Jack: "Mom! Benjie's calling me a naughty name; tell him to stop it!"
Me: "What's he calling you?"
Jack: "A naughty name!"
Me: "What's he saying?"
Jack: "He's calling me a naughty name!"
{approach the kitchen table}
Benj: "You naughty name!"
Jack: "Stop it! You're hurting my feelings."
Benj: "Naughty name, naughty name. {heh heh}"
Jack: "Stop it!!"
5.31.2010
learn to relax
I'm finding that I have a very hard time not doing things. I was looking forward to this weekend because it meant Mike would be home for 3 days and we had nowhere to go. I had visions of lounging in the backyard, kids in the pool, maybe planting some flowers. But as usual, our meager list of things "to do" drove us to act as we do every other day Mike has off: keep the kids as busy as possible while we work our butts off to get things done. Nothing is ever quick or easy when working around 3 young ones, and we should know this by now, but we never learn. A short to-do list will literally take us the whole weekend to accomplish, and will leave us no time for "down time." One of us must take kid-duty while the other works, and then we switch off. No real together time, just the 5 of us. I know the to-do list will never end, and yet I have a hard time sitting still and really relaxing. I'm trying to figure out how to do this, and how to learn to really be *present* when we are together, without constantly stewing about the things I should be getting done. It's as never-ending circle...laundry, cooking, nursing, more laundry, getting kiddos down for naps, basic slavery to the kids, plus errands and all the extras we want to do to get things done around the house. Not to mention cleaning. No, never cleaning. Does anyone have tips on how they taught themselves to truly relax and let things go a bit?
So, that's what's on my mind. It's been difficult since Gavin, Benj, and I all have colds. Gavin went from happy-go-lucky man to fussy screamer in one night. He kept us up all night on Friday, crying and fussing. He's very miserable between the cold and the teething.
In other news, "poop camp" worked and Jack finally completed #2 on the potty. We had one set-back that same day (unfortunately when he was at a friend's out while Mike and I were out to eat for our anniversary--sorry Steph and Brad!), but since then, he's pooped on the potty every day since and seems very proud of himself. He has even been overheard saying several times, "I like pooping on the potty!" He got to go to Target and buy the movie "Cars" and has watched it twice; not to mention the marshmallows/ice cream cones he continually asks for. Still, weaning from the rewards seems the next step-- we're rolling with it and enjoying having just one in diapers. From three to one in diapers in less than a month!!! It was nice to have Benj and Jack do a 2 for 1 special for us ;)
As usual, here are some photos to sum up what we did DO this weekend:
Planted some rose bushes
and a mix of perennials
finally took gavin's cues (he's been grabbing crackers and strawberries out of our hands for weeks, knawing on them like he's starving) and made up my first batch of baby food (sweet potato). now i need to drag the high chair out of storage and try his first meal of solids!
BBQed with the Cathcarts
and had a marshmallow roast
Mike and I enjoyed dinner out at our favorite restaurant, Alba, on Thursday. I am getting such a kick out of finally having a phone with a camera, that I took advantage of it:
they have a fun decor that includes old doors hanging from the ceiling
their soups are always incredible. mike had an english pea with chive oil and saffron cream, and i had curried white asparagus with porchini mushrooms
the gav turned 8 months on saturday. here he is enjoying a ride on a tire swing with his older brother
So, that's what's on my mind. It's been difficult since Gavin, Benj, and I all have colds. Gavin went from happy-go-lucky man to fussy screamer in one night. He kept us up all night on Friday, crying and fussing. He's very miserable between the cold and the teething.
In other news, "poop camp" worked and Jack finally completed #2 on the potty. We had one set-back that same day (unfortunately when he was at a friend's out while Mike and I were out to eat for our anniversary--sorry Steph and Brad!), but since then, he's pooped on the potty every day since and seems very proud of himself. He has even been overheard saying several times, "I like pooping on the potty!" He got to go to Target and buy the movie "Cars" and has watched it twice; not to mention the marshmallows/ice cream cones he continually asks for. Still, weaning from the rewards seems the next step-- we're rolling with it and enjoying having just one in diapers. From three to one in diapers in less than a month!!! It was nice to have Benj and Jack do a 2 for 1 special for us ;)
As usual, here are some photos to sum up what we did DO this weekend:
Planted some rose bushes
and a mix of perennials
finally took gavin's cues (he's been grabbing crackers and strawberries out of our hands for weeks, knawing on them like he's starving) and made up my first batch of baby food (sweet potato). now i need to drag the high chair out of storage and try his first meal of solids!
BBQed with the Cathcarts
and had a marshmallow roast
Mike and I enjoyed dinner out at our favorite restaurant, Alba, on Thursday. I am getting such a kick out of finally having a phone with a camera, that I took advantage of it:
they have a fun decor that includes old doors hanging from the ceiling
their soups are always incredible. mike had an english pea with chive oil and saffron cream, and i had curried white asparagus with porchini mushrooms
the gav turned 8 months on saturday. here he is enjoying a ride on a tire swing with his older brother
5.26.2010
News from Our World
Brandy and Mike:
We celebrated our 8th wedding anniversary on Tuesday, and still can't believe it's been that long already. We look forward to leaving all THREE kids at a friend's house and going out to dinner tomorrow. We're headed to Alba, my favorite restaurant.
We've also been doing some long overdue wall decor. I'm terrible at decorating, and we've had some blank walls ever since we've moved in. I bought some vinyl lettering for three different rooms. I also decided to use one wall to display the kids' ever-changing selection of artwork.
We've enjoyed our first box from our CSA, and I've got a newfound love of spring/green garlic. Who know the best of onion and garlic could be found in one, lovely plant? I've just made a purchase of a cookbook that was written specifically for CSA members who are looking for recipes and ideas on how to cook with new and unique veggies they are finding in their boxes each week. I can't wait to pour over it and pick out some recipes in my "free" time.
Jack:
We've initiated all out "Poop Camp." I hit a breaking point when he had a mega poop in his swim trunks. He'll poop in anything. So I decided that he was not going to wear any clothes from the waist down until he pooped on the potty (preschool excluded). It was a long 2 days of crying and moaning and running to the potty but refusing to go. At one point, I fed that kid a bowl of strawberries, two pieces of whole wheat toast, juice, 2 Pedialax tablets, and a glycerine suppository and he still wouldn't do it. We hit a low point when he pooped in the shed on his tractor. But I'm happy to report that after 2 full days of living in a nudist colony, he finally allowed himself to let some poop hit the toilet today. Victory! Two ice cream cones and a pool party later, he has assured me he'll do it again tomorrow. I'm going to hold my breath and hope for the best.
He and Benj have enjoyed nudie days. Benj is still mostly potty trained at this point, aside from nap/bedtime. They had a sword fight yesterday and Benj was "Capitain Underpants" and Jack declared himself "Kevin Harvick to the Rescue!" (NASCAR driver; thanks Grandma and Grandpa.) I had so much fun watching them play. It's moments like those that make all the frustration and exhaustion so very worth it.
Benjamin:
Yesterday I pulled out their name cups for lunchtime. Benj's was in the dishwasher, so I handed him the cup that says "Gavin" (it is the same color; I figured it'd be no big deal.) He looked at it and said, "No, that's baby Gavin's cup! I want Benjamin's cup!" At this rate, Benj may be ready for kindergarten before Jack.
Gavin:
This kid will not stop growing up. Crawling was not enough for him; now he wants to pull up on things and attempt to climb stairs. Will someone please tell him that he's not even EIGHT months old yet? I need a baby around a bit longer!
We celebrated our 8th wedding anniversary on Tuesday, and still can't believe it's been that long already. We look forward to leaving all THREE kids at a friend's house and going out to dinner tomorrow. We're headed to Alba, my favorite restaurant.
We've also been doing some long overdue wall decor. I'm terrible at decorating, and we've had some blank walls ever since we've moved in. I bought some vinyl lettering for three different rooms. I also decided to use one wall to display the kids' ever-changing selection of artwork.
We've enjoyed our first box from our CSA, and I've got a newfound love of spring/green garlic. Who know the best of onion and garlic could be found in one, lovely plant? I've just made a purchase of a cookbook that was written specifically for CSA members who are looking for recipes and ideas on how to cook with new and unique veggies they are finding in their boxes each week. I can't wait to pour over it and pick out some recipes in my "free" time.
Jack:
We've initiated all out "Poop Camp." I hit a breaking point when he had a mega poop in his swim trunks. He'll poop in anything. So I decided that he was not going to wear any clothes from the waist down until he pooped on the potty (preschool excluded). It was a long 2 days of crying and moaning and running to the potty but refusing to go. At one point, I fed that kid a bowl of strawberries, two pieces of whole wheat toast, juice, 2 Pedialax tablets, and a glycerine suppository and he still wouldn't do it. We hit a low point when he pooped in the shed on his tractor. But I'm happy to report that after 2 full days of living in a nudist colony, he finally allowed himself to let some poop hit the toilet today. Victory! Two ice cream cones and a pool party later, he has assured me he'll do it again tomorrow. I'm going to hold my breath and hope for the best.
He and Benj have enjoyed nudie days. Benj is still mostly potty trained at this point, aside from nap/bedtime. They had a sword fight yesterday and Benj was "Capitain Underpants" and Jack declared himself "Kevin Harvick to the Rescue!" (NASCAR driver; thanks Grandma and Grandpa.) I had so much fun watching them play. It's moments like those that make all the frustration and exhaustion so very worth it.
Benjamin:
Yesterday I pulled out their name cups for lunchtime. Benj's was in the dishwasher, so I handed him the cup that says "Gavin" (it is the same color; I figured it'd be no big deal.) He looked at it and said, "No, that's baby Gavin's cup! I want Benjamin's cup!" At this rate, Benj may be ready for kindergarten before Jack.
Gavin:
This kid will not stop growing up. Crawling was not enough for him; now he wants to pull up on things and attempt to climb stairs. Will someone please tell him that he's not even EIGHT months old yet? I need a baby around a bit longer!
5.20.2010
Smores and underwear
That sums up our house this week. Benjamin has been in big boy underwear for 9 days now, and is not looking back. We still do pull-ups at nap and bedtime, but in between, it's all Elmo undies, all the time. I couldn't be more proud of him. And what a fun family story it will be someday, joking about how he potty learned before big brother Jack ;)
Mike got his anniversary gift early this year-- a firepit for the patio. He's been wanting one for over a year, but I was leary on having one around young kids. I went for it, though, in honor of our 8th anniversary this coming Tuesday. We busted out the marshmallows and smores for the first time tonight. Here are the photos to show how much they loved it:
believe it or not, spiderman band-aid boxes start a nice fire
I'm quite excited to receive our first CSA box of the season tomorrow afternoon. The newsletter tells me we'll be receiving aspragus, green garlic, lettuce and watercress, and radishes. I have a great recipe for aspargus and green garlic risotto with fresh parmesean I'm eager to make with this week's box. I'm also buying 72 strawberry plants from our CSA growers and hope to get them planted this weekend. Since we've had meager luck with our garden in the past, we've decided to make it into a big strawberry patch. Hopefully it will go well once we add a bunch of compost and love.
Mike is leaving me tomorrow afternoon so he can take some much-needed time off in Minneapolis with friends this weekend. I've planned enough activities with families and friends that hopefully I won't feel overwhelmed with all three boys by myself until his return on Sunday evening. I'm glad he'll be getting away to have fun and get extra sleep. He really deserves it. Especially after using so many vacation days to watch the boys so I could finish my last diss. chapter. He'll be using more vacation days in the coming weeks so I can work on my diss. revisions, so I hope he has tons of fun this weekend in exchange ;)
We put Gavin in the big tub for the first time the other day and I tried to snap some photos before it turned into mass splashing chaos.
For Sarah and Bridget: Bridge, thank you for the fresh artichokes from CA. We'd never cooked with fresh ones before, so it was definitely a learning experience. It was hard to know what you really meant by "scraping the leaves with your teeth" until we tried it ;) Sarah, we finally got to bust out your "Simply Organic" cookbook holiday gift from a couple Christmas' ago to make herbed chevre stuffed artichokes. They were lovely.
Mike got his anniversary gift early this year-- a firepit for the patio. He's been wanting one for over a year, but I was leary on having one around young kids. I went for it, though, in honor of our 8th anniversary this coming Tuesday. We busted out the marshmallows and smores for the first time tonight. Here are the photos to show how much they loved it:
believe it or not, spiderman band-aid boxes start a nice fire
I'm quite excited to receive our first CSA box of the season tomorrow afternoon. The newsletter tells me we'll be receiving aspragus, green garlic, lettuce and watercress, and radishes. I have a great recipe for aspargus and green garlic risotto with fresh parmesean I'm eager to make with this week's box. I'm also buying 72 strawberry plants from our CSA growers and hope to get them planted this weekend. Since we've had meager luck with our garden in the past, we've decided to make it into a big strawberry patch. Hopefully it will go well once we add a bunch of compost and love.
Mike is leaving me tomorrow afternoon so he can take some much-needed time off in Minneapolis with friends this weekend. I've planned enough activities with families and friends that hopefully I won't feel overwhelmed with all three boys by myself until his return on Sunday evening. I'm glad he'll be getting away to have fun and get extra sleep. He really deserves it. Especially after using so many vacation days to watch the boys so I could finish my last diss. chapter. He'll be using more vacation days in the coming weeks so I can work on my diss. revisions, so I hope he has tons of fun this weekend in exchange ;)
We put Gavin in the big tub for the first time the other day and I tried to snap some photos before it turned into mass splashing chaos.
For Sarah and Bridget: Bridge, thank you for the fresh artichokes from CA. We'd never cooked with fresh ones before, so it was definitely a learning experience. It was hard to know what you really meant by "scraping the leaves with your teeth" until we tried it ;) Sarah, we finally got to bust out your "Simply Organic" cookbook holiday gift from a couple Christmas' ago to make herbed chevre stuffed artichokes. They were lovely.
5.09.2010
Benjamin's Birthday Party
We had a lovely party for Benjamin today, and were excited to also share Mother's Day with so many of the fantastic women in our families. My great aunt and uncle left their home in Minnesota at 6am to come to the party, and drove home immediately after. We are so blessed to have such wonderful relatives!
The elmo cake (does he have his mommy's smile, or what?)
blowing out the candles
Benj got a big boy scooter
He also got some fun indoor/outdoor play equipment
Party hats abound
the Stowell clan, including Baby Lucas (Benjamin's favorite cousin)
In other news, the baby gates went back up today. Gavin's army crawling has transformed into full-scale kneed crawling, and he's getting faster. He just crawled under the desk and tried to turn off the computer-power strip. Ahh, another one to chase after.
The elmo cake (does he have his mommy's smile, or what?)
blowing out the candles
Benj got a big boy scooter
He also got some fun indoor/outdoor play equipment
Party hats abound
the Stowell clan, including Baby Lucas (Benjamin's favorite cousin)
In other news, the baby gates went back up today. Gavin's army crawling has transformed into full-scale kneed crawling, and he's getting faster. He just crawled under the desk and tried to turn off the computer-power strip. Ahh, another one to chase after.
5.06.2010
Happy Birthday to my Benjamin!
On Monday my little Benj turned 2. He's been saying he's 2 for awhile now (and, for that matter, so have we), but now it's official. His party won't be until Sunday, so it was a pretty subdued birthday. He had blueberry pancakes for breakfast, and he got to go to the zoo. He also got ice cream that next evening, and as you will see in the photos, thoroughly enjoyed it. The biggest news in his life is that we've decided to enroll him in the preschool Jump Start program this coming fall at the urging of our current preschool director. This was a huge leap for me because it means that he'll enter the full-time preschool as a 3-yr-old the following fall, and then follow the program to a kindergarten entry at age 5. I had wondered if we might wait until he's 6 for kindergarten, since that is where both Jack and Gavin will fall on the timeline. If he were to go at age 6, then each boy would be 2 yrs apart in school. By starting this fall he'll only be 1 year behind Jack in school, even though they 3 months short of being 2 years apart in age. But I can't deny that developmentally, he's ready. So in an effort to follow his personal timeline on readiness instead of my own, we are going to make the leap this fall. It means driving Jack to preschool M, W, and F and Benj on T and Thur. Whew, we'll be coming, going, here, and everywhere :) Here's to my little Benj, who is growing up TOO fast!
Baby Benjamin
6 months old
First Birthday
Benj's #2 pancake
At the zoo (why do they seem so suspicious of sitting on my lap?)
I had a fabulous and busy couple of weeks. Last Wednesday Gavin and I went to Iowa City to celebrate the dissertation defense of my close friend Sarah. She did beautifully at the defense, and it was lovely to celebrate that evening with her. I am so proud of you, Sarah, and happy for you in all the wonderful things you have to celebrate this year: a new house, an engagement, and a PhD!!!! You are a rock star.
Upon returning from Iowa City, I got to have an incredible weekend with my oldest group of friends-- my girls from junior high school and beyond. Sandra and Bridget came to Des Moines for a fun-filled weekend of catching up and hanging out. Sandra took advantage of her job with HP and made all of us beautiful photo books that capture our memories together for the past TWENTY years. It is AWESOME.
The girls: Sandra & Gavin, me, Bridget, Kelly, Shelly, Alicia
As always, we had lots of laughs
Gavin and mommy at Dos Rios
Sandra and Gav
Bridget and her wonders of CA (wine, cheese, Afghani food...heaven)
This Sunday we'll be celebrating Benj's birthday as well as Mother's Day with a bunch of family and a giant Elmo cake. Should be a good time.
Baby Benjamin
6 months old
First Birthday
Benj's #2 pancake
At the zoo (why do they seem so suspicious of sitting on my lap?)
I had a fabulous and busy couple of weeks. Last Wednesday Gavin and I went to Iowa City to celebrate the dissertation defense of my close friend Sarah. She did beautifully at the defense, and it was lovely to celebrate that evening with her. I am so proud of you, Sarah, and happy for you in all the wonderful things you have to celebrate this year: a new house, an engagement, and a PhD!!!! You are a rock star.
Upon returning from Iowa City, I got to have an incredible weekend with my oldest group of friends-- my girls from junior high school and beyond. Sandra and Bridget came to Des Moines for a fun-filled weekend of catching up and hanging out. Sandra took advantage of her job with HP and made all of us beautiful photo books that capture our memories together for the past TWENTY years. It is AWESOME.
The girls: Sandra & Gavin, me, Bridget, Kelly, Shelly, Alicia
As always, we had lots of laughs
Gavin and mommy at Dos Rios
Sandra and Gav
Bridget and her wonders of CA (wine, cheese, Afghani food...heaven)
This Sunday we'll be celebrating Benj's birthday as well as Mother's Day with a bunch of family and a giant Elmo cake. Should be a good time.
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