Silly Silas eats chips with toes (PIC)

OTTO - one, MOUSE - zero. DATE NIGHT

We enjoyed an early Valentine's Day date night on Saturday. We went out for a very nice dinner and then to a play while Emily babysat the boys.

When we got home, we asked "How did it go?" (We were hoping for a good report since Silas had JUST been upgraded to a big boy bed.)

"It was interesting." she replied.

"Uh-oh. Why? What happened? Did they not go to bed well?"

"No, they went to bed just fine. I've just been a little freaked out."

???

"Your cat.... (scanning the room)... not that one, (Eddy) but the other one (Otto) ran through here a little while ago with a mouse. He ran upstairs and I followed him. I think it is under your guest bed. I made sure to shut the door to the boys room so that he wouldn't take it in there. It looked like a fresh kill. It appeared soft and limp. I think it is still up there... somewhere."

My hero, Mike, went upstairs with a flashlight and searched under the bed. When he came out empty-handed, he noticed that Otto (for once) was NOT under the bed. Otto sat calmly under the computer desk. Sure enough, right in front of him lay his prized dead mouse. Mike took it outside and disposed of it.

I am SO THANKFUL that we have cats!!!

No evidence of mice. Hope that was the only one. Traps are now set. And my cats are likely THRILLED for the opportunity to play with more. I'm hopeful that we're DONE with them!!!

• • •

This morning, immediately upon him waking me up, I headed to the bathroom and Sydney followed me. As I went to the bathroom, Sydney announced "You and me. We both don't wike (like) mouses in our house. Do we, mommy?"

"No, we don't!"

• • •

We've NOT ever been to Pepper Sprout before. This was our Valentine's Day date, I'm told.

Pepper Sprout was great!  (http://peppersprout.com) 

We saw the chef walking through while we were looking at our menus so, I stopped her, asking "If we have never been here before, what do we have to eat to guarantee that we will come back again?" She suggested the venison dish or the pork tenderloin so, those are the dishes that Mike and I selected. (Mike had seen something that he wanted immediately when he saw a menu online, but the discovered that they have a WINTER MENU and the dish that he wanted is NOT on that menu so, he had to settle for something else.) 

Mike and I giggled while we ate... when he announced "I was meant to have venison because we're going to Deer Camp after this!!"

Mike had:

Grilled Pepper Crusted Venison Tenderloin 28.95 
Grilled pepper crusted venison tenderloin with a blackberry cabernet sauce. Served with caramelized onion, chipotle sweet potatoes.

I had:

Pretzel Crusted Pork Tenderloin 24.95
Pan seared pretzel crusted pork tenderloin with a bourbon, molasses, mustard sauce. Served with caramelized onion and chipotle sweet potatoes.

I had soup... tomato basil with artichoke and feta cheese; could tell it was homemade and NOT a just-add-water soup that so many places claim as homemade. I liked it a lot. Mike had caesar salad. Both were good. Homemade caesar is HEAVY on the garlic, but was good. (We were, thankfully, warned of that prior.) Homemade bread was very tasty... you could tell she (chef) used a nice blend of spices in it. The chipotle sweet potatoes were really good. Neither Mike, nor I could figure out at first where the slight HEAT was coming from and couldn't put our fingers on it exactly; it was nicely done.

For dessert, we had an Irish Car Bomb cake that had Guiness, Bailey's and Jameson Irish whiskey in it. It was a dark, dense chocolate cake with a cream-cheese-type frosting and homemade rich chocolate sauce drizzled on the plate. It was WAY BETTER than the desserts we've had anywhere else.

It would be worth going back for a special occasion... Mother's Day/my birthday, an anniversary, etc. but I think you couldn't afford to go there all the time.... at least, WE CAN'T afford that. It was, however, a WONDERFUL DATE! (And we are hopeful to go back... Mike will keep his eye on the men for the Potato Gnocchi that caught his eye from a past season's menu.)

From there, we went to the Grand Opera House and saw "Deer Camp: The Musical". It was quite entertaining. Two of the 4 castmates were the brother Darrel and the other brother Darrel from the Bob Newhart show.

It was a FANTASTIC DATE NIGHT! (I'm one lucky wife!)

Test Run... BIG BOY BED for Silas

For the past week or so, at bedtime, Silas climbs into Sydney's bed while we read bedtime stories in the recliner. Then, he announces and signs "Ni-night!" The past few nights, he got angry when Sydney tried to climb into his own bed - pushing him away.

"Silas big boy bed?" he asked innocently the other night.

"You want a big boy bed like Sydney's?" I asked.

"Yes." confirmed with a nod of the head as well.

"We'll have to ask Daddy if he can change your bed."

"Big boy bed." he clarified with a furrowed brow and sense of seriousness.

"Yes. Make a big boy bed for Silas, too."

"Yes!" he squealed. "Need pillow. Silas need pillow too."

"Yep, we'll have to go shopping so that we can buy you a pillow, too."

"K!" (OK)

Upon talking it over with Daddy, he questioned "Are YOU SURE you are ready for this?" and reminded me how much we struggle to keep SYDNEY in his bed at night.

Sydney objects to the idea of Silas in a big boy bed because we have forewarned that once Silas is out of his crib, we will have to shut the gate at night to keep him safe. Sydney confirmed that he did NOT want the gate shut. We reminded him that HE has demonstrated the ability to climb over the gate with ease.

At bedtime last night, we asked Sydney "Do you think that YOU could sleep in the crib tonight so that we can TRY Silas in a big boy bed... just to see IF he can do it? Do you think that would be OK?"

"But the gate..." he whined briefly.

"The gate MIGHT be closed to keep Silas safe. What-do-ya say? Can we just TRY IT? Let's see if Silas can sleep like a big boy yet."

"Okay. Let's twy it!" Sydney declared, sounding much like Elmer Fudd.

At bedtime, we tucked Silas into Sydney's tiny bed and I asked him "What will you do in the morning when you wake up? What will you say?"

"Mommy.... Daddy.... Silas UP NOW!"

"Good. Sleep good, baby. See you in the morning when the sun shines. Love you, big boy!"

"Ni-night, mommy!" 

Silas did FANTASTIC!!! (Sydney was out of bed a handful of times, but Silas STAYED IN BED.)

• • • • •
I snuck into the room to check on them after Mike FINALLY convinced Sydney to stay in bed so that we could make pancakes in the morning. Then, I grabbed my camera. (Mike teased "Is it OK or do you need your tripod? I don't want to you to miss it?"

"No, I'm fine." I replied. "Miss what?" I wondered.

"Capturing the first night in a big boy bed."

"I'm not THAT CRAZY... I don't think I need the tripod. We're good."

• • • • •
This morning, I thought I had heard Silas talk, but when I muted the tv, I heard nothing. (Sydney had woken before the sun and we were snuggled together in the recliner with a cat in our lap, enjoying Iowa Public Television.) A few minutes later, I left Sydney in the chair, went upstairs and pushed open the door.

Immediately, I heard "Up now, Mommy!" as Silas scurried to an upright position, beaming with a HUGE SMILE.

"Did you call for me when you woke up?"

"Yes."

"Sorry, baby. I didn't hear you."

"Sorry, mommy."

"Don't be sorry, Silas. You were a good boy! How did you sleep?"

"Good."

"I'm glad."

"Go downstairs now, mommy?"

"We can go downstairs now OR... do you want to go wake Daddy?"

"Daddy seeping?"

"Should we go wake him? Or should we go make Daddy coffee?"

"Um, NO! Pita jewwy, mommy. Pita jewwy."

Our little boy isn't so little anymore... he's getting BIG, fast!

Massage = Relaxed Mom

Attempted to take the boys out for lunch today at a local bar for their Tuesday Burger special. Turns out, Sydney and Mommy ended up in the car. (Service was very s - l - o - w. And they didn't do us any favors for entertaining the kids with crayons until 2 minutes before our food arrived... and forgot to bring us the appetizer that we had ordered to get us by until the meal came. They did, however, satisfy the need for chocolate milk to drink.)

Afterwards, we went home for NAPTIME. Then, I showered and shaved quickly before heading off for a one-hour massage.

It was DELIGHTFUL!

(I really needed that A LOT, I think.)

What's going on around here

Wasn't expecting 20.5-month old Silas to show such an early interest in potty training, BUT he's surprising us! On and off, for the past month or so, he has sometimes wanted to wear big boy pants. All of a sudden, he's wanting to wear NO PANTS or big boy pants and is extremely interested in the potty chair, as well as the reward stickers. 

A few days ago, he proudly pooped one little turd into the potty chair. (Truth-be-told, it was likely a cling-on because another fell out of his big boy pants, but we've accepted it as a success story.)

Nana came to visit us on Friday and stayed until this afternoon. She spent significant time reading to Silas on the potty chair on Saturday morning. (We had wanted to go out, but he insisted that he needed to "go bathroom" and kept running back to his potty chair.) Nana brought him his own package of brand new big boy pants and HE WAS PROUD!!!!

At naptime today, he was angry that I attempted to diaper him. He wanted only to wear big boy pants! After his nap, we switched him back to his big boy pants and - for the day - he made it until 3:20pm accident free!!!

FINALLY, this evening, after a few days of NO POOP, he figured it out and pooped on the potty chair! (He was incredibly proud, but is unsure of this whole WIPING-thing.)

He is doing FANTASTIC!!! (Demonstrates great bladder control and is having minimal accidents.)

FAMILY FUN - Bowling 01/18/13

Oh, what cute little (bowling) shoes!

After the first frame, SYDNEY is winning!

THE END

Silas sings GINGO BEWS_011613 (video)

Silas sings JINGLE BELLS. (He was distracted with seeing himself on the computer screen... and liked to play with his ears for this one... that is, until it was time to clap for himself!)

Gingo Bews! (Jingle Bells)

Silas sings Twinkle Star (video) 011613

Silas likes to sing. He sings Gingo Bews (Jingle Bells) AND Twinkle Star (Twinkle, Twinkle Little Star). Sometimes, he gets more of the words to the songs, but he was pretty distracted seeing himself on the computer screen.)

Knock Knock (video) SILAS_011613

Silas is 20 months old and picked up this Knock Knock joke from Daddy & Sydney.


Knock Knock
Who's there?
Atch.
Atch Who?
Bless You!

If only there was an easy button for ORGANIZATION

Feel as if I haven't been blogging as much lately. Truth is, I am trying to catch up/finish my Project Life 2012 album and stay current with 2013. That, and I have been doing some organizing... and reading... and staying busy with my boys!

I've got 2 weeks of PL2013 in my album and need to throw in a couple of journaling cards yet.

I read a parenting book cover-to-cover. (Love and Logic Magic for early childhood)

I pick up the house all the time, but have two very little boys that undo faster than I can DO!

(I've got a large box of papers to recycle after cleaning out 2 boxes of junk in the office last week. YAY! NOTE: NOT READY to tackle the box under the bed or in the closet yet.)

The invention of Pinterest has shortened the hours in our days. Mike and I both enjoy to check things out AND view some very clever things, recipes that sound delicious and fun things to try. The past few days, I have been scoping out ORGANIZATION boards/posts, hoping to find the inspiration I need to FINALLY get things under control around here. Sadly, looking at them online and actually DOING THEM are two different things. Sigh. If only there really WAS an Easy Button.

Discovered a wonderful solution to having our ironing board tucked behind the office door that I think I want to try out.

Discovered a tutorial on how to frame out an outdated bathroom mirror (and sent that to my mom/dad for their bathroom).

Today, I organized all kinds of things for the kids. We have a tiny bag containing scissors. A bag containing paint brushes. A bag containing crayons. A bag containing dry erase markers. A bag containing card games. A bag containing flash cards. You get the drill...

I organized our junk drawer. We now how separate boxes for pens, pencils and markers/highlighters. We also have a baggie containing all of MY dry erase markers. All of the paperclips are in an empty pill bottle in the drawer.

All of our twist ties are in a baggie in the spice drawer.

I changed the lightbulb in our fridge. I pulled out the contents of the fridge, wiped the shelves down, moved them around and put things back. (This time, I did NOT take all of the contents out of the door or drawers, but I had to start somewhere.)

I also admired fabric online... Dinosaur Train! (And wondered HOW COOL would that be to have blankets for the boys?)

I did LOTS of things that don't look like much. Mike reminded me that there is STILL a pile of laundry in the kitchen to trip over. (We SHOULD do laundry daily.)

Not sure WHAT I will tackle tomorrow, but I'll keep plugging away... trying to find a home for everything and put everything IN it home. One day at a time...

Where IS the time going? 20 months AND 3-and-a-half

Where IS the time going? We've already got ONE WEEK of 2013 under our belts and we've got a 20-month old and a little boy who is 3-and-a-half on top of that! It feels like JUST YESTERDAY that Mike was wearing his baby blue hospital gown and rubber gloves, ready to welcome EACH of our little boys into this world. (I'm still in AWE that he was allowed to deliver our kids - twice; how lucky we were to have such a cooperative doctor AND that the timing worked out for it to happen!)

Dec 28 - Sydney turned 3 years 7 months.
He's REALLY into puzzles and dinosaurs. His speech is getting lazier, according to Teacher Patty/Parents As Teachers, and he will be a good candidate for speech therapy in 2013. (Sydney calls them die-so-saurs OR die-doe-saurs.)

He wears a diaper for sleeping only.

He's FINALLY taking an afternoon nap again and has been for the past month-and-a-half or so. (Can you hear the chorus of angels singing Hallelujah or is that just in my head?)

He's allowed to get out of bed once his clock says SEVEN. Today, he was in our room promptly at 7:01am.

He likes to eat right away in the morning, requesting "pita buttah and jewwy" (PB&J) or "pita buttah and two-wew-wa" (PB&Nutella). He LOVES to drink juice (and would drink GALLONS of it daily IF we would let him, I think.) "Purple deuce" (juice) is his favorite... which is 100% Juice blend with Cranberry in it. His favorite breakfast cereal is Quaker Oatmeal Squares - cinnamon flavor or original.

He LOVES to watch tv. Our tv is set to PBS almost daily. He reminds me of "Mike TV" from Charlie and the Chocolate Factory... I think he would LOVE it if we would let him watch tv ALL THE TIME. His FAVORITE SHOWS are Dinosaur Train and Sesame Street.

Sydney loves raw vegetables: avocado slices, broccoli, sugar snap peas, carrot stick and caterpillars. (Caterpillars? Yep... those are slices of bell peppers! When given a choice of color preference, he ALWAYS asks for Blue, but we've never found a blue pepper before so, he settles for red, orange or yellow instead.)

During the past few months, Sydney has proclaimed that he WANTS to wear fuzzy pants. He's started protested wearing blue jeans, unless we assure him that all of the fuzzy pants are in the wash. Like his mother, he enjoys staying in his jammies all day - if we don't HAVE to go out.

He LOVES playing with his toys and puzzles. He LOVES to play with PlayDoh, paint or color. He LOVES to sing! And dance. And climb. And jump! And play HORSIE.

Likes to play with whatever Silas is playing with.

He LOVES to snuggle in the recliner for bedtime stories AND to snuggle in the chair - with a blanket - after the lights go out at 8pm. He's STARTING to stay in his bed after we put him there... although, new puzzles have been used for bribery purposes thus far - WITH LUCK!

He's a pretty amazing little boy!

Jan 1 - Silas turned 20 months.
20 months, already? Sniff, sniff... my baby isn't such a baby anymore!

He LOVES to help in the kitchen... cooking, unloading the dishwasher, setting the table.

Often, his first words in the day are
1) inquiring where Daddy is (sleeping or at work) and
2) "Crack, crack EGGS! Eat Eggs! Kitchen now. PUSH!"

He steers us by pushing on our shoulder, hoping that we'll MOVE. If/when we ask WHERE, he will specify "Kitchen. Upstairs. Downstairs." (Although, sometimes, like his brother did - he messes up the difference between UP and DOWN, using them interchangeably.)

Silas wears diapers most of the time. This past few months, he has acknowledged the potty chair and has made attempts at it. Most days, he wants to wear a diaper. Once in a while, he asks for big boy pants. He DOES "go pee" on the toilet at bathtime VERY WELL, demonstrating desire and control.

LOVES "Twinkle Star!" at bedtime. Within the past few weeks, he is FINALLY snuggling for the whole song! (He used to make it this far: Twinkle, twinkle, little..." before he would interrupt by yelling "Bed. NOW! Bed." He naps in the playpen in the corner of our bedroom, announcing "Cup. Corner. Happy Nap, Baby!" and settling down in far less than 20 seconds.

LOVES to EAT! Will eat just about anything and everything. A FANTASTIC EATER! Started chanting "Juice! Juice! Juice!" and for PB&J, just like his older role model does. NICE.

Talks A LOT. Talks very clearly.

Sucks his right thumb. Likes his polartec blanket.

Requests to wear his "Pider shirt" (spider= Spiderman), his helper shirt (Daddy's little helper), his Buzz shirt (Buzz Lightyear polo) OR his google eye shirt (googley eyed DOG shirt). He likes to wear Sydney's tall white socks, calling them BOOTS.

Likes to "Coop food. Eddy. Coop food cats!" (Scoop.)

LOVES to look at books!  LOVES to talk on the phone. Likes to play with whatever Sydney is playing with. LOVES to put on shoes... wears mom or dad's shoes... wears Sydney's shoes... helps all of us put our feet into our shoes!

WANTS to be friends with our cats.

Almost always smiling. (Starting to throw himself on the floor in temper tantrums when he doesn't get his way.) At preschool, the daycare teacher and the daycare students call him "SMILEY!"

Asks us to "Pull it tight" every time we buckle him into his carseat. Gets excited when he sees diggers and other construction equipment, calling them all DIGGERS - like Mommy does!

Nana declares "If all babies were as good and as sweet as Silas is, there would be a population crisis because EVERYONE would want to have babies!"

Silas is an INCREDIBLE little boy.

We are SO BLESSED!

The Most Peaceful Meal of the Year

Tonight, I am sad that Mike missed the MOST PEACEFUL Meal of the Year! I realize that it IS only FIVE DAYS into the new year, but when you've got small kids... meals don't ALWAYS go as planned.

On the plates of the boys:
Carrot Sticks, Fresh Broccoli and Ranch Dip
handful of Blackberries
2 slices of apples
Chicken Tender strips with Honey (for dipping)
*Salad for Silas - he tasted mine while I was making it in the kitchen so, I gave him a little of his own.

Sydney sat at the table patiently working on puzzles while Silas helped with dinner. As soon as Sydney heard the timer, he ran into the kitchen to check on the status of the chicken (that he had requested for dinner). I allowed him to (carefully) carry his plate to the table. I thought he would come back to help carry the plate for Silas, but he didn't.

Then, as he sat by himself, I overheard him quietly saying OUR family prayer.

Thank you Mommy and Daddy

and Sydney and Silas

for a wonderful family. Amen.

"That chicken is probably still too hot to eat!" I quickly reminded.

"I know, Mom. I'm just going to start on some of this other De-wish-us stuff instead while I wait for the kick'n to cool off."

I LOVE THAT KID!

During dinner, Sydney ate ALL of his food. He asked if he could have more fresh broccoli so, I shared mine with him. He politely asked for 2 more glasses of milk AND he asked for more chicken. He ate every last bite of food. And when he was done... he carried his plate into the kitchen.

There was no fussing. There was no whining. There were NO temper tantrums. There were no games. It was DELIGHTFUL! (Oh, how I would LOVE for this to be the case for EVERY meal.)

Welcome, Sydney... to the Clean Plate Club!

• • • • •
For the record, last night was THE MOST PEACEFUL BEDTIME of our toddler years! Bribery MIGHT be to blame for it, but I had convinced Sydney that IF he stays tucked into his bed and doesn't come out until the clock says 7(am), he could have his new puzzle. (I didn't specify that I would let him have ONE; it was a 4-pack that he picked out at Daddy's work last night from the Clearance Toys. No fussing. No games. We didn't hear a peep out of him until he came into our bed, after the clock read SEVEN. It was AWESOME! (Hoping for a new cooperation trend to be starting...)

Reflecting upon 2012 resolutions

A printout has hung from the corkboard in our office, right next to the computer for a year.

It says (in my brief Cliffnotes version, listed below):

In the year 2012, I resolve to:

ORGANIZE

FLOSS

SUNSCREEN

DRINK MORE WATER

READ MORE BOOKS

SCRAPBOOK

PHOTOS ON OUR WALLS

As for ORGANIZE, I had specified that I wanted to clean out my overflowing INBOX and SORT, TOSS & FILE the boxes of junk that I've been holding onto and neglecting. At one point, I weeded out my INBOX, but as I write this post, there are once again an unruly amount of unread mail in my inbox... mostly JUNK. Clearly, I am due to do this again (and mark more as Spam, hoping that the filter will work better on my behalf.) Those boxes of junk.... well, I did tackle them and narrowed it down to less boxes. I have NOT, however, gotten around to taken the time to finish my Sort & File steps. (We are also guilty of throwing all kinds of JUNK into a box and carrying the entire box to the office, hoping to tackle it later while enjoying a cleaner kitchen instead. I've got 2 boxes of that sort of thing to go through again now, too... likely MUCH of it being recyclable trash.) Mike reminds me that I don't have TIME to tackle this magnitude of project because I need EIGHT HOURS and am lucky to find THREE. Maybe in 2013... Afterall, IF he is hoping to move, I would prefer NOT to move boxes of trash; I have hopes of finding a home for everything and keeping everything in its place. If it takes 30 days to develop a good habit, I need to START NOW!

FLOSS. Halfway through the year, I started to floss regularly. Sadly, I admit that I flossed less often in the month of December because I was busy with other things. I plan to continue flossing regularly, as I know that it IS good for me.

SUNSCREEN. I bought a bottle of moisturizer with sunscreen and had intended to wear it daily. Sadly, I still have that same bottle. IF I had truly used it daily, I would have needed more by now. I guess that is something that I can continue to work on in 2013.

DRINK MORE WATER. I go through spurts. Some days, I drink plenty. Other days, I have nothing more than my morning cup of chai tea and my daily skim milk consumption. I really SHOULD drink more water daily. It IS good for me! And with that, I think I will go fill my glass when I am done with this post.

BETTER TIME MANAGEMENT. I wrote that I don't want to run late or feel rushed and that I didn't want to feel frazzled or like a nag. The truth is: I have TWO small children to fight with when it is time to get ready to go. When we DO have time constraints... i.e. on school days or when we HAVE to be somewhere, I set timers on my cell phone, reminding us that we need to leave soon. I also keep a diaper bag packed and in the car at all times. This IS a work in progress.

READ MORE BOOKS. Having joined an adult book club midway through the year, I have read more books. I think that I read THIRTEEN BOOKS last year. I'd like to continue this trend, hoping to read ONE PER MONTH, as well as continue to read books to the kids daily.

SCRAPBOOK. I am finishing up on my Project Life 2012, which was my SECOND YEAR. I'm ready to tackle 2013 as a Project Life album and LOVE that it captures our life right now... week-by-week. As for traditional scrapbooking, I have NOT done a single page. As for digital scrapbooking, I have NOT done a single page. As for creating a scrapbook for Silas, I have NOT. As for extending Sydney's scrapbook past his 1st birthday, I have NOT. As my kids get bigger and less dependent, I really HOPE to get back into this hobby (along with card-making) that I love.

PHOTOS ON OUR WALLS. We now have a framed photo of the boys hanging in the office - that I love! I also have a "What I love most about my home is who I share it with" print on the office wall and WILL BE HANING a word-art plaque in the office, as well. Also, in 2012, we managed to find THE SAME monthly photo frame that we had for Sydney and ordered one for Silas. Silas (birth to age 1) hangs in the hallway next to his brother now. We also hung a 2-hole collage frame in our dining room that contains one wedding picture AND a family of 4 picture. (NOTE: The family pic is from July 2011 so, we are due for a new one where Silas looks more like a little boy and less like a baby.)

In the New Year, I would like to select and accomplish a handful of items off of my Bucket List, as well as continue with the organizing, flossing, sunscreen, water consumption, book reading AND documenting via Project Life.