Randomness x2

I think I have nearly fogotten how to blog...how long has it been anyways?  Since Case has gone down to one nap per day everyday, I haven't made time for blogging.  Instead I have been cleaning, or picking up, or doing laundry, or cooking (imagine that!), or doing whatever else I do besides blogging.  I feel like I should have a lot to write about, but honestly, I can't think of much.

Dane has been fighting a sinus infection for several weeks now.  He is finally starting to feel better.  On the otherhand, Case seems to have picked up Dane's cold and is not feeling well at all.  He has had a rough couple nights and seems to be coughing and/or draining from his nose the better part of the day.  Besides Vicks (nightlight & vapor rub) there isn't too much we can do for him...that is what the Dr. says.  The good thing is we (Dane & I) are experienced now...we think.  We don't freak out when we hear the little guy coughing...we know he will knock this cold too.  We have been thru this same cold many times before.  Still, we hope & pray this sickness leaves our little guy soon so he can be himself again.

On a different note, it occurred to me last night that this is the first week in over a month that I have been by myself with Case at home or otherwise.  We went from a trip to SD, to a trip to IL, to my mom visiting us in KS, to my brother visiting us in KS.  It was great!  Case loves being around other people, particularily his family.  I think Dane's parents will be coming to KS for Easter too...that is coming up soon.  I know Case will love seeing them & spending time with them.

On a more random note, I had the most bizarre thing happen to me a few weeks back.  It wasn't a good thing or a nice thing.  In fact it was actually very unkind, immature, & hurtful...to more than just me.   I will not dwell on it though.  I know myself and my intentions are good. I do not need to explain myself, though initially that is all I wanted to do.  I am leaving the past in the past & moving forward.  I will learn from other peoples mistakes (as well as my own).  Some things are just not worth the time or the trouble.

Jump Around!

Remember that horribly popular "Jump Around" song by Kriss Kross in the early 90's (I think)? Well that is what is going thru my head right now.  I am so excited (& very much relieved) that Case has turned a corner re: eating.  So excited, that it really does make me want to "jump around, jump around, jump, jump, jump..."!
In the last 3 days Case has gone from eating exclusively mac n' cheese & pureed foods to very normal toddler foods.  He has eaten pancakes, banana, cheerios, golden grahms, french fries, shortbread cookies, cake, peas, ice cream on a stick, & ravioli.  I must be honest though, he still LOVES his mac n' cheese, although I think he has a new found love for cheerios & shortbread cookies.
Not only has Case been able to eat normal toddler foods (without gagging/choking & throwing up) he has been liking his MILK!  Unbelieveable.  Case likes milk?!  He wants his bottle?!  He drinks milk from his sippy cup?! You have to be kidding me!?!!  I keep thinking this must be a dream and I will wake up.  Dane & I have been waiting and waiting for this....for the last 16 months!  Praise the Lord for our happy little eater/drinker!  You go Case!

Christmas (and the cold temperatures) are upon us!

 Oh my.  Winter surely has arrived!  I guess I shouldn't have gotten used to the very mild, sometimes warm, November & December temperatures...but I did.  That was until December 11th hit; the day of Dane's work holiday party.  It turned nasty cold and windy.  It was literally freezing outside.  We lost power that night and left the party early to get home to Case. 

I have found that it is harder to get myself & the little one of the house these last few days.  We mostly play inside our (warm) house and run only the necessary errands - grocery store, drug store, post office, etc.  A normal day for us consists of breakfast, dancing excessively to Mariah Carey's Christmas CD, playing (or mostly cheering Case on as he mows around the living/family room), lunch, bathtime, naptime, more playing inside, dinner, more playing inside, & bed.  I am so excited for Case to celebrate his 2nd Christmas and get some new toys...I think his old ones are starting to be less and less exciting.

Is it just me though or is it others too that find it harder to be motivated the colder it gets?  Thank goodness I was nearly all done with our Christmas shopping weeks ago.  I have no desire to fight the cold or the holiday traffic & lines in stores.

Despite some of winters annoyances though I actually do like the cold months.  Yes, perhaps winter does last a few weeks too long some years, but I can honestly say it just doesn't feel right without cold.  I can say this because I lived in CA for a couple years.  Curling up to a nice warm fire and drinking hot chocolate when it is 60+ degrees outside just never seemed right or even appropriate really.  I guess I am just a true midwestern girl at heart :)

So anyways, our family is ready for Christmas.  Ready to see our little boy tear open some presents and go wild with the new basketball hoop and ball "Santa" got him (among other things).  This Christmas is going to be fantastic.  We are going to be surrounded by most all of our family and loved ones, we will eat wonderfully huge Christmas dinners, and we will surely be blessed beyond bounds.  So incase I don't get to blog before the 25th, Merry Christmas everyone!  I hope this Christmas finds all of you with plenty of food on your table & in the company of your loved ones. And now to end with a little scripture...

Luke 2:8-12; 13-14

"And there were shepherds living out in the fields near by, keeping watch over their flocks by night. An angel of the Lord appeared to them, and the glory of the Lord shone around them, and they were terrified. But the angel said to them, "Do not be afraid. I bring you good news of great joy that will be for all the people. Today in the town of David a Saviour has been born to you; he is Christ the Lord. This will be a sign to you: You will find a baby wrapped in cloths and lying in a manger."
"Suddenly a great company of the heavenly host appeared with the angel, praising God and saying, "Glory to God in the highest, and on earth peace to men on whom his favor rests.""

Look what he's up to now!

Helping Momma Swiffer

Our Little Stud

I thought it would be fun to jot down some of the amazing little things Case has been up to recently, so here it goes...

- Case loves balls.  He especially loves soccer balls.  There is a 95% chance if you give him anything other than a soccer ball he will still kick it.  For example, he kicks his football and his baseball.  In fact, he kicks his sippy cup like a soccer ball too sometimes!  Perhaps we have a future soccer stud on our hands?

- Case used the potty today.  Yes, I am absolutely serious about this.  We were in the kitchen and Case was clearly, how should I say this politely, going #2 .  I asked him if he wanted to go on the potty.  He ran upstairs to the potty and I held him on it.  He tried hard to go, but his real business was already done.  He did however go #1 in the potty :)  And by the way, I would have never thought to introduce him to the potty so early, but he has showed signs of interest lately and he has also clearly shown me AT TIMES that he is making a conscious decision to go potty, so I have decided "why not". 

- Case loves the vacuum.  He has actually always taken an interest in the vacuum, but now he can participate in the process more.  I will say, "Case you want to help Momma vacuum?" and he immediately climbs the steps, runs into the spare room & then stands at the closet pointing.  He knows exactly where the vacuum "lives".  He helps me plug in the vacuum, helps me turn on the vacuum & trots around behind me as I use the vacuum.  He loves when I use the attachments to vacuum the stairs because I will let him put his hand over the attachment and feel the suction.  He is my big helper.

- Case also loves to swiffer.  I have altered the swiffer handle to be his size and he uses it ALL the time.  I have plenty of pics. to prove my point :)

- Case is growing more and more interested in drinking out of a glass than his sippy cup.  If there is a glass of water sitting around and he spots it, he won't drink out of his sippy cup.  He actually does really well with a glass.  I only put a little water in the glass at a time, but he manages to spill very little...unless of course he has decided he has had enough water.  At that point he pours it out and start playing in it!

- Case seems to really like peanut butter.  What a blessing!  I gave him a try the other day just to see if he would eat it and he did.  Apparently I didn't give him enough because he spotted the jar on the island and kept saying "Mo, Mo" (more) and pointing to the PB.  I bet he had just under a tablespoon...and (1) tablespoon alone has 100 calories and 6 grams of fat!  (It's a "healthy fat" the Dr. says.)  Go Case! 

- Case has laughing attacks daily and I absolutely LOVE it!  He has always been a happy baby and has been laughing for many, many months now, but lately it is different.  He literally can't contain his laughs sometimes.  It may just be the most beautiful sound in the world.

- Case loves when we sing "The Itsy Bitsy Spider".  I do the hand motions and he also tries to do them!  He mostly likes making the itsy bitsy spider climb :)

- Case recently discovered he can fit into one of our bathroom drawers.  He thinks it is just great.  I, on the other hand, am worried the drawer might break.  I don't think I will have to worry for long though, in another month he won't fit...he is growing so fast!!

I am sure that there are many more things I am forgetting.  Case changes daily.   He is constantly learning new things and more quickly now.  Not a day goes by where Dane and I aren't blown away by how amazing and intelligent he is.  We love our Case!

I'm Back!

Case with his cup...

Bath time is SO much fun!!

It's possible that I have forgotten how to blog considering I haven't posted in several days!  We have been busy.  Busy with another trip back "home" to Chatham and busy with TWO Thanksgivings!  It's an understatement to say that both Thanksgivings were delicious.  We are so blessed to have such wonderful families.

We got our first snowflakes of the season this morning.  You really had to look closely to see them & they only lasted a few minutes, but never-the-less it snowed!  As soon as I saw the tiny flakes I suited Case up, grabbed my camera & we rushed outside.  Case did notice the snowflakes immediately.  I don't think he knew what to think about them though or what to do, but he noticed.  I so wanted to capture those moments on camera, but of course the memory card for my camera was missing (missing as in plugged into our laptop inside the house), so my photo-op didn't happen.  Next time...

Case had a somewhat "off" day.  I think he is getting his molars because he is chewing on EVERYTHING (mostly his own fingers).  He had a hard time going down for both his naps today which is not like him at all.  He ate food well, but didn't want his bottle...he only took 1 oz. tonight for me.  Although I don't worry like I used to about his eating/drinking, I still worry.  I guess I worry about everything though.  I hear that never changes once you have children.

The highlight of Case's day (and mine) was no doubt his bath time.  He had a BLAST!  He always loves his baths, but today was extra fun.  He has a cup in the tub and I would fill it up and say "One, Two, Three" on Three I would pour/throw some of the water out towards Case - he thought this was insanely funny!  Then he would do it on my count, throwing the water over his shoulder - again, he thought this was insanely funny!  And it was insanely funny too.  I guarantee that you would have been laughing hard had you seen Case laughing :)  Thankfully I got these happy moments captured on camera.  I think Case was grinning big time in every picture I took.

So it has been a good day.  In fact the last several days have been good.  Hopefully it won't be so long until my next post!

I want that too some day...

Fall Fun.  11.20.2010

This weekend we made a trip to Babies "R" Us.  I say a trip because the closest Babies "R" Us to us means a 15-20 minute car ride, even when we jump on the interstate.  Before arriving at Babies "R" Us we stopped at Culvers for lunch.  We were hungry & Culvers is conveniently located right across from Babies "R" Us.

We ended up sitting next to a much older couple.  I was trying to feed Case & he wasn't having any part of it.  Instead, he was interested in waiving to the couple next to us.  The woman kept waiving back and perhaps the man did too, but I couldn't see him well from where I was sitting.  The woman got up at some point and I continued to try and feed Case, literally jumping from one chair to the next depending on which way his head was facing.  It was classic.  I noticed the man taking an interest as to what was going on & Case was sure interested in him.  The man told me Case would eat when he was hungry and I halfway agreed.  He told me that seeing Case brought back memories of their three daughters who are now grown and in their 60's.  That really caught my attention.  Wow!  If only Dane & I could live long enough to see Case into his 60's.  That would be amazing!  But Case in his 60's?!  Oh my gosh, that is crazy.

When the man and his wife left I looked at Dane and I told him that I hoped that would be us some day; that we might have a similar story.  That couple was getting around great! More so though, how beautiful would it be to live to 80+ and still be in the company of your one love and your grown children?  Can you imagine?  I actually can't right now, that seems too far off.  I do though desperately hope that Dane & I get to live out that fairytale.