Memorable Weekend

Well, this will definitely be a Memorial day weekend we will remember. This weekend Dan and I had plans to leave the boys with Tutu and Papa for four whole days. Yep, four days and three nights all to ourselves. The first real vacation since Daniel was born more then four years ago. One of my roommates from college got married on Saturday up in Santa Rosa. Dan and I had reservations at the Case Ranch Inn, a cute little bed and breakfast in the beautiful wine country. Our plan was to drive up to L.A. on Thursday and then take off early Friday for our getaway. Well, what we planned and what actually occurred didn't quite match up.

It all started Monday night right as Dan and I were climbing into bed. We heard Daniel crying in his room and when we went to see what was wrong we discovered that he had vomited all over himself and his bed. We cleaned him up and put him back in bed only to be roused 20 minutes later with the same thing. Finally at midnight the evil cycle had stopped, probably because Daniel had nothing left in him, and we all got to sleep until 6 a.m. when we awoke to Daniel crying again and more vomiting.

Wednesday morning Dan called our pediatrician since Daniel still could not hold anything down and we were worried about him getting dehydrated. The doctor told us to only give him liquids and if he vomited anything before 5 p.m. call back. Daniel held all the fluids down that day, but just as luck would have it he threw up at 4:45 p.m. We called the doctor and he called in a prescription for an anti-nausea medication. Either this particular medication is rare or lots of people have been using it because our pharmacy and the next 5 pharmacies we called were out of it. Finally Dan tracked down a Longs Drug store that had it in stock that wasn't too far from home. At 7:00 p.m. I threw Sammy in the car and went to pick up the prescription only to find out that we had called the wrong store and my prescription was at a different Longs. I didn't think that day could get any worse. We got home threw Sammy in bed, gave Daniel his medicine and prayed that he would feel better the next day. I called my parents to give them an update and we decided to change our plans. My parents would drive down on Friday, assuming Daniel was doing well, and stay at our house with the boys and we would drive up. It wasn't quite what we planned, but sometimes you have to be flexible.

Thursday morning Sammy woke up crying and covered in vomit. Thursday evening Dan came down with it. The stomach flu had officially ruined our romantic getaway.

Sammy and Daniel on their towels with their spit-up bowls close by.

Poor Sammy was so sick all he wanted to do was lie down and be held.

Friday was not too bad as Daniel was starting to feel better, but Saturday was the worst of all when Sammy and Dan both hit rock bottom. After a particularly disgusting diarrhea incident with Sammy, Dan proclaimed that he had just experienced one of the worst moments in his life and likened it to torture. Yep, it was pretty bad.

The sickos

Sunday was our first vomit free day and I was able to strip the couches of the towels and put the spit-up bowls away.

The boys are still very tired and recovering from this awful bout of stomach flu. I am praying that I have been spared because I would not wish this upon anyone.

I have gotten over the disappointment of missing our vacation and seeing my friend married, but I am just glad that the boys are feeling better and eating again.

For Nana

Work of Art

I have been spending the last few weekends painting a huge mural for our church's vacation bible school. I have turned the conference room at Dan's work into my studio and paint for about three hours during the boy's nap.

Last week's progress

After seeing the enormity of the project I was quite intimidated by the whole thing and thought maybe I was taking on more than I could handle. Now that I have gotten started painting, I am so glad I took on the challenge. I really haven't painted since college, almost ten years ago. (Yikes! Has it really been that long since I graduated?) I has been so much fun pulling out all my old paints and brushes and throwing paint onto a blank canvas. There is nothing like seeing a painting coming together. You start out with a blank canvas, sketch out your idea, start laying down the color, add details and shadows and before you know it you have a work of art.

This week's progress

I can't wait till it's done. I just need someone else to commission me to do another work of art to keep me going. Anyone?

The troops are on the move

For the last three days Daniel has been fighting a war with the stomach flu or some similar sickness. He has been plagued with high temperatures that even Tylenol and Advil do not seem to alleviate and woke up this morning at 4:30 am throwing up. Daniel has spent the last three days basically rooted to the couch watching 'Chicken Little'. He can now sing most of the songs in the movie and it is quite funny hearing him singing out 'I am the champion' and 'I will survive'. Daniel's favorite song is a song by the Bare Naked Ladies called 'One Little Slip'. He now knows the words to almost the entire song. The amazing thing is he sings the correct words and this is not a simple song to sing. For example here is the start of the song (Daniel can sing this part):

It was a recipe for disaster
A four course meal of no sirree
It seemed that happily ever after
Was happy everyone was after me
It was a cup of good intentions
A table spoon of one big mess
A dash of over reaction
I assume you know the rest

One little slip, One little slip
It was a fusion of confusion
With a few confounding things

I guess maybe Daniel has watched 'Chicken Little' a little too much.

But I think the end is in sight. He seemed much better today and only had to take Tylenol once. He even ate half of a hamburger for dinner. And this morning Daniel told me, 'I think my white blood cells are winning the battle'. Hopefully the battle will be won soon.

There's no place like home

The Walls' family had quite an adventurous and fun filled Spring Break last week. Sammy and I spent the week with Tutu and Papa, while Dan and Daniel flew out to the East Coast to stay with Uncle Jeff, Auntie Cassi, cousin Alex and Hannah.

Dan and Daniel flew out of LAX the Sunday before Easter and spent the week in Virginia with Dan's brother and family. Daniel was perfect on the plane rides and had a lot of fun playing with his cousin Alex. They got to see Papa Walls, go to the Aerospace museum and Washington D.C., went to a Nationals ballgame, visited Great Granny Fisher and relatives in Baltimore and much more. I will have to get Dan to write more about the trip and all the fun stuff they did out there.

Sammy got a rare treat for the week; the exclusive attention of Tutu and Papa. It was quite strange having only Sammy around with Tutu and Papa. Although Sammy caught the stomach flu bug right before we left and spent 3 or 4 days sick with high temps and then got in one of his molars, we still had lots of fun. Sammy especially enjoyed his time with Papa having confetti fights on the bed (throwing that Easter basket grass at each other). Sammy must have really had a good time because when it was to leave he said he wanted to stay at Tutu and Papa's house and he bawled as we drove away.

Although we all had a great vacation, it was so nice to come back home. We got home yesterday and at naptime Daniel fell into his bed and said, 'There's no place like home.' I had to agree.

The End is in Sight

After more than four years of being intimately involved with dirty, stinky and wet diapers, it appears the end is in sight. It seems like just yesterday I was writing about Daniel's potty training accomplishment, and now it is Sammy's turn already.

For the past week or so I have been leaving Sammy's diaper off whenever we are at home and I have the time to watch him and help him use the potty. Without a lot of encouragement Sammy was good about telling me when he had to go shi-shi (pee) and had no problem getting on the potty, holding his penis down and letting loose. Then on Wednesday he had his first poop in the potty. It was only a small amount, but boy was I excited. Then on Thursday when Sammy was sitting on the pot and seeming to try and poop I asked him if he wanted to be left alone (I remembered that the key to getting Daniel to poop on the potty was to give him privacy). Well, I didn't give Sammy total privacy because I wanted to see what he was doing, but I hid outside the door and peeked in. Sure enough Sammy pooped and this time he was just about as excited as me, and I don't think it was just because he gets a Hershey kiss each time he uses the potty. I think he was really proud of himself.

Fast forward to Friday night. Dan and I had our Lenten bible study, so Nana was watching the boys. As Nana tells it Sammy was sitting on the potty in privacy and then ran out excitedly yelling, 'I made plops! I made plops!', and then sprinted back to the bathroom saying, 'I'm gonna make more plops. Big plops!' Yep, that's my boy!

This weekend Sammy continued to use the potty and even kept his diaper dry during a nap and told me he had to shi-shi when I went and got him. This whole potty training has taken me completely by surprise. I didn't really expect for him to potty train himself so quickly, I was just getting him geared up. I guess my little baby is growing up. The only downside to Sammy getting potty trained is I will have to move him out of his crib once he is wearing underwear for naps and nighttime. Hopefully that will not be for a while because Sammy not confined to his crib is a scary thought. But not having to change another poopy diaper might just be worth it.

Catching Up

This past month has been a whirlwind of activity in the Walls household. I still haven't yet caught my breath, but I will try to catch up a little bit before another month flies by.

A Hotel Stay in LA

My sister, Chrissie, and her two girls, made the trek down to the parents house to enjoy some Papa and Tutu time and mostly sunny weather. Since my parent's house was already packed with the addition of Chrissie, Leina (2 1/2 yrs.) and Kulia (10 months) we decided to stay at a nearby hotel. I have to admit I had my doubts about staying in a hotel with the boys, but it was terrific. The boys loved staying at our hotel (they called it our house). They did well sharing a room for the first time, although they giggled, laughed and played for an hour and a half before taking their naps. The hotel was really nice. It had two bedrooms, a nice breakfast buffet and was close to my parents house.

It seems like each visit with my two nieces gets more and more fun. This was definitely the best visit yet. Sammy, Daniel and Leina truly enjoyed running around together and playing, and Kulia did her best to keep up with the pack. The conversation between the three was priceless. We crammed so much into those three days, and wished we could have had more time. The memories that stand out most: taking the kids to the beach, having dinner at a little pizza place, going up to the park and Sammy skinning his knee running downhill at full speed, going to the farmer's market, the kids playing race while waiting forever for our takeout lunch, Leina's sad face each time we had to leave and her excitement each time we came back and watching Daniel interact with Kulia. What a perfect trip we had and how hard it was to say goodbye.

A Visit from the Tooth Fairy

This month has been the month of the dentist. Between Dan, Daniel and myself we have had five visits to the dentist just this month! If you ask me that is five times too many. It all started when Daniel started saying his tooth was hurting. At first I though he was just kidding because our neighbors were losing teeth and we had been talking about Sammy's teeth hurting because he is getting his molars in. Well after more than a week of saying his tooth was hurting I decided to take him to the dentist to have it checked out and since Dan and I had not been to the dentist for a while we decide to have check-ups too.

Dan took Daniel to the dentist and everything was going fine. Daniel was a perfect angel getting x-rays taken and having his teeth cleaned. Then the dentist came in to look at his teeth. It turned out that the reason Daniel's tooth was hurting was because he had an abscessed tooth that we think resulted from a crack in his tooth. So last Thursday Daniel went in to get his tooth pulled out. The whole event was extremely stressful and traumatic for Dan and I, but Daniel handled it better that most kids or adults. He didn't whine or cry once throughout all the probing and pulling. The worst part was he got a giant canker sore on his lip from chewing on it while it was still numb. And today, while in Costco, I gave Daniel and Sammy a tic-tac and told them to suck on it not bite it. Sammy of course asked 'Why?' and I replied, 'So you don't crack a tooth'. Daniel added, 'But that's ok because then you can go to the dentist and he will pull it out and you can put it under your pillow and the tooth fairy will come and leave you money'. Sammy seemed to agree. So now my kids actually want to go to the dentist and get their teeth pulled out.

A Visit from Papa

Last weekend Papa came for a short visit. Of course the boys were excited to play with Papa, and I was excited because we were planning on pulling out the disgusting, peed and pooped on carpet in the downstairs bathroom. Well we installed about 3/4's of the floor before running out of planks. This was no big deal since the day before I had Dan call Costco to make sure they still carried the color we had. Well it turned into a much bigger deal when we went to Costco the next day and discovered that they had informed us wrongly and actually did not carry the color we needed anymore. The upside is Papa left his cool tools so I could finish the job without him and that certainly means I get to keep them too, right?

Papa also made me three canvases for some painting I volunteered to do for our church's vacation bible school. And these aren't just any old canvas, they are enormous. They are over seven feet tall and when put together span thirteen feet. I am suppose to paint a beach scene on them to use as a backdrop for the skits. Now I am wondering what I have gotten myself into. I have never painted anything on this scale, although I am quite excited about getting out my paints again. The hardest part is finding a place to put this monstrosity. Right now the canvases are in our room. We have to scoot them back and forth so we can close the door or get into our bathroom. What I really need is my own art studio...

And More

Nana has recently started up a knitting group at our church. We get together once a month and knit together and talk. Right now I have three different knitting projects going on and am really enjoying it. Dan and I have also been going to a Lenten Bible Study at our pastor's house, thanks to our great babysitter, Nana. I also have a handful of other sewing, scrapbooking and gardening projects going on.

So, as you can see I have been very busy. Hopefully the dentist visits will lessen, although Sammy is next to get his teeth checked and cleaned. Dan and Daniel have a trip to the east coast to see Dan's brother and family coming up and Sammy and I will spend spring break with Papa and Tutu. The weather is warming up and I am looking forward to spring and starting my vegetable garden up again. So much to do and so little time.

Talk, Talk, Talk

It has been over eight years since I stood up in front of our church and took our wedding vows. Eight years is a pretty long time, but I still remember so much about my wedding day. I can still remember the panic of my sister being half an hour late to pick me up for my hair appointment and the relief of finding her wandering around my apartment complex desperately calling out my name because she didn't know my apartment number (this was before we all had cell phones). I remember the excitement of getting dressed with my bridesmaids and standing with my Dad as we waited to walk down the aisle. I remember the shock and hilarity of seeing my Auntie Bev and Pastor Strand dancing to 'I wanna rock and roll all night' in the middle of the dance floor. I will never forget pacing the floor of our hotel room after the reception waiting to hear word if my Dad and Mother-in-Law were able to recover my backpack, which had my identification in it, from the closed up church, so I would be able to go on our honeymoon early the next morning. I remember the news of Princess Diana being in a fatal car accident. What I don't remember well is our wedding ceremony.

I remember walking down the aisle and my Dad handing me off to Dan, but after that it all becomes a blur. I think the pressure of remembering what to do in front of all our friends and family made me forget most of the ceremony. But one of the parts that I do remember was part of Reverend Strand's message to us. He told us that three of the most important things in a marriage is to 1. Talk, 2. Talk and 3. Talk. He said that studies have shown that married couples talk less and less each year and some end up talking only 20 minutes a day. Since being married I have realized how important communicating and talking really is. And since having kids I have realized how hard talking and communication can be.

Being a mother of two small children I have three opportunities for uninterrupted time during a typical day; before the boys wake up, while the boys are napping and after the boys have gone to bed at night. Trying to get even the simplest thing done while the boys are around can sometimes be near impossible and downright frustrating. I often find myself being bombarded with requests, questions and things to do. Trying to carry on a conversation with kids around is quite laughable. Poor Dan has to suffer through me asking him the same question three times because I either forgot I asked him the question or I was too distracted and didn't hear his answer. Dan and I have learned to wait until the boys are in bed before attempting any serious conversation, but it can be quite hard to limit conversations to certain times.

But now that the boys are getting older and playing with each other (and not constantly at odds) Dan and I are finding more time to engage in uninterrupted conversation. Tonight we actually had a continual conversation throughout our entire dinner, with only minor interruptions from the boys. Although last week as Dan and I enjoyed some time together talking while the boys played upstairs, we found a half naked Daniel staring at a pile of toilet paper and wipes he had put in the toilet in an attempt to get his bottom clean and Sammy standing on the bathroom counter with his hands in the Vaseline jar from the medicine cabinet.

I still haven't decided if the clean up was worth the half hour of uninterrupted conversation with my husband, but I do know that the more you talk and communicate the better off you are.

The Games People Play

Recently I read a blog over at defective yeti about games that he recommends for playing with your children. I read it mainly while day dreaming about the day that I could play board games with the boys. It is probably one of those unrealistic parental fantasies that we would all sit around happily playing board games and enjoying each others company. Well, be careful what you dream for...
Tonight before we had dinner we four were sitting in the family room fooling around. The Old Maid deck of cards was laying around from a few days previous when we had played it with Maracela, our seven year old neighbor. Suzy or I, I can't remember who, asked if anyone wanted to play it, and Daniel jumped right in. Parental Fantasy engaged! Daniel was on Suzy's side, and Sammy was on my side. Daniel would pick a card from my deck and Sammy from Suzy's. Somehow, we aren't quite sure how, Daniel knew that picking the Old Maid was bad news. Well, you can see where this is going. He picked the Old Maid card and the reaction was instantaneous. Shrieks of anguish, desperate attempts at shoving that card right back at me, to the point that he ended up prone on our floor wailing. Those of you who have observed my parenting skills (or lack thereof) know that I usually take a pretty hard line with this type of behavior, but in this instance all Suzy and I could do was laugh. A lot. Thankfully Daniel didn't notice since you couldn't hear much over his shrieking. After five minutes or so of wailing/writhing on the ground Daniel finally recovered his dignity. Suzy and I had finished the game by this point and were getting ready to play again. Half heartedly we asked if anyone wanted to join us, and Daniel said yes. Can you see where this is going? Yes it wasn't long before he picked it again! With a somewhat quivering lip Daniel calmly placed the Old Maid in my hand (he was on my side for this game) and said, "And I didn't cry this time." Way to go buddy. We are proud of you.

Feels like Summer

As I sit here and type I am wearing shorts and a short sleeve shirt. Why am I attired in such clothing in the middle of February? Because it is 82 degrees outside right now! For the past couple of days we have been having a Santa Ana. While it makes for chilly nights it also makes for warm dry days. Normally Santa Anas come in the summer and are not so welcome, but when they come in winter a Santa Ana is a treat. It is a little glimpse of what is to come.

Even my plants think it is summer. I have sweet ripe strawberries hanging from their pots, blueberries blossoming and forming fruit and even one of my tomato plants I just planted sent out some flowers. Just like the plants I am tempted to pull out my sun dresses and tank tops and bask in the sun, but I know that the hot weather will probably not last and soon the cooler temperatures will settle back in. But for now I will soak up the heat of the sun and dream of the warm days to come. Swimming anyone?

Whoever heard of strawberries and blueberries in the winter?
The word 'dormant' is a foreign word to my plants.

Sammy enjoying the warm weather and wearing my sunglasses.

Four Year Checkup

Yesterday Daniel had his four year doctor's appointment. This appointment was quite different than any of his other appointments. Of course they did the standard items like weight ( 36 lbs., 50%) and height (38.5 inches, 25%) and taking his temperature, but Daniel also took an eye test, hearing test and got his blood pressure taken. The other big difference was the doctor asked Daniel a lot of the questions and not me. Daniel was asked to name the colors of the clothes he wore (Daniel also pointed out that his shirt was striped), if he could dress himself (Daniel also told the doctor that this morning he was even able to button the very top button of his shirt), if he brushes his teeth every day, if he can ride a bike and wears a helmet, if he could stand on one leg and if he could copy a letter T that the doctor drew.

Daniel actually really enjoyed the doctor's visit and didn't mind being poked and prodded and asked question. But what impressed me the most was his handling of his shots. When the doctor told me Daniel would be getting four different injections I was shocked. I don't think I would even be willing to get that many at one time. So before the nurse came in I explained to Daniel what was going to happen and told him that the shots might hurt a little bit, although in my mind I was thinking they were going to hurt like a mother.

Daniel sat bravely on the table as the nurse jammed four different syringes into his little arms, two on each side. His didn't whine, whimper or cry. When the nurse was all done he said they didn't hurt at all. The nurse was so impressed she gave him three toys and two lollipops. I guess I shouldn't be too surprised because Daniel has always risen to the occasion and surpassed my expectations.

Another highlight of our visit was when the doctor was going over a checklist with me of issues and concerns. When he came to the topic of discipline he said, 'I can tell by your boy's behavior that we don't need to discuss discipline.' That is music to a parent's ears.

So Daniel's four year appointment was pretty darn perfect. We didn't have to wait too long, Daniel and Sammy behaved perfectly (although Sammy did trip and fall on his face and cried for a while), Daniel is growing both physically and mentally and is healthy and happy. That's about as good as it gets.

Busy busy busy

Wow! I can't believe that it has been over two weeks since I last blogged. The reason - I have been busy, busy, busy. Ever since the new year I have been on a major organizing kick. I don't quite know why and no I am not pregnant. I guess it all started when we bought a new mattress for our bedroom.

Up until a few weeks ago Dan and I slept in a double sized bed. After talking to my sister, who recently got a new queen sized bed and has loved it, we decided to also move up. Dan's feet stuck off the side of our old bed, the mattress slid around and wouldn't hold on the sheets and the old bed frame squeaked and moved so much that you couldn't move around or get out of bed without waking the other person. So we purchased a new queen sized novafoam mattress from Costco. Well that also meant I needed to get a new bed frame, comforter and bed sheets. And that is what set it all off. Since I had furniture that matched the bed frame downstairs I decided to move the matching bookcases into our bedroom, which meant that I had to make room and move the furniture in our room somewhere else. For a while every day that Dan came home from work something was in a new place.

Pictures of our bedroom in complete chaos.

On top of moving around heavy pieces of furniture I decided to paint walls, change cabinet hardware, organize cabinets and drawers, hang curtains, pictures and lights, install hooks and put up shelves. Although the house was in complete chaos for a couple of days, it is looking quite nice now. I think I am happy with the current status although I may change my mind at any moment.

So I have been neglecting the boys, housework, crafting and blogging while I organize and decorate. But things have calmed down, so hopefully I will start blogging again. This weekend Tutu and Papa came down to celebrate Daniel's 4th birthday, which was quite an experience. Once I catch my breath I will definitely let you in on all the excitement of the Spiderman birthday party and Sammy's Costco cake moment.

Well, I think there is a drawer somewhere that needs reorganizing.

And Pretzel makes Six

Unlike Daniel who was never interested in stuffed animals, except his dog Spot, Sammy loves them. Not only does Sammy hug and carry around his stuffed animals, but he loves to have them in the crib with him while he sleeps. And when he wakes up all his animals and blankets must come out of the crib with him. Well, this wasn't such a big deal when he just had two special animals and one blanket, but his family of favorites has rapidly expanded.

I think the original two stuffed animals were Rabbit and Pooh bear. When we traveled to Portland to visit Leina for her first birthday, Sammy acquired Elmo. A while after that I showed Sammy Cuddles, my little bear when I was small, and Sammy quickly added him to the pack. For a long time these four animals made up the core of Sammy's favorite stuffed animals.

Then came Sammy's birthday and Leina picked out a soft, white lamb for Sammy's present. Of course, Sammy took one look at that sweet stuffed animal, hugged him tight and the pack became five.


Now carrying a very heavy 2 year old, five stuffed animals, anywhere from one to three blankets and sometimes milk, up and down stairs can be quite cumbersome and treacherous. Dan uses the technique of stuffing all the animals and blankets under his shirt, but I go with the blankets over my left shoulder, Sammy in my left arm and all the animals in my right arm. This seems to work pretty well unless I drop one of the animals. Bending over with that load can be quite tricky, especially with Sammy squirming around and pointing out the animal that went overboard.

Well I guess Sammy wanted an even number, because last week he admitted another stuffed animal to the club, Pretzel. While at Ikea Sammy picked up Pretzel somewhere and dragged the little blue dog around the store hugging him and saying he loved him. I think under normal circumstances I would have drawn the line at five stuffed animals, but Pretzel is so cute and soft even I couldn't resist him (and at only $1.99 he was a steal).


I hope that Sammy does not fall in love with any more stuffed animals because my arms are full and Dan's shirt is stuffed.

Happiest season of all!

Well, the lights have been unstrung, the ornaments tucked away, the stocking and all the Christmas decorations have been boxed up until next year and we've bid our perfect tree farewell. And though a part of me is sad to let go of the holiday season, a bigger part of me is excited about the new year to come. We made so many new Christmas memories. This holiday season has definitely been one of the best yet. Here are some of our holiday memories this year...

Christmas songs

Growing up in my family, we always put on the Christmas songs after Thanksgiving. Dan however could listen to Christmas music year round (in fact he sneaks Christmas music in year round), so we have compromised at turning on the Christmas tunes after Halloween. The boys really enjoyed the Christmas music this year. Daniel and even Sammy could sing parts of many of the songs. I don't think there is anything better than the sweet voices of your children singing 'Jingle Bells' or 'We wish you a Merry Christmas'.

Daniel and his classmates making music
and singing Christmas songs in preschool.

Wrapping presents

This year I decided to get some wrapping done with the boys. I still haven't decided if that was a big mistake or not. While Daniel was my elf helper placing wrapped presents on a cutting board and carrying them to the Christmas tree, Sammy threw ribbon around and walked all over the wrapping paper. Besides the crumpled paper and fuzzy, wrinkled tape the presents didn't turn out too bad, and my elves definitely had a blast.

Gingerbread houses

This year I knew I wanted to do gingerbread houses with the boys, it was just a matter of making it easy enough for them to participate. Last year I ended up buying a kit and I had to do it by myself because it was too hard for Daniel or Sammy to help. This year we made gingerbread houses out of graham cracker and it worked great. The boys loved decorating and eating their little houses.

Daniel working meticulously on his house.

Mostly Sammy just licked

the frosting and ate the candy.

Cookie decorating

My Dad passed down the tradition of making Christmas cutout cookies. It is a time involved process of making the dough, letting it chill, rolling and cutting it out, baking and finally decorating the cookies with a special frosting. I don't think we got around to making our Christmas cookies last year, so this year I was determined to do it. The boys and I pulled out the mixer and made the dough. This wasn't as much as a disaster as I thought it might be, although I only put in 4 cups of flour instead of 6 and I had to keep yelling at the boys to keep their paws out of the batter. Daniel helped me roll and cut out the cookies and on Christmas Eve we decorated. This was the first year Daniel got to decorate cookies and he did so well. He was able to do it all by himself and didn't even make a huge mess. He made a plateful of cookies for Santa which tasted as good as they looked.

Cookies for Santa made by Daniel.

Here comes Santa

And to top it off I got to watch my boys experience the wonder and magic of waking up to presents brought by Santa himself. I will cherish the moment Daniel came out of his room Christmas morning and ran to the top of the stairs to see if Santa really came. And the excitement and wonder in his voice as he told me, 'Santa came!'

So we say goodbye to Christmas, but hello to the new year. I wonder what it holds in store for me and my family.

Christmas morning highlights

Merry Christmas! I just thought I would post a couple of pictures of our Christmas morning.

Daniel was a very good boy this year and Santa brought him a spiderman command center (which took Santa over an hour to assemble last night!)


Sammy was thrilled to see Santa had brought him a basket of candles, and he immediately started stacking them.


Dan got lots of good books to read, but I think my favorite was a t-shirt given to him by Kevin, my wonderful brother-in-law.

Nana also stopped by before church and will be coming back over for dinner.

I got so many wonderful presents, but my two favorites presents weren't wrapped up in paper and under the Christmas tree. Unless you count the t-shirt Kevin gave me.

Spread the Word

I hate to write this just in case I might jinx it, but this is too good not to share with the world. I think I have found the solution for the constant flood of whys.

Sammy loves to make a mad dash for the carpet whenever he enters the house with his shoes on. He knows he is not allowed to wear shoes in the house, but thinks it is a game when I run after, tackle and pry his chubby feet out of his dirty shoes. Today when he came in from playing outside I said, 'Sammy don't forget to take your shoes off'. Of course Sammy just looked at me and said 'Why?' Instead of saying 'We don't wear shoes in the house' which would have lead to a long conversation of why exactly we don't wear shoes in the house I posed a question to Sammy. 'Is is ok to wear shoes in the house?' 'Nooooo,' (he does a funny voice inflection on this) Sammy says. We take off his shoes and he goes merrily on his way and I am amazed at my new found wisdom.

Now you have to test a theory out to make sure it holds true, so for the rest of the morning whenever Sammy asked me why I posed the question back to him and sure enough it worked. It is like a miracle cure. I wonder why no one has shared this amazing piece of wisdom with me and other why sufferers like me. Have child and parenting experts failed to discover this technique? Or maybe by doing this I am somehow limiting Sammy's intellectual growth and stimulation. Maybe letting your child ask why two hundred times a day is healthy and necessary for a little two year old to grow and learn. I don't know, but I am going to milk this technique for all it's worth. Why? Why do you think?

Why?

Sammy has hit the why? stage. I don't know if he has hit this stage early or late, but it is definitely here and in prime form. Here is a conversation I had with Sammy the other day:

Me: Sammy, we need to take off your shoes and clothes before you come inside.

Sammy: Why?

Me: Because you're dirty.

Sammy: Why?

Me: Because it's muddy outside.

Sammy: Why?

Me: Because it's wet out.

Sammy: Why?

Me: Because it's winter.

End of conversation. Luckily that time I was able to satisfy his question, but probably 8 times out of 10 I have to end the whys with 'Because!' or pretending I didn't hear his last 'Why?'.

I think the why phase is so hard because it is so mentally exhausting. Now that I am a mother of two I have very limited brain capacity. I have a hard time remembering why I went up or downstairs to get something. I forget words like 'pantry', 'blinds' or 'mantle'. If I need to get something done and it is not written down on my body someplace, there is a good chance I will forget. So being pounding by question after question all day is extremely taxing. And because Sammy seems genuinely curious about the questions he's asking I don't want to just blow off his questions.

I talked to my sister the other day and it turns out Leina, her daughter, is also going through this phase. While I have been trying to end the stream of whys by explaining in simple terms, my sister's solution has been to give an extremely complex answer. Since it appears to work with Leina, the next day I gave it a try.

(Sammy is pounding on the wall with his new Home Depot play hammer.)

Me: Sammy, don't pound on the wall.

Sammy: Why?

Me: (Trying Chrissie's technique) Because if you pound too hard and make a dent or hole I will have to get spackel and patch it up and then paint over it and it will be lots of work and make me grumpy. (I hold my breath and await Sammy's reply)

Sammy: (Pauses and looks at me a little concerned) Why?

Even Daniel has noticed Sammy's constant questioning. I have heard Sammy asking Daniel why? and Daniel trying to come up with answers. The other day Daniel made the comment, 'Sammy says why a lot.' and yesterday when Sammy asked 'Why?' Daniel said in an exasperated voice 'Oh no, not why again.'

Although Daniel and I would be more than happy to see the why phase phase out already, Dan really enjoys this phase. Dan loves explaining things and loves the challenge and satisfaction of satisfying Sammy's questions. In our family Dan is the master of ending the streams of whys. Sometimes he gets just one or two whys before Sammy is satisfied.

Dan: We can't light a fire on Christmas Eve.

Sammy: Why?

Dan: Because Santa would get burned.

(Sammy thinks for a second and then wanders off to play). I guess enough said.

Christmas Pictures

After putting it off for a while, this morning I was determined to get pictures of the boys for our Christmas cards. I had cut out big letters that spelled ‘joy’ and my plan was to have the boys hold the letters while looking adorably cute in their Christmas clothes. But as we all know the words plans and children do not mix well.

They boys actually seemed excited about doing the photo shoot, so I was pretty optimist about getting some good shots. I decided to start with Daniel so he would be a good example for Sammy. After getting a shot of Daniel squinting his eyes, looking down and throwing the J, I decided maybe Sammy would be an example for Daniel.

Amazingly enough Sammy did not chuck the O, but when I told him to hold the O up he would put it over his face and when I told him to put it down lower he would just squat down with the O still covering his face.

Since I could tell that the boys were quickly fading and I wasn’t having much luck with the J and O, I tried having the boys hold the Y together. I didn’t have much luck with one kid in the picture, I don’t know why I thought putting them together would be much better. One would look up the other down, next shot one would look straight and the other away. I got one great picture of the word joy, but Sammy looked like he was crying and Daniel looked anything but joyous.

By now, I had about a dozen shots and not a one was worthy of our Christmas card. It was so frustrating that it was hilarious. And instead of getting mad I burst out laughing.

As the boys played Frisbee with the letters an idea came to me, actually two. One, I promised lollipops if they posed for a couple more pictures. That quickly got them back in line. And two, I told them to love the letters.

Bingo! Bam, bam, bam. I got my shots in less than one minute.

If you want to see them you'll have to check your mail.

Just Call Me Mom

When I had Daniel, my firstborn, I became a mother. When Daniel was around 12 months old I became ‘Mama’. Around the time Daniel was three I was occasionally ‘Mommy’. Last week I became ‘Mom’ and it wasn’t Daniel who elevated me to Mom status.

It all started last Friday. Nana, awesome and wonderful person that she is, took Sammy for the morning. Since Daniel had preschool I got to have the morning all to myself. Very, very nice. After I picked up Daniel from school and got home, Sammy ran up to me and said ‘Hi Mom!’ I was very surprised to have my two year old refer to me as Mom and not quite sure if I was ready to be ‘Mom’. I mean I haven’t even been ‘Mama’ or ‘Mommy’ for very long and ‘Mom’ sounds like such a teenager thing to say.

I think Sammy picked it up from Nana when they were leaving that morning and she said, ‘Bye Mom!’ Well, I thought he would probably just forget about it the next day, but now a week later I am still ‘Mom’.

‘Whatcha doing, Mom?’

‘Miss Mom.’

‘Look, Mom, look!’

‘Come on, Mom.’

But I am still ‘Mama’ whenever Sammy is hurt, tired, crabby or needs comforting. Then it’s, ‘Need Mama’, ‘Mama, are you?’ or ‘Carry me Mama’.

So it appears I have prematurely become a Mom. I guess it’s better than Daniel’s phase of calling me ‘Little old Mama’.