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!