Single mom for two weeks

Disclaimer - there are no pictures because the camera is dead and I don't have enough time to remember to plug it in.  I will go do that now....

Sam has been in Switzerland since Monday.  I know - I feel awful for him too.  I went into the week with a good attitude and a smile on my face.  And I think I've managed to keep them around for the most part despite the nightly tantrums, having to hold a 27lb toddler constantly, and extremely early wake up calls.

It's kind of pitiful really.  William is obviously much more aware that his Daddy is not around than the last time Sam had to travel.  (which I really can't even remember when that was it was so long ago...)  And he is responding with extreme clingyness.  I've had to do all the cooking, brush my teeth, and clean up the house with him on my hip.  Oh - and grocery shop.  That was fun, especially since I couldn't locate the pocket size kleenex tissues that I desperately needed for his teacher appreciation gifts.  I swear, we wandered the store for an hour before giving up, throwing in the towel, and going to Target.  Probably should've just started there but I needed bagels and other food type items and hate paying for it at Target.  anyhow.  I really don't mind holding him, it's just that he's so heavy.  My left arm gets tired.  And it's my strong arm from holding him for almost two years.  Oh well.  Guess I'll be even stronger after the two weeks are up.  Atleast on the left.

Monday night was especially rough for him.  He woke up at 3:00ish and absolutely refused to go back to bed unless I was holding him.  I tried three separate times to rock him and then put him down and as soon as I would lay him down he would freak out.  So he ended up sleeping in the bed on top of me.  He has NEVER EVER slept in our bed, but I had no idea what else to do.  And honestly, once he finally let me lay on my side holding him with his head on a pillow, I *might have* enjoyed it.  I didn't get a whole lot of sleep but when he woke up he looked at me, gave a big smile and a humongo hug.  What a great way to wake up!  And then on Friday night he got in bed with me at about 5:30 and at 6:00 gave me two big kisses on the mouth.  Such a sweet sweet affectionate boy.  I hope he never changes.

A fun part of being a single mom for two weeks, is I get to drop him off in the morning.  I'm pretty sure Sam doesn't have to go through a fifteen minute ordeal to get him settled and happy but I don't mind.  I was ridiculously early every day - so I had the time.  First, he wants to play with the blue car that apparently all the kids fight over.  Then he wants to go see Ms Carolyn, his old teacher.  They moved the room and it's now right across from his new room - he's loving it - and so are they! ;)   And assuming I get him to his correct room, we have to put his juice in the frig, Hilbert in his cubby, and he's usually off and playing with the trucks or fake food. A couple times he said bye and waved like it was no big deal, but twice he was upset a little.  Poor guy.

The most fun - is seeing him when Jude and his baby brother Noah come in.  William is ridiculously excited to see the baby and pats his head and talks to him and gives him hugs.  He's so sweet and tender.  I can't wait to see him as a big brother.  I anticipate he'll be insanely jealous but I'm also 100% sure we are going to have to tear him away from constantly hugging the baby.  I think he might be starting to slowly figure out that I'm pregnant.  If asked where's the baby? - he will pull up my shirt to touch by belly.  And he'll pat the belly and sometimes give it a hug.  So cute.  Or he's confusing the words baby & belly and has no idea what I'm talking about.  I like to believe that he's loving on his baby brother -so I'm sticking with that.

I did get Friday night off to have dinner with two girl friends while William went to B&B's to spend the night.  And I even let him stay over there until after nap.  I really missed my good morning wake up kiss and hug - but I got a lot done and even found fabric at a steal at JoAnn's for drapery panels and crib bedskirt.  Three dollars a yard!!!!!!!!!  I probably spent a gloriously quiet hour in there.  It was magical and oh so rare.

He was in a great mood when he got home and we played all afternoon.  He must have ran himself silly though, because he was getting fussy and clingy as early as 6:00ish, and was asleep with his head on my chest sitting in the rocker at 6:45.  He did scream when I put him in the bed, but that stopped in under 30 seconds.  And I guess if I had a choice, I'd rather sleep on mommy too - so I'll understand for another week.  I do kinda miss how easy bedtime was though but I'm sure when Sam is home things will go back to normal.

The funny part is that with Sam gone, I am being way too productive.  It'll be 9:00 before I've even had a chance to slow down and watch the DVR.  When Sam is home - the evening usually drags on - which is good for quality time - I just wasn't expecting it to be the opposite.  Though, I guess it makes sense.  50% less hands to do the normal work and I don't particularly want to sit too still because then I'll notice how quiet the house is.

I have a great surprise for Sam when he gets home - but on the off chance that he reads this post while in Switzerland I'm not spilling the beans.   But he's going to be excited.  And he's really good at guessing surprises so I'm not even giving a hint.  I bet he still figures it out.  Stinker.

Loves.

Easter

Easter was a super lot of fun this year.  William did actually notice that there were things in his Easter basket.  it took a little coaxing for him to not be so focused on breakfast, but once he saw it, he was all about it.  And lucky for us, he woke up early.  We were headed to early church, so it was in everyone's best interest for the basket to not go past 7:30 at the absolute latest.  And we made it.  Easy cheesey.  We were even early for church.  ha!

William was a pretty big fan of the chickie eggs - but I'm 100% certain it had everything to do with the gummie treats inside.  No idea why they needed to be lined up for him to eat them.  Candy at 7:15am. Brilliant.

Hmmm...what to play with next?

I've been trying to teach him how to puff his cheeks and then hit them with his hands to force the air out.

He thinks it's hilarious when I do it - but he hasn't quite figured out the part about blowing up his cheeks with air...  one day  

After church, we picked up William from the nursery.  He had insisted on wearing his "sun shades" into church, and apparently never took them off - because he was still way too cool when we picked him up.  I think he was a little traumatized from being dropped off to nursery, he didn't want to go in B&B's Sunday school room but he'll be fine.  He's just playing possum anyway I think, because he was playing happily by himself when I walked in the room.  After he charmed everyone in the hall with his curly hair, slick sun shades, and plain silliness - we went down to the garden for family pictures, like we do every year.  The garden is broken up with brick pathways and William thought they were made just for him.  He loves to "stay on the path" and he just ran up and down.  It was more than a little difficult to get him to stand or sit still to take a picture.  I think we eeked out some good ones though.... It was so much easier last year though...

I can't believe he's actually looking at the camera!

Could his eyes be any bluer?  I swear I didn't edit them.  I added some shadows because the picture was a little flat - but I didn't touch those baby blues!!  Such a beautiful boy!

Out of three tries, this is the best one.  And we've now decided that William looking at the camera, and god forbid smiling, is just a happy bonus - otherwise, we'd have no good pictures!

This type picture gets me every time.  So sweet.

We then headed home, so Sam and I could change clothes and William could hunt eggs!  At some point during the week, Lola had discovered that the plastic eggs held Reece's pieces and devoured about a third of what I had put together.  There were still PLENTY left for William to hunt in our tiny yard with his tiny basket - so no harm no foul.  We tried to get William to use a larger basket, but he insists on this one that my mom made.  Fine with me - just means that we have to follow after him because he wants to fill it up and then try and walk around holding it by one side...  He did pretty good hunting eggs - until he discovered there were candy inside of them.  And then it was over.  He just wanted to open them, spill the candies into the grass, search for them, and then he *might* have eaten them when mommy and daddy *weren't looking*.  Because who lets their kid eat candy off the ground?! ha!!  Anyhow - by the time he was done and we were changed and a bag full of toys, Hilbert, and snacks was packed - it was time to go to B&B's for lunch and playing.

10-12 eggs in and he discovers that there is something inside of the eggs

All egg hunting came to an abrupt halt at this point.  It wouldn't be Easter without a serious sugar high I suppose.

As soon as he got out of the car at B&B's he was off and running.  Bill and Tasha had literally just finished hiding the eggs - so immediately we handed him his basket and off he went.  He had the cutest habit of seeing an egg - pointing at it - and then running in the opposite direction to pick up another different egg.  It was hilarious.  Sam's uncle seemed to think that William had no idea what he was doing - I think he knew exactly what was going on and he likes to make people laugh.  Plus, he always came back and picked it up - it was just too exciting to pause for the moment to pick the egg up and who can blame him?! ha!  So he ran and ran and ran.  I swear, the kid doesn't know how to walk, he just runs.  We didn't even make it inside the house for the better part of an hour because he was so intent on playing.  And then he remembered that there was a riding firetruck - so we played outside some more.  He's getting really efficient at propelling himself on it too.  Guess he was just waiting on his legs to grow a bit.

Rumer Family Picture.  William smiled!!

Mini Rumer Family Picture.  William wouldn't even look at the camera.

It was a gorgeous wonderful weekend and a great Easter Sunday.  Couldn't have asked for more.

On a quick baby note - I got very seriously "punched" by the new baby late Saturday night.  Could not possibly be mistaken for anything else.  I was hanging out with a friend, much much much too late, and then out of nowhere got hit from the inside and it caught me super surprise.  She thought something was wrong by my reaction but I was just caught off-guard and a little shocked.  I don't remember so distinctly feeling William this early.  It was fun.  Kinda can't wait until it's a daily occurrence.  But by that point, I'll probably be whining about it a little... haha.

Loves!

Happy Easter!!

Will blog for real later... but in the mean-time...

I think we might be discontinuing the annual Easter Bunny picture...

Loves.

A little late.

I know, I know.  I was supposed to do a post before today - but I failed.  I decided to take a couple of three hours naps to try and kick whatever sickness is trying to get me.  It's only slightly working, but I'm enjoying the extra sleep even if I get sick.

Easter Eggstravaganza at the Hortsman's 

The biggest news of the week is that we are THIS close to being done with pacis.  The tantrums were getting out of control if he didn't get one when he deemed it time and WE. WERE. DONE. WITH. THE. EPIC. TANTRUMS.  I don't remember what day we started, but it began with large holes poked in them and now we are down to the plastic nubs being almost totally gone.  I'm a little surprised at how he can still manage to put them in his mouth - I think it involves precise teeth placement.  The weaning hasn't been without tears and fussing, but we're getting there.  Poor guy.

He slowly started to realize what the game was about - we didn't bring a big enough basket...

I personally didn't care if he had a paci until he was in kindergarten, as long as he didn't throw a  tantrum if he didn't get one the instant we got home from work/school.  But oh well.  I actually had someone tell me several months ago, that him having a paci was a "flaw".  Oh - she's lucky that I almost never stand up for myself in the way I probably should, and try to let things roll off in the moment.  (Now - Sam got an earful about when we got home - but she didn't hear a word)  Because, quite frankly, who cares if my kid wants his paci?!  It made him happy and calmed him down and goodness knows he was probably stressed out in his own little kid way - changing to a toddler room can be a big deal...!  And I won't even get into what I believe are her kid's "flaws" - because that wouldn't be nice and all kids are different and all parenting styles are different.... blah blah blah.  But  I think we parent the best.  haha! ;)  moving off the soap box now...thank you for indulging.

Cutest boy ever.  Doesn't hurt that his momma makes his clothes... :)

So yeah - I'll let you know when he no longer asks for his MeeMee or Paa.  Should be interesting in the next couple days when he can't even get a nub to stay in his mouth.  I foresee legos making a comeback.  ha.

A pink one!!!  Those stood out easily in the grass!

I forgot to mention it, but a couple weeks ago during bath time - he very clearly stated "I Get Clean".  Might've been the cutest thing ever.  And we had forgotten that he had already had a first sentence (Mama, Eat Eat Now) but at the time - we were all so proud again.  Not bad for a second sentence I guess.  And since he almost never puts words together - I think it is still momentous.  And very cute.  And not to be repeated.  Even with prompting.  He is going to be 5 years old before he uses all the words I know he knows.  But he will still be brilliant and successful.  Plenty of kids are late talkers.  Atleast, that's what I keep telling myself....  Obviously, I need to work harder at believing it.

He also quickly discovered that there was candy inside of the eggs

The other morning before school we had a Simon Says dance party.  A song came on the Wiggles, but it didn't last long enough for his taste, so I started singing and dancing.  And then when I would stop, William would mimic me - singing and everything.  100% adorable.  He went about 8 rounds - not bad for a kid with zero attention span.  Wish I had a camera crew following him at all times so we would have it on video... oh well... maybe I can try to commit this one to memory for over a week, without a note to remind me.  ;)

Happy boy hopped up on sugar  :)

He thinks he's Mr. Cool and wants to lean back and put his feet up on everything.  He will pull the little ottoman over to his green chair and straight relax.  Having a juice and cheese is just bonus.  He's such a cute little dork.

Told ya - he likes to be comfortable

Oh - and just a quick mention - we are officially in the terrible twos.  I don't know why they call it "TWOS" if it hits before then - but he can throw a tantrum with the best of them.  And he nows thinks hitting and throwing toys is an appropriate way of displaying his displeasure.  I know he's just frustrated because he can't tell us what he wants - but OMG - he hit me in the face with a lego train today - and IT HURT!!  We have a new timeout corner and he doesn't like it.  And I actually feel bad for him when he's in it because he usually just to crying even more hysterically and just wants me to comfort him.  But I'm pretty sure that's against the rules for a timeout corner.  I might need to read up on the correct protocol....  On that note...

The play porch is awesome - unless he decides to lock himself out there and "has" to knock to be let back in

Loves!

So much to remember

I know that lots of things have happened.  Really truly adorable things.  Maybe I should read my own blog to remind me where I left off...  Seriously - what is it about sitting down to finally catch up on post writing that makes it impossible to remember anything about the previous week and a half.  It's not fair.  The only thing I can think of is what has happened in the past two days.  And while I could certainly fill up a post about that, because, let's face it, my kid is pretty much the most entertaining being to hit all of your lives - ha! - there were probably hundreds of amusing things that happened last week.  I just can't think of any of them.  Oh well.  Guess you're out of luck for the most part.  My B.

happy naked boy in the tub

I do remember (because there is a picture to jog my memory) that the kid loves bath time.  He now immediately runs to the tub and then to his room to get naked at the first mention of bath time.  And then, once his dirty clothes have been put in the hamper and his diaper has been discarded, he RUNS naked to the bathroom and tries to climb in the tub all by himself.  Good thing he's not big enough for that one, because he often beats us in there.  Bubble baths are a humongous hit of course.  Yesterday, he was scooping up the bubbles with a shovel to put into the green & yellow cups.  Very serious work.  He also thinks it's funny to pretend to go night-night in the tub by laying down and cuddling with the washcloth.  He bent over one day to grab a toy that was between his legs and accidentally stuck most of his head in the water trying to get it - hilarious - he didn't really think so though.  He was very confused about the whole thing.

dancing with daddy - not sure he's got the concept of a dip yet though

We went up to the mountains this weekend (ie - my parent's house) to help with some major yardwork that Sara wanted done for her birthday.   Well, first - I didn't think there was going to be any yardwork unless all five kids were there (there were three of us plus Lainey & Sam)... second - I thought cleaning up the landscaping island meant simple weeding.....third - I'm really glad Sam decided to pack my tennis shoes even though I hadn't originally put them in my pile.  So - Saturday morning after biscuits we got to work.  I'm not sure I was very good for much.  The pitch fork was pretty heavy for a pregnant woman with no core strength to be using - so that was passed off pretty quickly.  I did rake down some of the cut down pieces of plants - but mostly I was on baby duty.  Which was fine.  He had stayed up WAY past his bedtime the night before - so he was a tad clingy and someone had to make sure that he didn't end up in the pond or in the horse pasture or running in the road.  That was a full time job.

can you tell how big William is smiling?  melt...

The manual labor didn't take too long - only maybe 2-3 hours and it was all done.  A humongous heap at the burn pile to show for it and Sara was very pleased to be able to see daylight through the trees and bushes we didn't cut down.  Happy to make her happy.  But it was much nicer to spend family time in flip flops.  Just saying.

waiting on breakfast with some serious bed head hair

William LOVES everything about being up there - but mainly the Moo Cows.  We usually end up visiting them as soon as we can find a moment.  Friday night they were being especially friendly and actually came right up to the gate to say hello to him.  Of course, we didn't bring the camera with us because we thought that we'd be able to get a great picture the rest of the weekend.  Nope.  The cows decided they had had enough of us and our non-treat brining hands.  Oh well.  There were horses to see.

petting Shake and getting nuzzled by Jake

He also loved petting the horses.  And he wasn't scared of them.  Granted - someone was always holding him and he was incredibly hesitant about sitting on Jake - but he did really really good.  Even helped mommy feed them carrots on Sunday.  Though - he didn't appreciate Shakes greedy lips grazing his hand.  He pulled back in a hurry.  The horses were good sports to put up with him.

not so sure about riding Jake

The weekend was over just as quickly as it started and we were back home and back to work much too soon.    I will try to write down and remember the cute things that he's done in the past three days and blog about that later this week.  I know - crazy - I MIGHT get my act together enough to blog  TWICE in one week.  Lofty goals.  Don't hold your breath.  But I'm going to try and stay on track because there is going to be an Easter Egg hunt at a friend's house this weekend that I am sure will be blog worthy....

we should seriously start INSISTING that camera people stand on or above our level - down the hill is not a good angle for anyone...  oh well.  Cute family picture anyway - just not going to end up in a frame....just saying ;)

Loves.

Funny Pictures

I totally intended on composing a clever and inspiring blog post this weekend.  It didn't happen.  Instead, we turned the office into a playroom and somehow this meant that all the furniture we own had to be moved.  Including, but not limited to, really heavy armoires.  Well - not all the furniture - but it certainly felt that way during the fourth break I had to take while carrying the armoire from our bedroom to the living room.  But - the new playroom is awesome, despite the lack of flooring.  Yep, the floor is still concrete.  We're awesome like that.

BUT - there is a wonderful New To Us sleeper sofa that doesn't feel amazingly uncomfortable and the tv from our bedroom that was never able to be hooked to the cable because I couldn't physically reach that side of the house in the crawl space - is all hooked up and connected to the DVR.  So now I can watch Grey's Anatomy while Sam watches something else and we're all happy.  Oh - yeah - and there's lot of room for  toys.  Lots of room.  So now William kinda owns three rooms out of the whole house.  There are only eight rooms total...ha!

I'm waiting on Sam to return with zebra cakes - so here are funny William pictures.  Oh - and before I forget - William has become VERY helpful.  Remind me to expand on that later.

Rocking the shades with paci look - he's actually taken to calling his paci MeeMee - I have no idea where that came from

He usually loves to slide - not sure what's up with his posture

Always on the move - but he loves the rocking horse Grandaddy K brought down and left as a surprise in the shed - total awesomeness when I discovered that one!

There is not a single good valid reason why I let him run around outside basically naked except that I thought it was funny that he wanted his shoes on and thought that Sam needed to laugh with me.

I should really stop trying to take self-portraits of the two of us - never turns out...

Loves!