September is half over already, and I feel like I’m drowning again. Actually, I guess I’m treading water. I’m stuck where I was at the beginning of the month and haven’t even come close to meeting my goals. I’m so frustrated with myself! But the month is not over yet. I have to take one day at a time and not let the setbacks knock me off of my feet.
I have made progress in some areas. I’m reading again, and I’m working on some scrapbooking projects. I’m so happy about that! It feels good to take some time for myself again. I love being a wife and mother, but I have to keep being ME as well.
One setback on the scrapbooking front is that we had water in our basement last week. The cold water supply line to the sink in Del’s bathroom broke sometime in the wee hours of the morning on Wednesday, September 9 (and people said that 09-09-09 would be a lucky day). Actually, we were quite lucky in that the damage was minimal. Although boxes in my scrapbooking room were wet, the contents were all still dry! Praise God! We lost a couple of boxes in the garage that we were planning to sort through and likely get rid of anyway, so all in all things are ok. We still are cleaning up the mess, but insurance money will help a little with that. It’s just one more thing to keep me busy and make the month seem to fly by.
Monday, September 14, 2009
Nathaniel @ 20 months
Nathaniel turned 20 months old on September 9. These are some of the things I want to remember about him at this age:
Has been trying to put on his socks and shoes himself.
Is starting to say compound words: washcloth, bathroom.
Is saying simple sentences: I blow bubble, I have balloon, I want down.
Plays independently more often (letting Mommy and Daddy get some work done around the house!).
Becoming more adventurous in trying new foods, such as eating several bites of a chicken patty with cheese and spaghetti sauce, and trying bites of a lemon, a dill pickle chip, lettuce with ranch dressing.
Likes to sit in regular chair at table (we put the high chair/booster away) and use a plate and silverware at meals.
Plays with stuffed animals, giving them kisses often – so cute!
Still loves the outdoors and balls of all types.
Has been trying to put on his socks and shoes himself.
Is starting to say compound words: washcloth, bathroom.
Is saying simple sentences: I blow bubble, I have balloon, I want down.
Plays independently more often (letting Mommy and Daddy get some work done around the house!).
Becoming more adventurous in trying new foods, such as eating several bites of a chicken patty with cheese and spaghetti sauce, and trying bites of a lemon, a dill pickle chip, lettuce with ranch dressing.
Likes to sit in regular chair at table (we put the high chair/booster away) and use a plate and silverware at meals.
Plays with stuffed animals, giving them kisses often – so cute!
Still loves the outdoors and balls of all types.
Tuesday, September 1, 2009
A New Month, A New Start
I began this year with the resolution that I would eat healthier, exercise, and lose weight. Although I did well for a few months, I started gaining weight again. Aggghhhhhh! It seems like a never-ending cycle, but I have to break it. So as today is the first day of a new month, I am giving myself a new start. I have set goals for the month, and I hereby solemnly swear to work hard to meet these goals!
1. Eat only when I am hungry. (That is, don’t snack at work or at home just because I’m bored.)
2. Eat at least 1 fruit and 1 vegetable per day.
3. Exercise for 30 minutes each day at least 5 days per week.
Although there are many other things that I want to accomplish, I’m going to start here. After I master these three goals this month, then I can change these and add new goals. Here I go! Let the changes begin!
1. Eat only when I am hungry. (That is, don’t snack at work or at home just because I’m bored.)
2. Eat at least 1 fruit and 1 vegetable per day.
3. Exercise for 30 minutes each day at least 5 days per week.
Although there are many other things that I want to accomplish, I’m going to start here. After I master these three goals this month, then I can change these and add new goals. Here I go! Let the changes begin!
Monday, August 31, 2009
Where Did August Go?
I can’t believe it’s August 31st already! It was another busy month, so it seems to have flown by. A couple of highlights from August were our family vacation and my birthday!
Family Vacation
On Thursday, August 20, we (Del, Nathaniel, and I) drove to Spirit Lake, Iowa, with my parents and sister for an extended weekend getaway through Sunday, August 23. We stayed in a condo that backed to the lake, and although the weather and water were too cool to get in, it was still wonderful to look out on the water and hear the waves lapping the shore.
It was a full yet relaxing trip! We had some things in mind that we wanted to do, and we fit in those activities but also spent time at the condo for meals, visiting, playing games, reading, etc. On the trip up to Spirit Lake, we stopped in Sioux City and toured the Lewis and Clark Interpretive Center and the Sergeant Floyd museum. In Spirit Lake/Okoboji, we went to a drive-in theater and saw The Proposal and The Ugly Truth; toured the Iowa Rock ‘n Roll museum, Maritime Museum, and Abbie Gardner cabin/memorial; played mini golf; went on a boat tour of Lake Okoboji; went parasailing (Kelly and Dad only); did some geocaching; and played in the sand at the condo and at a couple of local parks. On the trip home, we stopped in Le Mars, the Ice Cream Capital of the World, and toured the museum and ate ice cream.
Nathaniel was a great traveler! Between our planned stops on the drives there and home and his naps in the car, Nathaniel did a good job riding in the car, listening to his music, and amusing himself. He also did a great job in Spirit Lake, catching naps in the car each day and then going to bed close to his normal bedtime of 8:30 p.m. The exception was when he stayed awake until 9:45 at the drive-in movie! After we returned home from vacation, he did a good job getting back into his routine as well.
My 35th Birthday
This year, my birthday was on a Saturday, so it felt as though I got an extended celebration! Del and Nathaniel gave me their gifts on Thursday evening, which included the movie 27 Dresses, a digital photo frame for my desk at work, and a gift card to Archiver’s!
On Saturday, my parents came to Omaha and my sister came over, and we went to lunch at Olive Garden. Then, everyone came over to our house for gifts, dessert, and a game of dominoes. I received a teak shower bench from my parents and Mary Kay satin hands gift set from Kelly. Then my parents babysat Nathaniel so that Del and I could go out! We saw the movie Funny People with Adam Sandler. It was a little slow in places, but it was good overall.
On Sunday, Del’s parents came to Omaha, and we met them and Sherry and Alexander at The Durham Museum to see a behind the scenes sneak peak of Disney’s A Christmas Carol. It took 2 hours to stand in line and go through the train cars with the exhibits, but it was really interesting to see. Then we had lunch at Old Chicago, where I opened my gifts. I received two shells for my Miche purse from Del and Sandy and a Michaels gift card from Sherry, John, and Alexander. After lunch, we went back to our house, where we played outside and then visited inside.
All in all, it was a great birthday! I got to spend time with all of our family and received a lot of very nice gifts.
Family Vacation
On Thursday, August 20, we (Del, Nathaniel, and I) drove to Spirit Lake, Iowa, with my parents and sister for an extended weekend getaway through Sunday, August 23. We stayed in a condo that backed to the lake, and although the weather and water were too cool to get in, it was still wonderful to look out on the water and hear the waves lapping the shore.
It was a full yet relaxing trip! We had some things in mind that we wanted to do, and we fit in those activities but also spent time at the condo for meals, visiting, playing games, reading, etc. On the trip up to Spirit Lake, we stopped in Sioux City and toured the Lewis and Clark Interpretive Center and the Sergeant Floyd museum. In Spirit Lake/Okoboji, we went to a drive-in theater and saw The Proposal and The Ugly Truth; toured the Iowa Rock ‘n Roll museum, Maritime Museum, and Abbie Gardner cabin/memorial; played mini golf; went on a boat tour of Lake Okoboji; went parasailing (Kelly and Dad only); did some geocaching; and played in the sand at the condo and at a couple of local parks. On the trip home, we stopped in Le Mars, the Ice Cream Capital of the World, and toured the museum and ate ice cream.
Nathaniel was a great traveler! Between our planned stops on the drives there and home and his naps in the car, Nathaniel did a good job riding in the car, listening to his music, and amusing himself. He also did a great job in Spirit Lake, catching naps in the car each day and then going to bed close to his normal bedtime of 8:30 p.m. The exception was when he stayed awake until 9:45 at the drive-in movie! After we returned home from vacation, he did a good job getting back into his routine as well.
My 35th Birthday
This year, my birthday was on a Saturday, so it felt as though I got an extended celebration! Del and Nathaniel gave me their gifts on Thursday evening, which included the movie 27 Dresses, a digital photo frame for my desk at work, and a gift card to Archiver’s!
On Saturday, my parents came to Omaha and my sister came over, and we went to lunch at Olive Garden. Then, everyone came over to our house for gifts, dessert, and a game of dominoes. I received a teak shower bench from my parents and Mary Kay satin hands gift set from Kelly. Then my parents babysat Nathaniel so that Del and I could go out! We saw the movie Funny People with Adam Sandler. It was a little slow in places, but it was good overall.
On Sunday, Del’s parents came to Omaha, and we met them and Sherry and Alexander at The Durham Museum to see a behind the scenes sneak peak of Disney’s A Christmas Carol. It took 2 hours to stand in line and go through the train cars with the exhibits, but it was really interesting to see. Then we had lunch at Old Chicago, where I opened my gifts. I received two shells for my Miche purse from Del and Sandy and a Michaels gift card from Sherry, John, and Alexander. After lunch, we went back to our house, where we played outside and then visited inside.
All in all, it was a great birthday! I got to spend time with all of our family and received a lot of very nice gifts.
Friday, July 31, 2009
Nathaniel’s Surgery
Nathaniel has had several ear infections over his first 18 months of life, so his doctor recommended that he have tubes put in his ears. Nathaniel had surgery on July 20, 2009, almost 2 weeks ago, and everything went as smoothly as could be expected. We took him in his pajamas because we had to be there at 6:30 a.m. to get checked in, fill out paperwork, and get prepped for the procedure. After Nathaniel took medicine (Tylenol plus something else) to make him sleepy, he was a little spacey and off-balance. It slowed him down, including his speech, and Del and I heard Nathaniel say things we hadn’t heard before, such as “want down.” This was the first two-word phrase that we heard him say! Maybe he is saying more that we realize, but he talks so fast that we don’t hear actual words very often.
The surgery was scheduled for 8:00 a.m., and it ended up taking place around 8:30 a.m. We were able to go back and see Nathaniel in the recovery room by 8:45 or 9:00 a.m., and he woke up crying and screaming, as the doctor and nurses said he would. They say that the medicine makes confuses them so they don’t know where they are. That must be scary for anyone, let alone a toddler!
Once Nathaniel calmed down a little and drank some juice, we took him home. On the way home, Nathaniel got sick, but I think that helped him feel better. We sat on the couch and watch SpongeBob for awhile, and then Nathaniel wanted to get down and play. He was still a little off-balance though, so he kept falling down! That wore off in a couple of hours, and by noon, he was running around outside on the driveway.
Nathaniel was exhausted and could have used a nap mid-morning, but he was fighting sleep. I’m guessing that he didn’t want to fall asleep for fear that he would wake up and not know where he was again. Grandpa and Grandma Gust were with us, and Grandma finally got Nathaniel to fall asleep around 1:00 p.m. by swinging with him on our glider in the backyard. When Nathaniel woke up, he was back to normal, and he enjoyed playing the rest of the day and went to sleep easily that night.
Over the next week, we had to put drops in Nathaniel’s ears, and he didn’t mind them too much. For the first couple of days, he wanted us to put the drops in, and he held the bottle of eardrops on the way to daycare. By the end of the week, he had had enough.
Following the surgery, we didn’t notice much difference in Nathaniel at first. After a couple of days, though, we noticed that Nathaniel was talking a lot more than he had been. He was taking more often and was saying words and phrases that we hadn’t heard (or understood) before! It seems that the tubes have helped his hearing, and therefore his speech! We have yet to determine if they have helped his ear infections, though.
The surgery was scheduled for 8:00 a.m., and it ended up taking place around 8:30 a.m. We were able to go back and see Nathaniel in the recovery room by 8:45 or 9:00 a.m., and he woke up crying and screaming, as the doctor and nurses said he would. They say that the medicine makes confuses them so they don’t know where they are. That must be scary for anyone, let alone a toddler!
Once Nathaniel calmed down a little and drank some juice, we took him home. On the way home, Nathaniel got sick, but I think that helped him feel better. We sat on the couch and watch SpongeBob for awhile, and then Nathaniel wanted to get down and play. He was still a little off-balance though, so he kept falling down! That wore off in a couple of hours, and by noon, he was running around outside on the driveway.
Nathaniel was exhausted and could have used a nap mid-morning, but he was fighting sleep. I’m guessing that he didn’t want to fall asleep for fear that he would wake up and not know where he was again. Grandpa and Grandma Gust were with us, and Grandma finally got Nathaniel to fall asleep around 1:00 p.m. by swinging with him on our glider in the backyard. When Nathaniel woke up, he was back to normal, and he enjoyed playing the rest of the day and went to sleep easily that night.
Over the next week, we had to put drops in Nathaniel’s ears, and he didn’t mind them too much. For the first couple of days, he wanted us to put the drops in, and he held the bottle of eardrops on the way to daycare. By the end of the week, he had had enough.
Following the surgery, we didn’t notice much difference in Nathaniel at first. After a couple of days, though, we noticed that Nathaniel was talking a lot more than he had been. He was taking more often and was saying words and phrases that we hadn’t heard (or understood) before! It seems that the tubes have helped his hearing, and therefore his speech! We have yet to determine if they have helped his ear infections, though.
Thursday, July 16, 2009
Nathaniel @ 18 months
My baby boy is a 1 ½ years old! Here’s what he’s up to at 18 months:
Weighs 26 pounds, 10 ounces and is 35 inches tall (off the charts in terms of percentile!).
Cries when I leave him at daycare in the morning but isn’t ready go leave when I pick him up in the afternoon.
Has some fussy days when he cries a lot and is clingy and some happy days when he is content and plays well on his own and with others.
Will be getting tubes in his ears on July 20.
Crawls down the stairs backwards, but also likes to straighten out his legs and slide down on his belly.
Recognizes baseballs, baseball on TV, and the baseball diamond on his play rug in his bedroom.
Calls all balls “buh-bah” (for baseball and basketball).
Says “up” when he wants to be held.
Sings along with his “toddler tunes” CD in the car: says “hurray” to If You’re Happy and You Know It, says “hurrah” to The Ants Go Marching, and says “down” to Ring Around the Rosie.
Is talking a lot, but not much is understandable yet.
Weighs 26 pounds, 10 ounces and is 35 inches tall (off the charts in terms of percentile!).
Cries when I leave him at daycare in the morning but isn’t ready go leave when I pick him up in the afternoon.
Has some fussy days when he cries a lot and is clingy and some happy days when he is content and plays well on his own and with others.
Will be getting tubes in his ears on July 20.
Crawls down the stairs backwards, but also likes to straighten out his legs and slide down on his belly.
Recognizes baseballs, baseball on TV, and the baseball diamond on his play rug in his bedroom.
Calls all balls “buh-bah” (for baseball and basketball).
Says “up” when he wants to be held.
Sings along with his “toddler tunes” CD in the car: says “hurray” to If You’re Happy and You Know It, says “hurrah” to The Ants Go Marching, and says “down” to Ring Around the Rosie.
Is talking a lot, but not much is understandable yet.
Wednesday, June 24, 2009
Playing Catch-up
So what have I been doing over the past month? In addition to the daily whirlwind, there has been a lot going on.
Nathaniel is growing up so fast! He’s in the “twos” room at daycare now, and he LOVES it! He gets to eat breakfast and lunch with the big kids and to play outside. He has new kids and new toys to play with and is challenged by being with two-year-olds. At the end of each day, he’s never ready to leave daycare, but he’s also tired, both physically and mentally, from such a busy day. Since the last week of May (the weekend following Memorial Day), he’s been using his paci only at night! He’s talking more now, saying dada, mama, ball, ba-ball (basketball or baseball), wock (rock), wawa (water), up, down, and the ever-present yeah. He doesn’t say no yet, but he does shake his head no. He’s definitely getting a mind of his own!
We’ve gone to a graduation party, a surprise party for a friend from high school, a birthday party for the son of friends, and a wedding of two members of our church. We’ve celebrated Father’s Day with both our families, going geocaching with the Schiermeyers and to Railroad Days at Lauritzen Gardens and the Historic Dodge House with the Gusts. We’ve attended church meetings, and Del is attending class at Midland and taking another class online.
We’ve also tried to spend more time working on our house. We picked out trim for our mantle and now have it assembled, stained, and poly-ed. We’re putting out pictures and other personal/décor items. But we still have boxes to unpack, items to organize, and cardboard and newspaper to recycle. We’re getting there, though!
So that’s what we’ve been up to in June, and there’s much more to come!
Nathaniel is growing up so fast! He’s in the “twos” room at daycare now, and he LOVES it! He gets to eat breakfast and lunch with the big kids and to play outside. He has new kids and new toys to play with and is challenged by being with two-year-olds. At the end of each day, he’s never ready to leave daycare, but he’s also tired, both physically and mentally, from such a busy day. Since the last week of May (the weekend following Memorial Day), he’s been using his paci only at night! He’s talking more now, saying dada, mama, ball, ba-ball (basketball or baseball), wock (rock), wawa (water), up, down, and the ever-present yeah. He doesn’t say no yet, but he does shake his head no. He’s definitely getting a mind of his own!
We’ve gone to a graduation party, a surprise party for a friend from high school, a birthday party for the son of friends, and a wedding of two members of our church. We’ve celebrated Father’s Day with both our families, going geocaching with the Schiermeyers and to Railroad Days at Lauritzen Gardens and the Historic Dodge House with the Gusts. We’ve attended church meetings, and Del is attending class at Midland and taking another class online.
We’ve also tried to spend more time working on our house. We picked out trim for our mantle and now have it assembled, stained, and poly-ed. We’re putting out pictures and other personal/décor items. But we still have boxes to unpack, items to organize, and cardboard and newspaper to recycle. We’re getting there, though!
So that’s what we’ve been up to in June, and there’s much more to come!
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