04 August 2012

Zoo

Daddy is working in Sulphur Srings the next five nights. It's only an hour away but since he needs to sleep and Chuck (who is pretty loud) is here, daddy will just stay in a hotel (paid for by the hospital). Working in Sulphur Springs will actually raise his income so we figure with Chuck in school, me not working, and the baby still almost 5 months away, there is no reason for him to not work there.

So to keep ourselves sane, Chuck and I hit the awesome Tyler zoo before the heat got bad. We got there when it opened at 9 and left at 11:30. We only saw about 2/3 of the zoo but have a membership so can drop in real quick anytime we want. On our membership, Chuck is free (because he is 2) and I can bring a guest, so if daddy wants to go he can or if someone wants to visit (hint hint) they can get in free!

We watched all the animals come out and eat their breakfast. Chuck says his favorite animal is the zebra but I just don't buy it. I'm always excited about the giraffes!

The greatest part of the zoois going in the bird house. There are parakeets and cockatiels everywhere. You can buy a feed stick to feed them. I thought Chuck would be too scared but I almost couldn't get him out of there!

The Tyler zoo is so neat and there are trees hanging over the paths do there is a lot of shade. Also there are benches everywhere so Chick and I took our time and sat on the benches to drink water and just look at the animals. They have a great area to sit and eat and it overlooks the giraffes, elephants, zebras, impalas, and warthogs!

I never know how nap time is going to go but with some fighting, Chuch finally gave in! After nap time we folded laundry and read books! A pretty great day around here. Now I just have to figure out what we are doing tomorrow!

28 July 2012

Battles

 First, our house is run completely by a two year old.  He wears the pants in this family and we just do what he says.  Most battles are better off not fought.  If he wants pasta for breakfast, he gets pasta for breakfast.  If he wants Cheerios for dinner, he gets Cheerios for dinner.

As I have said, the child hates water.  As my stomach is growing, I am having to let a lot of things go.  I can no longer force him to take a bath or hold him down in the bathtub while I bathe him real quick.  The only way I can get the child clean is to let him bathe in the sink.  He wants to take a bath in the sink, he takes a bath in the sink.  This is another battle I will not fight.  The purpose of the bath is to clean him so he won't stink and wash his hair so his scalp problem won't come back.  All this is accomplished in the sink.  I don't have to hang the growing baby over the side of the tub, so it all works out.  There are no tears.  Before, bath time sounded like war in our house.  Chuck better be glad that mama is starting to lose some steam.




Last weekend, we made a day trip to Dallas since Dr. won't have a weekend off for at least 5 weeks.  We met two of my friends from college there.  Chuck really enjoyed the penguins and was interested in seeing the turtles.  The flamingos were a favorite too.  Tara snapped this picture of Chuck.  This is Chuck's typical pout.  He inherited this from his father.



As you can see, Chuck can't see in the picture above.  The child has refused a haircut for the last 6 months, if not longer.  He tells me "No cutty hair" whenever he sees the scissors.  Again, a battle I have given up on.  I tried so many times, I figured I would just drop it.  The other night I picked up scissors and cut a piece of his hair when he wasn't looking.  He asked what I was doing and I told him there were just a few pieces of hair I needed to cut and he said "OK".  I took the opportunity and chopped it. I had no idea what I was doing.  I just knew the poor kid needed to be able to see!




Chuck is really enjoying school.  We have almost gotten the crying in the morning under control.  The other morning, we left the house a little bit early but I jumped at the opportunity because he said he was ready to go to school.  I just drove around the neighborhood wasting a few minutes.  Chuck realized it was taking longer than usual to get to school (we live about two blocks from school) and he started yelling "I'm coming Mrs. Sam.  Here I come.  I'm coming".  What a character!

Some of the things that Chuck is saying just make us laugh.  Dr. has been really adamant lately that Chuck say "please".  Chuck has pretty much gotten it down.  Occasionally, he will ask for something and forget to say it and I will remind him he needs to say the magic word.  Chuck will respond "Milk, magic word."  Then I have to remind him what the magic word is.  On other accounts,  the child will be  upset and angry with you but there will always be a please at the end.  He will have pretty much just cussed you out but at the very end, he will add a "please" and it kind of just makes everything he just did ok!  I laugh because it is almost like he is giving Dr. a little taste of his own medicine since he is pushing the "please" so hard! When asked if he wants a glass of milk..... "no, please".  Also, just in the last day or so when I have asked him if he wanted juice or if he was hungry, his response was "No, I'm good."  What!  He totally copied that from his father but he really was good.  He didn't want a thing!

On another note, we had a landscaper come and look at the yard this week.  The front of our yard is bearable but could use some changes ( to meet our preferences).  After asking them to tear off the deck in the back when we bought the house, there is now a huge place of just dirt and a huge concrete patio.  We will be getting his plans this week but will be getting some of the patio taken up and replaced with grass so that Chuck and Dr. will have more room to throw the ball, etc.  We will also be fancying up the concrete by covering it with some type of flagstone and adding a wall.  I know Chuck will miss the mud and puddles but hopefully we will have a patio and grass by the time the weather starts cooling.  Trees, shrubs, and flowerbeds may wait until the spring.  I hope our little resident bunny will adapt to the changes.  I have a feeling he is long gone now that the cats are permanently outside ( except for those daily instances when they bribe Chuck to let them in so they can sleep in the AC for a few hours.)

Chuck refused a nap today so I have high hopes of sleeping in tomorrow.  Dr. has been on nights the last three nights so we are looking forward to playing some tomorrow.  He works again on Tuesday and then works a 5 NIGHT streak starting Thursday.  I put "night" in all caps because those are the most painful for me.  You would think that him working while we were sleeping would be great.  But not so much.  Nights means that he is sleeping during the day, which means not only is dad not there to play after school but we also have to be quiet during the day while he snoozes.  So WEEKEND NIGHTS are just plan yucky.  I would love for him to work nights during the week any day.  He would have a quiet house to sleep in!

Well, I am going to count sheep.  I probably won't even make it to the first sheep.  Remember, August 8th is the big day!  Any guesses on the sex of this baby?  We heard the heartbeat again this past week and everything was normal on the quad test ( some kind of protein or chromosomal test, or whatever).

Until next time.... ( and who really knows when that will be!)

27 July 2012

Our Character

Ok. I know I haven't posted much! Here is Chuck's report from school this week. In Montessori, it's about learning at your own pace. The children decide what they want to work with. The teachers write down what Chuck chose to work on that week. They have water day every Monday and Friday during summer school. Today was the first day Chuck decided to actually play in the water. The other weeks he has just watched his friends play. ( We happen to hate water.). Notice where his teacher, Mrs. Sam, wrote that.

Also they put other notes at the bottom. I love the little note he got this week. He took his guitar to school for show-and-tell and apparently was hilarious when it was his turn when he decided to serenade the class with a little song while playing it!

14 July 2012

Happy Birthday

Things are starting to feel more like home. Yesterday we planted two trees by our door. We always put hibiscus in our pots by the door. Chuck helped Dr. with the dirt and randomly he said "It's a party!" and started singing Happy Birthday to the trees. How original. I guess it was the trees' birthday.

Ghost Writer


For those of you who just got a blank post, that was my 2 1/2 year old son.  He was supposed to be watching Elmo on YouTube but instead decided to blog.

Today was Dr.'s first day of work.  He looked so handsome and professional.  I think he was excited.  He will be home at 8 so I will send an update and I will write a real blog.  Dr. is working the next 6 weekends so I will be fairly busy with the little munchkin.  Dr. is keeping me busy with a long to do list and I have been coking a lot so am in the grocery store almost everyday!

In the meantime, click here to see some pictures of Chuck and his classmates at school!

10 July 2012

Grocery Shopping

Just realized that this post never made it to the blog. Now a week late but....

Have I mentioned how much I LOVE a big kitchen that has the family room IN it? In the other house I had to run back and forth and Chuck would realize I was gone. Towards the end I just didn't cook. It was pointless. Everything turned out so bad.

With our new kitchen, Chuck has all his toys, puzzles, and his movies and I can wash dishes, put them away , and cook and he never wonders where I am. Today he decided to go grocery shopping. Hey, I can't put anything else on those shelves or it gets pulled off. The other end of the island is a wine rack ( which also can't be used as of now). Put it makes a good time out cage for all of Chuck's animals. Actually Donkey ( from Shrek) is the only one that has been caged so far!

30 June 2012

Wowza!

Just a quick post to tie people over!

We made the move! Movers came last Thursday and boxed everything up. On Friday they loaded the truck and left. My parents helped monitor things, keep tabs on the cats, and clean the house. We all pulled out Friday late afternoon. The truck did not deliver our things until Sunday. We were so thankful that we had Saturday to rest without having to deal with packing/ unpacking.

By Sunday mid afternoon, all of our things were in the house. We started unpacking boxes as they brought them in. That was the smartest idea ever. Chuck was with Mary Katherine and he was coming back on Monday. I wanted the majority of boxes gone by then. We currently have about four boxes sitting around!

Chuck started school but only got through two days before he came down with a high fever. We is on the mends but still has not recovered. It is 6:00 and he is still asleep from his nap!

I know some want pictures so here is a quick one of our kitchen and our new fridge :) . We are using our eat in breakfast area as a den. It is much easier to keep tabs on Chuck. In this picture, I am sitting on our red couch ( that just happens to match the color of the kitchen island). The TV is to my left on a long table. Drew is sitting to my right in a leather chair. Now that the den is attached to the kitchen I have cooked a lot in the last two days.