reminded me that potty-training her 5 girls was no cup of tea. In fact I remember very clearly (now that I'm through the hormonal fog) a little sister of mine saying repeatedly, "Mommy, I'm so berry sorry I pooped in my underpants." But in my pity party, did I call my Mom? No, of course not, I sat in my house and cried. I started wishing this baby was a girl, and wondering how I could handle 3 of these little monsters! Yes, I know we wanted another boy, and I was VERY excited to have another boy, but I did warn you I was NOT rational.
After spending some time in my sudden gender disappointment, I realized that it really wasn't the gender I was dreading, it was potty-training 3 kids! I remember feeling the same way when Isaac got his molars in, and not wanting another child EVER! (Please Dawson, do you really need molars? Maybe it will be easier with him) So the next stage of my pity party was questioning having a third child.
Of course there was the feeling bad that I'm feeling bad about these things stage too.
Then I moved on to the next stage where I realized that the main reason I was going through all this is because I was PREGNANT. So I started thinking about ADOPTION. Yes, I had moved on from blaming it on the gender of my children, and on their existence, and now blamed my pregnant hormones. I told my husband we were going to have to adopt the rest because I just can't do this anymore. I may not be throwing up, but I am crazy!
Some other things that contributed to my bad mood:
-I was VERY tired
-A certain person close to me felt it was their responsibility to call everyone I know and tell them my exciting news before I could. Literally within the first hour of their finding out, so I REALLY couldn't beat them. Yes, they were told they could tell people, but does that mean call everyone on your speed dial right this minute? I think not. I got so sick of hearing, "I already heard." that I quit calling people.
-One person said, "Oh no, not another boy." which may have contributed. I really wanted another boy, but even if I didn't, why can't people just be happy for me?
Why do I write these things on my blog for the whole world to read? I really don't know. These are things that should be hidden in a journal under my mattress. But it feels good to get things out sometimes. Apparently crying in front of all my in-laws, and Natalie's new boyfriend whom I had never met before, wasn't enough. But you know, writing it down did feel good, and maybe I can warn any of you women out there contemplating pregnancy. IF YOU VALUE YOUR SANITY, DON'T DO THIS TO YOURSELF.
And to tell you the truth, after proof-reading my post, I'm quite thrilled to be having another boy. This house can only handle one raging hormonal lunatic! God bless you Mom and Dad for raising 5 of them.
After my excited high on Monday, I had a really bad day yesterday. I decided to try to potty-train Isaac, and let's just say it didn't go well. I just don't understand why he wouldn't want to go potty. I would give him all kinds of rewards, but he really doesn't want to go at all. A few months ago, he was trying to potty-train himself, but I resisted because I knew I was about to embark on the joys of morning sickness. Now I'm wondering if I missed my chance.
So after a bad day with Isaac, I started wondering what I was going to do with a THIRD boy since I can't even potty-train the first. I can't very well have 3 kids in diapers, and for goodness sakes, Isaac turned 3 in April! All you women know how this story goes... from here the thought process becomes less and less rational.
My next thought was that if these kids were girls all my problems would be solved. I mean don't they say that girls are easier to potty-train? I've heard the stories about the frilly underpants that she never wanted to mess up, so she only had 1 accident ever. The smart thing to do would have been to call my Mom. I think she would have reminded me that potty-training her 5 girls was no cup of tea. In fact I remember very clearly (now that I'm through the hormonal fog) a little sister of mine saying repeatedly, "Mommy, I'm so berry sorry I pooped in my underpants." But in my pity party, did I call my Mom? No, of course not, I sat in my house and cried. I started wishing this baby was a girl, and wondering how I could handle 3 of these little monsters! Yes, I know we wanted another boy, and I was VERY excited to have another boy, but I did warn you I was NOT rational.
After spending some time in my sudden gender disappointment, I realized that it really wasn't the gender I was dreading, it was potty-training 3 kids! I remember feeling the same way when Isaac got his molars in, and not wanting another child EVER! (Please Dawson, do you really need molars? Maybe it will be easier with him) So the next stage of my pity party was questioning having a third child.
Of course there was the feeling bad that I'm feeling bad about these things stage too.
Then I moved on to the next stage where I realized that the main reason I was going through all this is because I was PREGNANT. So I started thinking about ADOPTION. Yes, I had moved on from blaming it on the gender of my children, and on their existence, and now blamed my pregnant hormones. I told my husband we were going to have to adopt the rest because I just can't do this anymore. I may not be throwing up, but I am crazy!
Some other things that contributed to my bad mood:
-I was VERY tired
-A certain person close to me felt it was their responsibility to call everyone I know and tell them my exciting news before I could. Literally within the first hour of their finding out, so I REALLY couldn't beat them. Yes, they were told they could tell people, but does that mean call everyone on your speed dial right this minute? I think not. I got so sick of hearing, "I already heard." that I quit calling people.
-One person said, "Oh no, not another boy." which may have contributed. I really wanted another boy, but even if I didn't, why can't people just be happy for me?
Why do I write these things on my blog for the whole world to read? I really don't know. These are things that should be hidden in a journal under my mattress. But it feels good to get things out sometimes. Apparently crying in front of all my in-laws, and Natalie's new boyfriend whom I had never met before, wasn't enough. But you know, writing it down did feel good, and maybe I can warn any of you women out there contemplating pregnancy. IF YOU VALUE YOUR SANITY, DON'T DO THIS TO YOURSELF.
And to tell you the truth, after proof-reading my post, I'm quite thrilled to be having another boy. This house can only handle one raging hormonal lunatic! God bless you Mom and Dad for raising 5 of them.
Monday, July 2, 2007
Here comes Henry George Low!
I wish you could see my face right now. I would take a picture, but really aren't we always smiling in pictures? But you'll have to take my word for it, I am beaming at the thought of my new baby boy. In fact, as awesome as my ultrasounds were for the other boys, I think this is the most excited I've been after an ultrasound. Maybe because I didn't know what to expect with the other boys, but I KNEW this one was a boy. I was actually kind of dreading my ultrasound, unsure of what my reaction would be with either gender, and enjoying living in ignorant bliss of any detail of this baby.
We had an AWESOME ultrasound! The lady was very nice and she did a great job. Henry was VERY cooperative compared to the other boys. When we walked into the room Isaac announced to the Ultrasound tech that it was a boy. He wouldn't sit very close to me because he was scared of what the lady was going to do to me. He thought I was getting a shot or something. She gooped me up, put the ultrasound wand on my belly, and took a few measurements. About a minute later she said, "Oh, you're right Isaac, it is a boy!" Henry spread his legs and gave us a great shot, and he is ALL boy. No questions with this one.
This kid is quite a mover, he kicked around a lot, but I don't think he's quite as wild as Isaac was. We'll see. We actually got a great 3-d shot. HE IS SO CUTE! His nose points up like Isaac's did when he was a baby. He was eating his hand, and then we got a picture of him with his hand on his nose. We also got a picture of him with his mouth open, it looks like he's smiling. As my Mom said, "Of course he's smiling. He has no idea what is coming." Unfortunately, the computer froze and ruined the cd-r that I brought, so I need to bring a new cd to get the pictures of him. So, you can't see how cute he is yet, but you'll have to trust me.
So here's the problem of the ultrasound. Part of what I was dreading about it. Now I'm so excited! I just can't wait until this little guy gets here. I'm dying to see what he looks like, and I just want to take him out and cuddle him. Until now, I haven't spent much time thinking about the baby. Now he's a he, and I've even named him (Dave is still trying to slip his opinion in, but we had a deal, and it's Henry George!)
Dave is already trying to figure out if we can pull of one more boy bringing it to four boys in a row. I told him I didn't think that would be a problem considering we already have 3! As we thought about it, Dave's grandma and grandpa had 4 boys and a girl. And so far both of the Low boys have only produced boys, so Jesse and Brooke you may need to adopt to get that girl you want. Personally, I would love to have all boys. 5 boys, that's only 2 more pregnancies, and if they are anything like this one it might be do-able. ( I think I may slip Henry $1000 bucks when he gets older for making this such a great pregnancy. I think we saved about that much in Zofran, dental work, and slurpies)
So.... You're all wrong! It's not a girl! Now the drawing is between Aimee and Carrie. I'll do that later, and let you know who the winner is. Sorry that this post is so long and random. I'm still a little buzzed with adrenaline. But how can I not be, I'm having another healthy baby boy!
And by the way, if you need me today, I'll be on cloud nine! :)
We had an AWESOME ultrasound! The lady was very nice and she did a great job. Henry was VERY cooperative compared to the other boys. When we walked into the room Isaac announced to the Ultrasound tech that it was a boy. He wouldn't sit very close to me because he was scared of what the lady was going to do to me. He thought I was getting a shot or something. She gooped me up, put the ultrasound wand on my belly, and took a few measurements. About a minute later she said, "Oh, you're right Isaac, it is a boy!" Henry spread his legs and gave us a great shot, and he is ALL boy. No questions with this one.
This kid is quite a mover, he kicked around a lot, but I don't think he's quite as wild as Isaac was. We'll see. We actually got a great 3-d shot. HE IS SO CUTE! His nose points up like Isaac's did when he was a baby. He was eating his hand, and then we got a picture of him with his hand on his nose. We also got a picture of him with his mouth open, it looks like he's smiling. As my Mom said, "Of course he's smiling. He has no idea what is coming." Unfortunately, the computer froze and ruined the cd-r that I brought, so I need to bring a new cd to get the pictures of him. So, you can't see how cute he is yet, but you'll have to trust me.
So here's the problem of the ultrasound. Part of what I was dreading about it. Now I'm so excited! I just can't wait until this little guy gets here. I'm dying to see what he looks like, and I just want to take him out and cuddle him. Until now, I haven't spent much time thinking about the baby. Now he's a he, and I've even named him (Dave is still trying to slip his opinion in, but we had a deal, and it's Henry George!)
Dave is already trying to figure out if we can pull of one more boy bringing it to four boys in a row. I told him I didn't think that would be a problem considering we already have 3! As we thought about it, Dave's grandma and grandpa had 4 boys and a girl. And so far both of the Low boys have only produced boys, so Jesse and Brooke you may need to adopt to get that girl you want. Personally, I would love to have all boys. 5 boys, that's only 2 more pregnancies, and if they are anything like this one it might be do-able. ( I think I may slip Henry $1000 bucks when he gets older for making this such a great pregnancy. I think we saved about that much in Zofran, dental work, and slurpies)
So.... You're all wrong! It's not a girl! Now the drawing is between Aimee and Carrie. I'll do that later, and let you know who the winner is. Sorry that this post is so long and random. I'm still a little buzzed with adrenaline. But how can I not be, I'm having another healthy baby boy!
And by the way, if you need me today, I'll be on cloud nine! :)
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