Oooooh...so THAT'S why they say...

Consistency is Important!

CAUTION: THIS BLOG CONTAINS SNIPPETS OF A PERSONAL NATURE. IF YOU WILL LOOK AT ME FUNNY OR THINK OF ME DIFFERENTLY AFTER READING THIS, AVOID THE ITALICIZED AND RED PORTION OF THE LAST PARAGRAPH.

For the time being, I'll tell you about Brighton's newest things. He now tells us what a CAT says (softly) "Muuuuu" and what a COW says "MMUUUUHHHH". He's very smart. He will pick out a ball and bugs in every single book we read. I also caught him in the bedroom with the radio blaring and dancing. It was the cutest thing I've ever seen. He closed the door for privacy LOL and hit the "sleep" button on Dad's alarm radio, and proceeded to dance the day away!!

UGH! What a long night lastnight. I dreaded putting Brighton to bed lastnight for fear of sitting in my rocker in his room for an hour, rocking, and rocking, protecting the opposite boob and tender nipple from which he was nursing (that's an on going battle I'll talk about in another post), rocking, singing, rocking, waking my feet and legs and arm up...you get the idea. For some reason I was just dreading it! So instead of keeping consistant and doing what I always do nowadays, I opted to lay down with him in our bed at about 8:30 and fall asleep with him...WHAT WAS I THINKING?! It was a VERY long night. Not only did I have NO pillow, I slept on a space approximately three inches wide by 6 feet long all night long. We fell back asleep at around 6:30 (he woke up for good at around 5:00) then we both slept until almost 9! It turned out to be a good day afterall. But I'm still protecting my innocent nipples...oops. sorry about the no warning! ;)

How my life has changed

On my Mamasource webgroup, a soon to be new mom posed the question "how has your life changed?" She asked about money, chores, sex life. All those fun things. But my life has changed in profound ways, not so much in the little ways. So I thought I'd share my response:

"You know, my life changed drastically, but those things you mentioned are the minor things that I didn't even really notice. Money got diverted to diapers and miniature clothing instead of double tall skinny vanilla lattes and lunch out every day with my friends. Chores? they now include bathtime every other night and picking up tractors and little people, Sex Life? Well, that's not a whole lot different than it was before. Though for the first few MONTHS poor Daddy was on his own.

The ways in which my life changed were: I feel more compassionate towards other people. When I get upset with someone, I am shocked back into the reality that they were someone's baby once. I can no longer watch violent movies or television shows. I get TONS of hugs and kisses from a chubby cheeked toddler. I respect and miss my mom more than ever. Make sure you let your mom know how much she means to you. My mom died the day after my son was concieved. I never thought about just how much she did for me or how much she went through (my dad passed away when I was 15, so she was a single mom for a long time.)

So my life changed in BIG ways, in profound ways. The basics, they just kind of filled in like water through a jar of marbles. Just make sure your jar is full of marbles :)"

Let's see if we can do this again...

Christmas 2006

Christmas Hangover

I love the Christmas season, but I'm glad it's over. Now I just have to get rid of this blasted Christmas Candy I made!! Brighton woke up on Christmas morning to already set out toys. Namely a "Little People" barn set, a "Smartville Tree House" and several trucks. He had a few yet to open from Mom and Dad and of course his stocking. His eyes lit up when we walked out into the room and he saw all of his new stuff. He almost didn't want to eat breakfast, he was so busy! He opened a little at a time so as to not get overwhelmed - which he ended up being anyway. But he managed to get through it :) He also got a lot of tractors from Aunt Amy and "The Petes" and from Grammy & Grampie O. among other fun stuff. I'm not going to list all the things he got or it would take up all of my blog. But you get the picture. His favorite thing so far is his "Twilight Turtle". We put it on at night and he can sleep under the stars. While I'm rocking him to sleep I try to figure out what the constellations are. So far, I've only found the little (or is it the big?) dipper. We turn it on and he says "Stars Mom!" It's so cute :) O hyeah, one thing he had in his stocking is a cookie made by a friend of ours. She makes the best sugar cookies, cut out like santa's and beautifully decorated. Mom put them in each of our stockings and we ate them on Christmas morning. It's not something we do all the time but since Christmas is a celebration, we decided it was OK for the little man to eat his on Christmas Morning AFTER he had some of his breakfast.

Elfamorphasis

This is the most hilarious thing I've done in a long LONG time. It's a great release after a long day at work. Enjoy all! Click on the title to go see Brighton's elfamorphasis. And just for fun, here's DAD'S and MOM'S

Mom Guilt...A Rite of Passage

Mommy guilt is a powerful thing. It comes in all shapes and sizes. The little guilts like giving your child that piece of cheese that just fell on the floor in the supermarket - but it was only the floor for like two seconds?! Then there's the medium size guilts. Like for example switching your childs bath soap causing two days of rash - and three calls to the doctors office asking if it is something you should worry about.

Then of course, the big guilts and the "mother load" guilts (no pun intended). Tonight is one of those nights. I worked lastnight so didn't see my boy all night (but was with him all day long) then worked all day today. I knew that I HAD to get home and get some sewing done tonight to finish up a Christmas present or I'd never get it done. So after taking an extra long, extra hot shower, I promptly was mauled by my toddler, and was stuck there for about 45 minutes. You'd think that after a day of working and the night before only having had about 3 true hours of sleep, 45 minutes of down time with the boy would be just what the doctor ordered. Oh no. I have things to do! I felt a bit like the rabbit in Alice in Wonderland with a pocket watch and being late for a very important date! Well, as I was finishing, the boy was really starting to fade and get very tired. So dad took him in his bedroom and rocked him to sleep. I finished up my project and opened the fridge to put away recently purchased fruit and noticed the floor of the fridge was a mess. So instead of saying to myself "I'll finish that tomorrow and go take over for dad so I can spend some time with my bug" I instead started cleaning the fridgerator floor. WHA?! I hoped Brighton would still be crying when I got done, but as I was walking into the hallway, I noticed the crying had stopped. I tip-toed to the door, slowly opened it up and my boy was fast asleep :( A wash of regret flowed over me and I felt that warm, heavy, yucky feeling of mommy guilt (did you think I was going to compare it to peeing my pants?). This was one of those opportunities where I could have chosen to spend a few precious minutes with my baby and instead I decided to clean the fridge. I could have rested tonight, with baby in arms. But instead I decided to finish up that project when I really could have done it on Sunday. Well, I'm washing my guilt away with a Leinenkugels Apple Spice lager which doesn't taste nearly as good as Brighton's freshly washed hair smells. Oh well. I have to work tomorrow for a little while (actually, I'm taking my rug rat dogs in tomorrow becuase they stink) but it will only be for a while. I'll make it up to him.

Finally

After my meltdown the other day (which was spurred by an ultra slow connection and the B&N Website) I went to have DSL Installed. YAY! It is SO much easier and faster. Brighton appreciates it too. I also finally managed to get my friend Jill's packages out on Monday. Jackie's birthday was in November, and Jill's on the 8th (SEE I REMEMBERED!) and I've been meaning to send it out before now but kept adding things and you all know how I like to make one trip rather than 10 little ones...

Brighton has a busy weekend ahead of him. Friday night we're finally going to meet little Pete. As Andrew said, Amy and The Petes are coming over for supper. Sounds like a music band doesn't it? Andrew is making Chicken and Buscuits. While he and B-dog are shopping, mom's going to take the dogs to work and get them cleaned up. Mom has to work at Starbucks on Saturday but Sunday night we're going to Grammy and Grampies for Christmas Eve. Then on Monday Morning, we're going to open presents from Santa and then we're having Christmas Brunch with our families. Brighton will have a lot to say I'm sure. He's a real jabberbox these days. Most things sound like "DOG" or "SANTA (SANNA)" or "KITTY" which I've finally figured out what he was saying over breakfast. He would say "KEE" then point at the cat as if to say "DUH MOM! There's the kitty. SHEESH!"

If we don't see you, have a very happy holiday!

Stolen Moments & Minor Meltdowns

Now that Brighton is getting bigger and more independant, I really have to cherish stolen moments like rocking him to sleep in his own bedroom, sitting quietly on the chair reading a story or just having him give me a big hug. I also am learning that I have to control my temper. I had a meltdown today where I had to put him in his bed and go into my bedroom (where I slammed the door) and screamed into a pillow three times. It was a stressful day around here and it took me over an hour to get out the door. We finally made it around 2:00 pm. Not a pretty sight. I'd much rather have him look at me with love and security rather than the way he looked at me confused and a bit frightened while I was freaking out. Who was it that told me being a mom was easy? Oh yeah, no one.

Here's Brighton's photo with S anta.

The Worst Christmas Cartoon Ever

OK, I just finished watching the hands down, worst Christmas cartoon ever. Since Brighton is asleep (for three hours now) and my peanut butter buckeyes are chilling awaiting their hot chocolate bath, Andrew and I decided to sit down and turn on the boob tube. Our choices were Golf (yuk), Ice Skating (double yuk), some show on PBS about how stupid anyone over the age of 20 is when it comes to technology (hey, I have a My space page), an infomercial for some program probably to make me rich which of course, I turned off, or what we eventually settled on, The Worst Christmas Cartoon Ever. "Grandma Got Run Over by a Reindeer". The song, I love. The song conjures up warm fuzzies from a time past when Dad and I used to ride in his 1985 Monte Carlo, blaring his cassette radio, singing along to the song. Never once did I hear "Grandpa's gonna sue the pants off of Santa" set to a rumba. The gist is Grandma drinks too much eggnog spiked with a memory altering tonic (that also just so happens to act as reindeer nip), goes outside presumably to walk home and gets struck by Santa and his reindeer. Santa proceeds to take Grandma home to the North Pole, and apparently with his other three victims, hospitalizes her (who is physically fine but can't recall who she is or where she came from). While grandma is recovering in the North Pole drinking hot toddies and cocoa with peppermint schnapps (OK, I added that but SOMEONE was drinking them when they made this cartoon) her scheming daughter was having poor old stupid grandpa sign over POA to her so she could sell the beloved store where Grandma makes her ever popular fruitcake and make millions on the deal, along with her trusted sidekick and attorney, Slime. So Jake (the grandson) writes to Santa telling him what happened and that he wants his grandma back home for Christmas. Naturally, of course, Santa figures out that she is the one victim who can't identify herself and Santa brings her home. Where Of COURSE the scheming daughter decides now that grandpa should sue Santa for the disappearance of grandma, leaving the scene of an accident and attempted sleighicular homicide. Jake finds the vial, gives some to grandma who miraculously gets her memory back (oh yeah, the daughter has been hiding grandma in a log cabin in seclusion after Santa brought her back), and they head to the courthouse to show the judge that grandma is NOT missing and is right here. I won't go on, but to tell you that Santa is vindicated, all is well with the world and toys will indeed be delivered thanks to Jake and his dog, Dufus. The end.

Andrew and I stopped watching twice to look at each other is complete disbelief. Then promptly cracked up laughing until tears flooded our eyes. OK, mine anyway. Andrew just rolled his eyes and muttered "shoot me now" to the tele. All I can say is I am very glad that Brighton wasn't awake to see that one. We're going to plan on putting in a video tonight rather than watch what's on basics. Maybe National Lampoon's Christmas Vacation. Yeah, that's much better.

PS. Brighton's newest words are "HAT", "DOG" and "SANTA". Which actually sound like "HAAAAGH" "DAH" and "SANTA" Yes, Santa sounds a lot line Santa...go figure.

Overcaffeinated and undertired

Once again, I overdid the caffeine tonight at work. I even made my grande caramel macchiatto with 1/2 caf. Guess it doesn't count when you still have one shot of full leaded espresso in your drink huh? Anyway, I am tired, I just have to wind down I guess. So I put on my sleeping socks and made myself a cup of citrus green tea which will keep me up all night going to the bathroom.

Brighton is doing so many funny (and annoying) things nowadays. He's definitely testing his limits with mom. I'm not sure if he does this with Dad or not but I'm inclined to think "No." His current favorite toy is a green laundry basket. His favorite game is for mom to carry him around in it and tip it over with him in it. Don't worry, he's prepared, doesn't hit his head and giggles the whole time. My son, the stunt man. I attempted to get his photo in the basket, but as you can see, he caught sight of the camera, and decided it would be more fun to grab that instead. We also decided to go ahead and decorate the tree - with ornaments. This was great fun for Brighton. If I had a good pic, you could see that the tree is only decorated 2/3 the way down, stopping at approximately Brighton Height. Well, apparently my typing has awoken the sleeping bear, so I must tend to my offspring. Have a grand night everyone!

Uneventful post

I had a great post in mind this morning at about 3 AM when I originally turned the computer on. Brighton woke up crying at about midnight, so I tucked him in our bed and laid there for about two and a half hours unable to fall back asleep. Finally at about 2:30 I decided to put him in his own bed after he started the alligator roll thing. Unable to fall asleep again, I turned the computer on, went in to check on the little man and he was standing in his bed just jibber jabbering to himself. That is not what I'd hoped to see. So the computer lay idle as I rocked the boy in vain. Eventually, we ended up out on the recliner together where we finally fell asleep.

Brighton Tidbits:
Brighton just consumed his first bit of dirt a few minutes ago, that was gross. All I can think of is (thanks to our yearly meeting with our merial rep for heartgard and frontline) - parasites. Gross. Bright will also NEVER have a sandbox. He has played in sand, but without my permission. (with the exception of the beach...) He also consumed his first bit of dog food just the other day. I am surprised that he was able to snatch a piece while the dogs were eating. Not that they would have bitten him - I'm just surprised that there was a piece to grab! He also has a new walk. We're calling him "professor". I wish I could upload videos. We got a quick snapshot, but the video is hilarious. He started walking with his hands behind his back. Our blog was also featured on the front page of the Cedar Rapids Gazette last Sunday. How exciting is that?! So if you have a chance, check out Sunday December 3 online at the Cedar Rapids Gazette. You will need the logon and password, email me and I'll give you the password and signon name so you can visit the previous week's mail.

Well, this was a rather uneventful and boring post, so I apolgize. I write much better at 3 AM.

PS. I'm still having problems uploading photos. Sorry...

Fa La La La La...and all that jazz

Well we finally got to take Brighton to see Santa Claus lastnight. I was working at the Starbucks Cheer Party and Dad was hanging out with Brighton. We finally decided to go ahead and take him to see Santa since he was all dressed up and in an OK mood. Dad took him over, and then about 1/2 hour later came back and said "he wouldn't smile so I wasn't going to pay for a picture". OK...so a little bit later, A.J. told me he'd cover my position if I wanted to take him over (because of COURSE mom could make him smile!). I was sceptical, but I went anyway. Sure enough, Mom got him to smile and we got a great photo. I'm not quite sure it was worth 20.99, but can you put a price on his first encounter with a mall santa? And Santa had on a tractor shirt, so we couldn't really pass that up. Next year, I think we'll stick with the Santa at the bank. It's free and the photo was fab.

Dad said something really funny lastnight. As we were falling asleep, all of a sudden he said "I can't wait to find out what 'djjjjjjzzzzz mmumm zzjjddduh' means." LOL that cracked me up. Dad is so funny sometimes.

PS. I'm not renewing my picturetrail account, I'll be using YAHOO! photos instead. So, I'll lose all the photos on my blog that I've linked to PT. I know the blog isn't as much fun without the photos, but I've been using them for over three years and they didn't offer me any incentive to stay and it doens't work great with dialup.

A Long Cold Night

It's 11:08 pm, Brighton is in his own bed, Daddy and dogs and cats are in our bed, and I'm up blogging. Typical. Lastnight was the first night he was actually in his bed the majority of the night. He did wake up wailing around 12:30ish and couldn't get back to sleep and mom (being the baby genius that she is...har har) finally figured out that his mouth was probably hurting him. So Hero Mom broke out the baby tylenol and teething tablets, that he was terribly excited to see, and he cuddled up next to me in bed until about 3ish. When he woke me up doing his alligator rolls, I figured it was time for him to go back into his own bed where he proceeded to sleep for another 4 1/2 hours. I know in my head that he sleeps better - and actually ENJOYS sleeping in his own bed, but mom just hasn't accepted it.

I am having a hard time with this. Maybe it's because I know that weaning him from nursing is just around the corner after he starts sleeping in his own bed - because that's where he nursed the most. Maybe I feel like he's growing up and won't need me anymore. I know that he will always need his mommy. Or at least WANT his mommy sometimes, but I guess it's just hard to let go of that. (Come on Marcy, he's 18 months old for crying out loud! He's not going to start doing his own laundry yet! He can't even poop and pee on the toilet ferpetesakes!) I guess I need him just as much as he needs me - or needed me :) Boy that sounds awfully co-dependant doesn't it? Or do I just sound like a mommy? I don't know. All I know is that I need to take baby steps and not cut everything off all at once. Well, now that I'm good and sad I should go back to bed. It's going to be a long cold night without my bug next to me...but we'll get over it.

All about lastnight

I wanted to add these lastnight but I was having issues with Picturetrail.
Left: Brighton in the dishwasher
Center: Brighton in the closet
Right: Brighton eating/wearing beets

As suspected, I wasn't able to leave Brighton in his bed lastnight. I went in to see him before I went to bed and he woke up (myseriously...) and so I brought him to bed with me. The three of us didn't sleep all that well. So we're going to try again tonight. I don't think I can go cold turkey...maybe tonight when I'm not all keyed up from 4 shots of espresso and a cold, icy drive home...we'll see.

Being Lonely - or is it just Mom?

Well, tonight is the first time I'm going to attempt (maybe...) to leave Bright in his own bed for the night. The prospect of it makes me VERY sad. I have always been of the mind that everyone should be together at nighttime. I'm not sure why, but I've just always been that way. I hate to think that Andrew, the dogs, the cats and I are all in the bedroom and little Brighton is all by himself in his bed. He's not crying, he's sleeping well in his bed, but all night I will keep picturing Bright all alone, with his stuffed animals, suffocating. Good God, what a nice thought right before bed, huh? What prompted this whole thing? This morning at about 2:30, Mr. B. woke up and decided he wanted to play. Mom wasn't really wanting to play. So for about an hour I tried and tried to get him to go back to sleep, but failed. Miserably. Finally, about 3:45 I put him in his bed and told him to go sleepy. Lo and behold, quiet. Then a few muffled cries, but not for long. We both slept until 8 AM. WHA?~ That hasn't happened in a LONG LONG time. We'll see how long he stays in his bed. It's 11:19 now, I'll give it another 1/2 hour.

List 2

Things that really tick Brighton off:

10. Venti strawberry lemonade blended drinks (or the brain freeze that follows when he drinks them too fast...)
9. Venti three pump raspberry, three pump valencia passion tea lemonades
8. The phrase "Get off of that coffeetable"
7. Having to ride in his stroller rather than push it
6. The word "NO"
5. Baby gates
4. Bras
3. The phrase "Get out of the dishwasher!"
tied with
3. The phrase "Don't take all those hangers out of the clo...set..."
2. Mom picking his nose
and the number 1 thing that ticks Brighton off:
1. Obstacles in the road when he's trying to drive his trike, construction vehicle or Thomas the Tank Engine. Namely, a wall, a dog, a cat or one of his bajillion toys.

List 1

Some things I would never have done pre-baby:

Gone to the grocery store without a bra
Purchased a pair of mini pants for more than I would pay for my own pants
Licked my finger to wipe a smudge off of someone elses face
Picked someone else's nose
Wiped someone else's nose
Put my finger in someone else's mouth to remove a foreign object
Wiped anyone else's bum
Splashed in the bathtub
Cut anyone else's hair
Allowed anyone to drive their cars or ride their bikes in the house
Allowed someone else to have access to my "girlies" (boobs) at any time they wanted
Been on the verge of tears because I hadn't spent a whole day in their presence
Loved someone so unconditionally that I really would give my life for theirs

Yep, that's the mommy story :) And I'm sure the daddy story is similar.

Black Friday

Daddy, Brighton and I all pigged out yesterday at Nana Sally and Papa Tom's house. We had a wonderful meal, hard apple cider (the guys had Leinenkugel's Apple Spice Beer) and lots and lots of entertainment from the tot. He is walking more now so he toddled around, harrassed the dog with his truck, talked on the phone and of course, made somewhat of a mess during the meal. Which now that I am thinking back, I forgot to clean up...Sorry Sal. We had a very nice day to prelude Black Friday.

This will be the first time in a long time I've had to work retail on Black Friday and I am TERRIFIED!!!! I go in to Starbucks at 4 tonight which hopefully the crowds will have died down a bit, but I'm sure it will still be busy. Good thing I know how to make coffee and it's a good thing I've been calling out drinks in my sleep...or I wouldn't be prepared. Tomorrow is going to be the killer. I'll be there from 10 - 4 (I think). I will be missing my family but I think I can manage to get through it for a day or so.

Update on the house. I called the owners the other day to release the 48 hour contingency and found out they'd sold the house the day before. Techinically, they breached their contract, but since we were going to release it anyway, we didn't put up a stink. We got our $$ back and so I guess it just wasn't the right time. Then soon after I got our money back, we got a phone call asking if our house was still up for sale. Figures. But so far nothing. It's just a BAD time to sell I guess. Still holding out hope.

Later!

Is it just me?

Is it just me or are toddlers tempermental? I'm not sure what I did - except protect my neatly just folded towels from the predatory toddler - but all of a sudden Brighton had a minor meltdown. With the big bottom lip and everything. It was totally ridiculous. I find myself thinking a lot "is he crazy?" LOL or maybe "am I crazy?" Maybe a little bit of both. When I finally finished folding laundry, I managed to nestle the basket on my hip (kindof-as they get fuller it gets a little tougher to balance), grab my mug of coffee, dodge toys with wheels on the floor, place mug of now cold coffee into the microwave for the second time this morning, start micro, dodge dog lying in the middle of the kitchen, and finally deposit laundry basket full of towels into the bathroom to be put away. That got my mind racing, wondering just how many other moms were out there doing the very same thing - or something relatively similar. I feel so connected to other moms the instant I hear that they are a mom. It's like we have this great secret group where we discuss everything from breastfeeding to books and in total comfort. It's really a great thing. I suppose I'd best get off this computer. I can hear my little guy babbling in his crib - he must have just woken up from his nap. Maybe I should take advantage of his crib play and fold the other load of laundry in the dryer? Naw...that's no fun.

Attached is the photo of the newest addition to our family. Peter Matthew! Born to Aunt Amy and Uncle Pete in NW Iowa. Isn't he cute?!! Even though he's a little ticked off...I can't blame the little guy! He's lying there half nikked!

New Baby!!!

Brighton has a new baby cousin! Peter Matthew, born at 5:43 PM today (November 15). He weighed 9 lbs .14 oz and was 22 inches long! He was delivered by C-Section in NW Iowa - Spencer to proud parents Pete and Amy (Andrew's sister). YAY! Brighton was so excited he walked from the middle of the kitchen to the chair in the livingroom. Then from the hallway to the livingroom - I think. Dad told me but I sort of forgot and now they're sleeping so I can't ask. At any rate, Brighton is excited to have a new cousin and I'm excited to see the new baby we've been waiting for for so long!!! Now they're all tuckered out from all the excitement and I didn't have any caffeine tonight at work so I'm ready for bed myself :)

Congratulations Amy and Pete and Belle!!!

Little bit of nothing

Well, this is the last day of my long weekend hiatus. I finally after two weeks got a day (actually three days) off. I worked Friday night but that doesn't count. :) Andrew, Gma Mary, Brighton and I all went to Tanger Outlet Mall on Saturday to do some Christmas shopping. We got a lot done! Brighton of course, came out like a champ.

Today I took Brighton to the doctor because he had a funny looking sore on the back of his leg and since he's been so snotty and at times incorridgable I suspected he had another ear infection. Sure enough, he did. Dr. didn't know what the spot on his leg was. Might be an ingrown hair (at this age?!) might have been a bug bite, might be some kind of icky virus. He has a few spots around his mouth that she wants me to watch to see if they turn into anything, but she didn't quarantine him or anything so I assume it's OK. It looked watery yesterday but is crusted over today. It's very weird. He's already been through the chicken pox this year.

Brighton is entering that stage where he gets frustrated at every little thing. His car getting stuck on the doorway is cause to lie down and wail. Mom can't hold him and cook at the same time...DRAMA! Our house is one big opera lately. But he's also doing some very fun things too. Like blowing kisses, giving the dog and cats kisses, giving mom and dad kisses and hugs, taking steps here and there when encouraged and not tired, dancing all the time. Oh if you were a fly on the wall...

Election Day Hangover

Well, there are lots of things to report, but I'm so stinking tired that I hope to remember them all!

Brighton is getting braver and braver, starting to take a few more steps a little more often. He's also started hollaring out "DAAAAA DAAAAAAAA DAAAAAAAAAAAAAAA!" in the morning when he wakes up. I assume he's calling for his DAD. Brighton just today discovered temporary tattoos. We got a sheet of them from buffalo wild wings a few weeks ago but he found them today in his "dog house" and so mom decided to show him what they were. He was very excited and chose one for his left hand (a chicken) and one for his right hand (a buffalo with wings). OK mom chose them because they were on the top, but what's the diff? He's also decided that he likes to ride one of his three cars around the house...all the time. Dogs be dammed he's coming through! He has a Thomas the Train, a Dump Truck and a Radio Flyer 3 & 1/2 wheeler. Fun times...This morning I caught him trying to get to the poop in Violet's litter box (Violet had an abscess and so until it's more healed up - and not open - she is in a kennel in the sun room with a temporary toilet). With my supersonic mommy ears, I heard a strange noise, and came out just before he reached the poop. I think moms have another sense, a seventh sense if you will, where we just know that something is going down...I had a vision of exactly what was happening...Now, anyone who knows me, knows that A. I don't like my son to be dirty in any way - unless it's intentional and even then I have a hard time with it, and B. my imagination runs wild with the prospect potential bugs and parasites and bacteria and other ookies streaming around in any kind of litter, dirt or sand (thanks Merial Company...). So I was freaking out. We promptly washed hands, feet and removed all clothing that potentially touched the cesspool of invisible critters. After that mess, we ate french toast (that I didn't prepare quickly enough) and watched the election results on GMA before turning the station to PBS and Sesame Street.

Brighton is also entering the terrible twos. And he's not even 1 1/2 yet. I think part of it is because mommy is working a second job and has been gone almost every night and so this routine is way off. But he's started to throw himself on the floor and bawl when something frustrates him or just plain ticks him off. So far, I've only been chewed out twice, maybe three times, but we get the idea.

As for the election day hangover, I was REALLY disgusted with this sessions elections. On my way home from work yesterday, I called my darling husband who reminded me to vote. "I'm not voting!! Those politicians PI$$ED ME OFF this year with all this negative garbage." "OK" he said. After quickly changing the topic, we hung up. On my 40 minute jaunt home, I started thinking of all the people who fought to have the right to vote, women, minorities, and I started feeling obligated (I HATE that feeling!!!!!) So I decided to do it, FOR THEM. I walked in with a BAD attitude, grabbed my sheet (after being harassed about my name - "is it under Reilly or Oberbreckling? You should go to the courthouse and get that changed," blah blah blah") walked briskly over to the "secret voting table" and begrudgingly filled in my choices for candidates. The whole time, I had a hole in my gut, a sinking feeling. None of these people (excepting one) I would trust with my child or my government. Hell, I wouldn't even let them take care of my pets or plants for the weekend lest they use them for some ad campaign. I thought I hated politicians before, well let me tell you, this is a whole new ballgame. They're in a whole new level of disgust in my book. With all the ugliness in this world right now, why do they have to contribute? Why can't we be PROGRESSIVE. I know that's a scary word for Washington and government in general, but it's a good thing. Really. It is. I'm done with my rant, but I want to end with this.

Thank goodness for Bob and Tom who make me laugh most mornings, Thank goodness for my son and husband who bring a smile to my face (most of the time) and thank goodness for my friends and some of my family, you know who you are, who no matter what I know I can count on, cry to, B&M about whatever, laugh with and share life with. Thank you. You are the white blanket that shields me from all things evil, sad, scary and maddening in the world today.

T'was All Hallows Eve

Enjoy the little poem I made up. I am now waiting for Mr. Brighton to wake up because Day Care didn't give him a nap today so I'm afraid he's going to miss out on trick or treating...Visit his picturetrail website to view photos of him on Sunday, the only day he got to wear his costume...I'm not upset about it. Really I'm not....I like wasting $20 on a costume that he's going to wear on every other day than the ONE DAY he's SUPPOSED TO WEAR IT!

T'was All Hallows Eve
And all though the place
The rush to get candy
was, oh yes, quite a race!
The goblins and ghouls,
all ready to spook!
While the ghosts were all practicing
Their scariest...BOO!

But the children know better than to be afraid
Because all those ghost and goblins
Are just their friends in cloth sheets and chains.
So get your toothbrush and get ready to eat
There's going to be lots of candy
For every trick or treat!

Happy Halloween!

A Grand Day

Yesterday was a truly grand day. We got up and went for a beautiful but chilly, walk at about 7 AM. We came home and had a nice family breakfast (cooked by mom - thank you thank you...) and then Dad went outside to work while mom put Brighton down for a nap and played on the computer for a while. When he woke up, we went outside and helped Dad rake leaves and clean up window boxes and planters. Then when we were done with that, and after lunch, we went out and carved pumpkins before we went to Trick or Trunk. THEN we had a WONDERFUL dinner at Nana Sally and Papa Tom's house after Brighton trick or treated them in his halloween costume. The whole day felt like a Norman Rockwell Painting. I guess there are good things about living in a small community.



Notice anything particularly familiar about our three pumpkins? I picked Andrew's (top) because it reminded me of his head. I picked mine (in the middle) because it was round and jolly. And BRighton picked out his own - because it was cute :) And has an alfalfa hair on top.

Some new things Brighton has learned: To lick his plate, the signs for puppy, eat, mommy milk, car, to stash food down his shirt for the next time he gets hungry, to blow kisses, to give eskimo kisses, to pet the puppy gently...

Visit Brighton's Picturetrail website for more photos.

Ala Crazy Messy

I will post pics when I have them but yesterday was a terrible messy day for the BDog. Breakfast wasn't bad, lunch was another story. We started out good with mac and cheese and crumbly hamburger, then came the pudding. He wanted to spoon the pudding out all by himself so I let him. After sitting there with him for, oh say, 20 minutes, I decided to do some picking up. The next time I saw him and the pudding, it was all over his face, his tray, his clothes, his hands, the table and goodness only knows where else. Not to mention, when I went to throw the pudding away I noticed macaroni noodles and bits of hamburger in it. Which can only mean one or two things. He had the mac in his mouth and redistributed it to the pudding container or the less likely, he found some on his chair (less likely because the dog would have grabbed any stray noodles or hanburger bits.) He ditched the spoon and went right for the hands. YUCK! For supper, we had goulash. Which also started out OK until he decided to "lick the plate". Hmmm... Wonder who taught him that - Grandpa Luke? By the end his face was awash with red tomato and cheese mixture and flecked with bits of noodle and beans and hamburger. It was lovely. I promptly removed his shirt and placed him in the tub.

A Romantic Orchard View

The little cub and I decided to take a trip to the orchard yesterday to get some pumpkins and some apples before the weather changed again (it was in the 50's and sunny). You know when you have a grandios idea in your head of something you intend to do? You know, a romantic vision? I had one of those of Brighton's and my visit to the orchard yesterday. I envisioned us taking the wagon down to the pumpkin patch, picking out the very most perfect pumpkins (I know - grammatical error on purpose) then walking up to the kind of apple we sampled in the store and picking them from a beautiful green leafed apple full tree.

Here's what really happened.

As we were getting ready to go, I put Brighton in his carseat, let the dogs out one last time to go potty so I didn't have any unexpected visitors (namely poop) in the living room when I got home. Feebee took off and ran into the field - three lots down. After screaming and cursing my fool head off to call her over, I ended up having to go into the neighbors yard and finally it registered with her that she had better get her buns back here or face corporal punishment. Naturally, when she came back she wreaked of pig manure. Strike one.

Managing to remain optomistic, I still had my romantic image in mind for myself and my little grumpy bear. "This will make us both feel better. Some fresh air, some time outside together," lalalalalala into dreamland, despite the now pig manure and vanillaroma scented car, I go. About 3/4 of the way to the orchard, I look in the mommy mirror, and guess what? Little bear cub is asleep. Out like a light. So my romantic trip to the orchard, even though it ended in a perfect apple turnover, (ok TWO apple turnovers), ended up with me leaving Brighton and my poop laden dog in the car while I picked apples up off the ground from the brown leafed, frost bitten tree and eventually chose two medium sized pumpkins that they had picked from the field and were sitting outside the Orchard Store. Bright did eventually wake up and we went inside to pay for our apples and our pumpkins, and we returned to the vehicle with 10 lbs of apples and 2 warm apple turnovers. Right before we headed to Animal Kingdom to give Feebee a much needed bath.

Hell Hath No Fury...

Like an exhausted Toddler. So, it's my fault, I know that, for not giving Brighton enough time for naps when he needs them. I've put what I've needed to do ahead of him getting the rest that I know he needs. So, tonight, I get home and try to gingerly bring the sleeping bear into the house, in heels, walking over dogs and cats - the plan being to lay the baby in his crib to drift into dreamland while I did the chores. Yeah Right. I walk in the door, trip over the dog who is laying in the middle of the hallway (of course, because there is no other place in the house to lay...) and almost fall as I twist my ankle in my heels and fall against the wall, waking up the baby. Great. So I put said baby in said crib so I can do my chores and all the while listen to the whails and sobs. Finally I am done with chores and grab freaking out baby and proceed to the bedroom to change my clothes and get out of the dangerous heels. Finally we make it out to the kitchen where I attempt (foolish me) to feed my son who by this time has bags the size of double d's under his eyes who then swats the food away from him, turns his head towards the Tele which isn't on and shoves his sippy cup off his tray to the ground. Finally, I manage to coax the cub to eat some macaroni and cheese. When he is done, I take him from his highchair and set him in the living room in front of his toys and (haha) attempt to clean the mess in the kitchen. Well, all the rest of the night, he's throwing magazines in between reading books, slapping me in the face, I try like a fool to give him a time out for one minute. He thinks this is hilarious. Finally I grab "The Baby Book" by Doctor Sears and furitively search for "time out" and "discipline". All I get is a chapter on how wrong I've been doing things when it comes to discipline and how I need to study how I handle stress (HUH!? YEAH WELL BUDDY, I'm not a good example for that but I'm all he's got at this moment...) so I take a couple of deep breaths, oji breathing, pick up the overtired toddler, toss the book aside, and attempt to manhandle Baby to sleep...It almost works! But he's fighting it, so finally I put him in his crib and lock the dog in with him. LOL that's the funny part. All is well, until dog (feebee) shakes her head and the tags on her collar wake up the sleeping bear. Now he is fast asleep on the bed and I've escaped yet again to post this painful blog for your entertainment.

Ya do whatcha gotta do...

Sometimes, I've learned, you have to relent and give in to a toddlers' insatiable need for discovery and making a mess. No, this isn't a repeat of the spagettio fiasco. For some reason, Brighton found my purse particularly interesting tonight. Perhaps it was because I pulled him off the table three thousand, seven hundred twenty two times tonight, or perhaps it was because he just figured out the zipper, or maybe it was the lure of danger in messing with my expensive wallet, checkbook cover and business card holder. In any case, he found my purse terribly interesting. I'd read about finding various coins in baby poo, but I never really believed it. Until tonight. Brighton painstakingly pulled out every loose coin in my purse, laid it on the floor, then one by one put them in his mouth and took them out again. I'm not sure if I'm missing any, I think I got them all, and I don't think he likes the taste of copper. Next he found a tootsie roll wrapper from fall of 2005 and began mouthing it. Lastly, he found a starbucks straw wrapper (imagine that) that is still laying in 1/4 inch pieces all over the floor. But hey, I got supper made, the critters fed, the dishes put away and finished up handwashing some. So I guess it all works out right?

Day Four - Asking

Just a quick update, this morning, I asked Brighton if he was sleepy and wanted to go to his bed to go sleepy. He looked up at me and enthusiastically shook his head "YES". So I put him in his bed, tucked him in, gave him his puppy and away to dream land he did go! YAY! If I would have known how EASY it was, I would have done this months ago...

Playing in the leaves at Dubuque Campground

Bedroom Drama - Day Three - Great Surprises

Well, it's day three and the big boy is doing great in his own bed! He is napping right now - in his bed - and has been for over 2 hours. Last night as he was getting tired, I decided to put him in his bed until we were ready for bed, and VIOLA! He fell asleep! AWWWW my boy is growing up! But mom isn't 100% ready to relenquish that safety net at night, so when I was ready for bed I went and got him. No it didn't wake him up and it obviously hasn't discouraged him from sleeping in there for naptime.

Naptimes are no longer a fight for me!!! Why WHY WHY didn't I do this sooner?!?! Will keep you updated.

Tried to give Brighton tuna and noodles lastnight, hoping that he would eat the tuna. Nope. Ate the noodles and picked out the tuna and put it back on his plate. DADGUMIT!

We've also had to start putting the chairs on top of the table. My little boy is a monkey in a boy suit. He will climb ANYTHING. I see in my future many trips to the emergency room...better stock up on bandaids now.

Bedroom Drama - Day Two

It's DAY TWO and guess what? I tried and tried to get Brighton to take a nap this morning. Finally I figured out he was hungry. So he ate lunch, I gave him some benadryl to help his stuff nose (1/2 of a dose) and tried to get him to sleep again. After fussing about for, oh, 20 minutes, I got fed up and said "Ok kid, guess it's time to just let you figure it out on your own." And I put him in his bed, and following the pediatric nurses advice, I shut the door, waited to hear the cry, looked at the clock the minute it started. "ok in 10 minutes I'll go back in and soothe him". NOT NEEDED! He cried for about 1 minute then silence...HE'S ASLEEP! IN HIS OWN BED! YAY! Ok, the benadryl MAY have contributed, but whatever works! :)

Independance Hall

There are certain things that little boys still need their mommies for. Cooking a healthy supper, giving them baths, washing their clothes, dressing them. There are certain things that pose a challenge for a little boy and his mother. Say, for instance, the sudden disgust of meat. Of any kind. No matter how little mom makes the meat, no matter how much it gets smooshed, smashed, squished, blended in, disguised, the boy finds it - even the tiniest molecular piece, and spits it out into his hand and gives it back. Now, I'm a rational woman. I know that this is a phase and he will outgrow it, then possibly grow back into it again when he gets a bit older, then grow out of it again. That doesn't make it any easier to catch a slimed, chewed (sometimes) piece of chili in my hand. And it certainly doesn't make washing his clothes or hands much easier either.

Then there's nap time. Do you watch Super Nanny? You've seen those horrific images of families who have had their children sleeping in their bed since birth, and then all of a sudden, super nanny intervenes and puts that to a screeching (literally) halt. Super nanny tells a poor exhausted mother that she needs to put the baby to sleep in his or her own bed, then sit there and listen to baby cry, without looking at baby or acknowledging that baby is wailing until he or she is about ready to burst a blood vessel. When baby stands up, mom is supposed to silently and gently lay baby back down, then resume her position in the rocking chair or on the floor next to baby. Then after several exhausting hours, baby finally falls asleep (duh) and mom sneaks out and sleeps happily (uh huh - more like sobs herself to sleep feeling so guilty about her baby's broken heart and blood vessels that she can't stop weeping) in her own bed without her child. Well let me tell you. Yes, Brighton sleeps in our bed at night. Yes, you heard right. We share a family bed. Or co-sleep or whatever you want to call it. Which is fine, we all enjoy it. But the bad habit I would like to break is the one where I have to lay with him to nap. And if he wakes up (which he inevitably will) 1/2 hour into his nap, and I'm not there, he comes a pat pating out to where ever I am, sobbing and snotty. So today, I try this Super Nanny gig. It worked, kind of. He cried for about 1/2 hour on and off, until he finally fell asleep, in his own bed. I sat there for a while, waiting for him to wake, and when he didn't, I snuck out to finish working on the computer. After a little while, he started crying. So I went in, gave him a quick hug and kiss, and laid him back down and took my respective spot in the rocking chair. He quickly fell back asleep, then Dad came in asking about something. I answered in a whisper, he motioned that he couldn't hear me. I said it again, a little louder but still in a whisper. Still couldn't hear me. I responded again, in a slightly louder whisper, then it happened. CRYING. UGH! "GET OUT" I mouthed to my husband. I tried and tried to lay him back down but to no avail. So instead, I got him out of the bed, put his coat and shoes on and we went outside to help daddy with the pond. Yes, he was happy, tired, but happy. Fell asleep about 6:30 (after "eating" his supper described above) and off we go. Needless to say, yes, Brighton will be back in our "family bed" tonight, but we'll try the Super Nanny gig again tomorrow for nap time, so long as I can hold out.

Breaking Golden Rules

I broke a very important "golden rule" of parenting lastnight. One that they tell you in the hospital right after your child is born, one that the ped tells you every time you go in for a check up for the first 12 months of your childs life, one that every seasoned parent warns you of not breaking, even people without children and dogs seem to know this rule. A rule that, if not followed can lead to hours of heartache and headaches. I woke Brighton up to eat supper. **GASP** Yes, I did. Even Andrew was terrified at the prospect. And at first, he was very tired, tossing his sippy cup aside, slamming his hands on his tray. Then he ate a pea. Then another. Then he decided, hey, I might just be hungry. And all was well. I guess sometimes rules are made to be broken, but no one will ever tell you that they did it. Except blogging mothers.

Two Glorious Days

Well, it's been two glorious days without the news. I have no idea what is going on. I hear blips and blurps here and there, but I don't keep the stations on long enough to really hear it. And, it's terribly peaceful without the tele on at all.

Starting next Monday, I'm going back to Yoga. Janel probably thinks I've deserted her sessions, but I haven't. Really. I think about them every Monday and Wednesday. I just can't get myself to go. Probably part of this funk that I'm going through.

Bright and I went to Panera's today to visit with "the gang". We had a showing this morning at 8 (or was it 8:30?) and so I loaded up the dogs and brighton and we left for the morning. Though I ended up at Panera's, then to Barnes and Noble (Old Navy wasn't open yet) then to Old Navy, then to Von Maur, then to Baby Gap, a brief stint at The Gap, on to Sears then back to Von Maur and then to Fareway for ground beef for the meatloaf I'm making for supper. Brighton was his usual entertaining self. Flirting with the ladies and talking stocks with all the men.

Now for the last three hours, he's been meandering around the house catching up on all the floor time he missed this morning as the bags under his eyes grow ever-so-much darker. Yes, I can tell he's tired but he just won't give in. So I do. I figure he'll just poop himself out and eventually fall asleep in the middle of the floor curled up next to the dog or something. Or perhaps he'll just fall asleep here in my lap as I type. Either way, at least I can say he's got a nap in today...

One More Thing - 30 ways to eat a pumpkin

Thought you might like to know thirty ways to eat a pumpkin. If I'm not terrified of botchulism, I might try the pumpkin pancakes. (from Yahoo! Buzz Log on The Buzz)

"When trick-or-treaters hit the streets at the end of this month, they will be winked at and jeered by a nation of flickering Jack O'Lanterns. Already, buzz on "pumpkin carving" has spiked 130%, while searches on pumpkin stencils, patterns, and pictures have rustled upwards.
But there's another stage where autumn's thick-skinned fruit plays a more nourishing, if unsung, role—and that's at the kitchen table. Sure, everyone snacks on roasted pumpkin seeds and digs into pumpkin pie at this time of year. But when's the last time you sank your spoon into a finely wrought pumpkin Crème Brulee? Or woke to a steaming plate of pumpkin pancakes? Whether you have or haven't, we're sure you'll find something new to devour in this list of the top 30 pumpkin recipes, as cooked up by Search...
Pumpkin Recipes
Pumpkin Pie
Pumpkin Cookies
Pumpkin Bread
Pumpkin Soup
Pumpkin Seeds
Pumpkin Cheesecake
Pumpkin Muffins
Pumpkin Roll Recipe
Pumpkin Cake
Canned Pumpkin Recipes
Pumpkin Pancakes
Pumpkin Bars Recipe
Pumpkin Jam
Pumpkin Dip
Pumpkin Spice Cake
Pumpkin Butter Recipe
Pumpkin Spice Coffee
Pumpkin Ice Cream
Pumpkin Brownies
Pumpkin Cream Cheese Roll
Pumpkin Dump Cake
Pumpkin Ale
Pumpkin Desserts
Pumpkin Cupcakes
Pumpkin Crème Brulee
Pumpkin Chocolate Chip Cookies
Pumpkin Ravioli Recipe
Pumpkin Fudge
Pumpkin Beer "

A Day of Bad News...

So is it just me seriously, or is the world going to hell in a handbasket. Or in a $5000.00 Fendi Bag nowadays. Really. I'm not sure if it's hormones (maybe I am pregnant...) or what but I can't shake all this bad ratatatat today! Just before I go to bed tonight, I hear on the news about a little boy, 2 years old I think, Maxamillion is his name, who got ran over in his driveway by a family friend. Sure, an accident, but CRIPES! All I can do is empathize with the mother and think of what that poor sweet child must have been thinking if he was consious at all. What if that were Brighton? I wouldn't be able to function. I know I can't think like that but I can't help it. That's it. For all of our sakes and for the sake of this blog which is turning into gloom and doomdom, I'm swearing off the news! I'll do one even better, the only tele I'm watching nowadays is PBS during the day anytime between 8 and 3 is generally OK) and Lost and Desperate Housewives, even though the ladder is getting a bit iffy too. Oh, and maybe Extreme Makeover Home Edition. That gives me a little hope that there's good out there still. There. I feel better already. Sort of. I suppose I should wrap this up and get to bed. But before I do, I'll end on a good note.

Today while i was nursing Bright, I had a tickle in my throat and so I turned my head away from him (but he could still see my profile) and coughed. He pulled off, looked up at me, and coughed - an obviously fake cough. THen back to what he was doing. The pulled off again, coughed, and back again. I think he did this four or five times. He even had the tongue motion correct. What a hoot that boy is. I've got our lederhosen and suitcase set aside just incase we decide to get that one way ticket to Norway. I could still Blog in Norway, right?

Anxious Crazies

It was a normal wake up this morning. About 7:30 I hear bits and pieces of words, silly noises and see my sweet lovely boy greeting me. Then I turn on the Tele. That was my first mistake. First I hear about freako Kim Jung Il testing nuclear weapons off of the N Korea shore despite everyone in the free world, including China, asking them not to. And of course, the media encorporates their view of everything, "when will the N. Koreans strike the U.S.?" I'm sure this kept terrified viewers tuned in to their channel. So I switch. To another lovely story with Meridith on channel 7. There I see Donald Trump and some other wealthy looking fellow telling us that the middle class is disappearing (big surprise) and you'll be either rich or poor, why not choose rich? And in order to do that, of course, you have to buy their new book. Do we look stupid? Apparently. So I wake up happy to see my beautiful, happy, innocent boy and twenty minutes later, I have a hole in my gut brewing with fear and anxiety about becomming poor and not being able to feed my child unless I come up with some cooky idea that all the rich will want or write a book on how to become FILL IN THE BLANK and worrying about the present and future safety of my child. The first thing that comes to my mind is "Grab some lederhosen and move to Norway."

Growing Up

Our boy is growing up. Yesterday out of the blue, he decided to stand up on his own. I told you before that he did this without him knowing it a couple weeks ago, but yesterday he knew EXACTLY what he was doing! And he did it on "command". PERFORM MONKEY! is what I call it. We just asked him to "stand up!" and he did it! Then he started walking while holding only one hand. He looks a bit like he's drunk, but that's OK. Rest assured, we've not given him alcohol.

Last Friday we went to Coralridge Mall for their family night. I didn't know that they had a free family night on the last Friday of each month! But I know now! You can get into the Children's Museum free (usually $5 EACH for adults and kids over 1) and free carousel rides from 5-9...Or is it 7-9? Regardless, it was free and tons of fun! Andrew couldn't believe that I went to the mall and didn't buy anything. Skeptic.
That Friday night happened also to be the eve of the big Ohio state / University of Iowa football game, so we got a surprise visit from Herkey! Brighton wasn't sure what to think. I've cleverly photoshopped the majority of myself out of the photo...what you can't see is Brighton's white nuckle grasp on my shirt holding on for dear life incase that big bird like thing decided to eat him!

In the middle of the night . . .

. . . What do I hear, or feel, a little boy tickling my feet, and laughing. The worst fear at 12:17 a.m., he is going to stay up all night. Luckily he fell right back to sleep.

Dad

Tickle Tickle Giggle Giggle

Brighton's new thing is tickling...everyone. Not even the dogs are safe anymore. And you are obligated to laugh because Daddy and Mommy have spent hours giggling for him when he "tickles" you. An no place is safe either, I might mention. He's tickled our noses, our hair, our feet, our legs, our bellies, our armpits, you name it he's tickled it. It really is the cutest thing ever, well, next to his giggling fits that he now has. I think it's somehow connected to the tickling and the fake laughing that mommy and daddy do, but I'm not sure. He will look at something and giggle. The cat cracks him up, the dog (when she's not puking in the middle of the night) gets tickled then he giggles when she moves her head. It's pretty cute.

Brighton had his 16 month birthday and still is not walking. I am told that this is still normal for this age. Sometimes it just takes a bit longer, and they usually don't look into any physical problems until after 18 months. We went to the orchard on Wednesday and while we were in the gourd patch, unbenounced to him, he stood all on his own. For like 15 seconds. Twice. The trick is not letting him know it. It's like he doesn't want to do it because he's afraid he will fall. He'll do it if he knows he won't fall. But until then, he's still cruising and crawling and of course, climbing. But right now, he's napping, which is why I have a second to blog :)

Toddlers revert back to our cromagnon ancestery

Who needs to discover ancient bones and buried fossils to figure out we were once uncivilized and beastly? Just eat a bowl of spagettios with a 15 month old. DUH! Mom's for thousands of years could have told you we came from a priomordial being and their genes are still alive and well in our mini-mes. We started out well enough with a nice clean spoon and a piece of buttered bread. Eventually, the bread became a mangle of yeast and flour and the butter somehow had reached the top of my head. But we were still holding strong to the spoon. Until, that is, the said toddler decided that he MUST hold the spoon and feed himself. He was not backing down, so mom gave in with a shudder. I'm not sure how (or if) I avoided airborne spagettios in tomato sauce but he finally released the spoon and dug in with his fingers. That's where the fun began. I, being of unsound mind, decided to sit on my hands and observe this odd behavior. He began to eat the spagettios one by one...I thought to myself "Good Lord, how can he live like that?!" As his color reddened (or more like oranged) on his face, hands, bib, hair, he started to get creative. He'd gently adjust the O's on his plate until the image suited him. Then he'd move the bowl they were in to the other side of his tray. Then to the opposite side. Then back again. Then he'd take out a few more, eat one here or there, and repeat. It wasn't until after about 1/2 hour it dawned on me that he may want to do this with other foods. I heard the door open and daddy walked in. I finished my lunch and ran away leaving dad to clean up the mess. DON'T JUDGE ME! This was fun for baby but I needed a break...I do have to add one more thing. I may get frustrated by the dogs being underfoot and insisting on licking the baby, but this was one day I was very happy they were around.

Mother Nature

Or maybe it's survival of the fittest....either way, mother nature sure knows what she's doing. She can be cruel, but she can also be terribly kind. Though she doesn't allow for children never to get sick, she allows for child to get sick, then become well while mommy is sick. (Yes, Bright had some kind of crud last week and now I've got the same kind of crud but he is well and handled his illness much better than I.) It's still not easy chasing around a toddler when you're not feeling up to par, but it's a whole lot easier than trying to appease a sick toddler when you are sick. Mother nature is also kind in that she at the same time allows for a tennis ball obsessed dog and a toddler who learns to toss the ball all at once. No more picking up slimey tennis balls. Hey, the kid is slimey anyway, so what the heck.

Brighton has not only learned the art of making the dog chase after a tennis ball, he has also learned to answer "yes" by nodding his head when we ask him questions. "Do you need your diaper changed?" "yes." "Are you hungry?" "yes." "Are you sleepy?" "yes." Now, he hasn't learned "No" very well just yet, but we get the idea that he is no longer hungry when he starts spitting his food out of his mouth or throwing the fork with noodles still attached directly at your head.

AaaaaaaCHOOOO!

It's been so long since I've posted, I almost forgot my password and username! SHEESH! We're all suffering today (this whole week) with allergies. Though the Linn County Air Quality website says the ragweed and pollen count are moderate to low, this is the first time this season I've experienced such horrible symptoms. And I'm not alone! Andrew and Brighton have also been miserable. Even the dog is miserable. At first I thought it was just Brighton teething, but now I think it's a combination of both teething and this rotten pollen. And to make matters worse, we have all of our windows open so even if we closed them up, the spores are in our house...ugh. As you can see by the time of this post (2:51 AM) I can't sleep because I can't breathe. Thank goodness Brighton learned last week how to blow his nose and wipe his nose. Now we just have to master actually using a tissue. But hey, it's a start!

Brighton's four teeth still haven't come through yet. Poor kid. He can't just get one or two at a time he has to get them all at the same time. So now he's got a double snotty nose from allergies and from teeth.

Bright started a new Day Care a few weeks ago and things seem to be going good so far. I get the feeling they really work with him and he seems to have caught on to a few things since being there. He now gives me kisses with his mouth puckered and his nose all squished up and makes that "mmmmmmuoah" sound. It is the cutest thing ever. He's still not keen on performing for people but we still try. He has also just discovered ears. Mine, Daddy's, his, puppy's, yours if you give him the chance :)

Just a quick house update, no we haven't heard anything from our realtor regarding the last showing, two weeks ago. You know, the one we spent two days cleaning for? It's so discouraging. I was hoping we'd be able to hand out candy this year at our own house. We're thinking of dropping the price a bit too. I don't know that much is moving right now anyway. There are some houses here in Mc Ville that have been sitting for over a year. That doesn't make me feel any better...

Well, I better be off. My tissue (a strip of toilet paper) is getting pretty slimey, so I better go change and take some more sudafed...

Have a good week everyone!

Labor Day Weekend Indeed!

This was one crazy weekend for the Oberbrecklings. We planned for Saturday to be busy, but not the rest of the weekend! While the boys (Andrew and my Uncle Tom) were working hard putting tile down on their front patio, the girls (my Aunt Sally and I) and BRighton went to the last farmer's market downtown, then to Sam's. We had a nice day of shopping. While on our excursion, I got a phone call from our realtor. "Someone wants to see the house on Tuesday at 3:00, make everything perfect!" He continued to tell me that the buyer is from Southern Iowa and is sending someone to "preview" it. And from what he could tell, it would be a cash sale. How do you argue with that? So for the last two days, literally, we have been cleaning this house. Not just cleaning but decluttering. Something we should have done months ago. I should also say that since we got back from Cali, we haven't TOUCHED this house, less vaccuuming, cleaning the bathroom and dusting occasionally. We were so disappointed that the last sale didn't go through that we had given up. Well, we're not holding our breath for this one either but we are holding out a little hope...Now lets see if we can keep our house this clean and nice!

Enough about Brighton's family life. Here's some new things he's doing! Tom and Sally got him a new Radio Flyer trike that has a nice little handle for mom or dad to steer. I believe its' referred to as a "co-pilot" feature. It's REALLY cool! And naturally, he loves it! We took a stroll at Tom and Sal's house a couple of times, then when we got home, daddy took him around the yard while I made supper.

He's teething again. Getting four more we thing that are causing him a lot of grief. Snotty nose, sore gums, sometimes a bad attitude (but that's probably just his mom's genes coming out). He's not very good about performing for people. I ask him where his nose is and he just looks at me like "nose? What nose?" But I suppose I'd better get used to that huh? This morning, he decided to getup at 4:55. Mom was up stressing, Dad had just gotten up and so he must have been cold lying in bed all by himself. But he woke up in a good mood, so that's a good start. Well, I better go get some coffee in me before I fall asleep on the keyboard. We have a big day ahead!

Have a great short week!

My house was clean two minutes ago, sorry you missed it.

As I sit here writing, I hear the "bang! bang! bang!" of the cupboard doors. A toddlers attempt to either annoy us enough so that we will actually open them or venting his frustration that we won't let him get in to play with all the fun things like oh, stoneware, cutting boards etc. Imagine if you will, a wild man who desperately needs to use a restroom on a door that is locked. He pulls and pulls and pulls on the door until he gets himself in such a state that the yanking of the handles has become habit and a way to unleash his pain. Yes, this image is equal to Brighton's frustration, minus the potty part (he can do that in his pants) replace it instead with curiosity. It simply drives this little boy.

curiosity seems to also equal climbing on EVERYTHING. And I do mean everything. If he had pointier ears I would swear he was part "kitty". The other thing that seems to be a favourite toddler past time is following behind mommy after she's just picked up 5008 books and put them in their rightful places and pulling them back out onto the floor. I think today, collectively, I've done this 38 times. Then there's the wooden train. It was so romantic of me to think, while I was pregnant of course, of my little boy calmly pushing his toy train around the room. **ENTER DREAM SEQUENCE** Gently he would take the blocks off of the train and because he was so brilliant and calm, he would replace them exactly where they were when the toy was purchased. Then he would return to his gentle play. Perhaps, even, taking a much cherished stuffed bear and hugging it to sleep after giving mommy and daddy a kiss on the cheek **SMACK YOURSELF BACK INTO REALITY!**...Ok that last part was pretty corny...But you get the idea. Oh no romantic fantasies here. The minute mom or dad puts the train back together again, he briskly pulls off every block until the poor wooden spokes are again naked. I'm not sure where the blocks disappear to but we've lost almost one per day since we bought the train this past weekend.

Does this give us some kind of insight to my son's future character? In what job does a person rip things apart just for the pure joy of it, but not assemble them back together again? The only things that cross my mind are past episodes of CSI Las Vegas. I suppose I should give him a little time since he really is only 15 months old and is not going to get a job for at least another 15 years and not go to college for at least 16. OK, 17 but still. I guess so long as he's not stabbing goldfish or drowning neighborhood cats I need not worry...(don't worry, he would never do such a thing. He makes it abundantly clear that he loves all of his pets and would never stab them and it's hard to drown a fish...)

By the way, he has learned where his nose is, where mummy's nose is, where daddies nose is, where his feet are (where his shoes go), and where his teeth are. He also enjoys giving us very slobbery kisses. I'm trying to teach him Euro kisses (cheek to cheek) but he has yet to master it.

4:00 AM

Well, here I am again at 4 AM unable to sleep. My son and my husband sleeping peacfully in bed while I toss and turn thinking about one stupid thing after another. Why doesn't this happen when I DON'T have to work the next day?

Anyway, Brighton is starting to mudder out some audible words. I know he can recognize and associate words that we say (better watch that language mom!) but I had yet to confirm that he actually understands what we're saying. The other day I swear he said as I was changing him and he hadn't had his first nap yet "mom sleepy". Sally and Tom swear he was saying his name Bri-ton. And when asked where his shoes go and where his toes are, he points to his feet. He also really loves his new pet "feeshees" (two betta fish, one is named "SPOT" the other dubbed "BOB") How cute is that? I think he's also been saying "thirsty" which comes out a bit more like "datty" don't ask me how I know this I just do.

Brighton also has some new fascinations. One being his belly button. And everyone elses belly button. He's infatuated with trucks, or tractors, or anything with big wheels. His new most favorite toy is none other than a big cardboard box with "windows" cut out.
He also has a new bestest buddy...You can barely see her in the photo but that's Brighton laying on Feebee in Dad's chair. I was working on the computer yesterday and didn't hear anything so I went to check on him and this is what I found. I had to literally tip toe back into the sunroom to grab the camera.


We have a new visitor whom I thought was just coming to see us out of the curiosity of our human lived inside this big box called a house. Saturday morning a squirrel decided to peer unscrupiously into our kitchen window. Of course, Andrew noticed him first and he scared the daylights out of Andrew. He immediately presumed the squirrel was rabid, which I assured him the squirrel probably was not. Turns out, he was just eating my petunias in the windowboxes on the deck...so I left him three of my prized pecans and bought a squirrel feeder which I still have to fill with corn.

A Day at the Park

Brighton and I decided to have a picnic at the park. I loaded up some lunch, packed up his Radio Flyer and off we went to the park! Brighton ended up eating a green acorn (we sat under an oak tree), heaven only knows how many bugs, grass, and his sandwich, cheese, cheddar rice cakes, some of my potato chips that he commondeered, and that's about it...that I know of. As you can see from the photos, he really enjoyed drinking from the water bottle. He attempted at several times to steal the straw from my soda. We had a good time. We went to the swing set afterwards to swing for a little while. HE really enjoyed that, especially when mom got her big buns into the swing next to him. He giggled and giggled.

When we came home, we were both pretty whiped and hot. So we decided to hop into the shower to cool off. Almost immediately upon removing his diaper, he stood up by the tub and peed on it! Great, this is the start of something isn't it? So he took a bath, I took a shower. When we finished, I took him into the bedroom to put his diaper back on and get him ready for his nap. Before I could grab the diaper, he looked down at his boy parts as if something curious was about to happen. Then it came. The spray of baby urine soaking my just cleaned bedspread. "No no no!!!" GREAT! So I quickly put the diaper on (backwards first eventually the right way) then proceeded to fold laundry while he wore himself out crawling around the floor. Back to the predatory behaviors of toddlers. It was useless to try to fold the laundry, so I pitched what was left of it back into the basket and nursed the little turkey to sleep.

Yoga and Toddlers don't mix

This morning I attempted to perform my "spine release" TRI yoga routine. I knew it would be difficult with the little man roaming free, but I had no idea. As I was in child pose after another particularly difficult pose I chose to forget about , focusing on my ooji breathing I hear "CRASH!" I break my relaxation to look up at my one year old climbing his favorite, mount end table, and tossing the equivalent of a flag, the lamp, off the table. I pause my video. Check to make sure nothing is broken, and remove said toddler from the end table.

Back to natural breath and natural seat and completion mudra. Beginning cobra, I lie flat on the ground, face down, as I begin cobra one (just lifting chest using back strength). Triumph. Toddler is somewhere playing with toys. I return on exhale to face to floor, and begin cobra one and go into cobra two. Toddler sees me doing this and thinks "hey, I'll just go see what she's doing". I hear the faint "plop plop plop" of quick toddler hands against the floor then as I ascend into cobra, I can hear and feel several of my bang hairs being pulled out by sticky little hands who love the feel of the yoga mat. I breathe through the immediate pain. Then, I see (and feel) slobbery, spitty, wet raspberries in my face. Complete with a huge grin. OK, I had to giggle. So after much crawling in and out and under and over me while in different poses, I decide that Yoga is apparently as much fun for a toddler as it's supposed to be exercise for mom. But wait, there's more. I'm attempting to be in total relaxation, arms outstretched in the "t" position, legs straight out, hands in ohm madra, starting to feel relaxed when all of a sudden, I feel...oh how do I put this gently...hm...well, let's just say Brighton wanted a bit of a drink. (I didn't mention that I didn't bother to wear a bra under my t-shirt, not thinking). Needless to say, I didn't quite end my yoga at home session with total relaxation, but I did leave it with a bit of a giggle.

Silliness & Disappointment

Well that's a fun title huh? Well I'll start off with the bad news. We got an offer on our house before we left for San Diego. YAY! Then when we come back, we found that they couldn't get financing for our house without at least 5% down. So they can't buy the house. They want it badly, but can't come up with $2500! We're not talking $10,000 or even $5000. $2500! Well, I can't judge. I don't know that when Andrew and I were first married we could come up with that money either. At least not without borrowing it. We even offerred to loan them the money but the banks wouldn't go for that either. So we're back at square one and the people who we were hoping to buy the house from is going to list it with a realtor. So that house will go fast if we don't figure something out. There is some light at the end of the tunnel however. One of the kids that used to work for Luke (Big Luke) is looking for someplace to rent. So if worse comes to worse we have that option.

On with the funnies.

Last night Brighton learned how to give raspberries. He learned on my boob while nursing. He thinks it's terribly funny and I suppose we do'nt help when we laugh at him. Well, it is pretty funny. I am hoping to be able to record the sound. We got a video of it but that will not be released due to it's graphic nature. haha.

Leaving San Diego Breezy

Our last day in San Diego was a doozey! We hit Balboa Park and the Zoo in the same day. It was hot today, but not as hot as it has been thank goodness. I'm really glad that this is our last day because showing my face at Balboa again would be very difficult as I seemed to have ripped my pants right up the back and have NO idea when it happened. Well, I heard them rip, but had no idea it was as bad as it was. Good god. of all places, SAN FREAKING DIEGO CALIFORNIA! Why not, oh I don't know, Mineral Point Wisonsin or Marquette? COME ON! Well, here's the lovely photo. Needless to say, these pants are going into the garbage, they've failed me.

Brighton had a good time at the zoo despite the fact that he has been exhausted and hot for the last week. He especially liked the girraffes and elephants. He liked the pandas, but not as much as mom. I'll upload those photos when we get home. Until then, goodnight and God Bless.

Sittin' in San Diego

Here we are in beautiful San Diego, sitting in our hotel room on a SATURDAY NIGHT! Well, we did have a big day. I finally got a day to myself and Jill, Jackie and I went to the Swap Meet and Brighton and Daddy went to Pacific Beach. Then we came back here and had to jump into the pool. It has been terribly hot here, hotter than usual according to the locals. I think we were all dehydrated the first couple of days then finally got ourselves back to normal, then yesterday and today wiped it all out. It was a scorcher! This afternoon, we went to the Marston House in Balboa Park. It's a 1900 (1909 I believe) Arts and Crafts home. Mr. Marston was a business man and one of the men who was very instrumental in creating Balboa Park in San Diego. Anyway, the house is incredible. We lucked out and got in on the last tour of the day. Literally. We were the last three people there. Someone was holding a wedding in the formal garden. So many beautiful places to get married in San Diego! Then we went to eat at a new cafe on Adam Street in Jill and Jason's neck of the woods. It was great. Brighton and I shared salmon patties and Dad had calimari fettuccini. Blech. No squid for me, thanks. But the scallops were good! So that brings us back here. Bright was SO tired this afternoon. He didn't get much of a nap it sounds, and he had a bit of a nap after we went swimming but we woke him back up to go to balboa park. So he was at his wits end at the cafe. So we decided not to go see the sun set on PB and just came back to the hotel (after stopping at Starbucks). But we all need a restful night I think. Andrew fell asleep on the couch shortly after lying down, and thanks to Guatamalen blend brew, I'm still awake enough to blog.