RazNoggle

Maybe you’re like me and you grew up in houses where the only “color” allowed or even imagined on the walls was white. Sorry, but I don’t really consider white a color. Anyway, one day we got a little crazy and actually used “egg shell” white…. hmmmm. If it was supposed to be different I couldn’t see it. But if you’re a white lover then that’s okay. We need boring people in the world too. (hee hee just kidding!) So as a statement against boring backgrounds we have decided to go all out in the color realm. Stuart was at first reticent, but that’s just cause he didn’t have my vision. A few episodes on the home and garden channel and he was converted. Okay, so I’m trying not to be TOO wild with it, but I just can’t wait to finally start painting. Oh, I also grew up in houses where the wood paneling was in vogue… I have no idea who first thought that stuff was great, but it seems it was quite a hit! We have that in our living room and while the long term plan is to sheet rock it, the short term fix, in my mind, is to paint it. Ha ha! So we shall see how this experiment goes. I’ll let you know, but I looked online and I’m not the only loony out there who wants to paint panelling.

I told myself that today I would NOT be idle. We just got home from the youth rally in Phoenix last night and there was a heap of work to do. Stuart had to go to school today and I wanted to be sure to use the time well while he was gone. I think I did well. It didn’t start out that way though. (oops) I hit snooze on my alarm clock, first mistake, and then just turned it off, second mistake, so i got up an hour after I really wanted to. However, i didn’t let it sabotage my entire day. I got a shower in before I had to feed the boy. We had a little play time before Sage came. Qade took a long morning nap and I thought I’d be able to really get a bunch done. Sage, however had other plans and I spend a couple hours trying to get him comfy. His tummy is having a hard time adjusting to formula. He finally dropped off to sleep just in time for Qade to wake up and want lunch. So I fed Qade with a new technique of formula- cereal- formula that seemed to work well. Then I was starving so i made some soup and right as I started to dig in I heard Sage fuss! AAAAAAAAA! I wasn’t really frustrated it just figures, ya know? Fortunately it was only a passing moment and he went back to sleep. I wolfed down my lunch and got busy. I have folded laundry, started more washing, unpacked the suitcase and duffle bag, cleaned the kitchen and started the dishwasher, kept wood burning in the wood stove, sorted Qade’s clothes, and dusted. I also fed the plants, rearranged some shelf stuff, cleaned off the kitchen table (q major feat in our house) sorted coupons, and of course, picked up toys. It is now almost 2:30 and i feel accomplished. maybe everything isn’t perfect and I know I should have got up on time so I could do the elliptical but I DID get my second cu of coffee, and read my Bible. All in all I think the day has been a success. I have 2 sleeping boys in the house a glass of water and some time to just be thankful. Speaking of, I need to write a thank you note. Toodles!

The saga continues about our home again off again cat. I figured since he’d lasted the summer at the house with no one taking care of him, that when we were there to offer him food and water regularly he’d stick around. That was true to a point. When we are home, Thomas the cat is content to lie around very lazily and be fed, watered (if he’s thirsty he’ll go sit in front of the sink and meow pitifully) and petted, of course. However it seems that if we leave for even just a day or two, when we get home he is no where to be seen. Keep in mind that I always leave plenty of extra food and lots of water out for him. The last time we left him outside when we were gone he didn’t come back for several days, and I figured maybe he was gone for good. However, I underestimate the beast because home he came dragging a back leg with him. He couldn’t walk on it for a couple weeks at least. So, I knew we had another upcoming trip and decided to leave him INSIDE with a littler box and plenty of food and water. That worked keeping him there for the time we were gone, but when my mother-in-law arrived a little ahead of us he was off like a shot. Apparently his leg felt better and he needed an adventure. He came back the next day with new war wounds and a front leg very swollen. Ah, I’m afraid he will one day be coyote fodder, but till then I’m glad he’s back…. again.

I love the fact that Qade has so many grandparents to love and spoil him. He not only has both of Stuart and my parents, but he also has 4 great grand parents. Besides all of that he has several people in our church who have claimed him as son or grandson. On top of all of that he has several very doting Aunties and Uncles. I guess the older I get the more “into” family I am- ha ha! I’m just so happy that there are so many people who will love our little boy and watch him grow up and add to his happy memories.

I’ve been thinking about marriage lately. Not just because I’m married to the most wonderful man created, but because there have been several things that have prompted my thinking that way. First we just had a “romantic retreat” at camp. It was a lot of work, and we didn’t have a HUGE gathering, but we did have fun! That’s always the key ingredient in any camp setting. The speaker spoke, of course, on marriage, and parenting, and things like that just make you think about marriage. Then when we got back from camp we discovered that our power was out due to a fallen tree, so we camped out at Stu’s grandparent’s house. She was 15 when they got married. So they’ve been married for oh… well probably 60 years or more! That’s a long time. She probably doesn’t even remember what it was like to NOT be married. As for me, I guess I’m on the slow side of things as I didn’t tie the knot till I was 26. But I don’t regret my single years, and I most definitely don’t regret waiting for the perfect one for me. My life is charmed. I get to be married to my very best friend, and still do things I love to like camp.

I just wanted to take a moment and publicly brag about the most wonderful man in creation, my Stuart. I so often think that I got the better end of the deal when we got married! Stuart is so sensitive to my needs. Having a baby is a life changing event, and he has taken it in stride even when my moods were all whacky. Sometimes I feel like I’m too “needy” and I just need to suck it up and get over it, but he NEVER makes me feel that way. Instead he hugs me tightly and tells me how much he loves me. Ha, he even tells me how wonderful I am. (I know that I’m a mess for real, but it’s nice to hear) Stu has such patience with me, and encourages me to become a better person. Not so much that he tells me to be better, but he just inspires me by being better himself. He has a heap of responsibilities on his plate right now. He’s a husband, a father, an assistant pastor, a camp program director as well as a member of the board, he runs the youth group, is taking over the Sunday School program, cleans the church, and on top of all of that he’s working as a substitute teacher at the high school. That’s a LOT of stuff, but even though I know he feels the pressure sometimes, he is always so upbeat and positive about things. I love him more than anyone in the world and I’m so glad that he picked me! I live a charmed life, and it’s mostly because of my amazing man!

Poor Qade. He hasn’t quite learned the art of going to sleep at bed time. At least not consistently. Of course the tyke is only 6 months old and I can’t expect him to master every skill suddenly. I was encouraged because when Sarah Jane came to visit she told me that her little lad had only recently been an eager beaver when it came to bedtime and he is 18 months. Still, I can’t complain because Qade has been a terrific sleeper since very early! He slept his first 8 hr night on our move out to AZ and that was at 5 weeks for him! He has consistently been sleeping about 12 hrs a night for so long now that I can’t remember when he started. So a few struggles at bedtime can be overlooked. We still work with him. Sometimes he’s so sleepy by bedtime that he konks out without a fuss, but other times he thinks he’d rather play or at least NOT be in his bed. Those are the hard times. We let him know that we are there and love him, but we let him work it out. It’s difficult for moms to listen to their babies cry especially when they know they could “make it better” by just picking him up and snuggling. However, that won’t help him learn to go to sleep, and in the long run just makes the bedtime more of a nightmare. So we’re working on it. He fusses for awhile, and then we go in and comfort him, and he’ll usually fuss some more, but if we keep it up he finally nods off to la la land. Fortunately if WE are consistent it helps him to be more so as well. Hopefully soon we will experience bedtimes with no more tears.

I’m not sure what it is about the “second” cup of coffee that I find so relaxing. Maybe it’s because the first cup is just to jump start the day. Perhaps it’s the fact that my bubby is down for his morning nap by then and the house is peaceful. Usually I’ve already started some laundry or the dishwasher or some other chore, and am ready for a little rest. Who knows the reason exactly. I do know though, that the second cup of coffee is a great thing for me. That’s my “quiet time” where I can read my bible and know that the words will actually sink in rather than roll off like they would if I tried to read it as soon as my eyes opened. I can watch the sunshine through the window as I sit and sip, and just breathe and think. Yep, I like the second cup of coffee the best!

Yesterday morning around 4:30 I woke up because Qade was coughing and gagging. Turns out he was pretty sick. He kept spitting up this mucusy stuff and I thought maybe it was just nasal drainage bothering him. However when I gave him his morning bottle, he was happy to have it, but none of it stayed in his lil tummy. Poor baby! He wasn’t acting sick. He was smily and happy and played with his toys, but he was pretty tired and took a 2 and a half hour nap in the morning. I called the Dr. and of course they said to bring him in, but as usual, all they really said was to keep trying to get fluids in him and watch for dehydration. So we’ve been giving him pedialite which he doesn’t care for, but will take if mommy feeds him. He was able to keep some of it down last night. He slept well, and then I gave him a bit of watered down formula this morning as well as more pedialite. He has spit up some of it, but I think he kept some down too. I may try to give him a little cereal later. The pediatrician said to go easy on the milk for a couple days, so I’m trying to get creative about getting other stuff into him. I just hate it when he’s ill and I can’t “fix” it, ya know? I think that the extra snuggles are just as much for me as they are for him when he doesn’t feel good.