I smell like potatoes

I cooked homemade hashbrowns for dinner tonight, and as I sit here I smell like fried potatoes. I have even changed my clothes! Yet here I sit, smelling like potatoes...

On another note:
My parents came to visit for ten days and did we take any pics? nope. none. We did go to cinnabon, the zoo, got pedicures, bought some clothes, went to the library, watched movies, and resolved little boy tattlings. It was a great trip and now I have to get back to reality where I actually have to cook dinner and entertain my children.

We did take some Halloween pics and I must say, these handsome little boys were so cute and energetic. Aidan would walk up to the houses and say,"You know who I am." Not asking a question, just stating a fact. All the adults loved it of course. I can honestly say I don't think there was another Captain American in the whole neighborhood and all the adults loved seeing an old school superhero. Camden looked very cool in his venom spider man costume. I must say that the mask really made it look cool. They trucked from house to house for two hours and only came home when their pumpkins were overflowing. Good times.Aidan made an adorable Captain America, though he liked to think he was ferocious


Camden had a million poses. He was loving modeling.


My nephew, Cohen, as the incredible hulk. I thought the mask was awesome!


All of us together. This is about as dressed up as I get folks.


The three amigos. Watch out evil villains...well, Camden's character was evil, Aidan's was good, and Cohen's had some anger issues...

I have some exciting news. No, it's not my pregnancy...hahahaha. I have finally found a milk substitute that Aidan will drink.

For those not familiar with the story, basically Aidan's had eczema his whole life and has not slept well. I decided to ask for a referral to an allergist where they determined he had a slight milk allergy. So, no milk, cheese, yogurt, and ice cream. He has adapted amazingly well to the no ice cream rule. We found some soy "ice cream" sandwiches which he is happy to eat as an alternative. We also found a soy yogurt brand he likes. I'm still striking out on the cheese part, though rice cheese isn't bad. It doesn't smell or have a rubbery texture. Some different tofu cheeses we've tried have been dis.gus.ting.

And, though I don't think it's so bad, Aidan hasn't been fond of soy milk, or rice milk. Unless, of course it's chocolate soy milk; then we would guzzle the whole carton. I bought some random milk at Whole Foods on Saturday, Aidan came home, tasted it, and LIKED it!! So, now our little boy will drink ....Almond milk! Who knew? But he likes it and it has as much calcium as milk so I'm satisfied. Now, if only we could find a good cheese substitute...

Service

In Church this morning/afternoon the talks given were on the subject of service and loving one another. At the end of the meeting, there was about 10 minutes left and a member of the bishopric stood up to fill in the remaining time. He challenged the primary children and youth to serve others in their family and community since they have lived their lives being served by others.

As this bishopric member spoke, I looked over at Camden and thought: I have the most perfect example of service in my son. He could teach others through his example. Camden is always thinking about others. When I had morning sickness, from the prenatals, at the end of August, Camden would draw me pictures telling me to feel better. He would play quietly and let me rest, unlike his brother. ;) Camden is always bringing candy to church without telling/asking me because he shares it with his primary class just to be nice. If I'm having a hard day with Aidan, which is often, he quietly slips into the background and entertains himself so that he's not a worry. This precious seven year old will willingly and sometimes secretly do the dishes(loading and unloading) by himself to surprise me or just because I asked. He's always wanting to share with others, especially if that person is upset.

At times, and this might sound weird, but I worry about this because I don't want him to always feel he has to be the peacemaker. That he should be overlooked because it's easier...that was kind of an awkward phrase....hmmm...

Let me explain. Growing up, I was the wall flower. My older brother had several challenges in his life that took all of my mom's time and attention. I also had three much younger siblings who required lots of attention because they were so young. I saw the stress my mother was under and made it my mission in life to be invisible. To not rock the boat, put any more stress into her life, and succeeded quite well. Too well.

I knew I was serving my mother by taking care of things without being asked, going above and beyond what was required of my age, not taking any attention on purpose, etc. But as I got older, around 11/12, I really started resenting being invisible. Never being noticed. Being taken for granted. And being constantly teased for being so perfect. But by then I couldn't stop being perfect and if I didn't anything minutely wrong, I was devastated. I was a bad person.

It has taken a long time to get over that mentality and although Camden's life is vastly different from my childhood, I still see the similarities. Aidan is a strong willed, challenging little rascal and there are days where his outbursts, temper tantrums, etc, take up all my time. I notice Camden becoming the wall flower, not wanting to rock the boat. And it's so easy to ignore the good kid. The one who serves without being asked. He gets up by himself via his alarm clock, makes his bed, eats breakfast, brushes his teeth, gets dressed, gets a snack all by himself. Camden follows the rules, tries to be fair when playing with others but if I do have to reprimand him for something, he falls apart. He'll say he's a bad person and just cries.

This completely breaks my heart in two because I understand. And despite our childhood differences, history is repeating itself and I don't want my child to get lost but it's so easy. I try to compliment him. To let him know that I see what he's doing but it seems like the praise goes in one ear and out the other. He tries so hard to be perfect and he's only 7!!

That was not what this post was supposed to be about but there you go. The point is that Camden could teach humanity a few pointers about service. I actually think children in general are far better examples then most adults.

For example, today he noticed our elderly neighbors across the street raking their leaves and pulling up their garden. So he asked, actually begged, to go over there and help them. What am I going to say, "Sorry, honey, you need to stay home today because it's Sunday?" He was so excited to go help. Then Nathan decided that he should take the cue from our little boy and went over to help as well so of course Aidan joined in the fun after his lunch was done. One person. One little boy can be such a light to others.




And not to leave out the youngest rascal, this was a question asked to Nate on the way home from church:

Aidan(wearing a bandana saying I can be honest): Hey dad?! Do you want to be eeevil with me?

hahahahaha nice.

random pictures

The above picture was taken at Camden's birthday party, which we actually had in Sept. instead of Aug. because he'd just had surgery to remove a mole and then he broke his finger, people were on vacation... We took Camden and his friends to see a movie, then came home and had cupcakes. Pretty simple. He had a great birthday day at Nate's parents house so I didn't feel pressed to go all out.
This was my first attempt at making homemade bread. My friend Heidi bakes bread once a week and said it saves her tons of money, plus it's yummy. So I joined the bandwagon.
This is Aidan's "Navy" face. I love this kid.
And this was Camden on his first day of school. So cute!!

ugh

No school today for the kiddos. But it all turned out well because after we went to workout, where they played with friends for over an hour, they played with the neighbor boy, who is 12 and great at entertaining them, for about four hours!! That's right, I said FOUR! It was heaven. Now Nate's on his way home and the weekend can begin!

The ugh part is that that's how I feel. I've been having some real lower abdominal pressure/aches/pain. It's been so long since I've been prego that I think my body is in shock and is refusing to cooperate. I can't run anymore, or walk fast for that matter. I can't do any knee raises or kicks in aerobics, it's pathetic and frustrating!! I feel like I'm nine months pregnant instead of 3 1/2. I think I'm just getting old. Especially since I can remember being 21 and pregnant and there's a definite difference.

But the weekend is about to start, Nate's done with his surveys for his research project and my house is a mess. AAAaaaahhhh, all is right with the world. haha

rain, rain go away

It has been raining and cold and raining here since the beginning of October. We had an early spring, a mild summer, and apparently an early winter here in good 'ole O.HI.O. I want my FALL!! It's my favorite time of year and apparently mother nature decided to skip it this year.

But in good news, my mother in law and I snuck in some work for the two days it wasn't raining and she re-stained my deck while I painted and primed. It took two days and about 16 hours(but who's really counting...?) and we finally got it done. One crazy house project down and a few more t go. Like, switching rooms, organizing, knocking down a wall in the basement, getting rid of the mice in my garage...stuff like that.

In a side note, my hubby had a birthday last week and I just need to tell the world how much I love him and am proud of him. He's worked very hard in school for the past nine years of our marriage and in five short months, it's supposed to pay off. Nathan is a good father, a great soccer coach, a world class athlete at blowing his knees, and my best friend. Love you sweetie! mwah!

more "lots" :)

Hi! Aren't you amazed that I have posted twice in one week? I certainly am. So yes, I am pregnant. I honestly doubted whether I would again. Aidan's labor was the worst event in my life and I swore I would never go through that again. Buuuuttt....have you ever had the feeling that your family was just not complete yet? Well, that nagged at me for a while so about 14 months ago we decided to stop birth control and see what happend. Well, we waited, and waited, and waited. When several months had come and gone without success I wasn't that worried but started getting a little apprehensive. Aidan is already four, and at this time he was three, and I didn't want my kids so far apart. I obviously had no control over this so it was very frustrating.

Then in Feb. of this year I learned I needed to have foot surgery. How was I supposed to get pregnant if I had surgery and on ibuprofen for a long time? And then Nathan had knee surgery so honestly, how were two gimpies supposed to find time, energy, and , uh, ways to continue our endeavor? I was given an answer in a sweet calming way saying that I was supposed to have the surgery first and then I was supposed to get pregnant.

Okay, I could handle that. So I had the foot surgery, Nate had his knee surgery; I weaned myself off the massive doses of anti-inflammatory drugs and thought that I would surely get pregnant. Nope. nada. nothing.

I was nearing the one whole year mark of trying monthly, calculating cycles, etc. without success. I conceived fairly quickly with the two boys so I was more than a little stumped. The end of July was to be the one year anniversary of our babymaking adventure. It also marked the date when I was going to have to make a doctor appointment to see why I wasn't getting pregnant.

Camden's birthday is Aug. 1st and Nate went to Minneapolis that weekend for a conference for school. I went to my in-laws house that weekend while he was away. The day before we left was the day I was supposed to start my cycle. I actually wanted to know what to pack, supplies, etc. or not so I called my friend Misti to see if she had an extra prego test. *(She was pregnant herself by this time so I figured she might have extras)

Sure enough, within seconds, I was positive!!! I was in shock. I couldn't believe it! I think I kept that pee stick for five days just to confirm to myself that I was in fact pregnant. Aaannnnddd, of course Nathan wasn't home and couldn't talk on the phone because he was surrounded by people and didn't want anyone to know. So he found out via text message and responded in kind. Very anti-climactic for me. Then I had to go to my in-laws and act like everything was normal. It was torture! :)

So, fast forward to now. I am almost 14 weeks pregnant. Not sick, since I remembered that prenatal vitamins poison me when I'm pregnant and as soon as I stopped taking them I was fine. My due date is April 4th, which is great but we also are supposed to be moving that week since Nate is graduating the week before...yeah. Not the best timing but I had no say in it. I'm kind of sad that this baby and Aidan will be 4 1/2 years apart but in some ways that will be easier too because the boys will be so independent and in school.

I'm still crazy scared about the delivery and would welcome any advice/suggestions/words of comfort all you mommies have. Basically my epidural didn't work, though no one believed me, there were a million different people in the room, the tail bone pressure literally drove me crazy with pain and Aidan was 9lbs. and 23 inches long. so yeah. I don't want a repeat performance.

Thanks for all of your well wishes and happiness for us. I really appreciate it!

lots

How long has it been, dear blog? Too, too long. What has happened you may ask? Well, lots. Will I ever get around to sharing it all? Probably not. :)

We obviously made it through the summer, though I must say August was NOT Camden's favorite month. On August 3rd he had a mole removed by his right eye. Not a big deal but he's never had surgery before and so he was seriously nervous. Almost to the point of hyperventilating, which was kind of annoying. But he did fine and recovered like champ. But because of said surgery he couldn't go swimming for two weeks. This was the last month of summer people! And we had a pool pass to the Hilliard pool which had a lazy river, water slides, diving boards, and a POOL!! He was not happy.

To make matters worse, about ten days after the surgery, he was playing goalie against Nate after soccer practice and he dove for the ball, landed on his finger, and broke his pinky on his left hand. It was so sad. They came home and I was heading out the door to play bkb so I didn't pay much attention to it. Nate mentioned he had hurt it and maybe jammed it. Camden wasn't crying so I didn't think twice about it.

The next morning I remembered he had hurt it so I called him over to look at it. It was pretty swollen. He couldn't bend it. And, thanks to mommy-tuition it just didn't look right. So I took him to the doctor who thought it wasn't broken but gave me an x-ray form just in case it didn't get better by the weekend. (this was on a wed.) The nurse made a splint for him and we went home. The next day, Thurs., I decided to take him to get the x-ray. It wasn't bothering him but the swelling hadn't improved and it was starting to really bruise. Sure enough, it was fractured which meant he had to wear a splint for three weeks with no swimming allowed.

Yeah, Camden hated August. One facial surgery + one broken finger=no fun aka swimming for the rest of the summer. :( I was sad that he had broken a bone. It seemed sort of like a right of passage or something. He was so brave and resilient and never complained. He was faithful in wearing his splint. It about broke my heart.

That's one of the things that continues to amaze me about children; their adaptability. Whenever Aidan had his ear/hearing issues he just adapted to the situation without complaint. We just learned Aidan has a mild milk allergy so he is not allowed to have milk, cheese, yogurt, ice cream, and pizza. How sad is that!? But he has never complained. Just accepted the condition and moved on. Camden was the same way. He never play the woe-is-me card like adults do. Just adapted and taught me valuable lessons in life.

If only we all were more like children. Able to have challenges and just accept them and look to what they can do instead of what they can't. I'm pretty proud of my two little men.

And on that note dear readers, I will close. I am convincing myself to post more often in the future. But I will leave this little tidbit until next time: another baby springer will be joining the ranks in April. ;)