hooray! Jerret is coming home in 2 days! They finished their work early and he gets to come back to this freezing cold state.
I had my nephews again last weekend. I played it safe this time and did not venture out of the house alone with three boys. Can you tell I learned my lesson? I think the whole multiple-kid adventure is something you have to slowly work yourself into, not just jump in with both feet like crazy ol' me did! Aunt Cyndi came over and cooked breakfast for everyone, which was terrific because I caught some kind of bug that has been going around work and was exhausted with a head cold all weekend. After breakfast she made play dough with the kids. They loved it, and especially loved the fact that cherry kool-aid was the secret ingredient to make it red.
In other news...that genius son of mine has been saying all kinds of new words lately - banana, no, door, shoe, sock, hello, and TV. He also learned how to put his shoes on all by himself! They were actually on the wrong feet, but Aunt Cyndi made sure I didn't touch them since this was a feat he accomplished all on his own and taking them off would make him think he did something wrong (thank God for unsolicited advice - hahaha). She is a pre-school teacher so she really does know what she is talking about.
Oh - and Jerret called me this morning (10:00 p.m. in China) and said the plant guys (30 of them!) all took him out for his last day there. He had a few too many beers and ended up giving away his prized Ohio State football jersey to one of the furnace workers! I need to get that man drunk more often and see what I can get out of him!
Wednesday, January 30, 2008
Friday, January 25, 2008
It's Getting Harder
In a moment of pure madness, I agreed to watch my two nephews last weekend. Don’t get me wrong – Raymond (age 9) and AJ (age 6) are good kids. And they are both willing to help whenever I ask. With that being said, they are still kids and display typical kid behavior.
We decided to attend the 5:15 Saturday church service since all of the boys were going and we’ve been having so many attachment issues with JJ – issues I didn’t really feel like facing [alone] at 8:45 the next morning. Once we arrived at church I dropped each of the boys off at their respective classrooms and proceeded to the auditorium to meet my cousin Carrie. Two minutes into the first song and my number appeared on the digital sign up front, meaning I needed to go check on my kids back in WeeVenture Land. Sure enough, as soon as those doors opened I could hear JJ crying. He was sobbing hysterically, like he was hurt or something and wouldn’t even stop when I picked him up. He just kept waving bye-bye to all of the adults in his room like he wanted out of there. At the same time a little girl named Ella held her arms out for me and cried “Mama!” She too started crying hysterically until I picked her up, and then she was fine. All I can figure is that I must look like her mother because she had super kung-fu grip going on and was not about to let me go. JJ wasn’t too pleased that I was showing attention to another baby and continued to cry off and on the entire hour. I ended up just staying back in the 1-year old room for the whole service.
After church Carrie and I talked with the boys and we decided to go out to eat at Chili’s. Carrie got there first and called me to say there was a 15-minute wait. We were still 5 minutes from the restaurant and I thought the kids could handle a 10-minute wait, so I was fine with that. What a total mistake that was! Our 10-minute wait turned into 15, then 20, and then 25. The boys were getting crazy restless and I was getting cranky myself. JJ was hungry and upset with just sitting there and wanted to get up and run around. Raymond and AJ were being typical kids and laying on the waiting benches with their coats covering their faces, and picking on each other non-stop. Finally, after 30 minutes of not calling our name, I packed the boys up and we headed for the car. JJ has been really irritated with the car seat lately and has gotten really good at throwing his body so that he doesn’t have to sit in the seat. He will stiffen up and cry and fight me so that he doesn’t have to get in the seat. After our 30-minute wait with no food, the kid was hungry, and cranky - very cranky! And I understand the reasons, but still, his attitude didn’t sit well with me. I was literally going to flip a gasket.
We ended up having McDonald’s for dinner and on the way home I remembered that I still needed to stop and get diapers and food to make for a funeral on Sunday. Luckily for me, Jerret’s family lives close and I was able to call Aunt Jill to come over and help (a.k.a. save me). My nephews really like her too, so it all worked out in the end. I was able to get much-needed alone time shopping at Wal-Mart for an hour and the boys were able to have fun with Aunt Jill. Later that night AJ and Raymond helped me make blueberry, banana, and cinnamon muffins for the funeral.
I never imagined being without Jerret for 6 weeks would be so hard. Although I am thankful for the opportunity, I think those Women’s Lib-ers screwed something up along the way when they fought for mom’s to get into the workplace. They forgot that we are still the ones responsible for the majority of the cleaning, laundry, shopping, and cooking! (At least in my house). With double the workload, this whole working mom thing is tough! And to all of you single, working moms…you’re crazy! But you have my utmost respect.
We decided to attend the 5:15 Saturday church service since all of the boys were going and we’ve been having so many attachment issues with JJ – issues I didn’t really feel like facing [alone] at 8:45 the next morning. Once we arrived at church I dropped each of the boys off at their respective classrooms and proceeded to the auditorium to meet my cousin Carrie. Two minutes into the first song and my number appeared on the digital sign up front, meaning I needed to go check on my kids back in WeeVenture Land. Sure enough, as soon as those doors opened I could hear JJ crying. He was sobbing hysterically, like he was hurt or something and wouldn’t even stop when I picked him up. He just kept waving bye-bye to all of the adults in his room like he wanted out of there. At the same time a little girl named Ella held her arms out for me and cried “Mama!” She too started crying hysterically until I picked her up, and then she was fine. All I can figure is that I must look like her mother because she had super kung-fu grip going on and was not about to let me go. JJ wasn’t too pleased that I was showing attention to another baby and continued to cry off and on the entire hour. I ended up just staying back in the 1-year old room for the whole service.
After church Carrie and I talked with the boys and we decided to go out to eat at Chili’s. Carrie got there first and called me to say there was a 15-minute wait. We were still 5 minutes from the restaurant and I thought the kids could handle a 10-minute wait, so I was fine with that. What a total mistake that was! Our 10-minute wait turned into 15, then 20, and then 25. The boys were getting crazy restless and I was getting cranky myself. JJ was hungry and upset with just sitting there and wanted to get up and run around. Raymond and AJ were being typical kids and laying on the waiting benches with their coats covering their faces, and picking on each other non-stop. Finally, after 30 minutes of not calling our name, I packed the boys up and we headed for the car. JJ has been really irritated with the car seat lately and has gotten really good at throwing his body so that he doesn’t have to sit in the seat. He will stiffen up and cry and fight me so that he doesn’t have to get in the seat. After our 30-minute wait with no food, the kid was hungry, and cranky - very cranky! And I understand the reasons, but still, his attitude didn’t sit well with me. I was literally going to flip a gasket.
We ended up having McDonald’s for dinner and on the way home I remembered that I still needed to stop and get diapers and food to make for a funeral on Sunday. Luckily for me, Jerret’s family lives close and I was able to call Aunt Jill to come over and help (a.k.a. save me). My nephews really like her too, so it all worked out in the end. I was able to get much-needed alone time shopping at Wal-Mart for an hour and the boys were able to have fun with Aunt Jill. Later that night AJ and Raymond helped me make blueberry, banana, and cinnamon muffins for the funeral.
I never imagined being without Jerret for 6 weeks would be so hard. Although I am thankful for the opportunity, I think those Women’s Lib-ers screwed something up along the way when they fought for mom’s to get into the workplace. They forgot that we are still the ones responsible for the majority of the cleaning, laundry, shopping, and cooking! (At least in my house). With double the workload, this whole working mom thing is tough! And to all of you single, working moms…you’re crazy! But you have my utmost respect.
Saturday, January 12, 2008
JJ's First Slumber Party
My friend Denise and her son Boston (who is 4 days younger than JJ) came over and spent the night with us Friday. Her husband is also working out of town and we thought it a good time to get the boys together - besides, JJ seriously needs to spend some time with kids his own age. JJ was very excited and wound up at first. He was a little aggressive, but chilled out after about 20 minutes and the boys had a blast together.
Saturday morning we woke up and had breakfast. I was making oatmeal for JJ and asked Denise if Boston wanted some. She said that he had only tried oatmeal one other time and spit it out, but that we could try again. Boston immediately began gagging upon taking his first bite and didn't stop until he threw up the yogurt he had earlier. I am going to take this as a sign that Boston doesn't like oatmeal.
After breakfast we went walking at the mall where JJ enjoyed his first ride (you know- those 50 cent kiddie rides that go back and forth) and then to lunch. It was a great day. I would LOVE to show you some pictures, but Jerret took the camera with him to China. Of course, I do have my 35mm, but do you think I thought enough to bust that out?
Here are some pics of JJ at Grandma's house last weekend. They have one of those huge bathtubs that could fit 14 people and JJ is terrified of it. Instead he has taken to bathing in the kitchen sink, which he loves, although it looks as though he is going to outgrow it soon!
Is There A Doctor in the House?
Updates will be slow coming as our computer has a virus...a serious virus. We are in the process of having our hard drive rebuilt, but until then, no computer. Luckily for me, I have my handy-dandy work laptop!
Thursday, January 03, 2008
Sad Day...
Jerret left for China today. He is scheduled to be gone for 6 weeks, but he thought things could go well enough that he might get to come home early. Although, last I heard, the machines they are installing at the new plant are stuck in Customs and who knows when they will be released. Regardless, Jerret has only been gone one day and it wasn't a walk in the park. JJ definitely noticed Jerret's absence and really wasn't himself tonight. Bedtime was pretty sad and I felt so bad for JJ that I let him fall asleep next to me in bed. We will be Skyping daddy often during his trip. Hopefully, it helps...
My first day (4 hours) as a single parent went something like this...
My first day (4 hours) as a single parent went something like this...
- Picked JJ up from Aunt Bea's house
- Fed him green beans as I was microwaving chicken strips I got from the Schwan's man
- Put the chicken in for 4 minutes as the package said
- Spilled 1/2 a gallon of milk while getting JJ a cup
- Noticed smoke and a burning smell coming from the microwave and realized God was punishing me for feeding my baby microwaved chicken strips for dinner
- Threw burnt chicken strips into garbage where they proceeded to burn a hole through the bottom of the bag, making a nice exit point for the milk-soaked paper towels I JUST threw in there
- Let JJ go play while I made him an omelet instead
- Found him minutes later shoving the plunger in and out of the toilet (no doubt a trick learned from his father)
- Kicked JJ out of the bathroom and cleaned up the toilet water mess
- Only to find him seconds later in bathroom #2, squirting a bottle of my lotion into the bowl
- Held JJ for an hour while he cried, realizing that his daddy wasn't here :(
Jerret dropped JJ off with Bea this morning and said it was hard. I could tell he was sad, and JJ is such a daddy's boy that he probably won't take things well. It wasn't an easy evening, but I was happy just being with my baby. And I still say I would be totally cool with being an at-home mom. I'm not saying it's easy, I'm just saying I'd be cool with it!
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