Aiden disappeared today. Twice. I'm surprised my hair is still brown.
Round 1: The Warm-up. We were at church. He was by the stairs, I turned around for three seconds, and he was gone. I sighed, and figured he just ran up ahead of me. But when I got to the top, he wasn't anywhere around. So I started looking through the crowd of people, but didn't find him. Then I got a little concerned, because he has gotten outside before, and gone in the road. Not a real busy road, but traffic nonetheless.
No Aiden outside where I can see.
Back inside. Call his name. Check all the Sunday School rooms, twice. People go outside looking, people help me search the sanctuary. Finally, I went running back upstairs, and someone said they found him hiding behind the pulpit. Apparently he wanted to play hide and seek, and forgot to mention that to me.
So, all's well that ends well. Right?
Round 2: The Terror. He was out in the yard with Michael and Parker. Michael turned around, Aiden was gone. He came and asked me if I had him. Nope, not here. We started calling his name, sometimes he goes over into the neighbor's yard. Not so great, but at least not far. Nope, not there either.
I'm starting to get concerned at this point, and tell Michael to go one way while I go another. I'd seen some kids (teens) walking earlier and thought maybe Aiden would have followed them. He's a friendly guy, and curious, and thinks that he should be doing whatever anyone else is doing. So I started a fast trot holding Parker, and screaming Aiden's name every few seconds.
There were a few people out, I asked them if they'd seen him, and someone was kind enough to call the cops. Thank you, whoever you are, it's really nice to know that people are willing to look out for each other.
Parker and I made it through the tunnel, over to Rose Lane, when I couldn't walk anymore. I stopped in on an old friend to use her phone to see if Michael had found him. Yup, he got him. Thank God.
I'm chaining him to a tree after this.
Monday, April 4, 2011
Friday, March 25, 2011
I was holding Aiden tonight as he fell asleep (yet another no-nap day) and crying for a girl from my church. You see, she's having her baby right now, and she probably won't get to keep her for very long. Her baby has Trisomy 18, a condition that is incompatible with life. Meaning, a much shorter life expectancy.
I cried for her, her husband, and the baby. I cried for women who have had to give up their babies all around the world, for various reasons. I cried at the thought of having to give up my babies. I cried for the unfairness, that a person would be asked to give up something they treasured, something they longed for and prayed for, and received only to have it taken away so fast.
I know what the Bible says, about laying up treasure in heaven. But when we're faced with something so raw, so painful, as the knowledge that you may not get to whisper "I love you" to your living firstborn child, because she just died, it takes on a whole new meaning.
This baby is a treasure. A precious, living soul that will exist for all eternity. She is a creation of the Most High God, who knew of all the days of her existence from before time began.
She has weight.
She is loved.
I cried for her, her husband, and the baby. I cried for women who have had to give up their babies all around the world, for various reasons. I cried at the thought of having to give up my babies. I cried for the unfairness, that a person would be asked to give up something they treasured, something they longed for and prayed for, and received only to have it taken away so fast.
I know what the Bible says, about laying up treasure in heaven. But when we're faced with something so raw, so painful, as the knowledge that you may not get to whisper "I love you" to your living firstborn child, because she just died, it takes on a whole new meaning.
This baby is a treasure. A precious, living soul that will exist for all eternity. She is a creation of the Most High God, who knew of all the days of her existence from before time began.
She has weight.
She is loved.
Tuesday, March 22, 2011
Fun and muffins
My mom came for a visit this past week. It was great fun, and she did some amazing work in the boys' room. She got rid of a bunch of stuff that had just been hanging around cluttering it up, and she helped me organize their clothes so I could stay on top of it. She did in two days what would have taken me two weeks. Thanks Mom!
Things around here have regressed to me just trying to keep Parker from killing himself. (Part of why I can never get ahead on organizing... or cooking... or laundry... or dishes...) Apparently, instead of giving birth to a little boy, I had a monkey in disguise. He fell out of his high chair recently, off the window seat, almost off the table, and his current challenge is the kitchen counters. I took all the chairs out of the dining room, so now whenever we eat, we have to drag them in from behind the gate. My mom now refers to our house as "that gated community." His favorite word is "up" (no fooling) and he has absolutely no fear.
Great recipe for gluten-free banana muffins (Aiden's current favorite snack)
Things around here have regressed to me just trying to keep Parker from killing himself. (Part of why I can never get ahead on organizing... or cooking... or laundry... or dishes...) Apparently, instead of giving birth to a little boy, I had a monkey in disguise. He fell out of his high chair recently, off the window seat, almost off the table, and his current challenge is the kitchen counters. I took all the chairs out of the dining room, so now whenever we eat, we have to drag them in from behind the gate. My mom now refers to our house as "that gated community." His favorite word is "up" (no fooling) and he has absolutely no fear.
Great recipe for gluten-free banana muffins (Aiden's current favorite snack)
- ½ cup + 1 tablespoon sorghum flour
- ½ cup + 1 tablespoon potato starch
- ¼ cup + 2 tablespoon tapioca flour
- 3/4 cup sugar
- 1 teaspoon baking powder
- 1/2 teaspoon baking soda
- 1/4 teaspoon salt
- 1/2 cup butter, melted
- 1 1/2 cups mashed bananas
- 2 eggs
- 3/4 teaspoon vanilla
- Preheat oven to 350 degrees. Line muffin pan with liners.
- In a bowl mix sorghum flour, potato starch, tapioca flour, sugar, baking powder, baking soda, and salt.
- Mix in butter, mashed bananas, eggs, and vanilla. Stir just until incorporated.
- Spoon batter into muffin pan lined with paper liners.
- Bake 25-28 minutes or until done.
- Cool completely.
Wednesday, February 9, 2011
Feeling maudlin tonight. Or maybe just over tired? I'm not sure why. It was a good day, which means I should have no reason to be "down." The boys were both wonderful pretty much all day, I got a little bit done around the house, although not as much as I wanted to. Maybe if I sit here long enough, I'll figure it out.
So. Let's write.
Aiden's learning how to share much better this week. He still flips out if Parker touches his letter magnets on the table, but most other things he's getting pretty good with. Yesterday we were sharing the car track set we gave him for his birthday. Aiden had two cars and Parker had two. And they took turns saying "Go!" for the cars to race down the track. It was so much fun to play with them.
Hmm. Feeling a little better now. :)
Parker loves dancing. Any time music comes on, he's right there to bounce to the beat. He's pretty good at it too, for a one-year-old. He swings his arms and shakes his little diaper, and just recently he started spinning. I think Aiden taught him how. He copies just about everything Big Brother does these days.
:) :)
Parker is a climber. Yesterday he climbed onto the dining room table, and into the dishwasher (at separate times of course). Today, he climbed into his high chair. Yeah, that kid is giving me gray hair.
Aiden is spelling all sorts of words now. The memorization powers that boy has are incredible. At the end of the month, I'm borrowing a book from my mom about how to teach your child to read, and we're going to start that. I'm soooo excited, I can hardly wait.
:) :) :)
Ok, I feel better. See? Writing helps.
So. Let's write.
Aiden's learning how to share much better this week. He still flips out if Parker touches his letter magnets on the table, but most other things he's getting pretty good with. Yesterday we were sharing the car track set we gave him for his birthday. Aiden had two cars and Parker had two. And they took turns saying "Go!" for the cars to race down the track. It was so much fun to play with them.
Hmm. Feeling a little better now. :)
Parker loves dancing. Any time music comes on, he's right there to bounce to the beat. He's pretty good at it too, for a one-year-old. He swings his arms and shakes his little diaper, and just recently he started spinning. I think Aiden taught him how. He copies just about everything Big Brother does these days.
:) :)
Parker is a climber. Yesterday he climbed onto the dining room table, and into the dishwasher (at separate times of course). Today, he climbed into his high chair. Yeah, that kid is giving me gray hair.
Aiden is spelling all sorts of words now. The memorization powers that boy has are incredible. At the end of the month, I'm borrowing a book from my mom about how to teach your child to read, and we're going to start that. I'm soooo excited, I can hardly wait.
:) :) :)
Ok, I feel better. See? Writing helps.
Saturday, February 5, 2011
Three years as a Mommy
My oldest son gave me a new name three years ago today. Mommy. He was born at 7.04pm on Tuesday, Feb. 5th, 2008. Three years old now. Wow.
He's grown so much in that time. I mean, he started to roll, then crawl, then walk, and he's finally starting to talk. Amazing. I wish his childhood would slow down just a little, because I want to enjoy the entire thing, and I feel like I have a hard time doing that when it goes so fast.
I love rocking him and singing the bedtime songs. He barely fits in my lap anymore, he's so huge, but we still do it every night. And the script never varies. We sing "Elmo, Big Bird and Snuffy Song" and then he tries to add in Cookie Monster, and Mommy says no, Cookie Monster doesn't sing that song. Then he points out the door and says "donkey-horse" and Mommy says the donkey-horse is out in the playroom. He shakes his head while saying "poke tail" meaning we don't want the donkey-horse to poke with his tail while Aiden is sleeping, so that's why donkey-horse isn't in bed.
Then we sing The Goodnight Song (aka Michael Card's "He Grants Sleep to Those that He Loves") and after that we do the donkey-horse bit again. Same words, same inflections.
Then we pray, and Aiden has the same list of people and places every night. Occasionally it grows, when he learns a new name or falls in love with another of my friends, but they get added on and the rest stays the same. Then we pray, and Aiden finishes with his amen, then he says "eyes" meaning he kept his eyes closed (sometimes he does, sometimes he doesn't lol). Then he gets in bed and Mommy sits next to him, and puts on the four blankets, starting with them over his head and then saying, "Whoops, sorry!" and taking them off.
I wrote all this down not because I think the world at large needs to know about the bedtime rituals my oldest son and I have. Instead, I did it so that someday, when he's asking me for the car keys (if we're still using cars at that time lol), or packing up all his stuff that he needs for college, or waiting at the end of an aisle for the woman he loves to come down and join her life to his, I can look at this and think to myself about the precious, special moments that I had with him, that were just mine and his. This way, I can remember the sweet smell of his hair as it rested against my cheek, as we rocked back and forth in the dim room, and feel his baby hands touching my face one more time.
Happy 3rd birthday, my angel. I love you always and forever,
Your Mommy
He's grown so much in that time. I mean, he started to roll, then crawl, then walk, and he's finally starting to talk. Amazing. I wish his childhood would slow down just a little, because I want to enjoy the entire thing, and I feel like I have a hard time doing that when it goes so fast.
I love rocking him and singing the bedtime songs. He barely fits in my lap anymore, he's so huge, but we still do it every night. And the script never varies. We sing "Elmo, Big Bird and Snuffy Song" and then he tries to add in Cookie Monster, and Mommy says no, Cookie Monster doesn't sing that song. Then he points out the door and says "donkey-horse" and Mommy says the donkey-horse is out in the playroom. He shakes his head while saying "poke tail" meaning we don't want the donkey-horse to poke with his tail while Aiden is sleeping, so that's why donkey-horse isn't in bed.
Then we sing The Goodnight Song (aka Michael Card's "He Grants Sleep to Those that He Loves") and after that we do the donkey-horse bit again. Same words, same inflections.
Then we pray, and Aiden has the same list of people and places every night. Occasionally it grows, when he learns a new name or falls in love with another of my friends, but they get added on and the rest stays the same. Then we pray, and Aiden finishes with his amen, then he says "eyes" meaning he kept his eyes closed (sometimes he does, sometimes he doesn't lol). Then he gets in bed and Mommy sits next to him, and puts on the four blankets, starting with them over his head and then saying, "Whoops, sorry!" and taking them off.
I wrote all this down not because I think the world at large needs to know about the bedtime rituals my oldest son and I have. Instead, I did it so that someday, when he's asking me for the car keys (if we're still using cars at that time lol), or packing up all his stuff that he needs for college, or waiting at the end of an aisle for the woman he loves to come down and join her life to his, I can look at this and think to myself about the precious, special moments that I had with him, that were just mine and his. This way, I can remember the sweet smell of his hair as it rested against my cheek, as we rocked back and forth in the dim room, and feel his baby hands touching my face one more time.
Happy 3rd birthday, my angel. I love you always and forever,
Your Mommy
Wednesday, February 2, 2011
The Experiment
So yesterday I decided that I wanted to use up the last of the potatoes before they wrinkled themselves into my garbage can. Now what better way than to make potato chips, right? I've been craving salt and vinegar (my favorite flavor) kettle cooked chips. Mmm, there goes the drool. Sorry 'bout that.
Anyway, I wanted to try something new. So I put on the oil, sliced 'em up nice and thin (The Husband got an amazing knife from Cutco that I highly recommend, and no I'm not getting paid to say that) and started deep frying.
Three burned fingers later, I had potato chips! But, silly me, I didn't think through it enough to realize that if you put vinegar on a crisp chip, it gets soggy. D'oh! So I had soggy salt and vinegar chips. They still tasted good, and satisfied my craving. And now I know for next time, soak the chips in vinegar first, then fry them. Of course, I'll still end up with burned hands. When the book you're reading says things like, "Warning! Hot oil burns!" and, "Use caution when placing chips in hot oil!" several times throughout the recipe, you maybe oughta listen. And by you, I mean me. I got distracted by the pushing going on in the living room and didn't pay attention to pulling my hand out of the kettle before the droplets landed on it. Nice red mark.
Oh, and cleaning oil off your stove? Not fun. Not fun at all. :-P
Anyway, I wanted to try something new. So I put on the oil, sliced 'em up nice and thin (The Husband got an amazing knife from Cutco that I highly recommend, and no I'm not getting paid to say that) and started deep frying.
Three burned fingers later, I had potato chips! But, silly me, I didn't think through it enough to realize that if you put vinegar on a crisp chip, it gets soggy. D'oh! So I had soggy salt and vinegar chips. They still tasted good, and satisfied my craving. And now I know for next time, soak the chips in vinegar first, then fry them. Of course, I'll still end up with burned hands. When the book you're reading says things like, "Warning! Hot oil burns!" and, "Use caution when placing chips in hot oil!" several times throughout the recipe, you maybe oughta listen. And by you, I mean me. I got distracted by the pushing going on in the living room and didn't pay attention to pulling my hand out of the kettle before the droplets landed on it. Nice red mark.
Oh, and cleaning oil off your stove? Not fun. Not fun at all. :-P
Monday, January 31, 2011
Nap strike is quelled!
The nap strike that has kept me in a fog for the past week has apparently abated for the time being. Thank goodness, because Mommy without downtime is a frightening thing. Just ask my children.
Is winter almost over? Come on, snow, you can go somewhere else. This is why I don't want to live in "Alaska" with my parents. I don't do snow very well. I like it for Christmas, and by New Years I want it to be spring. Reminds me of my former job, the greenhouse. Oh, how I loved working in the greenhouses. I remember one spring break that I worked the entire week, and only left the greenhouse to eat. It was amazing. Potting soil smells great after a winter of bleach and red, green, pink and white (Christmas and Valentine's Day in the same season? Come on!).
Ooh! Big news! I'm going to start teaching Aiden to read! I was talking to his speech therapist, and told her about all the words that he can spell. She said to go ahead and get him started reading the correct way, because his interest level is so high that it might be easier to do it now. I'm so excited! (Can you tell by all the exclamation marks in this paragraph?) Move over, Einstein, my sweet, handsome and brilliant son is moving on up!
Ok, now that I've bragged on him enough for this post, I can tell you that Parker is starting to talk! (Warning: More exclamation marks ahead.) He says mama, dada, papa (Parker) schlah (nice) mo (more or milk) and ball! I think he is frequently trying to imitate what I say, also, but it's not quite as consistent. But my baby is talking! I can't believe how grown up he is already!
Enough rambling. Cleaning now. Bleah.
Is winter almost over? Come on, snow, you can go somewhere else. This is why I don't want to live in "Alaska" with my parents. I don't do snow very well. I like it for Christmas, and by New Years I want it to be spring. Reminds me of my former job, the greenhouse. Oh, how I loved working in the greenhouses. I remember one spring break that I worked the entire week, and only left the greenhouse to eat. It was amazing. Potting soil smells great after a winter of bleach and red, green, pink and white (Christmas and Valentine's Day in the same season? Come on!).
Ooh! Big news! I'm going to start teaching Aiden to read! I was talking to his speech therapist, and told her about all the words that he can spell. She said to go ahead and get him started reading the correct way, because his interest level is so high that it might be easier to do it now. I'm so excited! (Can you tell by all the exclamation marks in this paragraph?) Move over, Einstein, my sweet, handsome and brilliant son is moving on up!
Ok, now that I've bragged on him enough for this post, I can tell you that Parker is starting to talk! (Warning: More exclamation marks ahead.) He says mama, dada, papa (Parker) schlah (nice) mo (more or milk) and ball! I think he is frequently trying to imitate what I say, also, but it's not quite as consistent. But my baby is talking! I can't believe how grown up he is already!
Enough rambling. Cleaning now. Bleah.
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