Boring Shoes

I was preparing Zach for his first day of vacation bible school at our church. I told him he was going to church the next day. He turned his nose up and said he didn't want to go to church. I said, it's not like on Sundays. You'll get to do fun stuff and play games. He said, "Do I have to wear my boring shoes?" I just laughed and said, "No, you can wear your running shoes." Oh, good.

He clearly did not want to wear the "nice" black shoes we have that he obviously only wears on Sunday and they are boring b/c you can't run in those! :) Too funny, I think I will always think of his dress shoes as his boring shoes from now on!

Fireworks and Soccer

I've been bad about writing lately. They say fireworks season hasn't started yet, but I sure do feel busy enough! For whatever reason, if I have a work commitment in the evening or weekend, the funeral home seems to get very busy. Unfortunately, this last week we had our big trade show for Jakes, a large funeral in town (for a very young man who died tragically) and Craig's mom was in the hospital all in the same 3-4 day period. It was really a tough week for everyone emotionally and physically. We are glad it's over and we survived.
On a more upbeat note, we went to our first "shoot off". In the fireworks world, this is where we "shoot" off a lot of our products for customers who are buying wholesale from Jake's. They have it at the Frontenac City Park area and it's a pretty impressive showing of fireworks you can buy at stands all over the US and then they do a big professional finale that was quite impressive too. Dylan thought it was pretty neat although he was just as interested in the little baby next to him and then wanted his bed more than anything. Zach liked it a lot too but again was more impressed with the little book lights they give away to read the "shoot sheet" during the shoot off. Next year, we were given the tip to get a babysitter and bring our six pack of beer.
Soccer season has been going pretty well, all things considered. Craig has "gotten" to be the coach for 2 of the 4 games because our friend that volunteered originally didn't realize the games were on Wednesday and had to go out of town for work. (He thought they had Saturday games.) The irony of Craig coaching soccer will not be missed by some of you. He knows very little about soccer so his coaching will be limited to the Pee Wee league. It's a lot of fun for Zach and I think it's a great first experience for him with team sports. He loves running up and down the field and kicking the ball. He volunteered to be the first kid to be the goalie at the first game (which is somewhat unusual for Zach and I was very proud of him!). He also was standing next to his friend, Grant, when Grant kicked the ball in for a goal. I think Zach thinks he should get as much credit for the goal as Grant (I don't know, for moral support?). I like going to the games and especially while Dylan is being so good about sitting in his stroller and watching for most of the game. The last half gets a little tricky because Dylan just wants to run out on the field and kick the ball in the goal with the other boys (especially his big brother).
We are still working on balancing full-time working mom and life thing. I'm somewhat getting the hang of it, but it's definitely a challenge!

Conversation with Zach

I wish I remembered to write down everything Zach is coming up with these days. I've decided that moms in general think our children are amazing and genius (b/c mine are, but I digress) because we remember when they physically couldn't hold their heads up on their own. Any progress after that seems miraculous and especially the thoughts they are able to develop on their own as they get older. Also the fact that they start to develop independent thoughts and actions after being 100% dependent on you. For now, I'll try and remember last nights bedtime discussion.
Zach got in a little tiff with his good friend, Grant. I can not get to the bottom of how this "great' fight began, but it ended with Grant telling Zach that his Dad was going to not let him be on his soccer team b/c his dad is the coach. See Zach, you better watch who you cross...Grant's got connections! :) Anyway, I chose this moment to teach Zach that friends can argue and still be friends the next day. He didn't seem too concerned about not being on the team and when I pressed him a little more to find out how it started, he clammed up. I asked him, "Did you say something that hurt Grant's feelings?" He returns with, " I can't remember that now Mommy. Some times I can only remember one thing. Like today I remembered my sunglasses." Well, what more could I expect from the boy!?!?! It just cracks me up how he comes up with his reasoning for not wanting to share his feelings/thoughts. Boys. They start early with this don't they! :)

My Reading Buddy

I find it interesting that Dylan is quite into his books. I read the same amount to both boys and truth be told, probably more consistently to Zach. Zach has always been one for routine and would never let us skip 2 stories at bedtime. Dylan is an easy sleeper and hasn't cared too much about the routine (although lately his big monkey has to be in the bed and his blanket has so be laid over him, not next to him at night). Therefore, if the night was running a little late, books were possibly overlooked a time or two. He has started carrying books all over the house. Every room in the house has a different one or two board books that Dylan has insisted come down with him in the morning. It's really kind of funny. He says, "book" very clearly and tonight said Ba Ban for Brown Bear...a Ward family favorite.
So maybe I'll have someone in the family to have literary discussions with after all!

Dylan Dialogue

I forgot. 12-24 months is all about speech acquisition. Not only is Dylan working on saying any and every word he can, he is also learning all about non-verbal communication. He is a huge "nodder."
"Dylan, do you want to go to bed?" He's curled up in my lap, rocking in a quiet, dark room with his pacifier in and his blanket all curled up.
He will shake his head no.
"Do you want to rock with mommy?"
Nod yes.
It's really cute and I love it! :)

He can point to most of his body parts when you ask him "Where's your...?" questions. He likes his tummy and he's learning knees and elbows right now. He also can tell you a lot of animals and what they "say". He really likes cow and duck sounds too. I asked him today, "What does a mommy say?" He put his fingers to his lips and made the shushing sound. Not that I do that a lot, but in the Wheels on the Bus song the Mommy on the bus says sh, sh, sh.

Another cute little story about language acquisition...you never know how much they understand until something like this and then it's an ah ha moment of realization.
We were playing with some coins in a jar on the floor. Dylan was picking them up and pushing them around on the carpet. I kept saying, "Dylan, put them in here." He would take the penny and look like he was putting it in his ear. He kept doing this and I couldn't figure out what in God's name was making him try and put a penny in his ear. Until I realized what I was saying. "Dylan, put them in "HERE". Not put them in your "EAR"."
Too funny...he was just doing what he thought he heard me say. I can just imagine him thinking, "not sure why she wants me to put it in my ear, but okay." :) Once I said it clearly and showed him - not "in your ear, but in here." He did it. I'm sure he was thinking, that makes more sense lady! :)

One more funny 18 month story.
He loves being tickled and has such an infectious laugh that we love tickling him. His toes, his tummy and under his chin are sure fire ways to get a giggle. The other day I was tickling him in the kitchen. (Which can be scary because he'll fall to floor laughing and it's hard ceramic tile in there!) Anyway, he was laying on the floor laughing and I stop tickling because I'm always afraid he can't catch his breath or it's not fun anymore (if you have an older sibling, you know it can cross a line quickly). So I stopped. He finally caught his breath and then pulled up his shirt pointed to his belly and said, "Mo, Mo". He was ready for More! Absolutely adorable!

Please don't go, I'll eat you up, I love you so.

Okay, so I had to think twice about posting this one. I found it the most endearing moment as a mother, but don't want it to embarrass him when he's older. This one is for our private blog book and to share publicly for now since he's little and can't read yet (nor can most of his friends).

We watched "Where the Wild Things Are" tonight. To be honest, I had a hard time staying awake. Mostly because I was so tired, but it was a little slow to start. The movie definitely had some fun parts, but it was much darker than I had thought it would be. We didn't see it in the theaters because I thought the big Wild Things would be a bit much in a dark theater, but at home he could handle it. He did and he wasn't scared at all except for maybe one or two scenes that got a bit intense. I will say it had a good message for kids that are a bit older (maybe 8+ could get the deeper meaning of anger management, complexity of parenting etc). I really didn't think Zach was paying too much attention to it, but towards the end of the movie he had climbed into my chair with me and we were cuddling. Almost the very end, Max is getting ready to sail away back to his home. "Please don't go, I'll eat you up, I love you so." Carol, the main beloved Wild Thing, comes running at the last minute to say goodbye to Max. They have had a fight and Max doesn't think he's coming. He reaches the edge of the water and Max and Carol share a look that says "It's all good, I still love you even though we fought. You're my buddy." Zach turns his head around and looks at me and I'll be darned if he didn't have little tears in his eyes. Really. It made me tear up. Here is my son becoming emotional for the first time about any story. Reading, TV, movie or otherwise. It touched me so much to see that he "got" the unspoken looks between the characters and the deeper meaning of friendship. Of course, being a boy, he quickly turned away and was embarrassed that I had seen him. The look he gave me though was one of surprise. I don't think he really "knew" why he was crying. He just "knew" that the emotions were there and kind of turned around to check and see what I was doing.
What a cool moment to be a Mom! In the end that's why I wrote about it. What better memory to keep and share than the first time your child showed a complex, almost adult-like emotion.

Pitsco Rocks! and donation totals

I just had to update the blog and say that Pitsco (a large company here in Pittsburg) has generously agreed to donate the cost of shipping the donations to Colorado Springs (the US location for the Haiti orphanage). Thank GOD! I was losing sleep wondering how I was going to pay for what ended up being 5 HEAVY boxes of donations!

Here's the total count of donations on their way to Haiti:
500 diapers
1200 baby wipes
50 cans of formula
90 jars of baby food
5 boxes of rice/oatmeal cereal
15 baby hygiene items
10 bottles of Infant/Children's Tylenol
20 baby blankets
24 bars of soap
various clothes, onesies, and other misc hygiene items
$156 dollars in cash! :)

Not bad for a month's work!
Thank you Pittsburg and friends! :)

Conversations with Zach

Tonight during his teeth brushing with his Dad...Zach asked, "Does your tongue go all the way into your tummy?" (Good question if you think about it...where is the "end" of your tongue?) Craig said, "No, it ends about here." Zach looked at him with a bit of disbelief, "Well, Hulk's goes all the way into his tummy." That would be in reference to his Incredible Hulk toothbrush he was using. Seriously, what will they think of next!?!? :)

Haiti Orphan Relief

I can't tell you why exactly the Haiti earthquake affected me so deeply. I have a couple theories. One, I'm human and it was an enormous tragedy, how could you not be affected. Two, I'm a mother and seeing all those children suffering or thinking of all the mother's losing their children was enough to make me lose some sleep and count my blessings. Three, a friend of mine from college, who I haven't talked to in years but have been "keeping" up with on Facebook adopted two children from Haiti. I was so impressed by that before the tragedy. He and his wife opened their hearts up to these children and made such a beautiful family that it just always stuck with me (interestingly enough, another of my "friends" on FB adopted 2 children from Africa and I was equally as impressed (especially when you see that she had 2 or 3 other biological children!). Anyway, as soon as I heard about the earthquake I thought about my friend and how it would affect him having two children who's family and origin is from there. Well, sure enough he headed off on a mission to help in Haiti and the orphanage they adopted from was asking for supplies.
I truly felt that it was God's way of giving me the answer to, "What can I do?" I decided to work with an organization in Pittsburg that we are involved with, Young Professionals, and see if we could get some donations together and send to the orphanage. I thought I'd just set up a little booth at the mall and see what money or supplies we could receive. It wasn't a huge amount and the second day of sitting there I started to wonder if I wasted my time and could have just made my own donation for the amount I was collecting. :)
Just as I said this out loud to my friend sitting with me, a man who was deaf and was struggling to communicate with us came up and motioned for me to come outside. I went out and found a women in a van with 20 cans of formula. She had the formula and her grandson couldn't use it anymore. What a blessing for an orphanage! They had seen the little blurb in the paper and had the exact items to help. I guess I'm saying, there were a lot of relief efforts, but none focused on babies and children. The formula would have gone to waste, but this was a perfect way to help others. Within another 20 mins or so, an elderly lady came up to my friend and I and looked at the pictures I had around me. She said, "Now what exactly is this going for?" I told her and she said that's perfect. But let me tell you something before I give this to you. She went on to tell us how over a year ago she found a wallet at Walmart and turned it in (it was around Xmas time). She went back to the Customer Service to see if the owner had claimed it. The owner of the wallet had in fact returned and was relieved to have their Xmas money returned. The wallet owner left a note, "To the angel who returned our wallet, Thank you!" This woman decided she would keep that $20 and give it to a good cause because she didn't "need" the money. I began to tear up thinking, this woman held onto the $20 and the note for over a year, how many Salvation Army ringers did she pass, how many other valuable charities had she seen in the last year that maybe didn't resonate with her. But the "irony" of this Christmas "angel" giving her $20 a year later to God's Littlest Angels Orphanage in Haiti....was not lost on me. It wasn't irony in my opinion, it was my answer. "You did the "right" thing." My friend and I were both emotional as she told us her story. We really couldn't thank her enough.
Just as we were thinking about packing up for the afternoon, two women came in carrying armloads of blankets to donate. Funny enough, they said, "Is it too much?" Is it too much?!?!? NEVER! :) Junior high girls from the local Catholic school were learning to knit and put all of their practice squares together to make baby blankets. It just so happened to coincide with our fundraiser. Again, I was emotional while receiving their gift to these kids in Haiti!

Sometimes God's answers are not whispers but great big billboards! I have been so touched by the outpouring of support.
This picture doesn't include the last 3 weeks of donations that have come in at Zach and Dylan's daycare center, The Center. Monica, the director, put out a box for collection and we received at least as much if not 2x's as many donations. I will definitely post the total when I get a chance to count it all this weekend. I'm now hoping for a corporate donation of shipping costs to help me get all these great supplies to Colorado Springs (to then go in cargo containers directly to the orphanage in Haiti).

People really are good and generous!

Zach quote

Okay, I'm not sure if this will be as cute when I write it down, but it made me kind of snicker at the time. One of my mom tactics to get Zach going when he's whining or not wanting to change gears to a new activity is to make it a game. Usually it involves the phrase, "I bet I can do it faster than you can." To which, I usually get a mad dash for clothes to put on, teeth to brush, shoes, etc. The other day I was on the computer doing some "important" email I'm sure. Zach was begging (whining) for me to play Mario with him on the Wii. I kept saying, in a minute, in a minute. After about 10 mins of laying on my lap and whining while I feverishly typed away, he looks at me and with this fake excited voice (similar to mine when appropriate) he says, "I bet I can get there fasser!" He won. I got up and went to play Mario. How can you resist that?

I want to go to SCHOOL!

It's my last week before I got to work full time so I tried to enjoy the kids a little more this week. Here was my view Thursday morning as Zach went off to preschool. Dylan insisted on finding a backpack of his own (the closest I could find, but his Aunt and Uncle got him one with his name on it, we need to find). He put on the backpack and waved out the door to his big brother. You could tell he was wishing the entire time that he could go with him.




Do they let you take pacifiers to preschool????




Sweet Baby Dylan, there is plenty of time to go to school and grow up. Please stay my baby a little longer! Big hugs and kisses from Mommy!!!!

A New Job for Jill

The title of this post reminds me of a kids book. One you would check out if your child were getting a new job, like a new sibling, you'd read it to them so they could know what to expect. Maybe adults need those books too, I wouldn't mind a book to read about what it's going to be like to be a working mom after staying home for 4 1/2 years with my boys.

In a nutshell, I'm working for Jake's Fireworks here in Pittsburg. I will be helping on the retail side (not just working in a tent selling fireworks, although I will be doing that some in Dec. I hear). I'm in charge of getting all the logistics of a site coordinated, for example, business license, tent setup, electricity, credit card machines, operators. Everything that you would need to get a fireworks tent running for a couple of weeks in June/July and then in December in Louisiana. That is one of the tough parts of the job, I'll be in Louisiana in December from the 15th to the 24th (they fly me back for Xmas and maybe 1 or 2 days) and then back to LA until January 3rd. Evidently fireworks are big in LA during the Xmas season...who knew? I like that the company is fairly small but not too small. It's still a family owned business and they seem to treat their employees really well. They offer great flexibility to go see Zach or Dylan in a little play or a party at school type thing. And they have a casual dress code...like jeans and t-shirts...you know that's right up my alley. Money saver too. I don't have to relook at my work clothes to decide what I need to buy!

I am a little sad about going to work. I've explained to a couple people that it's like what most mom's go through at 6 or 12 weeks, I am going through at 4 1/2 years. I know Zach will be just fine and Dylan is loving his daycare already. I just have a hard time knowing that I just won't have as much time with them. I know that I'll just have to make the days that I am with them more valuable. Not to mention, getting things done around the house when I'm working all day. It will be a challenge, but a lot of women do it, so I can too!
Wish me luck!

Zach's Birthday Weekend

I can not believe how little I wrote in December. Here's a go at catching up on a month of activities....
It seems like the minute Thanksgiving was over, we hit the ground running into birthday and Christmas month. As you can see, there was quite a bit of planning and preparation for Zach's birthday party. His friend party was on Saturday the 5th and the 6th (his actual birthday was even crazier!). We started out by letting him open his present from us. That was actually just going out into the garage, because we got him a new bike, the Power Rangers Jungle Fury bike to be exact. (The last one at Toys R Us and they were clearanced out - to be even more exact...the stress of it all!)
Craig's good friend, Brad Franchione, was in town coaching the Junior College National Championship game for Blinn Junior College, so Craig left a little after Zach opened his present from us and rode around our freezing cold garage to go watch Brad's game. Which they won in a last minute play - very exciting!
Zach and I got ready to go to the Candy Cane Invitational - his first gymnastics meet and really first sporting event to participate in. He was so excited and I was a little nervous. Especially when we got there and the crowd was rather large. Zach was a champ though. He waited patiently while all the other kids went before him (or so it seemed). He got up and did his routine with such confidence. I was just so proud I didn't even pay attention to his score. The mom next to me (from our class) told me he had one of the higher scores (I believe it was a 9.5). At the end of all the kids routines, they had everyone sit on the gym floor and get their awards. They organized it so every kid got a medal and a chance to stand on the award stand. Even though it was set up like that, Zach still would have ranked fairly high without the weighting system! :) The girls who had the actual top scores were only 9.6. He did get 1st in his division and got to stand up and get his medal. He was so proud. He loves wearing his Candy Cane Invitational t-shirt and showing off his medal. They also mentioned as he was getting on the podium that it was his birthday. I have it all on video but didn't manage to catch many snapshots. It's a little hard to manage both and make sure he was getting up to get his medal etc. :) I really have to buy a SD card for the video camera to do double duty.
Off to our next event which was his preschool open house. Thank goodness it was pretty laid back and didn't matter that we were running in at the last minute. They gave us all of Zach's art projects and work from the semester and told us what each one was and what unit it went with. (We also had a teacher's conference, but I think I'll make a separate post since this is getting so long!)
Zach and I then ran back to CeCe's to get Dylan and get ready for the family to come over and celebrate Zach's birthday. Again, thank goodness we went super laid back. Just pizza and cake and presents. I think it's safe to say, Zach had a great 4th birthday.
Here are pics from Zach's b-day party with kids friends.