"Mermaid Mama, Mermaid"

This is what I hear everyday. And not just once a day, but three or four times a day. Dylan wants to watch The Little Mermaid over and over and over again. She loves this movie. For awhile it was Cinderella. She only wanted Cinderella. Then we moved on to Mickey's House of Villians (a nice Halloween movie in the middle of July). Now, it's "Mermaid."

It's my own fault I'm sure. I'm not sure why it's my fault, but I'm sure it is. Movies started out as a morning bonus, or an after dinner treat, but I think I've created a monster. Notice I say "I've created a monster" because it's me that's home with her and me that let's her watch the movies most often. So I'm banking on the fact that her love for movies is my fault.

Note to self: Spend more time in the basement where you don't know how to turn on the movies, and the "love" should fade.

Again notice that I'm trying to say Dylan has a love for movies instead of that dreaded "A" word -- addiction. I've learned some very important things while writing this blog and I think the one that is slapping me in the face is that my child has some serious addictions. Coke, computers and "D's" (that's Dylan's way of saying DVD). None of these inspire a lot of imagination or outdoor play, but then again, who wants to be outdoors when it's record-breaking heat for a record number of days in a row??? I suppose I'll let these addictions slide a while longer until it cools down and we can start going to the park and spending more time outdoors.

But back to "Mermaid." I love watching this movie with Dylan. She loves the music and dances in constant, counter-clockwise circles with each song. ALWAYS counter-clockwise circles. Arms are in the air swinging with the music as well. This isn't my favorite part though. My favorite part about this movie comes during the first couple of scenes when Ariel and Flounder are chased by the shark. The music is intense and there is a lot of loud, snapping shark teeth. But Dylan's reaction to it all is the best. She runs to whoever is in the room with a pout on her face and says over and over and over again, "It karry mama, it karry." This is her whining voice telling me "It's scary."

Every time we watch this movie, this happens. Every time. How many times does a child have to watch this movie to understand that, yes, the shark is chasing them, but not to worry because every time they get away???

Now just to show you what great parents we are, Todd played this portion of the movie repeatedly (with Dylan strapped in her booster seat) just so he could get Dylan's reaction on film for all of you. Notice that even though she know's it's scary, she still can't seem to take her eyes off the screen.

Isaac is 9 months old!

Can you believe it? I feel like he's just getting so big! But, I must say, that just isn't true. So many people have said how huge he is, and that he's just a fatso and that he's a tank. And for sure, I agreed. But the dr. confirmed today that it isn't the case at all.

We learned at his appointment that he is well under the 50% mark for all measurements. ALL of them. He even lost weight from his 6 month appointment. Granted, he is definitely more mobile now, but regardless, he's trimmer and slimmer than he was just 3 short months ago.

In the last few days Isaac has started to learn to do so much more. He sits up on his own now (not an easy feat with all that weight) and he learned how to pull himself onto his knees in his crib. The crib didn't get lowered until the following night and Isaac figured out in one short day that if he screamed enough during nap time, I would run in and get him because I worried that he would fall out.

Isaac is even moving around quite a bit. Dylan is learning that she has to move her toys to higher ground or else Isaac will get them and they'll end up in his mouth. The upside: she's also learned that if she wants what he has, she can give him anything else as a substitute and she can take back what she wants.

Here are his new numbers: 27 3/4" long (only growing a 1/2"), 18 lbs. 4 oz. (6 ounces lighter) and a head circumference of 44" (that's only growing a 1/4 inch). Not to shabby for our little guy. Either way, he's right on target as far as his development is concerned. And the dr. even said he can start eating almost anything now.

It looks like we're one step closer to putting away the bottles and baby food...almost.

Detecting an Early Addiction (and no, it's not Coke)

Anyone who knows Todd, knows he loves his computer. Whether it's one of the three in his office, the laptop we keep upstairs or his work laptop, he spends plenty of time on the computer. Oh yeah, have I mentioned he's on his computer all day long at work and that our laptop at home can connect to either of his computers downstairs or my computer in my craft room?? And if you're not counting, that is a total of 6 computers in our house.

Yes, six.

Who needs 6 computers, you ask? Apparently we do. Apparently. Don't get me wrong. I love my computer. Todd has suped it up with RAM and whatever else it needs to keep it fast and keep me from getting impatient, because let's face it, I'm impatient. But I've learned that I would be a lot more patient with computers if Todd hadn't shown me how fast they can really go. I should also admit that with how all the computers are set up to a network it oftentimes drives me crazy to figure things out.

But I do.

And Todd loves it. It's an expensive habit, (strike that) hobby, but it makes him happy, and I must say, I benefit from it as well. I should also add here, that I think Todd is addicted, and it's very possible that I am too.

But that makes sense, right? Todd's job requires him to be on the computer and his side work building websites (including multiple family sites) keeps him very busy. And between e-mail, blogging and now digital scrapbooking, I spend just as much time on the computer.

But here's the problem...our kids are starting to show early signs of addiction as well.

While the cat's away, the mice will play...

The "cat" being me and the "mice" being Todd and the kids.

I went away this weekend for a much needed and (in my opinion) deserved getaway. My mom and three sisters and I went to Scottsdale and rented a condo for two nights so we could scrapbook, shop and just enjoy some time without the kids. It was such a nice (and productive) weekend.

We left Friday afternoon and drove up to the resort and immediately sat down to start scrapping. We stayed that way most of the night too. We talked and laughed and watched High School Musical 2 and just enjoyed having no demands on us. Or, at least I did. Saturday we scrapped some more, went to the pool, shopped, went to dinner and come home to scrap again. Sunday was a little simpler. We scraped some, got packed and came home.

Each of us called home a few times to check in on our kids and how the respective dad was handling a weekend alone. Of course, I called Todd a few times too. How could I not? He needed a schedule for the kids telling him when to feed them, what to feed them, when they wake up and when they go to sleep.

Let's see, I called Saturday morning and the kids had slept until about 9:15am or so. Usually Isaac is up somewhere between 7:15 and 8:30. I talked to him that evening and he said all had gone well and they were in bed by 8 (which is their normal bedtime). I called Sunday morning on my way home (at 10:30) and woke Todd up! How in the world was he sleeping at 10:30? Apparently the entire house was. Neither of the kids were awake yet so he was still sleeping too. I told him to get them up and to feed Isaac. How could Isaac not have woken up? I still couldn't figure it out, until I got home and saw some pictures that Todd had taken.

Todd kept the kids busy during the day and it's no surprise they slept as much as they did.

Take a look:

Playing with daddy

Isaac can't even keep his eyes open long enough to drink his bottle.

And here is Dylan eating the lunch Todd made her (notice her sandwich)

All in all it looked like the kids and Todd survived the weekend. That's a good thing because now I know I can leave more often! =)

"Raising Boys"

Earlier this year I joined a book club with several women from church. Each person chooses a book and agrees to host that month's discussion of the book. We just finished our third book, and I must say, for the first time, I didn't finish this book. I did, however, go into this month's choice with a bad attitude.

The title of the book was Raising Boys and it sounded very much like a self-help book. It basically discusses exactly what the title describes, the best way to raise boys. Now, to be honest, I did try to read this book. It was only 200 pages and should have been finished in an afternoon. And to be more honest, when I did pick up the book, it was an easy read and was written with quite a bit of comic relief. My problem was, it took me forever to pick the book back up after I set it down. I would go days without reading and that's just not like me. Because of this, I never finished this book, and that's not like me either. Regardless of the book, no matter how bad it is, once I've started it, I have to finish it. Until now.

Let me take a step back though...I loathe self-help books. Those that I've read seem to say, in essence, "this is what I say, this is how it is, there is no room for discussion." I hate that! Who's to say that every circumstance is the same? Or in the case of this book, that every child and every family is the same? I must admit, this book wasn't written exactly that way, but it didn't really tell me anything that common sense hasn't already clued me into.

Major plot points: 1) Boys need a father to be involved in their lives. (Really??) 2) At some point, boys will start to mature and think about girls and all that goes with it. (I never would have guessed.) and 3) Boys' testosterone levels skyrocket and plummet many times throughout childhood and adolescence. (Makes sense to me.)

Nothing really earth shattering for me, but I went to the discussion hoping to hear something enlightening from the group of women. Obviously, I couldn't relate to a lot of the book because Isaac is only 9 months old, but I thought maybe I'd learn something from someone else's experience.

Was I ever so lucky!!!

A lady from our ward showed up to book club with an addendum to the book. She has 4 boys ranging in age from about 3-10 and decided she needed to impart her wisdom that the book didn't cover. I will forever be grateful for the knowledge Jill passed on to me. I'm interested in finding out if any of these things are true, but, oh so scared at the same time...

Here's her list:

1. Expect the unexpected


2. Superman reigns supreme


3. Provide yourself with a "safe landing" (ie., a toilet you can call your own)


4. Don't be surprised if your younger boys consider underwear optional


5. Give yourself a "double-barrier" when making phone calls. (Back to the bathroom, I find the toilet the best place because you can lock yourself into the bedroom and then once more into the bathroom thus maximizing the sound-proofing ability)


6. Sticks, poles, brooms and other harmful, unidentified objects will always become swords and guns. Just surrender and buy the toy.


7. Brooms also make good Harry-Potter Nimbus 2000's. Always keep a spare in the event the broom meets an untimely death.


8. Interest in the remote control and in video games runs on the Y-chromosome. You may see the trait begin to emerge as early as 6 months as your youngster begins to toy with the buttons and explore its saliva-enduring abilities. NOTE: We've already found this to be true.


9. Boys don't care how they "look." "Outfits" mean nothing to them, however they will probably develop a deep affinity to one or two shirts they cannot let go of.


10. Put lots of padding around the couches and beds -- in the likely event of falls.


11. Have a lot of family home evening lessons on gravity -- it's real!!! This is especially timely with you little boy discovers his superman costume does not make him fly. (refer to #2)


12. Don't keep dead animals in the fridge, especially fish you've caught. We've discovered their eyeballs might go missing.


13. Make sure you have a year's supply of bandaids.


14. Buy a video game system if you're looking for an effective bribing tool.


15. Make sure you get caller ID. Don't ever expect help with answering the phone.


16. Boys may give their mommies flowers but the "amazing" rocks you get from them are far better treasures in their eyes.

I loved this list, although I think a lot of it could work for girls too. Either way, it will be interesting to watch Isaac grow and see just what type of addendum I'll be able to make for this book. After all, the addendum seems far more realistic and should add that much more spice to our house!

Locked Doors are a Thing of the Past

It happened. It didn't even take two years. How can that be? Where did the time go and how did she manage to get all this dexterity?

I'm talking about Dylan. It feels like only yesterday that Todd was going around putting child locks on the cupboards. That was supposed to be enough.

And it was, for like, two seconds. Then, Dylan started standing up and walking. Still, not a big deal, until she was tall enough to reach the door handles. So, what do we do? We put a lock on the pantry door since that seemed to be the only door she constantly wanted to get into. Gee, I wonder why??? That actually held for quite some time. At least 6 months. At least.

But now, even the lock isn't good enough. She's figured out how to get through the lock too. It took me awhile to catch it, but here she got caught red handed (or potato chip handed???)

And here was our answer for her:

Senior Moments Already?

When I started this blog, I promised myself I would never discuss the times Todd makes me angry (because, of course, he does occasionally) and I promised I would never write anything that would embarrass him.

Those promises barely lasted a month. But don't worry, I asked if this one was okay to write about.

Last night Todd asked if there was anything I wanted to do before he left today for San Francisco. He will be gone until late tomorrow night so he wanted to get out and do something. With two small kids, there's not a lot to go out and do, but we decided ice cream sounded like a good treat. After dinner we all loaded into the car, went to McDonald's and ate our ice cream. Even Isaac loved the ice cream we gave him. After we were done, we loaded back into the car to go home so we could put the kids to bed.

On the way Isaac was extremely fussy. This just isn't like him. I turned around to check on him and noticed he had spit up some (This is so typical for him. The kid is like a fountain!). After cleaning off his chin with a rag I turned back around in my seat and see Todd holding his hand up and leaning over the steering wheel. I also noticed there was something white all over his hand, the wheel and his clothes. My first thought was how in the heck could Isaac (who sits facing the rear of the car, behind the driver seat) possibly have projectile vomited over his head and Todd's head all over the dash??

Wrong assumption on my part.

I then realized it was Todd who had lost his vanilla ice cream. After overcoming my shock I asked if he was okay, to which I got a nod, and then I asked what happened. His laughing response?

Senior moment!!

We both laughed about it the entire way home, and I was sad I didn't have my camera to add visuals to this post. Todd certainly wasn't sick, but definitely lost his ice cream.

This worries me though. Todd's only 32, waaayyy to young to have senior moments. But if that's truly the case, I can't wait to see what happens next.

Bad Mommy

I've been told (more than once) that we need to take more pictures of Isaac. After looking back on the last few posts, the pictures taken have been of Dylan, with Isaac only getting an honorable mention once.
So, today I thought I'd dedicate a post to our little boy. Here are two recent photos that I absolutely LOVE!

Isaac is such a wonderful addition to our family. As you can see, he is always happy. Always! He only cries when Todd is mowing the lawn in the backyard or he's left alone in a room. He sleeps so well. He always has. He is great at going with the flow, or sticking to his schedule. Such an easy baby! His sister adores him, and his face lights up whenever she's in the room. He loves to watch her as she plays and just laughs whenever she gets in his face or climbs on top of him (and trust me, that's often).

We were really nervous (read: freaked out) when we found out we were going to have another baby so soon after Dylan was born, but Isaac has been nothing but a blessing. We worried about how hard it would be with kids only 15 months apart (of course, it's less than that because Isaac's a good listener and arrived two weeks early! I told you he was a good boy.) Todd was serious when he would say Isaac was unplanned but not unwanted. How lucky we are to have him in our house each day. He just brings so much laughter and fun. Dylan couldn't have asked for a better brother and we couldn't have been luckier with the easygoing baby we have.

Officer in Training

Unfortunately on Friday Todd worked traffic control for the funeral of a Phoenix Police Officer killed in the line of duty. There were thosands of people in attendance and Todd was in uniform in the heat for about 6 hours.

There are two things about this that are important: 1) Todd works at a desk. He does not work outside in the heat. He sits at his computer and occasionally, if needed, he goes out to talk with suspects or victims or to help with some sort of crime. And 2) Todd does not wear a uniform every day. It is occasionally worn if he works an off duty job, but that's it. This means he doesn't wear his gun belt, his vest or his boots. I can probably count on both hands the number of times I've seen him in full uniform in the 4 years I've known him.

Needless to say, Todd came home exhausted. Not only was it an emotional time for all of the officers, it was a long day in the heat and humidity for him.

But this information is important to know, because it leads in to my subject...Our officer in training. Todd came home and took everything out of his gun belt and left a few things on the bed (not the gun or Taser, those get locked in the safe). He also took off his boots and left them on our bathroom floor. Anything that is left within arms reach is considered free game for Dylan. She had great fun playing with the new toys dad left out for her.

Here is a picture of her trying on Todd's boots:

And here is Dylan trying out her favorite toy -- Todd's whistle.

And a short video clip of Dylan finally mastering the whistle:

Will she make a great officer someday or what?

Intuitive...

So my last entry was about how paranoid Todd is. I still stand by that entry, but today I thought I would write about how intuitive he can be too. For the last week, Todd has been working quite a bit. Some has been overtime calls he's needed to help with, and some has been off-duty he has signed up for. Either way, it has kept him from home more than usual. I realize that Todd can (and does) get called away occasionally, it just seemed like it happened more often this last week. It's tough on him I know, but it's tough at home too.

Todd works great hours and is usually home about the time the kids wake up from their naps. The evenings are always the hardest with the kids. I don't know if it's because they're tired (although, why, I'm not sure. They sleep so much!) or if it's just because they miss their dad, but the evenings are the hardest for me. When Todd's not home to help, it's that much worse. I always seem to get through it (you have to, right?) but when Todd gets home, he can see how tired I am and that's usually an indication as to how the kids were.

Well, today he made up for being gone so much lately.

He called at 9am today to tell me that a babysitter would be here in 45 minutes. I needed to be dressed and ready to go so I could meet him where I was told. My dad showed up at 9:45 and Todd told me to meet him for a really early lunch, and then we were going to see Harry Potter. I really needed that.

How great is it that Todd realized I needed a break, and some quality time with him, so he took an extended lunch to spend a few hours with me. Yes, he had to go back to work afterward (and probably work late again because of it) but I'm so grateful that he could see that I needed the break and he made the effort to give me that.

It's times like these that remind me just how lucky I am to have married such a wonderful, intuitive man.