Kale has fought sleep the last two nights. He was ready for bed about an hour ago, to the point of even asking for his bottle and walking to his bedroom with it. After hearing him cry out a couple of times, I went in to check on him and MemaNana. I knew what he wanted. He wanted my iPhone. He loves to look at pictures on it and he knows how to "slide" them so he can see the next picture. That isn't why he wanted the phone. Remember, Kale is only 18 months old and God works in ever amazing ways. I started the Pandora application on my phone. Pandora plays music tailored to your tastes. There is a Christian selection. At night, when I am having a hard time getting Kale to settle, I can turn on my iPhone and open Pandora. I select the Christian music and usually by the third song, he is long gone into sleepy land. In the meantime, I get to listen to Christian music, enjoy holding my son, and really embrace the words of the songs without other distractions. I have been enjoying Pandora's Christian selection so much that I now listen to it at work. It changes my mood and uplifts my spirit. All because I got creative with a new way to get Kale to chill out at night. Or, ahem, because He got creative with getting my attention and getting me to focus on Him. Nothing like your 18 month old bringing you closer to God and redirecting your focus in ways you could have never imagined!
Tonight, Kale fell asleep listening to a contemporary version of "The Old Rugged Cross".
Monday, April 27, 2009
Let the pictures explain....backwards...
I can't figure out how to fix these pictures in the correct order, so the sequence is backwards.
The pictures mostly tell the story...
Papaw brought the tractor. Kale is afraid to be on the tractor with anyone except his daddy and me. I mowed and mowed and mowed yesterday...and have the sunburn now to prove it. This was when I was done and we went for a ride.
Kale loves juice (oose) When we have an extra jug of apple juice, we keep it beside the fridge. His new way of telling us that he wants juice is to go get the full gallon extra jug and drag it to us with his cup.
This was taken at the St Vincent NICU reunion. It was more of a stop by and see them type of thing. It was also held in conjunction with the March of Dimes Walk for Babies (which we didn't do). These whirly flowers were the highlight for Kale...and we now have some at home. Notice daddy supervising in the background.
These were taken at Aunt Wendi and Uncle Brian's house during cousin Fletcher's birthday party. While Fletcher opened presents, Kale found a wagon with water in the backyard. He had fun, can you tell?
First driving lesson....
The pictures mostly tell the story...
Papaw brought the tractor. Kale is afraid to be on the tractor with anyone except his daddy and me. I mowed and mowed and mowed yesterday...and have the sunburn now to prove it. This was when I was done and we went for a ride.
Kale loves juice (oose) When we have an extra jug of apple juice, we keep it beside the fridge. His new way of telling us that he wants juice is to go get the full gallon extra jug and drag it to us with his cup.
This was taken at the St Vincent NICU reunion. It was more of a stop by and see them type of thing. It was also held in conjunction with the March of Dimes Walk for Babies (which we didn't do). These whirly flowers were the highlight for Kale...and we now have some at home. Notice daddy supervising in the background.
These were taken at Aunt Wendi and Uncle Brian's house during cousin Fletcher's birthday party. While Fletcher opened presents, Kale found a wagon with water in the backyard. He had fun, can you tell?
First driving lesson....
Sunday, April 19, 2009
Whirlwind Weekend
Its been a whirlwind weekend. I am not sure if it was the fact that we didn't stay in one place for 24 hours or all the "near misses", some of which turned into boo-boo's, that made it such whirlwind.
MemaNana took Kale to Alma on Thursday. Ep and I joined them there around 6pm on Friday. We enjoyed a rare moment to eat dinner with my brother and my parents. Kale was bound and determined to spend the night in the bed with me and Ep...did I mention its a regular (full) size bed? I eventually got him to sleep in my mom's bed. He then slept until 4am...and a bottle lulled him back to sleep until around 7:15am. By then, our internal alarms had gone off and we were up. Later in the morning, we thought a family breakfast was a good idea. As we all got dressed, I shut the door to our room to keep Kale from wandering around the house. Mistake. There WAS a 4 foot tall mirror leaned against the wall behind the door. Its been there for years. Its been there so long that I forget its there until I shut the door. Kale briefly flirted with the mirror the last time we were there. I remembered this about 3 seconds too late. He went over to the mirror and banged on it. I stood, half dressed, in utter shock as the mirror bounced off the wall a couple of times before Kale started running from it as it came down on him. He tried to go sideways to get out of the way, but the wall stopped him. I should mention, there is no carpet in that room--its concrete floor because my parents ripped out all the carpet but haven't put down new flooring yet. The mirror barely grazed him and did not hurt him, but shattered into what seemed like a million pieces around him. He was barefoot. As was I. Ep had shoes on and all I could say was "get him" and I think Ep told Kale not to move. As I took Kale from Ep, I was in complete awe that Kale was completely unharmed. He was hollering like something ate him...but of course, at nearly 18 months old, you don't expect something to come bouncing off the wall and shatter all around you. He was rightfully scared. As were we.
All was well. We enjoyed breakfast and then mom and I made a quick trip to Wal-Mart while the boys went home. Then, the Fletcher crew headed north to the Cave. Kale slept the entire drive and we just kept driving while he slept. We got gas and a few essentials and then headed to the Cave. It rained off and on all day, but the skies cleared just in time for Fletcher's birthday party. For those of you who don't know, Fletcher is our nephew. Everyone seemed to have a good time, especially Kale. He found a wagon with water in it. He got to ride in his first motorized kid car (John Deere Gator). He got dirty. He had a blast.
Sunday morning, Kale's luck ran out. We were over at Fletcher's house to eat breakfast and while we were there, Kale tripped over some cords and bumped his noggin on the tile floor. Specifically, he bumped his nose. For the first time in months, he cried so hard that it took his breath. I heard him crying, and then it stopped too quickly. I was glad Ep had him. I heard Ep tell him to breathe and as I came into the room he was blowing in Kale's face. Kale quickly responded and wailed out another cry. His nose is bruised, but otherwise he seems fine. He took a long nap on the way home and has been burning up energy all afternoon.
To prove that he has his parent's trained. He just took the water bottle off the rabbit's cage. The bottle was too heavy for him and he dropped it. Both of his parents were within viewing distance of him and both of our heads snapped equally fast to his general direction. I reminded him that he isn't supposed to touch the water bottle. Now he is running around with his plastic golf club.
Oh...we are sooo paying for our raising!!!
MemaNana took Kale to Alma on Thursday. Ep and I joined them there around 6pm on Friday. We enjoyed a rare moment to eat dinner with my brother and my parents. Kale was bound and determined to spend the night in the bed with me and Ep...did I mention its a regular (full) size bed? I eventually got him to sleep in my mom's bed. He then slept until 4am...and a bottle lulled him back to sleep until around 7:15am. By then, our internal alarms had gone off and we were up. Later in the morning, we thought a family breakfast was a good idea. As we all got dressed, I shut the door to our room to keep Kale from wandering around the house. Mistake. There WAS a 4 foot tall mirror leaned against the wall behind the door. Its been there for years. Its been there so long that I forget its there until I shut the door. Kale briefly flirted with the mirror the last time we were there. I remembered this about 3 seconds too late. He went over to the mirror and banged on it. I stood, half dressed, in utter shock as the mirror bounced off the wall a couple of times before Kale started running from it as it came down on him. He tried to go sideways to get out of the way, but the wall stopped him. I should mention, there is no carpet in that room--its concrete floor because my parents ripped out all the carpet but haven't put down new flooring yet. The mirror barely grazed him and did not hurt him, but shattered into what seemed like a million pieces around him. He was barefoot. As was I. Ep had shoes on and all I could say was "get him" and I think Ep told Kale not to move. As I took Kale from Ep, I was in complete awe that Kale was completely unharmed. He was hollering like something ate him...but of course, at nearly 18 months old, you don't expect something to come bouncing off the wall and shatter all around you. He was rightfully scared. As were we.
All was well. We enjoyed breakfast and then mom and I made a quick trip to Wal-Mart while the boys went home. Then, the Fletcher crew headed north to the Cave. Kale slept the entire drive and we just kept driving while he slept. We got gas and a few essentials and then headed to the Cave. It rained off and on all day, but the skies cleared just in time for Fletcher's birthday party. For those of you who don't know, Fletcher is our nephew. Everyone seemed to have a good time, especially Kale. He found a wagon with water in it. He got to ride in his first motorized kid car (John Deere Gator). He got dirty. He had a blast.
Sunday morning, Kale's luck ran out. We were over at Fletcher's house to eat breakfast and while we were there, Kale tripped over some cords and bumped his noggin on the tile floor. Specifically, he bumped his nose. For the first time in months, he cried so hard that it took his breath. I heard him crying, and then it stopped too quickly. I was glad Ep had him. I heard Ep tell him to breathe and as I came into the room he was blowing in Kale's face. Kale quickly responded and wailed out another cry. His nose is bruised, but otherwise he seems fine. He took a long nap on the way home and has been burning up energy all afternoon.
To prove that he has his parent's trained. He just took the water bottle off the rabbit's cage. The bottle was too heavy for him and he dropped it. Both of his parents were within viewing distance of him and both of our heads snapped equally fast to his general direction. I reminded him that he isn't supposed to touch the water bottle. Now he is running around with his plastic golf club.
Oh...we are sooo paying for our raising!!!
Monday, April 13, 2009
ilk?
Kale got up this morning and found that both his parents were up, showered, and dressed for the day. He wandered down the hall and came over to me to get/give a morning hug and cuddle. After that, he was off to visit his dad in the kitchen where he asked for "ilk". Ep and I promptly both snapped our heads to look at each other as if to say "did he just say that?". Our dear son humored us and asked for "ilk" several more times. We just grinned like idiots. His dad got him some "ilk", but it was soy milk and it was cold. Kale was expecting formula milk, which is normally given to him at room temperature. So...between the milk being cold and not tasting like his formula, he quicky yanked the cup out of is mouth and looked at it for a few seconds before deciding to take another swig. Then he gave the cup to his dad, walked over to the counter and pointed up to where we store the formula, and once again asked for "ilk". Well, its progress. We have a ways to go before he accepts the soy milk or the cold drinks, but at least we have started to transition from him just going to the counter, pointing up, and giving a general whine. At least now we get a word! :)
Happy Easter
Well, I don't have any Easter pics to show you, because we didn't take any. We were too busy just trying to get to Lonoke without having to use the boat. Wow...did it ever rain!
For every year that I can truly remember, we have always celebrated Easter at my grandparents. Both of them have gone to Heaven and my uncle now lives in that house. He and his wife graciously still host Easter for the entire family. I am not talking about a group of 20 people. From year to year it has varied, but most years its been somewhere between 75-125 people and thats not an exaggeration--and it could be more than that...I am just guessing. I usually know about half of them and can tell you how I am related to them. The truth is that I am related to the majority of them...but its just too hard to remember everyone when you only see them once a year or once every couple of years. This year, the gathering was only about 25 people. To our utter surprise, Kale and his brand new cousin (3 weeks old) were the only kids who came! Everyone either decided to stay home or attend Easter with the "other family". It was soooos strange.
Part of the annual Easter celebration is the easter egg hunt. Since I was little, we have all been tasked with bringing eggs--some plastic, some real. The plastic eggs get filled with candy or a numbered piece of paper. There is a number for every kid. Different amounts of money are assigned to each number. We break the kids into two groups--under 6 and and over 6. There is a large prize egg for each group. The large prize egg contains the most money. Since you don't know which number is assigned to the largest prize, you only find out who found the large prize egg when all the egg hunting is over. Each kid is allowed only one prize egg.
So, back to yesterday. Its Kale and a 3 week old baby. So, for the first time in all the history of Easter in my life, there wasn't an egg hunt. It was pouring rain. Kale could not have cared less about not finding eggs. He didn't even know it was an option. Ha! He and his Mema have been "practicing" finding eggs in the yard, and we will probably let him "hunt" later this week when the weather is nice and we can get some pictures.
A while after lunch, we left in hopes of getting Kale to take another nap since his first nap was only 45 minutes. There are days when thats all he needs, and yesterday was one of them! We needed a nap, but he didn't care! He snacked on ham like it was going out of style and eventually ate some spaghettio rings for dinner. He eventually went to bed with Mema Nana and with the exception of one little whine somewhere in the night, he slept until 4am. Mema Nana declared that he was going to have ham and spaghettio rings every night!
In the meantime, my dad had a little drama. He had a gig on Saturday night, so he got up on Sunday morning to drive to Lonoke. Thanks to the rain and stalled traffic from a wreck, he sat in traffic while we ate lunch. He eventually made it. He planned to come to our house for a bit before heading home. When he went out to his truck, it gave him trouble. He told mom that he thought his alternator was going out and that he should head straight home. The truck went dead at Mayflower. A wrecker from Alma came to get him and we think he got his insides quite jostled on the trip home. Apparently the wrecker did not have "air ride" seats. Poor dad!
Whew...and that was Easter...
For every year that I can truly remember, we have always celebrated Easter at my grandparents. Both of them have gone to Heaven and my uncle now lives in that house. He and his wife graciously still host Easter for the entire family. I am not talking about a group of 20 people. From year to year it has varied, but most years its been somewhere between 75-125 people and thats not an exaggeration--and it could be more than that...I am just guessing. I usually know about half of them and can tell you how I am related to them. The truth is that I am related to the majority of them...but its just too hard to remember everyone when you only see them once a year or once every couple of years. This year, the gathering was only about 25 people. To our utter surprise, Kale and his brand new cousin (3 weeks old) were the only kids who came! Everyone either decided to stay home or attend Easter with the "other family". It was soooos strange.
Part of the annual Easter celebration is the easter egg hunt. Since I was little, we have all been tasked with bringing eggs--some plastic, some real. The plastic eggs get filled with candy or a numbered piece of paper. There is a number for every kid. Different amounts of money are assigned to each number. We break the kids into two groups--under 6 and and over 6. There is a large prize egg for each group. The large prize egg contains the most money. Since you don't know which number is assigned to the largest prize, you only find out who found the large prize egg when all the egg hunting is over. Each kid is allowed only one prize egg.
So, back to yesterday. Its Kale and a 3 week old baby. So, for the first time in all the history of Easter in my life, there wasn't an egg hunt. It was pouring rain. Kale could not have cared less about not finding eggs. He didn't even know it was an option. Ha! He and his Mema have been "practicing" finding eggs in the yard, and we will probably let him "hunt" later this week when the weather is nice and we can get some pictures.
A while after lunch, we left in hopes of getting Kale to take another nap since his first nap was only 45 minutes. There are days when thats all he needs, and yesterday was one of them! We needed a nap, but he didn't care! He snacked on ham like it was going out of style and eventually ate some spaghettio rings for dinner. He eventually went to bed with Mema Nana and with the exception of one little whine somewhere in the night, he slept until 4am. Mema Nana declared that he was going to have ham and spaghettio rings every night!
In the meantime, my dad had a little drama. He had a gig on Saturday night, so he got up on Sunday morning to drive to Lonoke. Thanks to the rain and stalled traffic from a wreck, he sat in traffic while we ate lunch. He eventually made it. He planned to come to our house for a bit before heading home. When he went out to his truck, it gave him trouble. He told mom that he thought his alternator was going out and that he should head straight home. The truck went dead at Mayflower. A wrecker from Alma came to get him and we think he got his insides quite jostled on the trip home. Apparently the wrecker did not have "air ride" seats. Poor dad!
Whew...and that was Easter...
Friday, April 10, 2009
What a face!
The face says it all....
We went for a walk. We stopped for a minute. He ran off after I told him not to run off. He gave me the "I sooo know what I am doing" grin when he did it. So, he got into trouble. As the picture shows, he is not a fan of trouble.
Note: he just happened to be wearing that shirt...not planned at all!
Three seconds after the pic was taken, he was back to pointing at "dis" (this) and "bubb" and "lubber". We have no idea what the last two words are...
His other new words are rabbit, milk (only for Mema so far though), Uncle Chris (un is) and a slew of words that we haven't yet identified.
Wednesday, April 8, 2009
Is it Friday yet?
Ok, I know its not Friday yet, but a girl can wish....man, what a week at work. Yuck.
I was supposed to move desks this coming Friday, but on Monday was notified that it had been moved up to Tuesday. Ok, well, not a thing was packed and I didn't make it to my desk until noon on Monday. Oh yea! I am now at my new desk and I can't find much of anything. Thanks to impending deadlines, I don't have time to unpack. Maybe next week....
Kale pulled a new trick on Mema today. They played outside and then ate lunch. She knew he was tired and was ready for his nap, so she made his bottle and gave it to him. She told him she needed to "potty". He knows where to find her when she "potties". He headed toward the living room with his bottle. Mema took care of her potty business and went looking for him. Nope, not in the the living room. He didn't pass the potty room, so he wasn't in teh back of the house either. Where could he be? She looked all over before finally spying him in the place where any 17 month old would decide is a logical place to fall asleep....the sorted dirty clothes piles. He zonked right out! Lets just hope he wasn't using Ep's undies as a pillow...ewwww!!!!
Its a beautiful day out....I have been at work long enough....its too stressful around here and the database is moving slower than molasses....so that means its time to head home!!!!
I was supposed to move desks this coming Friday, but on Monday was notified that it had been moved up to Tuesday. Ok, well, not a thing was packed and I didn't make it to my desk until noon on Monday. Oh yea! I am now at my new desk and I can't find much of anything. Thanks to impending deadlines, I don't have time to unpack. Maybe next week....
Kale pulled a new trick on Mema today. They played outside and then ate lunch. She knew he was tired and was ready for his nap, so she made his bottle and gave it to him. She told him she needed to "potty". He knows where to find her when she "potties". He headed toward the living room with his bottle. Mema took care of her potty business and went looking for him. Nope, not in the the living room. He didn't pass the potty room, so he wasn't in teh back of the house either. Where could he be? She looked all over before finally spying him in the place where any 17 month old would decide is a logical place to fall asleep....the sorted dirty clothes piles. He zonked right out! Lets just hope he wasn't using Ep's undies as a pillow...ewwww!!!!
Its a beautiful day out....I have been at work long enough....its too stressful around here and the database is moving slower than molasses....so that means its time to head home!!!!
Monday, April 6, 2009
Just another manic Monday
Ok, well, I am so far behind at this point that I am unsure when or if ever I will get caught up...and the only reason this is getting posted is because I know that by tonight my brain will be mush and I will have forgotten all of this...
- Last Friday, I had something happen that NEVER happens. I was all by myself for nearly 24 hours. Ep was fishing a tournament and Kale went home with Mema. So, I took full advantage of the situation. I started off by getting a pedicure. I was invited to stay for dinner at Robin's house when I stopped by to pick up a bag from her. I declined because I wanted to have ice cream for dinner. I stopped by Old Navy to use my 50% coupon and then went to snag my Walgreens deals for the week. Then I was off to score my ice cream. Serioulsy, nothing else sounded good, so ice cream it was. Yummy! I ate my ice cream and read my book in peace. Then I went home to watch the series finale of ER from start to finish without having to pause the DVR! AMAZING! I spent Saturday morning going from one yard to the next...or one garage to the next...ah...I love Saturday morning garage sales! I got some deals! Whoohooo! Then I snagged a new spring purse for $10 at Belk before heading to Russleville to pick up Kale. My dad had a gig there, so it was our meeting place.
- I should give a disclaimer...my mom and Ep both make sure to give me some alone time. However, there is a BIG difference between last Friday/Saturday and from taking a few hours to yourself and having that little mommy/wife voice nagging in your head that you should be home with your people! They tell me to take my time, but that little nagging voice in my head won't shut up!
- Kale loves the park. He loves to slide. He got to explore both of these things in Russleville during the gig. He had a great time and slept most of the way back to Little Rock. He is still scared of my dad.
- We spent Sunday at home. It was nice. I cleaned. Ep made spaghetti and Kale scarfed it down. That boy loves him some spaghetti! We got lots of loving throughout the day from Kale. Sooo sweet! Oh, until he started biting again out of the blue. I immediately grabbed him and did the finger test. Sure enough, as I rummaged around inside his mouth, I found a new jagged little tooth cutting through. I am sure that we have a week of biting ahead.
- The little scoundrel pulled a new one today. Daddy was gone by the time we woke up. That means that Kale takes a shower with me or I don't get a shower....so we took our shower together. Nothing new there...and Kale knows the routine. We got dresssed and headed to Aunt Robin's house. As soon as I pulled into her driveway, the crying began. I was shocked. He knew where we were and what was about to happen. Where did that come from??? Ugh. So, we went in...him whimpering the entire way. That was at 9am. I finally left around 12:15 or so....I am a sucker. I called work and let them know it was going to be a while. To his credit, Kale was running a slight fever. The word clingy does not even begin to describe his behavior...the boy put saran wrap to shame! I tried to get him down for a nap. Apparently there are invivisble pins in the bottom of the pack/play because as soon as I tried to lay him down, his eyes snapped open and he yelled at me. Who is in charge here? Obviously not me. That will have to change. Today though, I was the sucker and he knew it! I was finally able to sneak off when Robin lured him to the window talking about birds and trees and flowers and such. When he realized I left, she said he whimpered but let her hold him. Well, that was at least a 90% improvement from 20 minutes earlier when he acted like she might try to kill him just by holding him! Oh, that boy....stubborn, controlling, wanting it only his way, clinging to his momma...jeesh, where in the world did he come up with those traits. Yep, that would be me. He is sooo my son!
Thursday, April 2, 2009
Spring
I decided it was time for an "Spring" cleaning of the blog and updated the view...hope you enjoy!
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