All Gone!

Remember how I said that Megersa had a "nervous tick?"
It's gone!! :)
YAY!

He no longer rubs his elbow on surfaces when I:
wipe his face after eating...
change his diaper...
put lotion in his hair...
try to feed him new things...

He must be feeling much more comfortable here.
And that makes everyone happy!

Maaaaa maaaaa.

Megersa has been accomplishing SO many things recently!

He can now say Mama....though it often sounds like a sheep "maaaamaaaa" - he tends to say it when he's moved to tears.

I like to think he KNOWS who he's asking for. ;)

Secondly, Megersa can now get from his belly to a seated position!

Yesterday I was getting dinner ready. I put him on his back with a bottle. He was drinking it just fine, looking around..... I went back to cooking. When I looked back at him. He was sitting.

Wait? Did I leave him sitting? I couldn't remember.

I had to test it out again.

I layed him on his back, and walked out of the room.

He rolled over to his belly, got up on all fours, and proceeded to sit down on his leg...resulting in success!! And it was pretty cute - he even clapped for himself. :)

Tim went to give him a bottle last night at 2am and felt around for him in the dark. He said he did a sweep with his arm and felt Megersa's back.

So, he sits.

Lastly, Megersa cut his first tooth! There is another right behind it. I think it arrived May 23rd.

It's impossible to get a picture of it. ((The above one is before he cut it.)) We can't seem to capture it on film yet...it's just so teeny!!

Even if we can get the camera to get in real close to his mouth, the flash ruins any evidence of the 'little sharpie'. It's there though. :)

Anyway, he's moving through life so fast! It's only a matter of days until he can really take off crawling...I'm sure of it. Crazy.

We love to watch you accomplish things, Goob, but SLOW DOWN from now on...let Mommy and Daddy enjoy the little bit of babyhood that we get to have of you!! :)

In the army now.

I've always said "Frustration is the key to crawling."

And it is!

We have a crawler!! An ARMY crawler, to be specific.
Just 2 days ago, Megersa finally figured out how to crawl!
He had been working SO hard on it for days...weeks, even...and now he's got it!
He can scoot around on his belly and he makes these 'delighted-with-himself' noises as he goes.
It's adorable.
He has been able to get up on all fours and rock back and forth for weeks now, so I'm sure the actual, full-speed crawling will only take a matter of time.
For now though, he seems happier to be able to (eventually) reach the item he has his eye on.

And I apologize...I've tried SEVERAL times to get the video to upload. It wont work. You'll just have to take my word for it. Or, you can check it out on facebook...it's there too! :)

Wordless Wednesday

It's a little close, I agree...but I love this face. And his hair. Someone likened it to a "dandelion puff" - I think perhaps that's the best description I've heard of it, yet.And look at my baby: Look how DANG CUTE he is!!! I can barely stand it sometimes... Megersa is SO close to crawling! If he's on his belly, he can spin in a circle in mere seconds! He just can't quite get this "taking off" thing. Normally he goes on all fours and rocks back and forth... But here he attempted a different approach. Nice try, baby. :)

Dedication day.

Megersa got dedicated to the Lord today!

I still can't believe I forgot my camera AND video camera.
Then I remember how those 15 minutes before leaving for church went.

I was doing really well, I got myself showered and ready. I even showered Cale.
Megersa was up, dressed, fed...
It was about 10am, and I was checking the diaper bag, making sure we had all the essentials. Things looked good. Megersa was starting to get really crabby. He was in his car seat, but not happy about it.
He seems to enjoy being in the car, so I thought we'd go ahead and leave early.
I trotted out with the boys, but then realized I didn't have my keys.
And I didn't know where they were. I hadn't seen them since the day before.
I went back in the house, looked around, but couldn't find them.
Oh man. Of all days to be late...dedication Sunday.
(I imagined myself arriving just in time to RUN on stage...I didn't want that to happen.)
I called Tim.
He had his keys with him.
Of course, he couldn't tell me where mine were...but he said he would send someone to the house with his keys for me. I told him to give me 5 minutes and I'd call him if I did or didn't find them.
I started praying. I don't like being late...sometimes I am, but I don't like it.

I strapped the boys in the car. I figured, whether or not I find the keys, it'll at least help Megersa to stop fussing if he thinks we're going somewhere.
I ran back in the house, and looked around one last time.
AH HA! I found them!
Praise the Lord!!
At this point in time I was sweating bullets, but boy was I happy!
I made it to church and walked in during the first song...but at least I had a few minutes before having to go on stage.
However, I forgot my camera. And video camera.

I feel really bad about it. I managed to color coordinate all 4 of us (fully prepared for a family picture), but I couldn't manage to grab the camera (which incidently was NEXT to my keys).
Oh well.

It did happen today. Tim and I dedicated Megersa to the Lord and vowed to raise him in the knowledge and love of God.

exceptions.

"Rules are rules."

I get that.

But when a 3-year-old boy comes into your Dollar Store, grabs himself and yells, "I gotta go pee-pee!" you should be sympathetic and make an exception.

Today Cale and I were shopping. We went to Walmart, and the Dollar Store.

He's doing so well being potty trained.

Sure, it's more work when we're out and about, but at least we've cut down on diapers.

See, Cale pees a lot.

And when I say "a lot" I mean, frequency and quantity.

I make him go to the bathroom before we go anywhere.

But it's usually not long after we arrive at our destination that Cale gets that urgent look in his eyes saying he's gotta go again.

He's not lying either.

When he goes...he goooooooes.

Of course it tends to happen when I have a cart full of something. Normally, I just put the cart in the aisle (hope that it won't be disturbed) and RUN to the nearest potty.

When we left the house this morning, I took him potty.

When we went to Walmart, I took him potty.

But only 5 minutes after we got to the dollar store, did he have to go again.

I thought, Ugh. Usually stores like this don't have an 'advertised' place for restrooms, but they have to have a bathroom in the back.

So, I asked. Do you have a bathroom?

The clerk (who was stationed with her back to me) didn't even look my direction, said "No."

Cale grabbed himself, crossed his legs and yelled again.

Even for a 3-year-old? (trying to sound polite, but pleading...)

"No. Our policy is not to let anyone use our facility."

Well then I was annoyed. My IMMEDIATE reaction was to say something like "Well, I hope you like cleaning up pee from your floor..." But I didn't. I left my cart in the aisle, grabbed Cale's hand and walked out.

The clerk didn't even look.

We crossed the parking lot, and went into our van.

See, this is the kind of shopping plaza that has a bunch of little stores - Sally Beauty Suppy, Dollar Tree, Game Stop...etc.

I figured it'd be a waste of time to walk him to each store...just in case I got the same rude answer.

After we got in the van, I told Cale to get in the back.

What are we doing? Cale asked.

I looked around our messy van. Surely there was an empty cup, or water bottle...something.

And there was.

Sorry to say, it was Cale's throw-away Thomas the Tank sippy cup...but to me, it looked like a toilet.

And we used it as such.

Was Cale upset at using his cup?

No! That kid loves to pee in weird places.

We've often had to stop on the side of the highway because of Cale's bladder.

In fact, before we even got to the van, he said "Mommy, can I pee in the grass?"

He laughed as he FILLED UP his cup.

It was a shocking amount of pee...but at least the crisis was averted. :)

While I'd normally agree that "rules shouldn't be broken"...for the sake of my 3-year-old boy, I'd say that sometimes, rules...should be bent.

And as for you, Dollar Store clerk...you can kiss this:

to be noted.

Megersa slept through the night last night.
Cale slept through the night last night.
Tim slept through the night last night.

Mommy didn't.
((But in the past 26 years, I can only remember accomplishing this once - a few weeks ago when Tim let me sleep in our basement.))

Last night, both boys were in bed by 8:20p...both asleep by 9p (it often takes awhile for Cale to fall asleep).
I went to bed around 11 or so, and then Tim followed in at 1 or 2? (He often falls asleep on the couch or recliner watching tv.)
I woke up around 2am to Tim snoring, (not unusual) and since I've been on a new medication that makes me nauceous...I was not feeling well.
I nudged Tim once. He stopped snoring. But then started up again.
So I nudged him harder. He stopped...but the started again.

I figured I could continue playing this game and try to get him to stop, OR I could turn up the monitor, take my blankets and go down to the basement - where no snoring, crying or yelling is heard. And that's what I did.
My stomach was so upset by the time I got down there I thought I'd vomit on the futon...but luckily I fell asleep. I woke up just before 8, then went back to sleep...until 8:30a...THEN layed there until I saw Cale come down at 8:45a.
I went upstairs and saw Tim holding Megersa.
How were the boys last night (assuming both had woken up at least once, a peice).
Good.
What? I asked. Didn't they wake up??
Not that I heard.
Neither of them?? (I was in shock.)
Nope.

Whoa!!
A milestone in the Nester house for sure. 3 out of the 4 of us slept through the night.
Keep it up, boys! :)

2 months

Megersa has been home for 2 months!
I can't believe it.
Sometimes he feels like he's been with us since November, when we got his referral.
And then at times it feels like he just got here.
I have had to remind myself, more than once, that I now have children.
I was speaking with a doctor on the phone today for about 20 minutes, and she said, "man, your children are quiet!"
Do I have children? plural?? WEIRD!!

The boys are great together. I've caught Cale trying to get Megersa's attention, so he can make him laugh. It doesn't take much either. The Goob will laugh (or at least smile) at Cale when he is jumping, playing guitar, running around...almost anything.
It's very funny to watch them "play" together. Cale seems to take his 'big brother' role as a 'second-in-command' to Tim and I. He tries to order Megersa around. If we correct him for something...he will mock our tone and authority when he sees Megersa doing something he deems "wrong." Oh boy.

Tim and I have enjoyed growing our family. There have been ups and downs of course, but not every step of parenting Cale in the early days was joyous either.
The good far outweighs the bad.
We love to watch Megersa's face light up when he sees us.
Tim loves to tickle Megersa. He loves to lay on the couch with Megersa on his chest. Not that Goober stays still very long anymore...he's SO active - just like Cale was.
He rolls around all the time, and he is DESPERATELY trying to crawl (it's only a matter of time).

I love rocking Megersa to sleep at night. Sometimes for naps too.
He tends to nap better when I snug him close and tight and feed him a bottle. It doesn't always happen - outside forces don't always allow it...but when there is quiet time for the both of us, it recenters me. I know I'll have about 10 minutes to comfort him, soothe him, pray for him, and bond with him.
I'm enjoying wearing him on my back in the ERGO too.
I loved wearing the ERGO in ET. It felt like I was "pregnant on the outside." A perfect way to just walk around, bond, and explore the area that I was in.
But I need no exploring here.
In the house, I need my hands and arms, free. Wearing him in the front prevents me from truly being able to bend over and get toys, or unload the dishwasher...
Wearing him on my back is much easier for movement. It feels lighter, and I can wear it super tight, like a backpack. Megersa ALWAYS falls asleep in it. Even if he was only up for an hour beforehand. He seems squirmy to get out at first, but then kinda just gels in...then falls asleep.

The challenges we still face at 2 months are these:
1. There is still some whining. Not as much as before. It seems as though his whining is in relation to his mood. If he naps or sleeps well, I don't notice much of it, if he doesn't - well, cranky Goob is what we get. Usually we just have to ride out the cranky until the next nap time, and hope the next one goes better.
2. There are still some food issues. He's becoming a TAD more adventerous with food. The other day Cale and I were eating cheeze-its, and Megersa was in his exersaucer, watching us. He seemed so interested, so I held one out to his mouth, and he opened it. He licked it, and then grabbed for it. He sucked on it for a little bit, but kept dropping it. I thought that was HUGE progress, until days later when I put a rice crispie in his mouth, and he made himself vomit....
He will gnaw on his teething biscuits and pickles, but that's it.
I guess we'll have to see where we are at 3 months home.
3. He's still waking up once a night. And I'm still giving him a bottle. I feel like he's CAPABLE of sleeping through the night, but I dont want him to cry himself back to sleep if all it takes is a bottle. He does suck the whole thing down, so maybe he's hungry. Or maybe it's habit?
I may try to start watering it down and see what he thinks of it. If it gets to wear it's only water, he may just "pass" on the whole night-waking thing!
(A funny little song just popped in my head "When you wish upon a star....." - this should be my parenting theme song.)
4. His stranger anxiety seems to be lessing a teeny bit. A few weekends ago, my mom and her friend came to visit. My mom's a very active Gramma (which I LOVE!!!!!) and cherishes waking up early to get the grandkids. BLESS HER.
Having only seen her once in his life, and Debbie, never, I feel as though Megersa was taken back. He didn't cry or anything...he just acted weird that day. And the next. Avoiding eye contact with others (and sometimes us) and darting his head around were some of the symptoms. That Sunday when we went to church, he fell asleep in the carrier on the way over. We brought him into the big service with us. We figured it'd be best if he woke up to our faces. But when he woke up, he was shaking! Poor fella. Too much commotion, or too much change. Since then we've decided not to take him anywhere that he didn't need to go. If we take him to the store, we leave him in the carrier or ERGO where it seems he feels 'safe.'
I initially planned to bring him to my cousin William's wedding in PA on the 22nd, but decided against it. He needs as much time to "cocoon" here as possible.
In a month, we are going on NESTER FAMILY VACATION - and I hope he's okay there.

So, that's where we're at, 2 months into being a family of 4. And, here's the cuter 1/2 of us:

love-hate relationship

I am in a love-hate relationship.

With whom, you ask?
Well, the better question is "with what?"
And I'll tell you:
My love-hate relationship is with our baby monitor.

WHY??
I'll tell you:
While I appreciate it's usefulness in letting me know if my boys are awake...and what kind of moods they wake up in...I feel like, secretely, it's out to get me.

What?? I'm crazy?! A baby monitor couldn't possibly be out to get me....
Well, then WHY do I always hear it making noise at the exact minute I sit down to eat a chocolate peanut butter ball?
Or when I finally pressed "play" on the show/movie I recorded on DVR.
And lastly...why, oh why, does my blood start boiling, (knowing I have to sprint out of bed to keep one child from waking the other) when it seems as though I just drifted off to sleep at night?

IT'S BECAUSE OF YOU, BABY MONITOR!!!

I wouldn't dare blame my children...I love them. :)
They couldn't possibly be clever enough to know the exact time of day that I've chosen to relax and somehow be able to communicate that several rooms away.......
It's gotta be these ever-evolving electronic devices!
Curses on you, baby monitor. Curses!!
(But also, thank you for not allowing my children's screams to get out of control. ;)

WHY NOT?!

I'd say Tim's a lucky guy.
He's got his dream job, a gorgeous wife (wink, wink), and two beautiful boys. :)
But that's not what I really mean.
He's the type of guy that will win things, like raffles, or 'drawings' for all kinds of cool stuff.
One year he went away to a Youth Confrence and came back with an IPOD shuffle and a portable DVD player.
(I remember him telling me he felt bad that he won BOTH things...but not bad enough to give one away...which was fine with me. :)


When I was a kid, my Dad used to buy those dollar lottery tickets and let my brother, sister and I scratch off the cards with quarters. I thought it was super fun...especially because I usually won something. Can't say that it was much - $1, $5, and once $20...but it was cool to get something for nothing.
All that to say, I don't feel like now, in my 20s, that that happens anymore. I guess I'm a mere shadow of the "good luck charm" I was when I was small.

Why post about luck??
Well, I found this link ((Missy's current giveaway)) on a friends blog, and even though I initially thought that it would be a waste of time...I soon decided - WHY NOT?!

Why not try and win a giveaway?
It's been over 15 years since I was "a kid" - maybe my luck will come back!
We all know how I feel about Kohl's cash!! - and this is WAY better!
Cross your fingers for me. :)

At the park.

Sometimes the mornings don't go very well. Cale pushes my buttons. Megersa decides to whine more than necessary...Mommy doesn't have the patience she should.

Well, one of those days occured last week.

I was getting totally stressed out being cooped up inside the house.

And since we don't have the privledge of a second car right now, I took the advantage we DO have (our wonderful double jogger), and went out for a jog.

I don't often go with just the boys alone - pushing the 25 lb (more or less) stroller, with a 38 lb, 3-yr-old and a 16 lb, 8-month-old ADDS up!

I went our usual jogging path and then decided to stop at the park. We pass by this one great park every time we all jog together...and, 9 times out of 10, Cale asks if we can stop and play. I feel bad when we tell him "no" - because we are usually on a mission - to get DONE jogging! :)

It was nice to actually tell him "Yes, we can play!"

I love to watch his little face light up!

Initially, Megersa was asleep in the stroller, so I parked him where I could see him.

Cale had a blast! He especially enjoyed being pushed on the swings.Megersa's nap didn't last very long, so I decided to try him out on the swings. It was his first time, and he REALLY liked it! :) I figured he would - he loves to be thrown around.

I enjoyed taking these shadow poses. Aren't they sweet?! (It only took FOREVER to get the swings to go just at the same time, and for me to capture the shot without anyone's flesh in the pic! But we'll pretend it was easy.... ;)And there is the Goober, in his hat...enjoying the park. Soon he'll be like big brother and can run around and test everything out.All that to say, that on this day, where things started out stressful...it ended up being very enjoyable. In the short 2 hours that we were out, my attitude changed, and I thanked God for my children and the fact that we, as parents, can get so much happiness out of watching our kids experience life.

Note to self: jogging then playing at the park can make moods change drastically.

Both boys benefited from this time as well. :)

a mother

In honor of Mother's Day, I'd like to give a shout of to all of the moms who've touched my life.

I'd like to mention each by name, but I'm guessing most don't read the blog, so I'll just call them on my own time.

And since this blog is an outlet into "space" (essentially), I really don't know who reads it besides me, I just wanted to state the fact that this year, I am especially touched by Megersa's birth mother.

When I think of her, my heart wrenches...for her, for him, for me.

What will I tell him of her? I have NO information on her...

All I know is that her decision, however she came about it, allowed me to raise her son.

We will forever have a bond together...in our son.

At age 23, on April 5, 2007; I met my son, Cale, and became a mother for the first time:

At age 26, on March 9, 2010; I met my son, Megersa, and became a mother for the second time:

Both days I will cherish forever.

The "Flipper"

Okay, now let's talk about Megersa. :)
Megersa, and his "flipper."
This kid has the strangest way of 'testing' out something:
If you hold out an object - say, a cracker, or gerber puff, or an unfamiliar toy -Megersa will "bat" at it with his flipper.

What do you mean, "flipper?"

I'll try to describe it:
His fingers are held tightly together, yet outstreched...and his thumb is tucked under his fingers.
Then, with his muscles firm, he bats his arm (and hand) at the item.

Can you picture it?
I guess you could also liken it to a "fin" or "wing." haha.
Tim and I often laugh when we see him work it.
He can't do the "pincher" grab yet - with first finger and thumb.
What's it called? Dexterity? He lacks it.


Overall, though, he's using his hands MUCH more than he did 2 months ago; but we really need to continue to work at offering him opportunities to turn his "flipper" into a "claw." :)

Cale again.

Looks can be deceiving:I still can't believe this happened...

Last night when Tim was putting Cale to bed he noticed a big, wet spot on Cale's mattress.

What was it?

Yep, you guess it....

Pee.

~Did he pee through his clothes & diaper...through the sheets and the mattress pad all the way to the mattress???

~Maybe he had a lot to drink before nap?

No.

After questioning the offender, we found out that Cale woke up and had to go pee, so he pulled down his pants and diaper (like he would when he has undies on going in the potty), stood up on his mattress and peed on the bed...LIKE A TOILET!

Tim and I couldn't believe it. It is possible that Tim forgot to put a diaper on him (we still diaper him for naps and bed)...but that doesn't explain why Cale would do this!

Of course when we ask him why he does stuff he says "well...I dont know" or "because...I sit in time out." Ugh. He's no help. All we know is it was pee, and it was Cale.

One more story to add to his "terrible threes" book, I guess.

I wish we purchased and assembled the plastic mattress cover BEFORE we put him in his new twin bed. We just figured it wouldn't be an issue until he could 'hold it' for naps and bedtime. And I REALLY wish we found this spot after naptime so we could have cleaned it up right away. Discusting.

I think we all learned a lesson.

heart melting

Today, for no reason in particular, while we were driving in the car, Cale asked me:

"Mommy, can I love you?"

Yes, buddy, of course you can!

"Mommy, can I hug you and kiss you?"

Absolutely.

I love my big fella. Most of the time he won't stop talking...he says A LOT!!

But on rare occasions such as these, his words can melt hearts. :)

((Speaking of melting....this kid also loves his ice cream!))

Da Da.

Can you say "Da Da?"
Megersa can!
He started saying it about a week ago. ((@ 7 months, 3 weeks))
Whether he understands correctly that he is talking about his favorite person in the world or not; he says this all day long. :)
Tim has been quick to teach "dada" to Megersa (probably because he lost out on Cale's first word - Ma Ma)...and boy has it caught on!
Whenever Goob gets really excited he starts up on it - Da Da. Daaaaa Daaaaa!!
He loves when we reinforce it too. It's the smallest form of communication we have with him, but it really seems to be making an impact!