Growing

Maybe it is Spring heading into Summer, maybe it is being surrounded by children who seem to grow an inch overnight, but I have been thinking of all the growing going on around me lately.



Let me start with Matthew. At his one year check up, the doctor was very concerned that he had only gained ONE pound since his six month check up. In fact, for the "little man" who started at the top of the weight chart when he was born, he is now not even on it. I admit, I was concerned, but I really was thinking that it all had to do with him being sick for practically six months and all the antibiotics he had been on during that time for his ears that, er, gave him the runs (I'm sorry- there is no nice way to describe it!). Anyway, even though our beloved doctor really wanted to go ahead and start running some tests, she decided to give me another month with the condition that I keep a food journal and if he hadn't gained any more weight in a month, the gauntlet would fall.



Well, praise God that last week at the check up he had gained a couple of ounces, which under the circumstances (he had some sort of stomach virus for about 10 days) was acceptable. I am to bring him in again in another 6 weeks and I'm sure he will have gained more weight. After all, as I told our doctor, he eats like a pig! He routinely out-eats Grace, and on a number of occasions has matched what I ate. This is what I had in mind as I am telling her how much he loves to eat:



I admit it, the table doesn't always get cleaned up right away after a meal. There is on occasion a potty emergency, a phone call, or I just get distracted and plumb forget. Matthew has never been one to pass up food, so seeing that he left some on his tray, he decides to help me out by cleaning up for me. I just happened to catch him in the act. Hey, could be worse. He could be eating off the floor again!


This year we decided to finally grow that garden we have talked about since we first moved in five years ago. My Dad and Erik built the frame, Erik hauled in the dirt and added our compost, and then he and Grace bought the plants on a "Daddy date". Have you heard of the book about the $64 tomato? Basically this man starts a garden, and after all the materials, the plants, the dirt, the fertilizer, he figures out that his one tomato cost him $64. I think he got his inspiration from our little plot here:

After all the time and work this project has taken, I'm sure it would have been easier just to go to the grocery store! But it sure wouldn't have been as much fun (well, fun for me- all I had to do was stick the plants in the ground!). And these three were about as helpful as you can see:
Now this is a father's love: he lets his daughter eat the $64 strawberry! :)
Oh, I forgot one last tidbit. Matthew is finally all weaned. I dropped the dreaded evening feeding last week, and he hardly complained. He even let Daddy put him to bed! Now that is an accomplishment for a mama's boy.

And lest you think this is one of those "clever" blogs (like you could be so fooled!) that ends a blog about growing by telling you I am pregnant, let me put your fears at ease. :) I am not! That would fall under the crazy mommy category right now! However, I do have a funny story to end with.

Grace telling Daddy at dinner: "Well, I am going to have a baby in my belly, and Mommy is going to have a baby in her belly."

(Me, side glance to Erik, "No, honey, don't panic, I'm not pregnant!")

Grace: "We are going to have Matthew, me, one boy and one girl." After pausing for just a moment, she says "We are going to need more mommies and daddies!"

Amen to that, sister! I couldn't stop laughing at her perceptiveness!

Matthew's Birthday

Here are Matthew's birthday pictures. We were so blessed with a day of sunshine between weeks of rain.

Don't let that first picture fool you- if you notice, he was quite disgusted by his birthday cake, and hated the way the icing felt on his fingers. Mind you, I know that the dislike of sugar is not to last. After all, he does have me as his mother and I have never met anything sweet that I didn't like! :)

P.S. ABQ crew- Sorry that these took me so long to post!

One year ago today

It was one year ago today that our "little" man was born, nearly two weeks overdue and 9 1/2 pounds (think there was a correlation there?).

It was one year ago today that we were driving to the hospital for the c-section I had tried to avoid for 10 months by trying for a VBAC. One of the few times in my life that I actually feared a "known" over an "unknown".

It was one year ago today that we added one child to the family, and yet somehow more than double the work load (does anyone else feel that way?).

It was one year ago today that my sweet boy, who loves to cuddle, who has always wanted to hold my hand while he nurses, that will rest his head on any one's shoulder became my son.

This year has gone by faster than any year before. How many times have I said I feel like I was just pregnant? I feel like that surreal drive home from the hospital with both kids in the backseat was just yesterday.

What a difference a year makes. I now have a super fast crawler, who somehow knows instinctively that anything with wheels must make a vroom vroom sound. He still loves to be held, still wants to hold my hand while he nurses (which, sadly, we are starting to end) but is also much more independent than Grace ever was. I didn't need a baby gate with Grace because she followed me around like a puppy; but Matthew will wander around, entertaining himself. He will out-eat Grace any day, and that is no exaggeration. We are constantly getting up from the table to get him more food. I have no idea where he is hiding it, because he is no longer that super chubby baby.

I dread the next year because I know how much faster it too will go. Matthew will turn from a baby into a toddler. From crawling to walking to running (oh, Heaven help us!). He will start talking, further reminding us how much he has learned even though he seemed to be too young to do so.

I know birthdays are supposed to be happy, but for this mother, they are sad because they are blatant reminders that my children are growing up, getting older, somewhat wiser :) and will be out on their own before I can even blink!

Easter

"The Uncles" came for a visit over Easter weekend. Only Crazy Mommy tells a 3 year old when someone is coming before they are actually here. A point that was proved yet again when Peter's afternoon flight was late and he didn't get to our house until after bedtime (Erik took Peter and Stefan out for a little male bonding time after they both got in).

So on Saturday morning when she woke up, I went into her room and said "Grace, I have a surprise for you! Your Uncles are here for a visit!" Her answer was, "REALLY?!? I love my Uncles! They do silly things!"

Silly must run in the family. Check out my little man's hair. And Grace's reaction to discovering there was candy inside those eggs she was finding.

We tried telling her there were surprises inside those eggs. But she was more intent on finding them... that is until we showed little-miss-never-gets-candy what exactly I was talking about. :)

Next year she will have a little competition for all that stash! (I have no idea what we are talking about- I'm quite sure it was nothing as serious as it looks.)

On the move

Here Matthew sports his 'do. It got cut off a little in the picture, but he has a tuft of hair on the top of his head. Sadly, this is where most of his hair resides. Anyway, he likes to sleep wedged in the corner of his bed between the bumper pads and therefore has an almost permanent Mohawk. I'm thinking of resorting to styling gel. You think they make an all natural version for kids? My little boy will be a year old in a few weeks. I refuse to accept this. After all, is this surprising considering the fact that I have been going back in years with every one of my birthdays recently? (In theory, I am in my early 20's :)!) It's not that I don't want Matthew to grow up. I love seeing who Grace has become over the few years that we have been blessed with her. I just am enjoying this stage and age, so why rush things? After all, this is a known. I fear the unknown.
This guy is his own little person now. He says "da-doo" which translates to doggie. He would chase Dixie all day if he could go fast enough. She is the first thing he looks for in the morning after Grace. Other favorites are "uh-oh", which he says a lot because he drops things a lot. On purpose. And today he started saying "wow". What a silly vocabulary. Kind of like Grace's first words: nothing endearing like Mommy, it was "this" and "that". NOT kidding.

We tried really hard to get both a good video and a 11 month picture and failed at both. The above was the best we could do before he catapulted himself off the chair. For some reason tears and a giant carpet burn are not camera friendly.

One disclaimer on the video: we do not normally feed our children on the floor. (Although just today Matthew ate three peas from under the table as he crawled around after lunch. Thankfully, they were relatively fresh, although I cannot account for their dog hair coating.)

This was for bribery purposes only. Which I would like to say we also rarely do, but that would be a lie. :)

If the video was any longer, Blogger timed out uploading it. (Any tips, you gifted bloggers?)

Matthew's 10 month pictures

We are two weeks out now from getting the tubes put in. In that period we had one full nights sleep. Then Matthew got sick (ended up being bronchitis) and Mommy got sick and neither one of us was sleeping at night, or during the day for that matter. Everyone is back to being healthy and last night we decided to let Matthew try to settle himself down.

I never thought I would say this, but we are ready for Spring. Normally we love winter, but so far all it has brought us is illness after illness! Today it was 74 degrees. Looks like we might get our wish. :)

Anybody need a miracle?

Grace and I had the most hilarious (to me) conversation in the car today. She had been "reading" in her Bible about when Jesus brought the little girl back to life. She informed me that she could bring someone back to life. When I told her that was called a miracle and it was something that only Jesus could do, she still insisted that she could do it. I tried not to laugh, but I also didn't want her to be sacrilegious, so we continued talking about it. Sometimes it just doesn't pay to argue with a kid. The final result was that she decided maybe she couldn't do it now, but when she turned four she could. Um hm.

Cock-a-doodle-doo

You know your kids are early risers when...

...you can't remember the last time you had a good nights sleep, not to mention the recommended 8 hours.

... it's 7:15am and you are at the kitchen table, not for breakfast (that's been had a while ago), but for playing with playdough.

... the baby is having his first nap before "normal" kids are even awake.

... you wonder if its wrong for mommy and daddy to be in bed only an hour after the children.

... you don't know which to do first- lunch or naps.

I just giggle over these. Both are 9 months old. I just love those little bald heads! I also caught them both as they were first learning how to go from lying down to sitting up. Remember how they keep themselves awake those first few times? My kids just passed out from exhaustion, still sitting up. The only difference is one is in pink and one is in blue... and one is having to use a crib that his older sister used for teething! :)

Can you hear me now?

First of all, has anyone noticed that you can talk to me on the phone now and get the added bonus of actually getting to hear what I am saying for the first minute? We got new phones! Woo hoo! Thank you to Circuit City for a going out of business sale. Now I am able to have everyone hear me babble away. :)

In other hearing related news (hey, I have to connect these somehow!) Matthew is officially getting tubes in his ears this week! After 5 ear infections in just the last 4 months (and a 6th one just this week) I took matters into my own hands and made a consultation appointment with a specialist after being fed up with the run around at my pediatrician's office. He has been on more antibiotics than I care to count, which cannot be good for his tiny body. And the ENT doctor said he has some minor hearing loss already, hopefully to be reversed by draining his ears during the surgery. He also noted (duh!) that hearing loss during this crucial time of language development could hurt this phase, and ongoing ear infections can cause permanent hearing loss (duh!). OK, *deep breath* I'm off my high horse now....

While I hesitate to say "woo hoo" here as well, I am excited by at least the prospect of getting to sleep through the night. Both of us. And I just want to see Matthew feel better. And not be taking him to the doctor bi-weekly. However, I am not thrilled about my baby having to go under anesthesia, but I am comforted by the fact that this is such a common surgery. The most worrisome part? He can't have anything to eat past midnight. And you ladies know how I get him to go back to sleep...

Please pray for us on Thursday, 7:30am!

Our snow day(s)

I had a very busy week scheduled. Something every day, which is big for a homebody like myself. I was a little stressed at how the kids, particularly Matthew, were going to do with all the going and doing. Well, God answered my prayers in an interesting way- a three day "snow event." (I'm not kidding- that's what they call it here in crazy Cincinnati where one falling snow flake means a snow day for all).

Although this time it really did snow. And sleet. And rain. And icy rain. We ended up picking up about a foot of snow and maybe half an inch of ice in between. Just check out the leaf in my hand below. We plucked that off our poor bush. We lost a decent size branch off a tree next to our fence. I'm sure more will come as the days go on.

The added blessing in all this was that even Erik got a snow day out of it! They actually closed the office today (although you know Erik, he still was working from home). He did get to play with Grace outside for a while. Even Dixie got in on the fun in the front yard because it was so cold out, we knew she wouldn't venture too far!

So just in case you are in the snowy region and need a cozy meal (or if you are in a warm region and these pictures make you shiver) I've included below a recipe for a tasty meatloaf. It takes a little more prep work than a normal meatloaf, but it is well worth the effort. Let me put it to you this way- even Grace had seconds for dinner. And several of you have witnessed us struggle to get her to eat THREE bites of anything. She even ate a piece cold the next morning while I was making Erik a meatloaf sandwich for his lunch. To which she replied, "mmmm"!

The ice might be brutal for the trees and bushes, but isn't it just gorgeous?

Grace and Daddy made a snow castle the day before our big storm. When you don't have sand, snow and flower pots will do just fine!

Honey BBQ Glazed Meatloaf

1 onion, chopped

1 carrot, minced

1/2 cup diced red and yellow bell pepper

2 garlic cloves, minced

2 eggs

1/2 teaspoon thyme

1 teaspoon salt

1/2 teaspoon pepper

2 teaspoons Dijon mustard

2 teaspoons Worcestershire

1/4 cup milk

2 pounds meatloaf mix (or just ground beef)

2/3 cup quick oats

1/3 cup fresh minced parsley

Heat oven to 350 degrees.

Saute onion, carrot and peppers in a skillet until soft. In a bowl, mix eggs, thyme, salt, pepper, mustard, Worcestershire and milk. Add meat, oats, and parsley, along with cooked vegetables.

Pat into a 9x5 inch loaf. Place on a foil-lined rimmed baking sheet. Put in oven to bake. Glaze with 1/2 cup BBQ sauce mixed with 1/2 cup honey every 15 minutes. Bake for 1 hour total or until thermometer registers 160 degrees.

This makes enough for a dinner for four, plus several leftovers/sandwiches.

What I did on my Christmas vacation

If I were writing this for school, I would have received an "F" if for the sheer fact that it was so tardy. But I'm sure that if it had been on time, I would have been given an A+ for how cute my kids are! :)

This is for those family members who have been asking for pictures (and rightly so). I apologize profusely if it seems a little obnoxious. There were so many great pictures (thanks, hubby!) from our Christmas at the Lake House in Minnesota that I had an awful time choosing which ones to use. Shocking, I know. I am certainly not an indecisive person! ;) It wouldn't be Grandma's house if there wasn't a baby in the bathtub! No comments on the flab, please. :)

The Russians are coming, the Russians are coming! (There was a request made for a family picture in traditional Russian boots and hats- for those of you who don't know, my in-laws live in Moscow.)

Making peanut butter pine cones for the birds

Snowy fun! A little cautious at first, Grace learned to love sledding down the sled run that Daddy and her uncles made. We found the driveway just as fun- fast, but wide. We also got to do some snow shoeing through the woods that I am sure Robert Frost had in mind when he wrote his famous poem.

I see glimpses of this sweet child as a grown up girl. She looks so precious in her new hat from her uncle!

And in that same vein, does that mean Matthew is going to be the class clown? Check out this hilarious face he was making.

I'm th-th-th...

Still trying to say it. Let me try again.

I'm th-th-thirty! Eeekk!

Yup, I officially left my 20's behind today and am now entering what I see as the "old" decade. Ever notice in the drugstore that they have make-up for mature skin and it is labeled "30's and up"? Well, I did. I also noticed that I am getting wrinkles (or laugh lines as they say). And that I don't understand most of the texting lingo. And I have no idea what all those buttons on my TV remote are for. And I talk about the weather a lot. And I confuse my sister's name with my daughter's name whenever we are all together. I'm thinking these are all symptoms of getting old.

I'd love to show you a photo of my smiling, wrinkly face on my 30th birthday, but alas, only my dear mother took any pictures and those all went home with her today on her camera. But I know you are used to waiting for me to post pictures, so whats new, right?

I just couldn't let these get away....

I know, it is mid-November but I just had to post these photos from October. Somehow they got lost in the shuffle. Grace's first tea party. A reenactment of the ones us grand kids used to have with Gram...now Grace is part of tradition! The only thing that competed with the sweetness of the little tea set with little finger foods was that Gram had rocks and pine cones in her yard. Ah yes, Grace is in touch with her girly and outdoors-y sides.


Here is the post from Grace's third birthday that I wrote belatedly. We had her birthday in Albuquerque as well as my Great-Grandmother's 100th birthday.

Before we left for Albuquerque, we said good-bye to the Malibu. I know I had a love/hate relationship with that car over the years, but it was strangely sad to not see it in our garage anymore. I told Erik that I had been with that car more than 10 years- longer than he and I had been together! That also meant that I am now officially old- staring 30 in the face AND a minivan mommy. Eeek. It is true, though: I love the van a lot more that I thought I would, just like I was told by other, wiser minivan moms. :)

CHAOS

I know this is not the kind of post you are probably looking for during my dry season of blogging. But I need your help! :) I am, in the words of the Flylady, suffering from CHAOS (Can't Have Anyone Over Syndrome). Except that I do have people over. Embarrassed. And just ask them to over look my messy and unclean house, of which has now become the new norm.

It is becoming more and more clear to me that the organized person I was before children has gone into hiding. I can't seem to find her anywhere! She would peek her head in now and then when it was just Grace, but now that Matthew is in tow I have not heard nary as much as a "how are you" from her.

So what I need from you is this: I feel as though many of you have it much more together than I do. I'm looking for those little tips that seem to be eluding me. Such as:

• How is your house getting clean? I really prefer the all-in-one-day method, but I'm thinking that is out the window for this stage of life. How do you do it?
• How do you organize and store what seems to be a growing amount of kids clothes, especially when we have both girl and boy clothes? Do you have a way to store whats going in and whats going out temporarily when seasons are changing, or sizes are growing but they don't all need to be put away yet?
• How about those dreaded piles? This has always been a struggle for me, but now I don't seem to have the time to do a whirlwind "pick up". How do you prevent them in the first place? I'm talking mail that needs dealing with, catalogs/newspapers/articles that you want to keep, things that need to be done but you can't get done at that moment and need to be stashed... you know, the CHAOS! :)

If you have any advice for part, all, or some of the questions, please let fill me in! If it's easier, you can email me cathrynjohansson@fuse.net or post it as a response. Maybe I'll even put all the answers together in a blog post so we can all benefit from each other's wisdom! :)

Yippee for no more political ads!

You guys know how I love theme nights for dinner. Takes the everyday mundane and makes it a little more exciting. So of course we had to have an American theme night for Election Day. We had hamburgers and Freedom Fries (no, I'm not normally really this nuts, but you can't have French Fries on a very American sort of day) and good ol' American apple pie. I hadn't baked a pie in ages and it felt good to be back to baking. It's no secret that I still feel very out of sorts even though I don't have a newborn any more. I guess I just need to adjust to the level of chaos that is now the new normal! :)

And just in case you, too, were disappointed in the results of the election, I am comforted by Daniel 2:21, "And He changes the times and the seasons; He removes kings and raises up kings; He gives wisdom to the wise and knowledge to those who have understanding." God is sovereign! So now lets pray for godly wisdom for our leaders.

Picture in Picture

Since mommy has had her hands full, daddio is stepping in to the rescue. Here are some of the latest and greatest. Sorry if the commentary is lacking...use your imagination.

This is Matthew's . . . err . . . 6 month picture, with Grace.

We went to the Farmer's Market two weekends ago and Grace helped pay for the apples by doing a little plowing.

(ooh that's cold daddio, hurry up and take the picture!)

And just to prove that I do exist outside this blog, here I am with Matthew the day before the boy decided he wanted to party all night long with an ear infection (yeah memories!).

And finally, for the pièce de résistance, I call this series of photographs, "The Motherload".