12.07.2008
12.06.2008
Years and Days
"The years rush past, as every older woman will tell the young mothers who complain that they still have two little ones at home and it seems like forever before they will all be in school. Oh no, they say, time flies--enjoy them while they're young--they grow up so fast...
The mothers agree that indeed the years do fly. It's the days that don't. The hours, minutes of a single day sometimes just stop. And a mother finds herself standing in the middle of the room wondering. Wondering. Years fly. Of course they do. But a mother can gag on a day."
--Jain Sherrard
The mothers agree that indeed the years do fly. It's the days that don't. The hours, minutes of a single day sometimes just stop. And a mother finds herself standing in the middle of the room wondering. Wondering. Years fly. Of course they do. But a mother can gag on a day."
--Jain Sherrard
12.05.2008
Hand. Foot. Mouth.
I'll let you add them together and do the math. Here's a hint: when added together, they equal screams of "Owie!", bleeding from the mouth, no sleeping, no eating, and lots of crying. Oh, and no medication but time. Crying again. For all involved.
12.04.2008
Caffeine surprise
Not too long ago Mike and I made our normal order for Grounds for Change Coffee. We usually get a box of 6 bags of coffee, so that it lasts us a long time. A couple days after receiving our caffeine treasure box in the mail, I received another shipping confirmation from the company. I told them it must be a mistake, since we already received our order. Indeed, it was confirmed as a mistake, but they couldn't take back the shipping, so they told us to keep the second shipment for free. Who can pass that up? Except, when it arrived days later, this is what I found:
As you can see, that FIVE POUND bag of coffee is larger than our gallon of milk. Holy crap. So we will be sharing coffee this holiday season with everyone we know.
Yesterday I had the pleasure of meeting with the professional photographer who took our family photos last week to view those photos. They turned out great, and I had a seriously hard time choosing what to order, and keeping the order under $500 (don't freak out: we're also doing photos as Christmas gifts for family, it wouldn't be $500 for just us :)
I tried to break some copyright laws and copy the photos from her website into this blog, but oh-so-un-tech saavy me couldn't figure it out. So if you are interested in viewing my gorgeous boys (said in sugary sweet mommy voice), you can check them out here: Black Photography.)
Yesterday Benj turned 7-months-old. Yikes, he's more than half way to that first birthday party. But he keeps getting cuter, so we'll allow him to grow a bit more.
Here are some photos from our Thanksgiving(s):
Jack was a huge fan of the singing&dancing tree
Not everyone found this infinitely amusing
Cousin Brian, Aunt Jenny, and Uncle Scott
We wiied for hours on end. Jack thought it was hilarious to watch us play the sporting games.
Mike trying out the Wii Fit
Jack and "Unck-y Ada"
I think Benj resembles his uncle a little bit...
Okee dokee, back to work!
As you can see, that FIVE POUND bag of coffee is larger than our gallon of milk. Holy crap. So we will be sharing coffee this holiday season with everyone we know.
Yesterday I had the pleasure of meeting with the professional photographer who took our family photos last week to view those photos. They turned out great, and I had a seriously hard time choosing what to order, and keeping the order under $500 (don't freak out: we're also doing photos as Christmas gifts for family, it wouldn't be $500 for just us :)
I tried to break some copyright laws and copy the photos from her website into this blog, but oh-so-un-tech saavy me couldn't figure it out. So if you are interested in viewing my gorgeous boys (said in sugary sweet mommy voice), you can check them out here: Black Photography.)
Yesterday Benj turned 7-months-old. Yikes, he's more than half way to that first birthday party. But he keeps getting cuter, so we'll allow him to grow a bit more.
Here are some photos from our Thanksgiving(s):
Jack was a huge fan of the singing&dancing tree
Not everyone found this infinitely amusing
Cousin Brian, Aunt Jenny, and Uncle Scott
We wiied for hours on end. Jack thought it was hilarious to watch us play the sporting games.
Mike trying out the Wii Fit
Jack and "Unck-y Ada"
I think Benj resembles his uncle a little bit...
Okee dokee, back to work!
11.29.2008
Mother of Denial
I'm sitting here at the computer, in the basement, as far away from my toddler's room as I can get, so that I can attempt to tune out his singing, door banging, and chatting. I'm pretending that he's sleeping, as he used to do so nicely during naptime. This is day 4 on the no-nap trail, and it makes somewhere around 7 out of 10 days that he has chosen to skip his regular, 2 hour afternoon naptime. I have plenty of excuses for why he hasn't been napping...busy day, too overtired; slow day, not in need of more rest; excited about grandparents coming. I'm in a state of denial about the possible reason for all this, which I will continue to refuse to accept: that he's reached an age where he is ready to give up naps altogether. Nope, huh-uh, not happening. We've got to at least make it to three. Besides, he needs that time to refuel and regroup and take time out. Yes. That's it. {What I'm really thinking is "NO NO NO NO-- *I'm* not ready yet."} As any parent knows, naptime is sacred time. More often than not, it's the only time I get to catch up on dishes, laundry, peeing, eating, prepping things for when he wakes up, feeding Benjamin...not to mention email, or anything else I would like to actually do with my day (gasp).
Some parents agree to forgo naps as long as their child agrees to "quiet" time. I imagine this works much better for the 3-4 yr-old range, where you can actually negotiate and explain quiet time. My 27-month-old only understands "I play trains!" and "Baby, wake up!" I'd like to say I'm okay with him singing and banging around in his room upstairs, so long as I'm toddler-free for an hour or so. But I'm not. That two hours of silence is an absolute necessity to my peace of mind; I just can't truly check-out or relax (or get child #2 to sleep) with "Mary had a Little Lamb" being yelled on the monitor, or "MAMA!!!!" being banged out on the door. So I'm going to try to pretend a little longer that he's sleeping. And I hope he begins to do so again, regularly.
I hope everyone's Thanksgiving holidays were delightful, full of yummy food and few family squabbles. We are 2 down, 1 to go for our Thanksgiving line-up. Luckily tomorrow's Tgiving is with my brother and his girlfriend, and we have agreed NO TURKEY. After cooking a 9.5 lb one today, I'm ready to be done with turkey for another year. My parents came today and we played many a rousing game of Wii sports. Good times.
Wii. My Christmas present from Mike, a month early. One could argue that it's slightly more a Christmas present for Mike from himself, but potato, potat-to. Actually, my portion of the gift-- a Wii Fit-- was purchased yesterday, so it's awaiting my ever-needing-of-exercise-body to start it up and figure it out. I will admit that it's fun to have around when we have people over, and can do team games. But on a daily basis, fitting Wii into an already low-free time schedule is nearly impossible. It will be fun to have around, but the more techno our house gets the more I want to check out and read a book. I'm thinking that for my next birthday I may request a week of technology-free living. Where we actually talk at night instead of watch t.v., play with the kids instead of check email or Facebook, play cards after Jack goes to bed instead of play Wii. Call my crazy, but when we were living in Puerto Rico at the time of Tropical Storm Jeanne, and lost electricity for a week (and we were the lucky ones), I found a silver lining. Despite not being able to shower or cook (or enjoy air conditioning), I really enjoyed that time of playing poker and chess by candlelight each night, without the murmur of the t.v. or the computer or any other appliance to compete with.
Tropical Storm Jeanne, September 15, 2004
Candle-lit poker
Camera flash gives us more light than anything!
Back to 2008. I'm finding less and less time to focus on my dissertation with holiday planning and other such things coming up more often. I'm starting to freak out. One year to go.... On the bright side, I finished coding all my PR interviews. I'm ready to get to the writing, at least to finish up the chapter that's focused on the PR stuff. Once I get into the writing, hopefully this week, I hope to feel more optimistic. I can't believe December is just a couple days off.... Benjamin is gearing up for his first holiday season:
We try to get outside during these 50 degree days, but on the colder days we are stuck looking for things to do. Cold weather dress-up was on the schedule the other day, and Bapa helped:
Grandma's boots:
Ahhh...both kids seem to be napping. I think I'll have a slice of pie and some coffee and enjoy the peace and quiet. For now.
Some parents agree to forgo naps as long as their child agrees to "quiet" time. I imagine this works much better for the 3-4 yr-old range, where you can actually negotiate and explain quiet time. My 27-month-old only understands "I play trains!" and "Baby, wake up!" I'd like to say I'm okay with him singing and banging around in his room upstairs, so long as I'm toddler-free for an hour or so. But I'm not. That two hours of silence is an absolute necessity to my peace of mind; I just can't truly check-out or relax (or get child #2 to sleep) with "Mary had a Little Lamb" being yelled on the monitor, or "MAMA!!!!" being banged out on the door. So I'm going to try to pretend a little longer that he's sleeping. And I hope he begins to do so again, regularly.
I hope everyone's Thanksgiving holidays were delightful, full of yummy food and few family squabbles. We are 2 down, 1 to go for our Thanksgiving line-up. Luckily tomorrow's Tgiving is with my brother and his girlfriend, and we have agreed NO TURKEY. After cooking a 9.5 lb one today, I'm ready to be done with turkey for another year. My parents came today and we played many a rousing game of Wii sports. Good times.
Wii. My Christmas present from Mike, a month early. One could argue that it's slightly more a Christmas present for Mike from himself, but potato, potat-to. Actually, my portion of the gift-- a Wii Fit-- was purchased yesterday, so it's awaiting my ever-needing-of-exercise-body to start it up and figure it out. I will admit that it's fun to have around when we have people over, and can do team games. But on a daily basis, fitting Wii into an already low-free time schedule is nearly impossible. It will be fun to have around, but the more techno our house gets the more I want to check out and read a book. I'm thinking that for my next birthday I may request a week of technology-free living. Where we actually talk at night instead of watch t.v., play with the kids instead of check email or Facebook, play cards after Jack goes to bed instead of play Wii. Call my crazy, but when we were living in Puerto Rico at the time of Tropical Storm Jeanne, and lost electricity for a week (and we were the lucky ones), I found a silver lining. Despite not being able to shower or cook (or enjoy air conditioning), I really enjoyed that time of playing poker and chess by candlelight each night, without the murmur of the t.v. or the computer or any other appliance to compete with.
Tropical Storm Jeanne, September 15, 2004
Candle-lit poker
Camera flash gives us more light than anything!
Back to 2008. I'm finding less and less time to focus on my dissertation with holiday planning and other such things coming up more often. I'm starting to freak out. One year to go.... On the bright side, I finished coding all my PR interviews. I'm ready to get to the writing, at least to finish up the chapter that's focused on the PR stuff. Once I get into the writing, hopefully this week, I hope to feel more optimistic. I can't believe December is just a couple days off.... Benjamin is gearing up for his first holiday season:
We try to get outside during these 50 degree days, but on the colder days we are stuck looking for things to do. Cold weather dress-up was on the schedule the other day, and Bapa helped:
Grandma's boots:
Ahhh...both kids seem to be napping. I think I'll have a slice of pie and some coffee and enjoy the peace and quiet. For now.
11.17.2008
Birthdays here and there and everywhere
This weekend was a big birthday weekend. What is it with November and August? We know lots of people, family and friends, with birthdays in both months. August is big in our neighborhood-- of the families I can can think of off the top of my head, 6 kids have August birthdays on our block alone. That makes reserving the park shelter at the end of the street for parties a big tough. November is also huge. My mom's was Friday, Mike's on Saturday, Jack's friend Caleb's Monday, and countless other friends whom we will not get to see for their birthdays due to geographic distance. I feel like I send birthday emails every day! You Scorpios are taking over the world. Guess that's what happens when couples "celebrate" Valentine's Day in a romantic way. Heh heh.
I made cupcakes for Mike and my mom's birthdays. I was so delighted to find the recipe for white cupcakes with buttercream chocolate frosting (my fave) from Magnolia Bakery in NYC.
They turned out quite nicely
though as usual, I had too much frosting
I decided to attempt to freeze the leftover frosting for future use. We'll see how that goes... Mike looked at me like I was crazy (not uncommon) when I tasted the first cupcake and declared it tasted like New Jersey. Strange how things like tastes or scents can take you to a different world. When I would get cupcakes from Magnolia in the Village, I usually walked over to the river walk to eat them, which overlooked the NJ shoreline. Just a random memory.
Mike and I went out to dinner Saturday night for his birthday to his favorite restaurant, Cosi Cucina's. We got engaged there exactly 9 years ago from this past Thursday. It was the first dinner we had ALONE together since Benj's birth. He made it the hour and a half we left him with friends (thanks Steph and Brad) so that mommy could have wine and eat without rushing. Oooh, the little things in life. I'm hoping he'll do just as well when we leave him for a couple more hours tomorrow evening to go to a wine tasting and dinner I planned for Mike's birthday gift. We're headed out to the Wine Experience at the mall for this little shindig, so hopefully it will be fun.
Yesterday we saw my parents for the first time since our big family blow-up, oh, 6? 7? weeks ago. It went fine, but my parents were surprised to see how much Jack is talking and how much Benj has grown.
Last night Jack's friend Jaxson came over to play for a few hours and they found some time to enjoy each other's company in between the various fights over trains
I dicovered the magic of humidifiers last night when I bought one for our room so Benjamin could clear his little nose a little, and he must have liked the hum so much that he slept for 6 1/2 hrs before waking up to eat. I was so confused I kept waking up to check on his breathing. So much for uninterrupted sleep.
Jack has started crying and clinging to me when I drop him off a daycare, which as any parent who uses daycare knows, is a traumatic thing. Leaving your child there when they seem to be communicating that they feel they'll DIE if you do it makes you feel crappy. I'm hoping this will pass. They tell me he's always fine after I leave, but when I pick him up he always falls to tears when he sees me again. Not fun. Hopefully this, too, shall pass!
I made cupcakes for Mike and my mom's birthdays. I was so delighted to find the recipe for white cupcakes with buttercream chocolate frosting (my fave) from Magnolia Bakery in NYC.
They turned out quite nicely
though as usual, I had too much frosting
I decided to attempt to freeze the leftover frosting for future use. We'll see how that goes... Mike looked at me like I was crazy (not uncommon) when I tasted the first cupcake and declared it tasted like New Jersey. Strange how things like tastes or scents can take you to a different world. When I would get cupcakes from Magnolia in the Village, I usually walked over to the river walk to eat them, which overlooked the NJ shoreline. Just a random memory.
Mike and I went out to dinner Saturday night for his birthday to his favorite restaurant, Cosi Cucina's. We got engaged there exactly 9 years ago from this past Thursday. It was the first dinner we had ALONE together since Benj's birth. He made it the hour and a half we left him with friends (thanks Steph and Brad) so that mommy could have wine and eat without rushing. Oooh, the little things in life. I'm hoping he'll do just as well when we leave him for a couple more hours tomorrow evening to go to a wine tasting and dinner I planned for Mike's birthday gift. We're headed out to the Wine Experience at the mall for this little shindig, so hopefully it will be fun.
Yesterday we saw my parents for the first time since our big family blow-up, oh, 6? 7? weeks ago. It went fine, but my parents were surprised to see how much Jack is talking and how much Benj has grown.
Last night Jack's friend Jaxson came over to play for a few hours and they found some time to enjoy each other's company in between the various fights over trains
I dicovered the magic of humidifiers last night when I bought one for our room so Benjamin could clear his little nose a little, and he must have liked the hum so much that he slept for 6 1/2 hrs before waking up to eat. I was so confused I kept waking up to check on his breathing. So much for uninterrupted sleep.
Jack has started crying and clinging to me when I drop him off a daycare, which as any parent who uses daycare knows, is a traumatic thing. Leaving your child there when they seem to be communicating that they feel they'll DIE if you do it makes you feel crappy. I'm hoping this will pass. They tell me he's always fine after I leave, but when I pick him up he always falls to tears when he sees me again. Not fun. Hopefully this, too, shall pass!
11.09.2008
Cold & Flu Season is here
And it is definitely here at the Case Haub household. We've all had our illnesses, some worse than others. Jack's has been going on for over a week now, with vomiting and general misery. The dr. tells us he believes it's a sinus infection/ear infection combo, and the gunk going down into his stomach is what makes him occassionally vomit. Hopefully the antibiotics help because we are at our wit's end with holding a crying, non-eating, non-sleeping toddler while watching Thomas and Friends on the couch all day. And I need to get back to my research--it's been over a week now with nothing done. Except at Barnes and Noble today, I got through a few interviews. Add to my list of distractions my new venture into Facebook and I'm so screwed.
We've had some fun moments, though, in the quick lapses between Jack's breakdowns. The best was Benj's first taste of solid food this morning: sweet potatoes. He kept gagging and wasn't a big fan, so it may be awhile before he takes to it.
Like brother, like brother:
Yesterday Mike and I decided to give Jack his Christmas gift early. As much as I was looking forward to our first Christmas eve where we would stay up after Jack goes to bed, setting out his toys and stocking, playing santa and drinking egg nog, so that we can see his little face light up Christmas morning, we traded it all for an extra month and a half of an indoor activity to keep him busy since the weather is now crappy and he is so sick he can't be soothed. (How's that for a long sentence?) It didn't work according to plan. We did drink cider and put the track together while he was napping, but he came down whining and crying and being sick, ignoring the track altogether and wanting to be held. Damn. It did NOT satisfy my need for a cute home video. Today, however, he started to take to the train:
Friday we grinned through our nauseous stomachs and the falling snow and made the drive up to Ames for Mike's cousin's wedding. Mike sang in the wedding and was an usher, so we felt pressed to be there! Jack was clingly all night, but luckily managed to cling occassionally to Gma&Gpa so that Mike could do his wedding business and I could tend to Benj. He ended the evening by vomiting all over and we quickly made our getaway, but before that happened, we caught some cute photos. And Sarah, Benjamin wore your beautiful sweater for the first time! I'm happy to say it fit (I was soo worried that he would outgrow it before cold weather came. It's a bit short for his extra long torso, but not bad). We llloooovvvveeeed it.
Always loves any opportunity to grab mommy's hair
Prince Benjamin, I presume? (that is Mike's brother, Danny and Danny's step-daughter, Jenna)
with Aunt Bobbi (Danny's wife)
Please wish us a healthy week with daycare included and lots of productive diss work for me!
We've had some fun moments, though, in the quick lapses between Jack's breakdowns. The best was Benj's first taste of solid food this morning: sweet potatoes. He kept gagging and wasn't a big fan, so it may be awhile before he takes to it.
Like brother, like brother:
Yesterday Mike and I decided to give Jack his Christmas gift early. As much as I was looking forward to our first Christmas eve where we would stay up after Jack goes to bed, setting out his toys and stocking, playing santa and drinking egg nog, so that we can see his little face light up Christmas morning, we traded it all for an extra month and a half of an indoor activity to keep him busy since the weather is now crappy and he is so sick he can't be soothed. (How's that for a long sentence?) It didn't work according to plan. We did drink cider and put the track together while he was napping, but he came down whining and crying and being sick, ignoring the track altogether and wanting to be held. Damn. It did NOT satisfy my need for a cute home video. Today, however, he started to take to the train:
Friday we grinned through our nauseous stomachs and the falling snow and made the drive up to Ames for Mike's cousin's wedding. Mike sang in the wedding and was an usher, so we felt pressed to be there! Jack was clingly all night, but luckily managed to cling occassionally to Gma&Gpa so that Mike could do his wedding business and I could tend to Benj. He ended the evening by vomiting all over and we quickly made our getaway, but before that happened, we caught some cute photos. And Sarah, Benjamin wore your beautiful sweater for the first time! I'm happy to say it fit (I was soo worried that he would outgrow it before cold weather came. It's a bit short for his extra long torso, but not bad). We llloooovvvveeeed it.
Always loves any opportunity to grab mommy's hair
Prince Benjamin, I presume? (that is Mike's brother, Danny and Danny's step-daughter, Jenna)
with Aunt Bobbi (Danny's wife)
Please wish us a healthy week with daycare included and lots of productive diss work for me!
11.03.2008
Half a year already?
Today Benjamin is 6-months-old. How can that be? It still feels like spring, like he is brand new. Of course, with 77 degree weather, it really *does* feel like spring today. Is this Iowa? We went outside today to enjoy the last of the warm days of autumn:
.JPG)
I was actually excited to get some work done today while Jack was at daycare, and then 20 minutes before we left, Jack vomited all over. That's probably the worst of all childhood illnesses. He won't eat, and he freaks out when he throws up so I have to balance taking off his clothes and mine, calming him down while cleaning him off, and carpet clean-up. Poor kid. I even pulled out one of his Christmas gifts early-- Thomas the wooden train (for the set he'll be getting later), and it only cheered him up for 2 minutes before he said "all done" all tearfully. The only thing that has kept him calm is watching Thomas and Friends on t.v. He's seen 3 episodes already today, and we've exhausted the episodes on our DVR. Oh, how the days of "no t.v., period" have ended.
I am boiling over with anticipation for the election tomorrow. This will be first one I will literally stay up to see every minute of. Our nation will either be on the brink of one of the most momentous strides and changes for good in its history, or it will be a huge let-down and slippery slope into even more intense cynicism on the part of more than half of its citizens. I'm hoping for the former, if you can't tell. Go Obama!!!
.JPG)
I was actually excited to get some work done today while Jack was at daycare, and then 20 minutes before we left, Jack vomited all over. That's probably the worst of all childhood illnesses. He won't eat, and he freaks out when he throws up so I have to balance taking off his clothes and mine, calming him down while cleaning him off, and carpet clean-up. Poor kid. I even pulled out one of his Christmas gifts early-- Thomas the wooden train (for the set he'll be getting later), and it only cheered him up for 2 minutes before he said "all done" all tearfully. The only thing that has kept him calm is watching Thomas and Friends on t.v. He's seen 3 episodes already today, and we've exhausted the episodes on our DVR. Oh, how the days of "no t.v., period" have ended.
I am boiling over with anticipation for the election tomorrow. This will be first one I will literally stay up to see every minute of. Our nation will either be on the brink of one of the most momentous strides and changes for good in its history, or it will be a huge let-down and slippery slope into even more intense cynicism on the part of more than half of its citizens. I'm hoping for the former, if you can't tell. Go Obama!!!
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