RazNoggle

I’ve been on a shopping spree with my mom-in-law. Yesterday we went to the “dollar” stores and found some cool stuff for me to use in decorating the boys room. Yes, it’s still a work in progress. Poor Qade has never had a completed and official nursery, do you think it will scar him for life? But now I’ve got some little shelf things, and a couple cute “quote” art things for the wall. Today I got a clock for their room too. Yes, I’m calling it “the boy’s” room because eventually they will be sharing a room once we kick Myles out of ours. I also got a clock for our livingroom and some wall sconces too. I’m going to be the decorating queen this week!
My sis-in-law’s baby shower is next weekend, so I found something for my little nephew-to-be, but I can’t tell you what it is in case she reads this before the par-tay! Ha! There were some fabulous sales about by the way! I found a few items that I can use for Christmas next year. And we found some garment boxes for $.15!!! Wow! So over all I think we got some great deals and good stuff for our labors.
One thing that happened to poor Qade while we were out today I have to tell you about. The Mall has a little play place in the middle for little kids, so since I had to feed Myles we decided to let Qade play there. We parked the strollers and I sat in a corner of the bench with Myles while Grandma and Qade went to the other side to play. He got involved with the other kids pretty quickly so my MIL took an opportunity to run to the restroom. Well, right after she left, Qade decided to “check in” but couldn’t find Grandma. He walked out of the play place, and noticed our stuff out there, and walked back in. I was watching him closely the whole time, of course, but I couldn’t get up at that moment. Qade walked back in, looking all around. He stopped near where they first were and looked around at all the kids, then looked around at all the adults near him, then burst into tears. Made my heart sad!! I kept trying to call him, but he obviously couldn’t hear me. Finally one lady who sat there decided to help, and I got her attention. She brought the distressed boy over and you could just see the relief on his face when he saw me. Awwwww! He climbed up on the seat with me and was soon happy again. I just felt bad that he had felt so abandoned, poor boy. So the lesson I learned was to always let the lad know where we are when we’re at a park or play place. The boys did amazingly well for our day of shopping! Qade even got a brand NEW hot wheels car from his Grandma. He loves his cars!
Well, tomorrow is the super bowl, and since Arizona is playing I think Stu will watch. I might see some of it, but I’m not into football at all really. I especially don’t enjoy watching sports on T.V. but I can’t get over my surprise that the Cardinals actually made it. Ha ha! Hope you are all having a swell weekend!

I often have a running “blogentary” going on in my head of how I could word my regular work-a-day life into fun and exciting adventures, but then when it actually comes to sitting down and doing it, everything leaves me. I’ve even had thoughts fly away while I was in the process of thinking them, now that’s a weird experience. Oh well.
I’ve been dealing lately with the wretched effects of post pregnancy hair shed. Blah! Those 9 months are wonderful for not having to clean out your brush or finding wads of hair in your hand when you shampoo. *sigh* It’s at an end however and this morning as I was combing my wet hair I ended each stroke by piling my “collection” on the counter, it was quite the wad! If I had thin hair, I might be nervous, but as it is, I can do plenty well without it. It was just so convenient before not to have loose long hairs trailing me about everywhere. On another post-preggy note, I have only 3 more pounds to go before I’m under BOTH my baby’s weight!! Woo-Hooo!! It just struck me today that I haven’t been this “light” since before Qade was born! WOW! Still got a ways to go to reach my ultimate goal, but it is encouraging that slowly and surely it’s all coming off! Yippee!!
Yesterday I got quite a few of the diddly chores done. Ya know the small things that tend to not get done because they don’t stand in everyone’s way waving their dirty selves around and begging for attention. Still, it felt good to have it done, and today I think I’m actually going to be “on schedule” and get the dusting done too! Are you impressed yet?
Qade grabbed my hair towel this morning before I could put it away and draped it over his head and started walking around laughing hysterically because he couldn’t see where he was going. It was pretty funny, I have NO idea why he likes to do that. A couple days ago he was sitting in Myles’ bouncy seat and asked me to put a blanket over him, so I fluffed it in the air and it covered him, head and all, and there he sat pleased as punch to be under that blankie. I’m looking forward to him getting into a “big boy bed” and to get him more ready for it I’ve been “tucking him in” with a blanket instead of just putting him in his sleep sack. For some reason it seems to help him sleep in one spot better. Before he would just thrash all around the crib in his sleep, but several times with the blanket he’s stayed relatively still. Good news!
Myles is just his happy go lucky self! He still has a little cough (as well as Qade) but he hasn’t complained at all about being sick, sweet boy! I was talking to Mom yesterday and confessed that I’m quite sure Myles is the easiest baby in creation. Quite honestly that child is just so happy and content, it’s amazing! I’ve been working on him recently to take a bottle. He has balked at this exercise because it’s not what he’s used too, but the last couple of nights he’s taken it with less resistance. Hopefully he’ll get it enough so that the Grandparents can give him one now and then so me and his Daddy can have a childless date! Plus I think the few oz of formula in the evening help him sleep longer. Here’s hoping!
Well, I’m going to post some new pictures on facebook today so if you’re interested you can check them out there. Hope you are all enjoying your midweek day. I need to go get my crock pot meal started! Those things are awesome!!! Toodles!
P.S. The road is dry enough today that I’m planning to take our new double stroller out for it’s maiden voyage! Should be fun pushing to hefty boys up that hill. Ha!

Ha! I would rather be sleeping, but since that’s out of the question already I decided to blog. Lucky you people! Well, I’m sure it’s going to be a good day. Qade still sounds and is acting like he doesn’t feel good. He fussed a couple times last night which is unusual, but nothing so bad that I had to go get him. I think that he’s just about ready for a morning nap actually. Something cute that he’s been doing the past couple days is toting around these two hotwheels cars. One for each hand! He has to put one down in order to take a drink or have a snack, it’s hilarious! He “drives” them on everything! Books, windows, coffee table, couch or even mommy’s head! If the surface looks “drivable” he’s all over it. It’s fun to watch him. Poor guy still has a snotty nose and icky cough though. Makes me sad. He got to cook breakfast with Daddy this morning, and we all had eggs and bacon. Well, Myles didn’t, but that’s okay, he didn’t mind at all.
Today I’m hoping to get the house in order, bake some bread, and get a meal going in the crock pot (that actually NEEDS to happen pronto if it’s going to be ready) Let me just tell you that I love using the crock pot! I found this blog of some lady who did 365 days of crock pot stuff. It was completely amazing. I’m sure I could NEVER use it every day, but I like to use it once or twice a week. Today’s feast is called “shipwreck” ha! I’ll let you know how it goes. Oh one kind of cool aside, I’ve been trying to attract finches to my feeders with one of those thistle sock things. Well it was up for DAYS and they totally ignored it! I thought I was going to have to put up a neon sign or something, but suddenly one day it was literally hopping with Goldfinches! Yay! Success!! I like to bird watch, call me crazy, but it’s fun!
Well, I need to finish my wonderful coffee, and put my whiny boy to bed and then get started on all the ‘stuff’ there is to do today. Hope you all are having a great start to your week. Laterz!

That would be my Bubba!  Qade is quite the little jiver for sure!  We have a muppet’s song called “Mah-nah, Mah-nah” and he LOVES to dance to it.  There are no real words, but the song lasts for nearly 5 minutes, and he’ll just twist and stomp and spin the whole time it’s playing!  Stu and I will sit on the floor laughing hysterically at him while he entertains us.  I told you before about his “Banana Boat” song that he likes to sing with, but this morning he was singing “Good Mornin’” from Singing in the Rain, because I sing it to him nearly every morning.  He’s been listening to this Patch the Pirate Sunday School Songs CD that his “Aunt Rachael” let him borrow, and he dances to those songs as well.  For awhile he was obsessed with the Old MacDonald song, but hasn’t sung that one in a while.  He’s a fun lad!  He is at a challenging age right now and is often pushing his boundaries.  That’s the not-so-much-fun part of parenting.  I want to just laugh and play and have a grand time all day instead of butting heads and trying to determine who’s will is stronger.  I have confidence though, that as long as we stay consistent and stay a team, Stuart and I, then in the end we’ll have a much happier, well behaved little boy.  I took him and Myles to the doctor this week because of their colds, and Qade weighed in at 24lbs.  Still a skinny boy, but healthy.

Myles weighs 12lbs 10oz!!  He has almost doubled his birth weight and he’s not yet 4 months!!  But I’m not surprised with the appetite that munchkin has!   As of yesterday he has “officially” become a thumb sucker!  Yep, after much hard work and effort on his part, he finally figured out how to get that delectable thumb into his mouth and smack away.  He’s been practicing almost incessantly since he made the discovery too, so I’m pretty sure that I’m going to have 2 little thumb suckers in my family.  Strange, cause none of us kids sucked our thumbs.  Still I think it’s too cute, and maybe one day I’ll be sorry for it, but right now I’m not! Ha!

Well, I’m home from church again today due to the boys and their nasty sounding coughs.  However there are some sermons that Stu found by one of our favorite speakers in Greenville, so I’ll try to listen to one of those if I get a chance.  Right now I need to go rescue the cat from the clutches of her nemesis, Qade.  Ta ta!

Yes, last night I was totally in one of those funks where I felt completely overwhelmed by life in general, and just wanted to escape from it ALL!!  However after a good night’s sleep with a couple of interuptions, I woke up this morning feeling much better and ready to tackle whatever it had for me.  “Bring it on!”   Strange how that all works.  I still don’t want to vacuum, but I think I can do it without having a breakdown. Ha!

My boys ar sick and that makes me sad.  Poor Myles! This is his first cold complete with a nasty cough.   Qade sounds pretty bad too, but both boys seem pretty philosophic about it and aren’t complaining too much.  That’s good for mommy, but I still wish they would be better.  I believe Qade must be going through a growth spurt, because his appetite has picked up.  One day for breakfast he had oatmeal, apple sauce, AND yogurt!  A whole “baby” bowl of chicken noodle soup and some crackers for lunc, and then he ate quite a bit of the golden chicken w/ long grain and wild rice that I made for dinner, along with yummy yams!  And he had a fruity snack in the day as well.  Quite a porker!   He is getting to be too much fun to listen to when he comments about everything.  He LOVES talking on the cell phone to his Grandmas!  He’s starting to say more phrases and put things together like, “Pa-paw hat” to refer to his grandpa’s hat.  He loves the “Banana Boat” song and will sing “day-ay-ay-OOOOOOO” along with it.  It’s hysterical!  I’ve GOT to get it on video!  Myles is becoming more of a personality himself.  He seriously IS the happiest baby I’ve ever known of.  Even when he’s feeling sicky he still smiles and squeals for mommy.   He’s getting good at spotting things within his reach and actually grabbing them now.  He’ll roll onto his side and then keep turning his head into the floor as if his whole body should just follow!  It’s funny!  He’s VERY tickelish, and when I put lotion on his arms and shoulders he will just squinch up and laugh and laugh.   Makes me want to do it again, cause it’s so much fun!  I sing the song, ‘Baby Face” to him every morning.  I just love my boys!

Speaking of, I’d better go get the wee man up for his “second breakfast” before I have to fix lunch for the rest of the hungry hords (consisting of me, Stu and Qade- ha!).  I think we’re having a tuna crescent ring for dinner tonight!  Yum- yummy!

Stu and I have been working on our “household planner” notebook recently. Part of that is creating a weekly “chore” list with check boxes next to each item on it’s given day. It will be helpful for me at least because I tend to get overwhelmed with the volume of chores that need to be done on TOP of laundry, dishes, and cooking each week. To break it down into manageable chunks during the week takes a load off, really. And this way it doesn’t matter who does it, if one of us sees it needed to be done and hasn’t yet we’ll do it. We’ve “named” each day too, just for fun. I like Thursdays because that is my “easy day” which means NO LAUNDRY!! Woo-hoo!! Mondays are recoup day from the weekend. No matter how tidy things are on Friday, somehow everything manages to explode over the weekend, so we need to reorganize and just do basic maintenance. Promises to be fun.
So last night I was up around 1am with my Piranha and I hear the glass upstairs make a weird “flexing” noise. So of course my bleary brain is thinking “someone’s out there!” Yikes! So I hasten downstairs with my sleepy lad to get Stuart who was entrenched in a new book. Long story short, there was no body, but Stu made a thorough investigation for my peace of mind. However it still took a long time for me to get to sleep. Strange how those things that would totally not bother you during the day seem awful at night. But I consoled myself with a cup of my second favorite coffee in the whole wide world called “Autumn in Vermont” that my friend Rachael introduced me too. It’s amazing! Set up my whole day to be good even on minimal sleep. Plus I got a huge toothless grin first thing this morning when I finally managed to pull myself out from under the warm comfy covers, and that makes EVERYTHING okay.

Okay, it’s been forever and a day since I last posted anything, but believe me or not, we really have been busy! We got to take a trip to Greenville. It was so fun to see our friends!! Stu was involved with the Camp On Wheels board meeting and he says that it went well. I try not to get too involved with the details. While we were there I got to go to my friend Rachael’s baby shower!! That was lots of fun! She’s due on Valentine’s Day, we’ll see if she gets a little cupid or not.
Anyway, this week we’ve been in recovery mode.. from the trip that is. Trying to get the house in order, and catch up on what seemed like a ginormous pile of laundry. Whew! It’s finally caught up though! I did the final 2 loads today. I also vacuumed, dusted (I won’t even tell you how long it’s been since I did that- bad me!) and cleaned up the utility room. So I’ve been hoppin’ but I feel like we’re stabilized for now.
The only thing that’s throwing a wrench in the works for our wonderful weekend coming up is that our hot water heater is on strike! Yesterday morning I woke up ready for a luxuriously hot steamy shower only to find that there wasn’t any hot water. Stu worked on the thing for a bit before he had to leave for camp. We thought it might be this one piece, so I got a replacement while I was in town, but no such luck. Stu worked on it for quite awhile last night and is at it again today. I’ve been heating water on the stove to do the dishes and I think I’ll do the same and have a bath at least tonight if nothing else is available. It just makes you think about how we should be thankful for the things we often take for granted. I’m very thankful for hot water, and even though right now it’s being a bit of a headache, I know that eventually we’ll have hot water again, and I’m thankful for that too!
So, hopefully that gets you at least somewhat caught up with me. Have a marvelous weekend!

The only problem is WE DO! We’re visiting the inlaws this weekend, and were supposed to be heading home today, but apparently the weather has other ideas. It’s not bad here where we are, but the way we need to go is totally blizard-like. Well, maybe not quite that bad, but enough so that we don’t want to hazard driving on it. So we be ‘hangin’ another night here.
We’ve been having fun! Went shopping at the Mall on Friday and found a really cute winter coat for Qade that he’ll be able to use next winter (and probably the following) on a HUGE discount! I also was able to get some shoes that feel great on my feet! That’s impressive for me, I have such a hard time with shoes!
There was this little kid play place at the Mall that Qade got to crawl around on for a little bit. He made a little pal that he was playing with. It amazes me to to watch lil kids who can’t even talk make friends. Just proof that kindness doesn’t need words to work.
Well, hope you all are having a swell weekend! ta ta!