It comes in threes... the week before Christmas...

So last week our washing machine broke- in the midst of monday laundry the water stopped draining from it. So I call the "Appliance Pros" (really that is their name...) and they come trucking out to tell em that it needs a new motor and pump and it will cost $150 to replace- ugh... So the question becomes new washer or fix the old one?... then steps in very smart hubby who says "isn't there a washer just sitting at Pop's house?" Round of phone calls later procures us a used, but free washing maching AND dryer- whoohoo! So we go and pick it up and Frank miraculously gets everything hooked up and working and then laundry can begin again!



A few days later... we're are driving around doing some errands- it may have even been the day we went to go and get the washing machine.... and we stop at a light and thenthe truck just dies. Frank turns the key and it starts right back up- Whew! But then it happens again and again one more time before we get home. Not a good sign. So Frank takes it to the shop to be checked out. Luckily it wasn't the whole transmission but only every single fluid line in the transmission that needed to be replaced.. oh yeah and we won't even discuss how much that cost!?!?!? So Frank gets a loaner truck to get home but of course the truck they give him is a one seater (as opposed to our crew cab) and he can't even fit the car seats in it so then he has to come and steal my car while I am at work so he can go pick up the kids. Ok I can live with that until...



That night while I was at work our computer died- toast- won't even turn on dead as a doornail. It still at the shop- they might get to it by the end of the week- except that it is Christmas so who knows when we will see it again (oh and how much it will cost...). So it comes in threes right??????? Please tell me so b/c I don't know if I can handle anything else breaking right now!



So needless to say I probably won't be posting much for now seeing as I don't have a computer to post on.

Visiting...

So Wednesday after the Dr's appointments we went home and had lunch. Smart mommy that I am I figured if I fed the kids then they would nap on the way down to Reba's- which they did! So I had a nice quiet car ride down and they got a good 90 minute nap and both promptly woke up as soon as we pulled into Reba's driveway. So in we went and the kids all played together and the mommies talked about life, husbands, kids, work, etc. It's so nice to have adult conversation every once in awhile! I always think of Naomi as being Xander's age but really she is closer in age to James, in any case they actually played quite nicely together- not too much hitting or rough behavior on the boy's part. We had a nice snack all sitting at the table together and amazingly both James and Xander sat without having to be restrained. James' chin was right at table level so that was a bit silly and involved once episode of his chin whacking the table until he figured out he could sit up on his knees and actually see his food.

After snack and watching a short disney program we headed to the mall. Now I realize that most people probably don't find the mall to be a fun outing but when you live 90 minutes to the nearest mall it can be quite a fun excursion. This was the first time I braved it with only a single stroller and we managed alright- only a few episodes of Xander temporarily disappearing in stores. But the whole purpose of the mall outing was to go to Gymboree b/c I had coupons. So we made our stop at Gymboree and then as we headed back to the car we had to go by the train and sucker that I am I had to take all the kids for a ride on the train. I must have looked ridiculous on that train with 3 kids under 3 but we enjoyed it. The kids got to see Santa again, whom they were quite happy to admire from afar, and they got to ride a train... what more could they want! I was actually really impressed with Xander b/c we took him on a ride one other time and he had a total hissy when it was time to get off. This time I talked with him about it before we got on saying that we were only going to ride one time and when the train stopped it was time to get off. He was totally cool with it- when the train stopped he got right off and didn't fuss. It was Naomi I had to chase down as she ran in the opposite direction of the mommas!

So after the train it was supper time so being as we were in a generous mood we took the kids to McDonald's where they have a playspace. We attempted to distract them with food first, which worked well for the littles but not so much for Xander, and then hit the playspace running. At first there were a lot of big kids (really too big to be playing there) there but then they cleared out and we had the place almost to ourselves. Xander loves that thing- he could run and jump and climb until his heart was content. James stayed on terra firma for the most part except when he was trying to climb up the slides and even Naomi ventured up into the tubes. We were a little afraid she wasn't going to come back out but Xander went up and got her for us! I think Reba was dreading the thought of having to climb up into the tube. One lesson we did learn was that Mcd's coupled with playpace equals three poopy children so make sure you bring plenty of diapers! For some reason we left the diaper bag in the car (may have had something to do with trying to wrangle 3 toddlers) and then we ended up making 4 trips out to the car for diapers and clothing changes- why I didn't just bring it back in with me the 1st time still escapes me! So after playing their hearts out this mean momma made them put on their pjs and jump back in the car to head home. We swung by Reba's house to pick up sippy cups and Xander's new toy truck (which I bought him at Rite Aide the day before b/c I didn't feel like dealing with the tantrum if I had made him put it back- plus BOGO 1/2 off- plus $5 coupon with purchase- and he didn't let of go of that truck for 2 whole days- he even slept with it!); so we couldn't leave the new truck behind! After that we headed home.

Unfortunately the ride home was not uneventful. Apparently I was having a bad night! The first half of the trip went fine but then somehow when I made the turn onto Route 2 I got on Route 2 east instead of Route 2 west- so ok no big deal you just turn around at the next exit. So I get off trying to turn around and then I missed the turn. So I keep going a little bit and and then make a u-turn and try to go for the turn again and somehow miss it a third time and end up back on Route 2 east! I would like to blame it on poor signage but really I think it was my fault. Anyway I finally get going on the right road with no more mishaps and then ran off the road completely on Route 78! It had started to snow a bit but it was just flurries and we had been travelling along without any noticeable bad roads until we go to 78. I swear that road was an ice skating rink all the way home. The very first curve on 78 I came around the corner and as the road curved away the car just kept going straight. I had a very "Jesus Take the Wheel" moment as the car was sliding sideways down the road. Somehow I managed to get us straightened out and as we ran off the road on the opposite side I thought we were toast b/c all I could see in slow motion was a stone wall with giant boulders right in front of us, but the brakes finally must have gotten some traction as we hit the shoulder b/c we stopped just a few inches from that stone wall! So as I sat there with my heart about to pound of my chest chanting words that must not be repeated in public domain I look back and both boys are still sound asleep- they didn't even move! Of course my next thought was is the car damaged and how the heck am I going to get back on the road. Amazingly though there wasn't even a scratch on the car and I was able to back right up and back out onto the road and finish the drive home. All I can say is thank God there wasn't a car in the oncoming lane of traffic b/c that would have been very bad! So we took it VERY slow and easy the rest of the way home and once we hit the NH state line the roads got much better (what's up with the MA DOT, huh????). Then of course I barely made it up the driveway but I did and the kids slept all the way to their beds so all was well! Of course the first things I am doing next week is getting my studded snow tires put on!

And now for your viewing enjoyment- Xander the monkey child at the playplace!

James' 15 mo & Xander's 2.5 yr appointments

I've been working on this post for awhile but it didn't get published till about a week later- whoops! See next post for reasons why....

We had the kids dr apt's in the morning (hence the very lame and boring title of this post) which went well but really it always seems like a good idea to just get them done at the same time since we are all going to be there together anyway but by the time the apt was over I was wiped! A dr's exam room is no place to let lose two little monkey toddlers. Who's idea was it to have lever door handles on those rooms anyway?

Anyway James weighed in at 20 lbs 12 oz which puts him in the 7th percentile for weight so at least we are on the growth chart! He was 30 in tall which puts him in the 19th percentile for height so we're doing well there. His head has normalized out a little so he doesn't have such a giant head anymore. And in exciting news he has cut a new tooth- the bottom tooth on the front right has finally cut through and on the left there is a shiny bump but no tooth yet! He had to get several shots and we have to go back in jan for him to get the second 1/2 of his flu shot but he tolerated it pretty well and then he got some pretty stickers- which he was entirely uninterested in but Xander quite liked.

Xander weighed in at 27 lbs 14 oz, which puts him in the 27% for weight and was 34 in tall (3 inches taller than 6 months ago) which is 7% percentile but again at least we are on the growth chart there. I'm thinking though that one of the boys measurements is off b/c when they stand next to each other there is more than 4 in different in height. So I'm not entirely sure if Xander is taller than they said or James is shorter but in any case they are growing so what does it matter! Xander did not have to get any shots this time round- thank goodness giving how much he screamed just when Dr Walter tried to look in his ears. No ear infection this week and it appears for now that his tubes are patent. We go in April for a repeat Audiogram although if he continues to have ear infections monthly then we'll try to move that up to make sure his PE tubes are still patent.

All in all the are small but healthy little boys. Both continue to have terrible issues with diaper rash- somewhat related to what they eat but not entirely. Juice is a definite no-no for us- apple juice especially. They can only have it if it is heavily watered down and even then only in small quantities. Xander's PE tubes have made a dramatic difference in his speech. He is talking so much more it is just astonishing. So despite 4 ear infections in the 3 months since the tubes we are glad we did it. Luckily the ear infections don't seem to bother him that much- just yuckiness draining from his ears- but quite obviously it was affecting his hearing. Soon we will have his preschool transition conference as at age 3 he ages out of RISE services and if he still qualifies as speech delayed he will get his therapy through the school. He has his revaluation sometime in March.

James, on the other hand, seems to be following his brother's footsteps when it comes to speech. At 15 months old he is already somewhat behind where he should be and at the last 2 appointments we've had he's had "fluid" in his ears. More and more I am noticing him rub at his ears a lot so I wonder if it is just fluid or if he too is having regular ear infections. The speech therapist who comes to see Xander also noted that he was a bit behind. So we are going to watch him carefully the next 3 months and work with him and see if he makes improvement. But if by 18 mnths he isn't talking at an age appropriate level we'll begin the process again with referral to RISE for speech and hearing tests to make sure that he can hear. I'm not looking forward to the potential of more PE tubes in our future but it made such a difference for Xander that I'm more ok with the decision this time if it comes to that.

After the Dr visit we went to go and visit Reba and Naomi. You can read about her thought on our visit here but I have some videos to post too so they are coming soon...

Two weeks to Christmas- Yikes!

So we had a busy holiday weekend. Every year my work throws a holiday party for all staff and we haven't been able to go in the past b/c I have been working but this year I wasn't, so Saturday morning we went to go and visit Santa at the hospital. I forgot my camera but luckily one of my friends was there and she took some pics for us- not that there was much to take pics of... Xander was excited to see Santa but only from afar! The minute that we got close to the actual man he clung to Daddy for dear life and James had about the same reaction, only clinging to mommy! So nobody sat in santa's lap but they got a nice close up look at him at least. After Santa we made some ornaments and then the kids favorite part- ate some cookies! After visiting Santa we ran some errands in town and went up to Walpole to the new Tractor Supply there. The kids enjoyed all the farm toys and James especially liked riding the stuffed pony! After Tractor Supply we went and picked up our real live Christmas Tree! This is the first time we have had a live Christmas tree since we have been married and I think for me since before Peace Corps- so it's a big milestone! I got it all set up this morning so when Daddy gets home from work tonight we'll have to trim the tree! Hopefully the kids will leave it alone but if not that is what the superyard is for!

Saturday night we went to a holiday party at the neighbor's house which was a lot of fun. There were a ton of kids there in a good age range from James all the way up to teenagers so basically we set all the kids lose and the parents all hung out without having to worry too much about how much trouble they were all getting into. So the boys had a great time and so did Frank and I. It's nice to have some decent adult conversation with someone other than your spouse outside of work!

Sunday we went to Pop's house and put in the rest of the storm windows and picked up his washing machine. Our broke last week so since we can't really afford to fix it or buy another one right now having the option of getting Pop's old one was a huige help! It's certainly nothing fancy but it works and that is all that matters! Now we can save up some $ to fix the old one or buy a new one- we're still trying to decide which would be the best option. Sunday afternoon we spent installing the new (to us) washer and moving the trailer into the sheep paddock to be their shelter against the weather. Frank hooked all the new heated water lines and the new sheep water tank complete with float so we (he) doesn't have to hand carry water now that we have entered into the freezing temperatures all day and night(except of course for yesterday and today when it rained ALL day).

Well I have to run into town to visit the grocery store, go to a staff meeting at work, and finish up the last few bits of Christmas shopping- stockings....

Thankful for ....

Happy Thanksgiving! This ended up being a very odd day! I was supposed to work wed, thurs, fri but tonight the census at work was low so they put me on-call at like 3pm- good and bad I guess b/c I get to spend time with the fam but I lose out on holiday pay and being on-call only nets me $2 an hour vs my regular salary! And I have to work again tomorrow so.... win some you lose some I haven't had to be on-call since June so I guess it is a wash. But b/c I had been planning on being at work for the whole holiday we didn't really make any plans for food so this evening when I didn't have to go to work we were somewhat at a loss of what to do so we ended up going to the hospital anyway to have turkey dinner in the cafeteria there. I had a meal ticket for free b/c I worked last night and then one of my co-workers gave me her so we had 2 free meal tickets and they have a very nice spread. We missed the pumpkin pie but had lemon meringue instead (my FAVORITE) and turkey dinner with all the fixings, it was free, and I didn't have to cook or clean up so I'd say it was a win- win situation for me at least! Plus I got to spend some quality time with my boys and one of my co-workers gave me a new sewing machine- well new to me but all kids of fancy compared to my old one. Now I can actually do decorative stitches. I'm going to have to track down an owner's manual but I can't wait to start playing with it- a real live Janome and it's all mine to play with! I'm was SO excited that Frank told me I had to stop "fondling" the machine- his word exactly. So all in all a really good day.

I was laying in bed trying to sleep and not being successful so I tried something I read about in Guideposts which seemed very appropriate given that it is thanksgiving. basically you go through the alphabet and pray for each letter for something that you are thankful for or someone who maybe needs some extra prayers- although the idea really is to pray for someone/something that you wouldn't normally pray for. It didn't help me fall asleep but it did make me realize how very blessed I am in this life. I have food on my table, a roof over my head, both my spouse and I are currently employed, we have clothes to wear and 2 wonderful, if mischievous, exhausting, wear me to the bone little boys. When I was pregnant with James I wondered how I could possibly love another child as much as I loved Xander- it just didn't seem to me that there was room in my heart. Now I can;t imagine what life would be like without my little devil in cute baby clothing. I don't know that I love them in exactly the same way- I love different things about them, they aren't cookie cutters after all but it isn't as if my love for one child shrank to make room for another- it just expands until you are full to overflowing. Now as I gush about this let me be clear that there are time when I really would like to be able to give them up for adoption and go back to life before kids but.... I never would b/c I am so thankful that I am blessed to be the mother to such wonderful little men. And the wife to such a wonderful big man!

In other notes tomorrow it was one year ago that James was baptised into the the church so a few hours early Happy Christian Birthday to my littlest man. I hope that you will grow into a shining example of Christ's teachings- God Bless and keep you all the days of you life.

Now that my sleep schedule is totally out of whack I thought I would brave the Black Friday sales at Target and Joanns. Target for a new camera and some bed sheets and Joanns for $1.29 flannel and a new cutting table. So I am going to try and nap now, get up at 4am go shopping and then come back and nap all afternoon so i can go back to work tonight- we'll see how it works out! I guess I need to go start the alphabet again....

early mornings....

This is a photo of the sun rising over the hill in front of our house this morning. It was way more impressive in real life- the sun was like this huge ball of fire flaming above the trees. Xander came to the front door and said, "moon?????" (I can't describe his inflection in type) and then he had a hard time understanding that it was the sun..he kept calling it the moon! We've been having a lot of very early mornings around here lately. Both kids have been waking up around 4:30 every morning. The time shift did have something to do with it but doesn't really explain it all b/c before "falling back" the boys were finally sleeping till about 7am every morning- what bliss! to have those days back.... James will often go back to sleep if I nurse him but Xander not so much...I have resorted to the dreaded TV to get a little extra sleep. It hasn't helped that the last few days I have had a sinus infection and laryngitis.



Finally I sound worse than I actually feel. It's hard to be on the ball when I can't even get off the couch! I've been pondering illness recently- I just feel like I have been sick a lot this fall, more so than usual. I got both the flu shot and the pneumonia shot in September and then promptly got really sick.... I don't actually believe that the shots cause illness but I to wonder if both shots together followed by being sick was just a big hit to my immune system. Anyway so in my ponderings of illness I have been trying to work on healthier lifestyle choices- pretty much a never ending ongoing work in progress. But today's manifestation led to a renewed effort in menu planning. Of course as per usual I did really well for a week and then got sick/life interfered and things didn't go quite as well as planned but luckily we had leftovers (and Kulick's daily dinner special...). So I have been trying to use the crockpot for the days that I work so that we all have something to eat and then cook dinner on the days that I am home and have Frank cook dinner on the days that he is home but I am working. For the most part it has been going well-although I don't actually have anything planned for tomorrow yet... I should work on that! On that note if anyone has yummy kid-friendly, nutritious, healthy crockpot recipes they would like to share (not asking much am I...) I am always up for trying something new!



So I haven't written much recently b/c I honestly haven't had too much to say. We've just been living our lives these days- working, sleeping (or not sleeping much as the case may be), playing, eating, cleaning, etc. It amazes me how much mess 2 little boys can make in such a short amount of time- I think I need to just chase them with a garbage bag pretty much at all times. James is just about as mobile as Xander these days...and Xander has perfected climbing into whole new art form so we've been spending a lot of time cleaning up after them these days. Last week somehow they got a hold of a 16oz bottle of baby lotion and while Frank was sleeping in the room with them managed to squirt the entire bottle all over the room- carpet and all! Luckily baby lotion wipes up pretty easily with cleaning rags and we have stainmaster carpet that is variegated (bought on purpose to hide the inevitable messes) but then I had to shampoo the carpet. Frank has been installing new doorknobs- ones that actually lock- to keep Xander out of every room in the house. His learning to open doorknobs was not a good day in my life! Next on my list is some bifold door locks and getting the dead bolt on the front door fixed- luckily now that the weather has gotten cooler Xander actually asks for his coat before heading outside without telling me. Thank goodness we live somewhere we he can go outside and play without me supervising his every move. I thought I was done baby proofing- nobody warned me about toddle proofing. BTW- don't let this sweet little face fool you....

Happy Halloween!

I really have been a shameful blogger these days...too much to do not enough time to blog! We had a very nice Halloween- it was a cold day but the boys had nice warm costumes so all was well! We went down to Parker Street in Winchester and trick or treated there. It's pretty much the perfect length for the boys and basically made for a nice family walk-about! We started at the Fire/Police Station and then walked down to the school and back. It's nice b/c we ran into many people we knew so we stopped and chatted along the way. It's also nice because since we don't get any trick or treaters at our house- no surprise given our location- it gives us and the kids a chance to admire all the other kid's costumes. One lady had this adorable little boy- maybe a little less than a year who was just learning to walk. She had his dressed as a spider with the legs sort of dangling off the sides and he had his little tiny radio flyer wagon and he was just trucking up the street pushing his little wagon walking as fast as his tiny little feet would carry him- too cute!

James has been pretty fussy recently and not sleeping well which has made for some tired parents but I am hoping we are over this particular bump in the road and back on the upswing. He just kept waking up at like 3am and being up for the day and then not really taking a nap. I wouldn't actually mind it if he weren't a crankpot but he obviously was tired and needed more sleep but wasn't able to get it for whatever reason. We have been battling terrible diaper rash again so I am afraid that may be the culprit. I would like to blame it on teething but if he is teething we haven't seen any new teeth actually come through yet- he has shiny spots where his canines are coming but they haven't broken through the gumline yet. The poor kiddo has such honking big chompers though that it must be painful! I have also banned grapes from their diets b/c I really feel that eating them has contributed to the rash- no juice, no citrus, and no more grapes for the time being b/c those thing all seem to contribute to the rashes. We should buy stock in bananas!

Xander's big development these days is that he is now sleeping in his big boy bed! One of my co-workers gave us a twin bed frame last year and it's been tucked away awaiting Xander's readiness to move out of his crib. So several days in a row he kept trying to go and sleep in the bed in the guest room and finally we let him and he slept there all night. So I said well why don't we go and buy him a mattress and and set up his twin bed next to his crib and then he can choose where he wants to sleep- well every night he has chosen his twin bed! He has been really good about staying in bed- even if he gets up he typically goes and gets a toy or a book and climbs back into his bed to play or read. He likes the fact that he can climb up on it and James can't! So he puts his toys that he doesn't want James to play with on the bed. So really it has been a pretty good transition so far- I'm sure we'll have our battles about going to bed at some point but luckily it hasn't happened so far! Now if only he would show even a slight interest in potty training!

So mostly we have been working, finishing up the garden for the year, canning and preserving all the leftovers, digging potatoes, moving animals back up to the main barn, settling the sheep in with our neighbor for the winter, and trying to find a routine with Frank's relatively new job! Things have been in flux regarding scheduling with my job so... it's been a transition for all of us. I'm feeling pretty good about where we are at right now- scheduling at my work is still a challenge especially with the holidays coming but it looks like I will be able to get the time off to attend Jason and Donna's wedding in January- thank goodness since we already bought the plane tickets!- and I'm actually going to have Christmas Day and Eve off for the first time in 3 years! Monday has developed into laundry day and Tues into speech therapy/phone call/paperwork/mail sorting day, weds are music class and currently my work days are more stacked to the end of each week. I finally sucked it up and hired someone to come and help with the house cleaning and I really think it has helped with my stress level considerably. It is well worth the added expense for me anyway (not so sure Frank agrees) but now I can focus on things that I don't hate doing quite so much and my house isn't a pig sty anymore- well it's still pretty cluttered but at least underneath and around the clutter isn't covered in dust bunnies! We have a few big cleaning projects that need to be undertaken- mainly the garage and basement and our inner packrats are battling it out with my intense hatred of clutter and mild disgust at the amount of "cr*p" we have managed to accumulate in the last 5 years, so we'll see who wins in the end. The best part about having someone coming to clean occasionally is that means I get to spend a couple extra hours in my sewing room and I have been making a pretty good size dent in my unfinished projects bin/pile. Soon though I am going to have to take a break from the ufos and make a dent in all the christmas sewing I have been planning! Hopefully the boys will continue their trend of napping at the same time so I can actually make it through my list of gifts!