Halloween

Lucy stayed in this frozen pose for 20 minutes after I put her in costume. C.J. The Lion tells me that , "Boy his pumpkin was heavy with all that delicious candy in it." Trick-or-Treating took twice as long because Mr. Social would say to EVERY neighbor, "Trick-or-Treat, do you have a dog?" And yes, everyone on my block has a dog who CJ would have to pet and talk to and introduce to Lucy who was finally happy about her costume after seeing how much warmer she was with it on. C.J. also held a few kitties and was taken on one tour to see a fish tank in somebody's living room. We came home, changed into pajamas and drank daddy's awesome chocolate-bananna shakes. C.J. made cookies for Nana and Papa who are here for the weekend.

CJ

Last week at a quaint little boutique:
CJ and I enter the store, the two ladies and guy working there greet us. CJ says, "Hi!" back and then, stops suddenly in front of the vintage Christmas display they were arranging. He utters, "Oh. My. Gosh. THERE. IS. SANTA. What is going on?!" 

Scene #2 (today) at story time at the library:
Sweet little librarian tells the 20 kids on the rug that she's going to read a book about a tree that loses his leaves in the fall and that it's not easy for this little tree. Funny little boy (not mine) says, "Yea, it's just like being naked!" Followed by my funny (and very loud) little boy saying, "Naked! Yes, with boobies all over!"

Monday...
means the garbage truck comes. And Idaho garbage trucks still have guys that ride on the back and physically THROW your trash into the back! So exciting is that, that CJ sat on the porch waiting for said truck and trash throwers for 45 minutes.

When that excitement had come and gone, we went back outside to plant some bulbs. CJ was a great help digging and planting and then watering. Boy did he water.

After his nap he came downstairs and declared that his "flowers had growed" while he was asleep and then proceeded to freak out when he realized they hadn't. When asked what would make him feel better he said, "Running errands" (which means he gets a trip to target and the $1.06 popcorn/drink combo at the Target cafe).

Instead, we went to the bank and to FedEx Kinkos to make some copies, whereupon CJ told me he "loves the coffee store!" Then he told me all about riding to the coffee store with Aunt La  in Barney's (uncle Brian) car because La's truck (suburban) was broken and La had to make coffees (copies) at the copy store (for PTA, I'm sure).

...is a lovely trail called the Boise Riverwalk. The family headed down this morning after stopping at the ol' Maverick for a Diet Pepsi, some Funyuns and chocolate Twizzlers. CJ threw rocks into the water for a very long time. Lucy chased ducks. We watched a squirrel run up a tree and shake down some acorns. I had to restrain Lucy from chasing the squirrel and CJ thought it was funny when an acorn fell on daddy's head while taking this picture.

Then we came home to give the little ones naps. This includes Lucy, who now stands in the corner of the kitchen where the best sun is and sighs heavily until I pull her pillow over and she can then lay down.

Just another day...

So I've finally realized that I'm no longer a working mom (well, technically a full-time working mom, just 20 hours/month from home). And it's wierd. CJ and I find ourselves staring at each other several times during the day like, okay, now what?

Don't get me wrong... since he was born I've had a very stressfull job that kept me on call 24 hours a day. It was a lot of responsibility and I don't miss that at all. But being at home full-time in a new place has been a much bigger adjustment than I thought it would be.

It's weird to wake up each day to completely new responsibilities. How many times can I wipe down my appliances with those little stainless steel wipes? Or dust the new furniture? Or organize pantry goods on those lazy susan thingies I keep buying at Bed Bath and Beyond?

This kind of stuff used to only happen once a week for me as my job would allow for one day of serious house cleaning. Now it's kind of an annoying obsession because I feel like I have to be doing, doing, doing.

We moved in less than two weeks ago. I've unpacked EVERYTHING and everything is as organized as it could possibly be. Except the space under the stairs. That's on tap for tomorrow. I'm actually planning out cleaning tasks.

Idaho homes don't have basements. So we purchased a home with a 3-car garage so we could use that third car space to store all that basement stuff. We've never had a basement so that took me all of one hour yesterday to organize. But boy does it look, um, organized!

So today, I decided not to do anything with the house. No cleaning, organizing, nothing. CJ and I played trucks and legos for hours while I watched a marathon of Project Runway. Then we took Lucy for a walk and met three new dogs: Bumbee, Phoebe and Dusty. Then we took a two hour nap in my bed. Then we went to the playground. Then we picked leaves up in the backyard. Then made dinner to another episode of Project Runway. Then more trucks and legos, and finally two huge bowls of ice cream while we talked to Nana and Papa on the phone. What a day, I tell you.

CJ was an angel today. He loved having my undivided attention. We didn't have any fights. Or tantrums.  I realized he's not used to this from me as he was always competing with my work, phone calls, or he was in the car on the way to the babysitter or other errands I wasn't able to do while working during the week, etc.

So, although it's an adjustment, I know that I have 2-1/2 years I need to make up for with my little man, and it's only a few short months until the baby comes. Until then, I'm not going to worry so much about being on a schedule, and I'm going to STOP FEELING GUILTY that I'm a stay at home mom now. I'm going to enjoy this tremendous blessing and quit worrying if every minute of every day isn't planned out and spent accomplishing something.

On second thought, I accomplished a lot more today than I have in several years. And the result was one happy little boy and a dog who won't keep giving me licks on my feet. That means she loves me, too.

Happy Things

Cody finally got his baby boy - Jack Myles. I'm dying to hold him. He's 5-1/2 lonnng hours away now.
But...

So far I'm happy with Boise. We love our home and our neighborhood. And everyone is so N-I-C-E. They let you merge into their lane when you signal. I think that's happened once or twice in Utah. They wave. They smile and say "hello" on the streets. It's contagious. Who knew Boise was a little slice of heaven on earth?

Speaking of happy things, two little things were VERY happy to be reunited in the same house after 5 long weeks apart.

I'm also happy about:
1. Met my new OBGYN yesterday. She is fantastic.
2. Discovered a long-time family friend is a pediatrician just down the street and will take CJ and the baby as new patients. Super.
3. My sod is getting laid right now. Only a few hours away from a backyard for CJ and Lucy.
4. Boise is starting to take my morning sickness away.

Another busy day...

Playing the piano with Great-Grandma Sheila (or "Freela")... Discovering Freela's multiple trash cans outside her pottery studio...Watching me pose with my sister-in-law who's due any day. I'm 1/2 way there and very jealous.

I'm so busy...

Lately CJ has been saying, "Mommy, I'm so busy" when he really means he's tired. Easy to be confused as his time living with my parents right now is filled with more attention, activities and throwing things in the trash (perfectly good board games, dish towels and toy cars keep finding themselves in those tempting trash cans outside) than his former life in the big city offered. A few examples:
Chad's parents live up the street from my parents. This means one grandma in the car with us to run errands almost always. Grammy + car ride + chocolate chip cookies = fun time USA. My parents have several garden hoses which he's found a new obsession about. He's very BUSY. Still very BUSY. Living with Nana and Papa means weekly trips to La Casita Living down here also afforded me the opportunity to babysit my nephews and niece for the weekend while CJ's babysitter went out of town. He's spoiled by his cousins = hence the bowl of cereal AND the Taquito (or "Paquito" as he calls them) for breakfast. Cousin Josh is a very good cook and lets CJ participate. Notice the flour all over his legs. He's so busy. More attention from his favorite family ever.

CJ played in uncle Scott's 1969 VW bus for over an hour. Then he made me take him for a ride.

Our sleepover at Grammy's and Grandpas.
Speaking of Lucy, this is her favorite friend, Tucker dog.
Oh yeah, and we found out we're having another BOY. And the ultrasound showed super long femur bones and huge hands.

We're very excited to have another boy! He looked great as far as we could tell and I was super excited to have the technician tell me how big he is measuring for his age so far. "Not big enough to move the due-date up, he's just measuring very, very long."

hiding from the movers

Day #1 in Boise - a Recap:

Long drive. Read the Ensign.

Had dinner at a lovely Japanese restaurant, then threw up my miso and avocado roll in the bushes of the Meridian Elementary School.

Found some lovely homes that we'll actually tour tomorrow with our agent. I hope he doesn't mind pulling over every so often for me to throw up.  I'm miserably sick and it's making me not want to look at one more house.  I'm ready to give up.

Play Date with  Hank
At the Zoo (fun times when you're pregnant and sick. The smells are just awesome...)

Two visits to the doctor's office plus two IV bags full of fluid plus two shots of phenegren plus 18 straight hours of sleep later, my head is out of the toilet. For now. And it's lovely. I even managed to wash a dish without throwing up. I'm quite proud. Plus, I finally heard the heartbeat today which made it all worth it. I was given the option to take the IV bags with me, attached to a belt to keep me and my blood sugar levels from whacking out again, sending me into a dizziness that's awful.  I convinced the doctor I'd be fine and that I don't mind coming back in on Friday for a discreet office IV hookup instead. It's worth it to get these babies here but oh my word pregnancy is the hardest thing I've ever ever done.

Summer Time at Nana's House

CJ make lines and lines and lines of cars all over the house. So cute!

Yesterday morning at 5:57 a.m., CJ came into my room wiping his hands off like he'd just accomplished something big. Later while making breakfast I discovered the rotten bananas I had thrown away two days ago back in the fridge and the perfectly good chocolate milk in the trash.

Quote of the Day

"What's his name?" Said CJ to the sweet old neighbor lady walking her dog by our house.

"His name is Gus!" Replied the sweet old neighbor lady.

"Gus?" CJ inquisitvely repeated as a naughty little smile overcame his face. "Ewwww, dis-GUS-ting!"

Weekend in Review

Big day on Saturday for C.J. Behold, the BIG BOY BED. Lucy thinks we did her fat little self a favor and bought her a bed she can jump up on without assistance (like our king-size which requires about five tries before she makes it up on top). She hasn't moved from that spot. After a lovely nap on the Big Boy Bed, we went to a family BBQ courtesy of moi and cousin Haley. CJ found lots of bugs. He walked around like that most of the time.
That was, until the 4-wheeler ride courtesy of Uncle Dave (and that's great-grandma on the back) traumatized C.J. for about six hours after his ride.
He then played it safe in the far corner of the yard with his  dad by his side.
Sunday was delightful. Mr. "Hi Guys!" at 5:45 a.m. slept in until 8:30 (love that big boy bed!) which meant we were an hour late for church which meant he was actually good for two hours of nursery which meant I came home from church actually feeling spiritual. Because he was so good, he was rewarded with two pounds of cookie dough.

8:30 p.m. (one half-hour past bedtime)

8:45 p.m. (after his touchdown into Lucy's food)

9:00 p.m. (after I found him hiding from me in the closet where we apparently store extra batteries)

10:00 a.m. the next day. Sent to remind me that I am a good mother.