Operation: Christmas Cookies!

The setup:

Yum yum, my favorite cookies! My whole life I've enjoyed decorating and more importantly, eating these cookies every Christmas thanks to my Nana and my mom. Will had a great time this year and did quite the job on his cookies. Here are a few of Will's masterpieces close up. Please note the mounds of sprinkles.

When we were ready to head home my mom packed up some cookies for us (well for me, really. I prefer not to share). It was dark in the car and the boys were quiet - Dane sleeping and Will watching a movie. I decided to have a little sample so I quietly opened the tupperware container so as to not alert Will. I quickly and discreetly slipped one cookie from the passenger side of the car over to my side. I sunk my teeth into the delicious cookie - only to find it quite sprinkly! I turned on the light to see what in the world - and saw that it was obviously one of Will's cookies. That will teach me to sneak cookies in the dark.

Will

On Tuesdays we still go to my moms. Recently we got home and I was carrying everything in and after a few minutes I was wondering where Will was. I didn't hear anything. I started calling for him, no answer. Then I got concerned and started looking for him. Finally he answered me - "I'm down here mom - I'm playing Xbox!" Sure enough, he was at the far end of the downstairs and had turned on the Xbox and started playing it all by himself! When did my baby turn into a big boy???

He actually calls it his "Ets bots" which makes it even cuter. He has such a great imagination and I love hearing him play. He pretends a lot. He says the cutest things these days. I'm not sure where it all comes from - like today at lunch I made him a peanut butter and honey sandwich. There was a little hole in the bread and he said "look mom - lizard poop" and pointed to the hole. He also calls hand sanitizer "handsitizer" - which I actually think is a great contraction! I caught him jumping on the couch - I gave him a time-out. I told him he knew he wasn't supposed to jump on the couch, why was he doing that? His response, through his tears: "I just wanted to have some fun." He also just informed me that he and Rosco were going to go over to PaPaw's mancave. ...oh really! I'm so glad that Luke is bringing home a lock for the front door that will go up high where Will can't reach it (until he figures out a way - which won't be long I'm sure) because as it is he can get out by himself...

My boys :)

Dane was about to snuggle in for a little nap. Will was star struck and just sat there smiling and mute. Finally he quietly told Santa he wanted a John Deere.

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Ringo Starr

Story to come...

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Chimes of Christmas

My mom and Chuck treated Will and I to the Chimes of Christmas at the IU Auditorium. It was a fun "date night" for Will and Momma. I think Will was most excited about the bus ride, or the "school bus" as he was calling it. He did a pretty good job at the show - especially the 2nd half when it became much more kid friendly. Santa even made an appearance! Thanks Mom and Chut for a fun night!

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Make yourself at home Rosco! He knows that PaPaw is the ONLY person that lets him get away with this.

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Live and Learn

Well now the house is done. It's beautiful and we love it. There are just a few loose ends that we are trying to get taken care of. Paint touch ups, some caulk repairs, etc. I'm pretty sure this project took a few years off my life - I now understand why people (usually) only do this once in their lives. I will never do this again, which is good, since we'll be living here forEVER. You live and learn - and if we had known then what we know now here are some things we would have done differently.

- I would have been how...do I say it - a hard-a$$, and not so nice right from the beginning. I was super nice to everyone, thinking that if they like me, they'll do a good job. I learned names and was sure to praise everything all the time. I think they did do a good job, but there came a point where I wasn't very comfortable "fussing" at them or pointing things out because I had set myself up as this nice mom with my kids in tow. I could have always loosened up but it's difficult to tighten up after you've been too nice.

- I would have inspected all the work much more thoroughly. It's uncomfortable after someone finishes a job to closely look over their work before you pay them - I like to trust that people have done a good job. Oh no. Not anymore. I wish I would have gone floor to ceiling, wall to wall, every single time. Because if I had, I wouldn't be finding these little imperfections that eat at me. Only toward the end do you become comfortable doing that kind of thing - just in time for the project to end.

- I knew I didn't want white grout - I've lived that nightmare before. I went middle of the road. I would have gone even darker.

- We wouldn't have spent hundreds of dollars on a diverter valve for our master shower. We never use it - we both like both of the shower heads on all the time.

- I wouldn't have picked out berber carpet. It already has a ton of pulls and underneath it is concrete. Apparently the concrete is uneven and because the berber isn't very tall, in some spots there is space between the trim and carpet.

- I would have gotten MORE skylights. We installed 7 of the tube skylights. Seven. You would think that would be plenty, right? No, I wish we had at least 5 more. I LOVE them. On sunny days I don't even turn on a light in the house until 4:30. Also, they look like regular lights and people who are over don't even realize they're a skylight unless I tell them.

I'm sure I'll come up with more - and I'll just add them to the list. Overall we LOVE everything and are so grateful.

Hunter, Bradley, Owen, Baylee, Elizabeth, Will & Nolan. We hosted our first get together at our new house. We had never been able to host anything more than one other couple at our old house. Our living room was just too small. (which Luke secretly loved. And I won't lie, did come in handy at times.) Not anymore! We had 19 people over for the "Priest/Schum" Christmas. (only two of the 19 are still Priests - and no Schums) It was perfect. We had a great time and the kids played downstairs the whole time. It was so peaceful! :) (unless you ventured downstairs)

Luke is one of the few (very few) people (guys) I know who can flatteringly wear their hair pretty short. Usually his sister Laura cuts his hair but occasionally I do it. This weekend he asked me to cut it for him. I was happy to do it. Normally he gets the clippers all ready for me, but this time I got them out of the box and plugged them in while he was draping his towel and getting the chair situated. I start cutting and start in the back lower right hand side of his head. I do a patch about the size of an egg and all of a sudden realize. Hmmmm. "Luke, do you usually put a guard on here?" Yep, he does. He said "too late now! You have to keep going." I HAD TO BUZZ HIS WHOLE HEAD!

He's been wearing a hat ever since the buzz. Just in time for the 0 degree wind chill weather. Sorry honey! His new doo...

Look at my sweet baby boy! He is so precious. He's sitting up so well. He is saying "ma ma ma" I'm convinced he is calling me by name. Luke says he's just making the sound. He also got his first injury, :( He was in his pack n play and I stood him up and he was holding on to the side of it. I figured if he fell he would fall into a sitting position. Nope, he fell straight back as stiff as a board. The pack n play was sitting up against the spindles of our banister. (square shape) He hit the edge of a spindle (through the mesh part side of the PNP). He has a nice little scrape on the back of his head.

Sleepover!

Will, Dane and his cousins Landon & Payton. Doesn't Dane look thrilled? This past Saturday we got together to celebrate a few birthdays. I had one of those moments where, as a mother, you feel like your heart is peeled back, raw and available for the taking. Terri offered to let them all spend the night at her house after the get-together. I was packing Will's overnight bag and as I was picking out his things and I got to thinking - his cousins are 7. Quite a bit older, and in 1st grade. They are super sweet to Will but I had this moment where I was packing his toothbrush and I wondered "will they make fun of his Elmo toothbrush?" Will they think it's "baby"? And my heart literally ached just thinking about anybody making fun of my baby boy. (DISCLAIMER: L&P are SUPER nice to Will and I don't ever think they would make fun of him. But in the same breath, boys are boys, and kids are kids. Even the nicest of kids will tease.) I know it was foolish of me even to think a thought like that, but packing an overnight bag for my 3 year-old is a new thing for me. He's been spending the night with his Nana for years but with "friends"? It's a whole new territory. He's such a big boy!!!

SO, we're at the party and I'm standing there talking to my brother-in-law Rick and we're by the staircase. Will starts to come down the stairs and when he's about 1/2 way down he slips on a step. I thought at first he was just going to slide down a few of them on his back so I wasn't too worried. But then, in slow motion, he somehow turns directions and starts to tumble forward. Rick lunged forward to try to catch him. All of a sudden his face smashes. I mean SMASHES. Crunches. Splats (and that's exactly what the horrid sound was like - a splat. Unmistakable.) Onto the ceramic tile floor. His body was lying up the steps and he was face down on the tile. I raced to him and (I'm pretty sure I ripped poor Rick out of the way) I was sure his whole face was going to be torn open. I remember shouting "Oh GOD. Oh GOD." I picked him up and somehow, by the grace of God, there was no blood. Just one little drop from his nose. That was it. He got some red marks but I have no idea how he walked away from that tumble with nothing more than a couple of marks. Then of course I was thinking all night...I"m such a horrible mother. I left him there! I'm sure he's having internal bleeding in his head. I'm going to take him to the hospital tomorrow and they're going to say "so your son smashed his face and head on a hard tile floor and you did....NOTHING??" Alas, he's fine. Not so much as a goose egg. Mike said it was his big cheeks that saved him. Cushioned his fall. Lesson to be learned from this? Put a rug at the bottom of our steps. Especially as little Dane is so close to being able to navigate himself over to our steps.

A few mornings ago I woke up and looked out our kitchen window and saw this. Does it get any more beautiful? We are so fortunate to be able to live on this beautiful land.

Dane 7 1/2 months

My big boy!!! 7 1/2 months. He has just started sitting up really well in the last week. He's also trying to crawl - up on his hands & knees rocking. He is also pulling his knee up under him and he'll lunge forward on to his belly. Not long before he gets it all figured out!

And look at those two teeth! :)

Poor Dane.... The boys helping me do some laundry.

Mandy & Jackson came over to play and visit Katie while she was here. They played so well together!

For Mike's birthday the 6 of us took a roadtrip! We went to the Ron White show up in Merrillville. Along the way we stopped at Fair Oaks Farm where we had lunch and almost watched a calf being born. (I know, strange combination)
Me, Terri and Laura.

We had dinner at Jalapenos - one of my favorite restaurants when I lived up there.
Terri and I with a senor that we met there.

We had a great time - the show was great and then we went out after to Bar Louie for a while. It was great to get away for a night of fun!

Will might possibly kill me when he gets older for posting this picture, but it's so cute! He was so excited about his Superman Big Boy Boxer Briefs that he kept showing them off.

Dane's first dip in Aunt Terri and Uncle Mike's pool. (actually I didn't want to take him in the chlorine so we made our own little pool next to theirs :)

This summer we took a trip to Columbus for cousin Jennifer's high school graduation party. We stayed with Luke at his hotel that he stays in for work and made a fun weekend of it. We went to the Columbus equivalent of the Children's museum and they just happen to be having a "construction zone" exhibit. What luck! Will had a great time climbing on all of the equipment. (ps: Look at Luke glaring at me! :)

Petting Zoo

I took Will to a petting zoo before Dane was born with Aunt Laura and Landon & Payton. Here are some pics from the trip - I Think it was in April?

Riding a horse!!

Will and Dane love their Opa & Oma!

Will calls our fouton a crouton.

My mom got married!

After three years of phone conversations, over a year of spending time together, endless hours of home improvement projects and hours upon hours of heart to hearts, my mom and Chuck were married on her birthday, October 28, 2010. I am so happy for both of them, as they are truly happy together. The ceremony was sweet - just the two of them, Luke, me and the boys, and Chuck's daughter Tricia and her husband Jon. (and of course her baby girl bump!) They spent 8 days in St. John in a private villa for their honeymoon. I'm so happy they've found one another to spend their lives with.

Who is this child?

Will was in rare form tonight. While we were showering I was singing Fallen by Sarah McLaughlin and Will said "I've always loved that song."

He has a drawer unit that fits perfectly into his closet opening. Today I stashed some of the things that I'd rather him not get out and play with on his own (markers and paint, sunscreen, etc) on both sides of those drawers in his closet. There is about a 2 inch gap between the drawers and the doorway of his closet. Apparently just enough for him to squeeze his little body in between to get back there. I caught climbing through and told him he wasn't allowed back there and to come out. I went upstairs and he runs up behind me saying "I got it! I got it!" He runs in with a coloring book and markers. I asked him how he got those and he said "I reached through and got them with my hands, personally." I asked him what he said and he said it again. "I reached through and got them, personally." So funny to hear that kind of language coming from a 3 year old!

Dane got his first tooth today! Three days shy of 7 months. What a big boy. He makes my heart swell with love. I'm so lucky that God chose me to be his mom.

It happened!!

We moved!! On Friday my Dad & Sharon came down and watched the boys so Luke and I could clean. (and Sharon packed our whole kitchen!!!!! - THANK YOU!) Then on Saturday Terri took them and we moved a lot of our things. Mike and Uncle George and Sonny helped us. Saturday was our first night in the new house and it was great! -and awful too. It was great to actually be in the new house. Will wanted to sleep with us, so we let him. At 1am, I was making my 3rd trip through the house and down the stairs to calm down Dane, after tripping up the stairs because it was pitch black, I brought Dane to bed with us too. Rosco paced pretty much the whole night and went out a couple of times. Plus it was the time change that night. So needless to say, we were pretty tired the next day. My mom and Chuck came up that afternoon and brought lunch and helped us for a little bit too. There is still a ton of work to do. Lots to unpack still. Lots of odds and ends to move still. And lots of cleaning at the old house. I'm just so glad to be in the house!

Dane's Check-up

We had the most interesting Dr. visit today. We arrived at our appointment 15 minutes early. (first interesting thing) I walk up to sign in and the lady asks for the name. I tell her Dane - she pauses - she starts laughing. Your appointment is actually tomorrow! Me - not laughing. What!?! I definitely had it on my calendar for today. I always schedule them for Fridays bc Luke can usually go or Tuesdays because we are already in Bloomington. I would never schedule a Wednesday. So I'm fumbling for what to say when she tells me they can go ahead and squeeze us in. whew!! Anyway, so we sit down and in walks a little boy - all of 2 or 3 - on a leash. I've seen these leashes before, but never up close or for an extended period of time. Behind him in walks the Grandma. As they make their way to the check-in, he walks one way and she walks the other and they get tangled. "Come on! This way!" Grandma says. And tugs on the leash. After they check in she literally walks him around the waiting room so he can browse the toys. There were all of about 3 mom/kid pairings there. It was just like taking a dog for a walk. It struck me as so funny I had to stop myself from laughing out loud. At one point she walked him over our way and the little boy waved to Will. He slid one shoulder out of the harness and Grandma really laid into him. He pointed to Will and said (bless his little heart) "he doesn't have to wear one." Then Grandma informed him that he was too quick, and Grandma was too old. Which lightened my heart about it just a bit. (she's correct - they're very quick - and I'm sure the last thing she wants to do is inform Mommy that little Billy got away. Nope, Grandma's not taking any chances.) Hopefully he won't have to endure too much therapy.

The rest of the appointment went very well. Dane is healthy, right on track, weighs 19 lbs 4 oz which puts him in the 75 percentile. He has slipped from the 90th percentile at birth, so I'm sure Luke has all but written off his athletic future in football.

Will was unusually on his best behavior for the entire visit. While I was paying and scheduling our next appt he sits down on the bench by the check-out and picks up a book and starts flipping through it. I see the title: "A Boy's Guide to Becoming a Teenager". Oh boy. Time to go!!

Three peas in a pod. (Dane is back there too) Life has been pretty crazy lately. One thing that we take advantage of whenever we can is "family nap!" We all love to take a good nap and we all snuggle up in our big bed and nap together. It's w-o-n-d-e-r-f-u-l. This particular day I had to get up before the rest and I noticed they were all facing the same way. Love my boys!!!

We'll take what we can get. Sorry Aunt Terri and Uncle Mike! Hope the neighbors weren't too horrified.

Cue. Tee. Patootee

I happen to take this picture of Rosco & Kramer on Halloween - how fitting...my demon furbabies. (actually it was the day before Halloween, but the same day that we went trick-or-treating)

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Fun with Opa & Oma!

My dad came down last Friday and watched Dane while we went down to the house and started to clean. The boys are still going to my Dad & Sharon's on the first Monday of every month, and they LOVE it. I have some pics to upload from one of their recent trips but they are on a different camera and I haven't uploaded them yet. This morning I was getting Will ready and he said "I wish I was going to Opa's house today."

Happy Halloween!

We had a fun Halloween this year. Momma hasn't had too much time on her hands lately so the idea of making a creative and fun Halloween costume was pretty much out the door. Which worked out fine because Will is really in to the movie How to Train a Dragon and Old Navy had a great dragon costume! We visited a number of friends and family members and then walked around to a few houses. Most importantly Will had a great time.

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House Remodel - weeks 18 &19

Will this be it? We are planning to move this weekend! There will still be things to finish no doubt but hopefully the inside will be done. I hardly have the energy to type anything about it because I've long run out of house energy. The end of this week will make 19 long weeks of making (often) 3 daily trips down there, toting the boys along with me and dealing with problem after problem. Writing endless checks every Friday.

Ok, I won't be Debbie Downer anymore about it. Especially if we get to move this weekend! It seems like it's never going to actually happen, so if it really does this weekend I'll have a renewed positive outlook on the entire project. Because let me just say, Dan has done an INCREDIBLE job! It's gorgeous and more beautiful than either Luke or I ever imagined it would be. Now we just want to LIVE THERE.

Will sometimes makes this sound. I'll do my best to spell it: "FurrrrrEEEEET" Luke and I had no idea what he was saying. Then one day we figured it out - we were taking a walk and Luke would whistle for Rosco and then immediately after that Will would make the sound. It's Will's interpretation of Luke calling Rosco by whistling. It's hilarious and has given us a lot of laughs over the months.

House Remodel - end of week 17

It's getting close! The hardwoods are done - I love them. They look really beautiful. The banister by the stairs is amazing. Dan made it out of the old barn wood and it's pretty spectacular. At first I wasn't sure about it; it's definitely a "statement." But it's grown on me and I think it's incredible. The tile is coming along - it's all finished except for the master shower and tub. Dan still thinks we're planning to move this coming weekend. I doubt it will be quite ready but I'm not telling him that. I'm guessing it will be next weekend. Plus there is a lot of cleaning to do.

Yesterday I was there cleaning (the boys stayed overnight with my mom and Chuck) and I got the fireplace cleaned. I also got all of the outlet covers on - one doesn't realize how many outlet covers there are in a house until you're putting them all on! Then last night my mom and Chuck brought the boys up and the Thompson's came over and they helped me put in our closet system (hanging bars and a few (temporary) shelving units). Luke had to leave for Ohio yesterday afternoon so he wasn't there. We also had our first meal in the house (Sonny joined us too). Pizzas warmed up in our new stove! I'm kicking myself that I didn't take a picture. :( :( :( :(

Happy Half Birthday Dane!

It's hard to believe it's been 6 months since Dane was born. It makes me sad how fast it's gone. He is just the happiest little guy in the world. He is such a good baby. He is always smiling and laughing. He is trying to sit up. He can sit unassisted for about 10-15 seconds if he's calm. If he's excited he falls right over. :) He's started stage 1 foods and likes all of them. He is still spitting up a lot. I am still breastfeeding (Yay for meeting my goal of 6 months!). Pumping is still going well and I have stockpiled a couple of months worth of milk in the freezer. Poor Sonny has been left with only 1 1/2 shelves in his freezer. I'm not ready to quit yet - I'm enjoying being able to provide this for Dane. He is teething and I'm looking for a tooth to pop through any day now. Sleeping is going ok. He takes his last feeding at 9 and then goes to bed. He wakes up usually around 1 or 2 and I give him his pacifier. Wakes anywhere between 3 and 5 to eat. Then wakes up around 6 and comes to bed with me. Then gets up around 7:30-8 for the day. Not too bad. He's still sleeping in the bassinet next to our bed. I know I need to, but I'm dreading moving him into his crib. I don't want him to get any bigger! He loves to watch his big brother and the dog and cat. He gets so excited and kicks his little arms and legs in and out. He makes me so happy. There are no words to describe how much I love him. I am so lucky to be his mom!

Will had a great weekend! He spent the night with Grandma Becca on Friday night. His cousins Landon & Payton came over on Saturday and then they all spent the night with her. (The boys all slept on the couch together. Will is getting to be such a big boy!!! - gone is my baby boy.) We practically had to force him to come home on Sunday. The Fall Foliage Festival was going on just outside her front door so they got to play games, ride rides, eat pizza and people watch. Good times!

Landon, Grandma Becca, Dane, Payton & Will. (we didn't know we were supposed to bring Will's Halloween costume so he was an Impromptu Pirate)

My Sweet Boys

I love these two boys more than life itself!!

Naked boys after bath time. Nothing cuter!

Potty Training Update

We've tried EVERYTHING!!!! For over 3 MONTHS!!! The toys are still on the back porch, he doesn't even care. Tried the positive reinforcement, which obviously didn't work. Combined with M&M's, worked for a while, but then he started going on the potty only when he wanted a piece of candy. (smart boy) I even tried spanking when he didn't try, combined with the positive reinforcement (M&Ms). He didn't care too much, just told me not to give him "a real hard spanking." I wasn't crazy about the spanking because 1. they say not to punish when potty training and 2. I hate it! Probably more than he does. When I first became a parent I didn't plan on spanking but I have learned that sometimes there are children that just must be spanked and unfortunately Will is one of them.

I feel like I'm at the point where I just can't do it anymore. I hate to "give up" but there's only so much I can do, and this summer with a baby, still breastfeeding (& pumping), the house remodel, Luke being gone all week, I just don't think I can focus on it anymore like I have been. He spent the weekend with Luke's mom and being away from here for the weekend was a nice time to re-evaluate and plan my next steps. I think I'm going to relax about it. Suggest and encourage using the potty, but no punishments or spankings and just deal with changing the diapers for a bit longer. As Luke's mom informed me, this is precisely how Luke's potty training went - so I guess Will gets it honestly.

Here was a last ditch effort - "We know you have to poop. You can sit on the potty, IN the living room, ON the table, WHILE watching a movie of your choice, AND eating M&M's.. if you'll just try." Nope. No luck. He did get a nice fill of candy though.