Saturday, November 22, 2008

Gabeisms

"Gabe, did you see that those pants have pockets?"

Gabe looks down. "OH!! Yeah, dey do have pockets!! Dey have real-wy down pockets!"

"They have really down pockets?"

"Yeah, their pockets are real-wy down far on my negs (legs)! On my nittle negs (little legs)!"
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Gabe was just chattering away a mile a minute the other day. He said "Mom, Maddie (his imaginary friend) told me a naughty sec-wet about why poop dies into the toy-yet (toilet)."

Why poop dies into the toilet. Heh heh heh. This is like the honey living on the bread.

The sec-wet was entirely nonsensical, and made no sense with anything - sometimes his conversations are like a Free Association monologue.
___________________________

Said today as he sat shirtless at the supper table, "Sometimes I p'yay (play) hide and seek with my nipples!"

To which Daddy's response was to count to ten, and find them, which he thought was a great game. :)
__________________________

The other afternoon he said "When I guh-whoa (grow) up, I'm going to have a wife!"

"A wife?" I said interestedly. "You are?"

He nodded affirmatively. "Yeah." He then said something about me picking him out a wife or something, and I told him that when he grows up he will decide who he wants to marry, and that person will be his wife.

He thought that was a good idea, and then informed me that he needed some shoes so he could guh-whoa (grow). This is because he had new sneakers recently that made him taller, ie. guh-whoa. :)

Wednesday, November 19, 2008

Story Time...Or Not.

Ever since we moved here to DE, I have been wanting to take the boys to Story Hour at the library. But every week I forget, or, on the rare ones I remember, we oversleep or something else happens. Today, finally, we were up and at 'em. I tracked down the many layers involved in getting two young children and an infant out the door, buckles were clicked and clacked and fastened fast, I scurried into my front seat, and turned the key...

..and...

the stupid van wouldn't start. Grrrrrrrr!!!!!! We piled back out of the van, and trudged back inside, dreams of libraries and educational stimulation and GoodWill and maybe even Walmart drifting away on the cold, clothes-piercing wind. I drearily unbuckled the baby and sat down with him, feeling very cranky indeed. Words cannot begin to describe my level of crankiness. The crankiness is abounding.

I suppose I could, say, pick up toys. That would be fun. Or, like, do some laundry. I'm dripping with gleeful delight over this prospect. Maybe I could write some more thank you notes for baby gifts. Or empty the trash. Or scrub the toilet. With a toothbrush.

There's just something about having plans to do something different, going to all the child-ready-ing work to do it - and then suddenly you can't. Makes one feel sort of grinch-like.

I think I'm going to go eat some chocolate and scowl at the dog.

It's Honey, Honey.

This morning Gabe was inquiring about an unfamiliar substance in his cereal. "It's honey," I told him.

"Oh!" he said, and then he paused. "Honey cereal or honey that lives on bread?"

Honey that lives on bread. Heh heh heh.

Tuesday, November 18, 2008

Life

I've been sort of too busy lately (for some reason) to blog very much, particularly when I have to edit photos. However (of course), life has continued to happen, so here is some catch-up over the past two months. These pictures unintentionally have a Gabe-theme, but I'll catch you up on Israel next.

Early in October, we went to Apple Scrapple in Bridgeville.
It was right up my Fall Festival alley, which has been sorely deprived over the past seven years as I seemed to have to work over almost every fall celebration in Kentucky. Zion was two weeks old, and he did fine. We didn't stay too long, but we did enjoy a scrapple sandwich, an apple dumpling, check out Cannon's pie selling booth, get the boys a dolphin balloon, and take them on a Ferris Wheel ride. Oh, and as we were walking out, we got to see a helicopter land. Very cool. :) I just adored the entire experience, while walking through a skillion people pushing one double stroller containing two young children and one regular stroller containing a very small infant was not on Tim's list of "Things I Love To Do On My Day Off". :)
But me - I can't wait till next year!!!

I like this shot from a few weeks after Zion was born. Often Zion wakes up around 7 or 7:30 AM, and then I lay him beside me on the pillow and give him his pacifier and we doze together groggily for a while. On this morning, I had one dozy infant and two inquisitive brothers. :)

Here was a Zion picture on the baby quilt his Grandma Edith made for him.
Gabe hangs out with his beloved little brother.
Gabe's four year old picture.
All three boys got some much needed haircuts the other week. This was Israel's first "clippers" haircut, and he had a GREAT time getting to be like Daddy and Gabe. :)
Mom and Dad came to check on the grandchillin's again around the beginning of November. Here was the Granddaddy and the grandboy.
A late night shot of a Daddy and a sleeping boy.
This is a common activity of mine these days. BUT. Would someone please explain to me why one of the RARE pictures of me and Zion has to also contain a shoe?? And a Croc, none the less. Frown at husband, frown at husband. >:(
Speaking of husband, that good daddy has boys who LOVE to wrestle and play with him when he comes home. Gabe gets all hyper every single night when he comes home and does unwise things like bop his daddy on the head while he's sitting on the couch to try to get his attention. :) Tim is good at giving them some "boy time", and they just eat it up!!!
"Mommy, can I hold the baby and can you take my picture?"
Enjoying the Zion cuteness...
Silly boys.
The other day, Gabe and I were looking at a photo album from when he was a baby. "Oh!" says he "I was ado-wable!!" (like he says about Zion) :) "Yes you were!" I respond. I show him the picture of the baby shower where Grandma Edith gave Mommy a baby quilt she made for Gabe. He emits an excited gasp. I go get the quilt for him from the closet, and he exclaims excitedly over it. I show him the "cozy side". He immediately has to shuck off his pants so he can feel it on his legs. :) I cannot persuade him to put his pants back on, as he would rather "be cold" and feel the "cozy blanket". He had to sleep under it that night. Grin.
Zion, asleep on his Mommy's pillow. Can you find him? :)
And finally, here's my boys, busy being boys. Happy sigh.

Monday, November 17, 2008

The Zion Baby

The Zion baby is growing and getting sweeter and sweeter every day. I LOOOVE it when he smiles - they are just adorable...melt melt melt sigh. One of my favorites is when he gets a little grin on his face when I lay him down on the bed and he happily stretches out his legs.
He is a generally happy baby - except when he's not. :) He calms down with a pacifier, eating, or a bouncing walk.
He loves to look over my shoulder.
He is starting to coo.
He spits up more than my other boys have.
I'm pretty sure he's going to be blond like Gabe. When he was born he had blond hair on top (that has since fallen out) and brown hair on the sides and back that is still there and looks like a nice receding hairline. :) Some of it is starting to rub off, though, and it looks to me like the "peach fuzz" blondness that was on the top of his head is starting to grow longer. His eyebrows and eyelashes are blond too.
He continues to eat well and fill out the wrinkles in his legs. :)
He will sleep usually from 10 PM to 7 AM, and wake once in between to eat. I moved his cradle into our closet about a week ago, and he seems to sleep better in there. (I don't know what we are going to do when we move to a house without a nice walk-in closet, as it has been so busy these past few months! :))
He has recently switched his "going to sleep" routine (as babies seem to do). Before, he would only go to sleep for the night when Tim carried him either over his shoulder or like this.
Now, he likes the Moby Wrap which I use for a carrier, and usually falls asleep in that.
He likes his Mommy - and I love it that he does. He calms when he comes to me, and seems to like my kisses and smooches and pats. I've noticed that when one of the boys climb up beside him, he seems to get a little agitated, wide-eyed and whirly-armed, and is only semi-tolerant of their generous heapings of loving pats and kisses. Gabe loves to just hover over him, and Zion is not so big on that idea.
Both boys still do really well with him and really love him. He often has little wet patches of hair from Israel's many kisses, and Gabe often exclaims over and over "He's just so ado-wable!!"

A Forgotten Update

(This was a forgotten update from November 6.)

Life has gotten easier lately. Zion has a less sensitive tummy. He smiles more, which about bowls me over with surprised delight every time I see it, because his smiles are still so new and unexpected. He has also really switched into a better schedule, with more predictable naps and a bedtime of about 10 PM. This is truly thrilling, this bedtime. :) He also will go to sleep in the swing and the bouncer, which means I don't have to hold him the whole time he is awake, which is also a great help.

In other scrapbook-y news, it took him about a month and a week to finally not scream through his baths, and even vaguely enjoy them. I discovered along the way that he likes having a wet washcloth over his body as I wash him, and likes the water to be a little deeper than I had it at first, perhaps just to give him that "swim-my" feeling. Also, his first smile was at about 3 weeks, 5 days. Man, I love those smiles.

Israel is a doll-baby himself. He loves to give Zion kisses, leaving wet splotches on his baby hair. Then he will look up at me with a hopeful look, raise his hand questioningly in the air, and say "Nnn-tiss??" (Another kiss?) "Nnn-mo-tiss??" (One more kiss?) He loves to carry around his dolls and put them in the swing, put them in the cradle, in a basket that he pretends is a cradle, smear lotion on them, etc. Honestly, it is just so cute. :) :) :)
Gabe is really a good big brother. He just ADORES Zion, and says ALL the time, "He is just so adorwable! He is so adorwable! Isn't he, Mom?" in his high little voice. With Israel, he has moved into the "STOP LOOKING AT ME!!!" stage. Or the "DON'T TOUCH ME!!!" stage. Sigh. He is also big into the "exercising". All the time he talks about exercising. And "energy". It's so funny, and I don't know where he gets it, because we sure don't talk much about exercise. Playing video games also apparently quantifies as "exercise" and is done to "give him energy". Hmm. I'm not quite sure about that one.

Caught!

This morning I came out of the bedroom after nursing Zion and having some cuddle-time with him and suddenly realized that I hadn't seen Israel for a few minutes.  My eyes narrowed.  There was a smell in the air...a smell...  I couldn't quite figure out what it was, but was 99.999% sure it meant that Israel was into something that he shouldn't be.   

"Oh. No."  I said aloud, having figured it out, and took off at a speedy trot down the hall.  "Israel!!"

Too late.  There was the chair pushed up to the dresser that still had a few things of mine in the top drawer since I moved it into the boys room and hadn't figured out a place for the items.  
There was the culprit, busily at work.
And there were his beautifully adorned feet.
Sighs.  Many many many sighs.

So...does anyone know how to get fingernail polish out of carpet???

Friday, November 14, 2008

The Potential of Ring Bearing...

I am currently "flying solo" for a few days. Tim and Gabe are in Cranberry, PA for Shawn Yoder's wedding, where Tim is doing the "talking" part :) and Gabe is the ring bearer.

I have been preparing Gabe for this trip for a while, since I knew I wouldn't be going (because of the distance and Zion), and since sometimes he can be a Mommy!Mommy! boy. I have talked to him about Shawn and Kaylene, and how they are getting married, and how he is going to drive a long way with Daddy to PA, and how they are going to stay in a hotel room with a TV (will they have racecars [on TV] he asks, and I nod and say probably so!) and how he will get all dressed up and carry the rings, and he has been quite excited for a while now, and also somewhat worried that he might have missed the big event. He has often asked about if "tonight is the meeting", or similar questions, and the other day he said "OH NO!!! We missed the 'meeting'!!!" (He keeps calling the wedding 'the meeting'.) But in fact he had not missed the meeting, and he woke up bright and early to go drive off to it this morning.

Israel, Zion, and I have actually had quite an enjoyable day. Two kids sure does feel less than three. Actually, two of my three equal a separate kid entirely - it's not just three kids, it's also dealing with the hyper COMBO of Gabe+Israel. :) So Israel really enjoyed his rule of his roost today, with no episodes of being tackled or having his toys taken away. :) We had a vacation day, where Mommy lazed about enjoying the relative peace and quiet and significant reduction of duties, and where we also went to gaze upon potential home buys and went to Wally World. Now THAT is my idea of a good day. :)

I did miss that other little kid of mine quite intensely tonight though. Tim said that Gabe is not so sure about the idea of being a ringbearer. It seems there were some tears and pillow throwing involved. Hmmm. :) Hopefully all will go well tomorrow. When I talked to them tonight, they were lazing upon a king sized bed watching the History Channel. :)

I sure do love you, Gabriel Timothy.

And you too, Timothy David.

Have fun!!

Thursday, November 06, 2008

Weighty Issues

So I still haven't lost all my pregnancy weight. This is vastly annoying to me for several reasons. First of all, I have gained about the exact same weight with each boy, yet this time, for some mysterious reason, the last 10-12 pounds wants to cling on for dear life and celebrate the holidays with me as a tenacious buddy. I blame it on being 30. Secondly, this means I can only cram myself into one straining, forgiving pair of pre-pregnancy jeans. Grump. And the third reason I find all this so irritating is because it means that I will likely have to EXERCISE. Myself, I intensely prefer the vigorous activity of NOT exercising.

So today I lamented all of this by donning the coolest-ever, circa-1980's, elastic-waisted pair of hot pink, aqua, and white striped shorts, and steadily eating everything in sight all day long. It was actually quite enjoyable. Although I still feel a bit stuffed.

Belch.

Off to find a stretchier waistband...

In cheerier news, check out this wittle pwecious wittle man.
Check out the chin chubs. That blends into the cheek chubs. :) Heh heh heh. SERIOUSLY. This kid is one of THE more adorable kiss-inspiring children alive in the world today. I just cannot quit kissing him. You gotta get right there in those neck folds and kiss away. Mmmm!!! So soft and sweet and sweet-smelling and snuffle-y and bright-eyed and whirly-armed....

Today this very nice lady came over and helped me TREMENDOUSLY as she does from time to time by holding Zion so I could busily scurry around the house and get things accomplished. A marvelously productive feeling.
It really is amazing how helpful it is just to have somebody else around to hold the baby. Happy sigh. Thank you, Grandma Dorothy. :) :) :)

And to close out the Miller weight-inspired news, Tim came out of the bathroom tonight after brushing Gabe's teeth and said, "And I quote: 'Dad, you're almost fat!"" This was followed by a fully startled exclamation from Tim - "WHAT?!?!"

LOL.

Monday, November 03, 2008

The Good, the Bad, and the Boys

Zion David
1 month, 1 week, and 2 days old
Things I like most about this stage:

- soft little bendy ears that fold in half on my arm and stick there, and then slowly unfurl and pop back into place

-whisper-soft hair and a soft little head that bumps against my jaw as he peers wide-eyed over my shoulder, his head bobbing and weaving, and making soft little breathy huffy noises as he checks out the wide new world
-the sweetest little soft smooth feet ever with toes that fan out as he stretches out his legs, and that absolutely MUST be kissed

-sweet soft mouth and sweet soft cheeks that also MUST be kissed

-his fleeting smiles
-the way he nuzzles into my neck, grunting and snuffling, his little arms hugging my neck and making me want to just squeeze him and squeeze him

-the little hand that grips the neck of my shirt tightly as he nurses

Things I like least about this stage:

-his wide-awake period from 11PM-1 AM

-his late night tummy aches

-his "nap snacks". He doesn't nap for very long for the first part of the day.

-feeling like I can never really put him down and get stuff done while he is awake

Israel Caleb
2 years, 2 weeks, and 5 days old


Things I like best about this stage:

-his baby cheeks and baby legs that make him just so very squeezeable

-his grins of glee

-his belly laughs

-his sweet smelling hair, his bright blue eyes and transparent expressions

-watching him mimic EVERYTHING Gabe does, INCLUDING peeing in the potty!!! (I'm trying not to get my hopes up :))

-how he still snuggles into me and needs his mommy

-how he likes hats

-his words and expressions

Things I like LEAST about this stage:

-he gets into EVERYTHING and dumps it out, empties it, pours it on the floor - basically any mess-making description you can think of

-he gets great joy hurling himself off of perfectly good furniture onto the floor

-he has a great desire to put his fingers INTO Zion's eyes as he discusses them

-the snot, oh the snot, oh the snot snot snot snot!!!!!

Gabriel Timothy
4 years, 1 month, 3 weeks, and 6 days old

Things I like most about this stage:

-the way his brain works, making conversations move in unusual directions.

-he can actually help me! :)

-he is not as into challenging boundaries as Israel is right now

-his love of hide and seek
(Gabe making "sunglasses" against the sunlight on his face." :) )

-his gentleness and soft touch with Zion

-his love of chocolate

-his delight of new things

Things I like least about this stage:

-his lack of gentleness and aforementioned soft touch with Israel. He is all the time tackling him or pushing him over. ARGGHHH!!

-dwaddling and forgetting to obey quickly

-having me "make [his] blanket flat" about 14 million times every evening after he goes to bed. One cannot apparently sleep without said blanket being just right.

-tired crankiness/"but I want MOMMY to do it!!!"