If life were only as simple as a database.....

See flying dogs

posted by DDK23 @ 2:35 PM 0 comments

Long week

It has been a really long week. As much as I do enjoy the work at home thing; doing 2 jobs (mom and "work" work) at once is exhausting. Most days everything goes smoothly, and on other days I am just wiped out by the time Chad comes home. This past week I just seemed wiped out each evening. Last night when Chad got home, I had dinner ready, but I just went up to bed almost as soon as he walked in the door. After dinner the boys went to Target while I just kept sleeping. I had to get up shortly after he put them all to bed.....so I could finish up more "work" work. Then after some TV, I went back to bed.
Today I am not as tired and I feel like I am slowly coming out of my funk. I kind of feel bad for basically checking out of being a mommy for like 12 hours. We decided to try and get out of the house and do something. There is an outdoor show by our old house. But it is becoming a chore just to get Daniel to behave. Lately he has become possessive of toys and other things. Manu on the other hand has been crying about something every 10 minutes or so (I think he is teething) and Daniel doesn't help when he starts to yell at him for one thing or another. When you tell Daniel not to be mean to his brother, he gets all mad and starts to throw a fit.....which gets Manu going even more. So we really aren't that keen on taking them out, in public of all places lol. But we (especially me) can't stay couped up in the house all day long. Also lately they have been really good when strangers are watching......isn't it usually the other way around?
Other than not being so nice to his little brother Daniel has been great lately. He has stayed dry for 2 days straight (keeping my fingers crossed for day 3:-), and been great when we take him places. It just seems like he finally hit a stumbling block when it comes to having a baby brother. He loved it when Manu was a baby baby. He used to love to help, and bring him things, and give him kisses and stuff. Now that he can get around and play well a baby brother is a bother!

So wish us luck on going out. We have called in the grandparents for backup. I just keep reminding myself we are fortunate to have jobs, a new house, and loved ones to help. Not only that we have the opprotunity to see flying dogs!

posted by DDK23 @ 10:51 AM 0 comments

He did it!

So I hate to follow up a food related post with a well...waste related post. But after many months of trying to capture #2 in the potty....we have success!

Finally poop in the potty!!

We danced, we sang, we hi-fived, we called grandparents....and well now a blog post. Let it be known on 02.24.09 my son went poo poo in the potty! We of course are unbelievably proud.....and yes there is real picture of his accomplishment. But since that is kind of gross to post, you can have this picture.

posted by DDK23 @ 8:47 PM 3 comments

Laissez les bon temp rouler

Well we had a fun and adventurous day. I had to take Daniel to his 3 year old checkup (again 3 years...wow!), and well Manu had to come along for the ride. Since it was scheduled for 1:30, I decided to just take the afternoon off and use some vacation time for something fun like.....errands. Well first we went to lunch. That is always fun to figure out how to get kids and a tray of food to a table. But it was fun to spend time with my little guys out of the house, and they were both really good.

Daniel got to pee in a cup, and it was cool, and while I did not get a picture of this proud parenting moment, it will be talked about for ages......grandchildren will speak of it. During his checkup Daniel continued his charming ways, the doctor said "well I see he can talk well" I had to laugh, because yes Daniel lately can talk your ear off. He was given a clean bill of health. When she went to go she said you're all set. Daniel kept asking "we can go?" and kind of looked at her in disbelief. I had prepared him for the possibility of "shots" since its been a year since he went to the doctor and I couldn't remember what he might need. She said that he was up to date, so it was a quick visit. This office gives out books at each checkup and they have free books all over the office. Daniel became attached to one truck book in particular so the receptionist gave it to him after she played peekaboo Manu.

So after that we weren't done yet! There was a quick trip to the grocery store to pick up some items for dinner. The boys were being especially good there too. I have never heard so many compliments about my guys in one trip. People kept stopping us and telling me how cute either Daniel or Manu is.

So after that, we had to make a quick stop at a local doughnut shop to pick up some Packzi. For those of you that don't know, in the Detroit area (and some other places) it is a tradition to eat.. Packzi....I say pounchkey.....but, well, I never got the pronunciation right. They are basically doughnuts with more butter, sugar, and eggs....with different fillings. The owner of the local doughnut shop is a cute older lady of some Eastern European background. So we had a feeling they would be good. She talked me into trying prune one, which is the traditional filling.

So then it was back home. Well the afternoon probably doesn't sound as tiring to some of you out there. But we rarely leave the house so that many trips and in winter especially is a task. By the time we got home I had two tired little boys who easily took naps. I thought I would be more beat, but I was ok. So I proceeded to make gumbo. And.....well it turned out good. I have made gumbo before, but I never darkened the roux as much as I did today. It made it so much better.

Oh and the prune Packzi......it was great.....I think that is the only kind I want from now on:-)

posted by DDK23 @ 6:21 PM 1 comments

Happy Birthday Daniel!

Wow, Daniel is 3 years old. So this post is a few days late....but I never bothered to send in my entry as mother of the year so its all good.
Its been an amazing year with my little daddy's boy. He started straight into the terrible twos....they actually seemed to start before his last birthday. By summertime we wondered how much more terrible he was going to get......then magically our sweet, silly, smart little boy came back. We had a lot of stress early on last year and I am sure that didn't help matters. However once we finally moved, and finally got somewhat settled we realized we had this little boy living with us. One of the results of our move was the decision to let the kids stay home with me while I worked. This arrangement has been better than I expected. I think Daniel has enjoined it too, he even seems to like me now;-)
Potty training got started in the fall, and well its still going. Yesterday it was going well, today...so-so....but we see a light at the end of the tunnel! Each day Daniel just does or says something that cracks us up. Weather its saying in an oh so serious tone "Mommy that's a digger, its not a backhoe" or if its handing me imaginary tools to help repair one of his trucks. You just never know what to expect, but its fun to play along.
He still loves to clean things, and play with bubbles in the sink. He still loves to color, and can even draw a decent circle. He has started to learn numbers but still refuses to learn the alphabet or any letter. Singing, is still sometimes a no no around him. But he still loves to help me bake, as long as I don't sing as I do it. Bath time is not so horrible now that he and Manu can play together in the tub. There are some nights he begs for a bath.....instead of begging not to take one.
Life has been amazing with a 2 year old around, I look forward to the hijinks of a 3 year old. I cherish every kiss, every hug, and every giggle. These kids do grow fast!

posted by DDK23 @ 2:10 PM 4 comments

Church search

Well we may have found a church. We still want to meet with the pastor to kind of go over some questions (not major ones), but it feels like the right one.
After the first dud we kind of gave up until after the new year. So the middle of January we started up again. We had found 3 churches that sounded like they were a good fit. The first one we liked right away. I kept thinking "ok what is the catch, what aren't we going to like". By the time we left we kind of figured what it was. It was already kind of a drive (but not bad, 20 minutes at the most), BUT they are planning on moving. Now this move won't happen for a while, they have no idea where the move will really be, and well the area they are thinking of isn't to much further. So really its wasn't that big of a deal. The other 2 churches were ok. Well the 3rd was very similar to the 1st.....but we really just feel right so far at church #1. Daniel seems to be in agreement. When we pulled up this morning his eyes lit up and he said "Fire Engine church"....he apparently likes the selection of toys at this churches nursery better than the others. You always have to think about important things like toys, when it comes to serious matters like God.

posted by DDK23 @ 9:34 PM 3 comments

Book recomendation

I usually forget to put my book recommendations on here. I have all intentions of saying "oh this is a good book you should read it!" But other things come up and then I forget to post of a week or 2, then then I forget about it. Well I can't let this one go without begging everyone to go out and get a copy. It is called Schuyler's Monster, I have had the link to the author's blog for a while now. I have always liked reading his blog, because it gives a glimpse of what it is like to be a parent of a "broken" (his words) child. Although Schuyler (pronounced Skyler) is still young Rob and his wife have to fight so their daughter has the chance she deserves. They have stood up for her weather its working with doctors to get the right diagnosis, schools in getting the right education, or just strangers in grocery stores. All this while their baby transforms into a beautiful little girl before their eyes. This book describes the struggle, from birth until very recently.
I rarely read non-fiction. But I couldn't put the book down, and I knew the ending. I honestly think anyone can be touched by this book. Get it, read it, pass it on.

posted by DDK23 @ 8:48 PM 1 comments