Jacob's Quote about His Finger

Tonight I had a funny conversation with Jacob about his finger. He was looking at it with no bandaid on. There is still one stitch in it, that is kind of sticking out. He looked at it and said, "There's a bug." I said, "No, it's a stitch. That's how they put your finger back together." Jacob asked, "How it get broken?" I said, "You slammed it in a door, remember?" Jacob: "Oh. Yes."

He doesn't have his huge bandage anymore. Sometimes he wears just a bandaid, but often goes without anything. It's a pretty sight, let me tell you. And he often walks around holding his one finger up, just like it was when it was in the big bandage. Here he is when he fell asleep last night.

And, yes, he's asleep in the hallway. But, notice there's no pacifier. :)

To the ER....again

So we spent another day in the ER...this time with Jacob. Usually it's Matthew's job to go to the ER. Here's the scoop - lots of details most people wont' care about, but I want to remember. Some are nasty. And I don't have time to edit.
I was sitting on my bed, feeding the baby. The boys were running around, being boys. Matthew had just come into my room, for some reason that I can no longer recall. Jacob went running into his room and next thing I know, I hear his door slam. That's a totally normal sound to hear. He was just playing around. But right after that he comes running into my room screaming, "BLOOD!!! BLOOD!!" His finger was dripping blood all over. I pretty much threw the baby on the bed, hopped up, grabbed a towel and looked at it. At that point it was bleeding and looked purple. I couldn't tell the extent of the injury, but I could tell it looked bad. So many thoughts were going through my head (I would have expected to handle an emergency better...aren't people supposed to go into a mode where they get things done well and then crash later? Well, I didn't. I panicked.) I couldn't decide whether I should call 911, go to the ER, go the pediatrician, and whether I should call first. I called the Dr., kind of asking what to do. They said to come in. So luckily my wonderful neighbor, Shannon, was home. I ran the baby over there, threw him at her with a diaper and wipes. I had told Matthew to get his shoes on right before I walked out the door. I left Jacob standing with a towel on his hand (a nice on, unfortunately was the first thing I found! Oh well...) and he was screaming his head off ("BOO BOO!!! BOO BOO!!!"). When I got back from running the baby over, Matthew comes at me with a juice box he found, asking if he could have it. I pretty much freaked out, started yelling (aka panicking some more) and after he still wouldn't hurry to get his shoes on, I made him walk over bare foot. Yes, it's December. Bad mom. I locked the door, carrying Jacob, closed it, and went to the car in the driveway. Grabbing the keys would have been a good idea. Again, bad move, mom. Luckily we have a garage code and I got in to get the keys. I mostly buckled him in his seat (it was hard to get him in with his finger wrapped up and both of us freaking out!). I sped down Winton Road, going very fast, praying there were no cops anywhere. It's pouring. I'm calling tons of people, none of which are answering. Poor David, I left a pretty scary message. I was sobbing, saying I didn't know what to do and that I was afraid his finger was going to fall off. I wasn't in a condition to censor my word selection. I get to the doctor - I was a total hysterical mess, pretty much. I can handle broken bones all day long, but the finger hanging on by a small piece of skin, that was hard to handle. And I didn't handle it well! I walked into the doctors office, said I why I was there, explained the situation. They wanted his insurance info...I asked if we could take care of that later ;) Which was fine. I sat and waited in the office, for what felt like an eternity, but was really probably just a couple minutes. My amazing father-in-law, Russ, thankfully works right across the street and came over. He was able to be a second set of hands, and help keep me and Jacob from flipping out. I finally got ahold of David then. They took us back to the room. The nurse looked at it and cleaned it out. I was able to just hold Jacob, who was still screaming. I held his head to my chest, while I was looking the other way, and sang Jesus Loves Me over and over and over and over. I didn't know what else to do to comfort him. We then waited for what, again, felt like an eternity. Dr. Bird,  who we have always loved so much, took a look at it and said, "This is going to take a lot of work. We're going to send you down to Children's. It's partially amputated." Amputated...I didn't need to hear that. I was already struggling. So they wrapped it with a wash cloth and we hit the road. Russ drove and I rode in the back, holding his finger. He fell asleep in the car, which scared me. I was afraid he passed out. I poked him in the side to make sure he was still okay. He cried...good. Russ dropped me off at the emergency room door. They took us straight back. I guess if your injury is bad enough, they take you straight back - at least that's our experience with our last two visits! The broken arm got us back right away too! ;) So we went to triage. Nothing exciting to report there. One funny moment, though, was right after they gave him Tylenol, he said, in between sobs, "I need to brush my teeth!!". I guess he wasn't a fan of the medicine. They moved us to another room, we saw various people come in and out. I still couldn't look at it. One quote I remember was, "I can see the bone." Cringe. Every time they made us move, I carried him, but I was afraid if I bumped his hand wrong his finger would fall off. It was that bad. I have vivid pictures in my mind of it just barely hanging on, right around the bottom of his finger nail. I'm afraid they will haunt me in my sleep. We eventually were sent to x-ray. By that time David had arrived. He took over holding Jacob - I had to feed the baby, who he had brought down. The end of his bone was broken a little. But they weren't worried about it. It will heal. When the ER doctor (well, resident) came in, it was the same doctor we saw just seven weeks ago with Matthew. What are the odds?! I'm sure we look like great parents! ;) Both he, and another plastic surgeon/orthopedic came to stitch him up. They were able to do it with just local anesthetic. He cried for a couple minutes when they gave him those shots. The doctor complimented how well he did with the shots. He said he has had linebackers who you could hear down the hall. But once it was numb, he just sat and watched them do it. Russ was able to watch (again, thank goodness he was there!) David made some glances. I sat behind the doctor so that I couldn't see a thing! It only took two or three stitches. They "tacked" his finger nail back on. It will fall off, they said. But 99% of the time it grows back. It might take 9 months. They wrapped it nicely. He has a very large green bandage on his finger. His bandage is about the size of his forearm. It reminds me of when a cartoon character hits their thumb with a hammer and it gets enormous. It's that big. Then we waited some more. Papa's android phone saved the day. Jacob was navigating the phone very nicely by himself. He was coloring and shooting turkeys and laughing. They gave him some ibuprofen right around then. Then, the shot of antibiotics. Wow. It looked like she had to push the injection hard to get it in the muscle. He screamed for a long time, writhing around in pain - rolling on his hand! That was miserable for quite awhile. They had to hold off giving him his Tylenol with codine because they were afraid he was going to throw up. But eventually he was back to shooting turkeys on the phone. Eventually we were discharged.

So we left. Jacob decided he wanted chicken nuggets. He hadn't eaten since breakfast, and it was around 4pm. We went through McDonald's and got him a happy meal (a treat in our house) He just wanted the chicken. He wanted to get chocolate milk for Matthew (comes into the story later). He stayed awake the whole way home. Part way home he says, "I had fun at the doctor today!" in a happy voice. Fun? I don't call the day fun! ;) He also realized he never got a sticker at the doctor. Oh the things they think of...so after we dropped Papa off at work, we went and got our sticker. They let us have more than one. And he picked a sucker. His favorite color is green. He picked one with a green wrapper, but was later disappointed to find out that the actual sucker was red (watermelon...tricky!)

We are now home. Phew. I offered him something to drink, offering the chocolate milk, but he was so set on making sure Matthew got it. So thoughtful.

So, some blessings amongst the craziness:
1. The baby slept 10 hours last night. God knew I needed rest before the day.
2. Christy, our pastor's wife, had already arranged to bring us dinner tonight, just because of the baby. Again, a God thing.
3. Russ, who was able to spend the day with us, taking time off work.
4. A neighbor who was there to keep my kids.
5. my mom who kept Matthew
6. Rebecca, who took Matthew out tonight
7. countless people who prayed - prayer chains to let people know
8. Friends to  be there for me on the phone, and who offered to do anything for us.
9. Jacob saying, "No, thank you" in between sobs after his shot when offered a drink
10. An amazing hospital to be able to go to
11. Insurance
12. David's parents who came to help us relax tonight
13. medicine
14. pacifiers and blankies
15. a baby who rolled with the punches nicely
16. the finger is reattached, not gone
17. It's just a finger!
18. A husband who could make Jacob laugh while his finger was being cleaned out by playing with the soap dispenser. And who thinks of every little thing we could need to make sure we are taken care of. Who runs to kroger several times in one night. Who goes back to get string cheese for Jacob even though he's already in the check out line. Who makes me feel like I have every right to be exhausted and to complain of a bad night even though he's just as tired. I could go on and on....
19. Jacob who said "God healed my boo boo." about his leg, where he got his shot of antibiotics (was really painful!)
20. That I don't have to change the bandage.
I know I had other ones I wanted to put...I'll remember them later.

Hopefully we're in for a good night's sleep! For those of you that pray, pray for good rest, pray for his pain, healing without infection, and just the three year old who learns how to get around with a gimpy hand. And just pray for the well being of our family in general. We've had a rough couple months, with things going on that most people don't know! We're hanging tough, but must admit, we're drained.

29 Reasons to be Thankful on my 29th birthday

Last year I did 28 reasons...I thought it would be a fun way to remember the birthday! Here we go again!
They are in no particular order.
1. A new little bundle to love on.
2. Two other healthy boys to spend my day with me.
3. A husband who is amazing. He has been so supportive and helpful through these late pregnancy and early post-partum days where I haven't been much of a help around the house (I think helpful is a bad way to describe it. Really, he's holding down he fort and doing everything!)
4. David's day off on my birthday, and the kids at preschool for us to spend a little time together.
5. A surprise trip to the outlet malls - fresh air and a trip out of the house.
6. All the birthday deals David signed me up for online (not all consumed on my actual birthday): a piece of cake from Smoky Bones - wow delicious.
7. A free sandwich, chips, cookie, and drink from Jersey Mikes.
8. Free sundae from Graeters.
9. Free cookie from Brueggers
10. buy one get one free pretzel from Auntie Anne's
11. Various other coupons I can't remember to celebrate my birthday
12. A mom who has sacrificed and helped so much this fall to support our family.
13. A delicious dinner with family - my mom made my favorite: prime rib, and cheesecake!
14. Another dinner with David's family - I love time with family and my family is pretty awesome.
15. two boys who bought my birthday present 10 days before my birthday and didn't tell me. They actually kept the surprise!
16. 93 Facebook "happy birthday" messages - wow
17. Several phone messages and texts to tell me happy birthday
18. A good visit with dear friends the day after my birthday (although always too short)
19. A baby who has been amazingly healthy and arrived so safely - God is good.
20. So many people who have offered to help us as we get used to our new family member
21. Naps
22. A newborn who for 3 of the last 4 nights has gone six hours at night between feedings.
23. A wonderful doctor and fabulous nurses to helped in the safe arrival of Jonathan - God bless them for working so hard, even in the middle of the night!
24. Christmas music on the radio - Yep, I'm one of the crazy ones who likes it.
25. A three-year-old who is incessantly asking Daddy to get the Christmas tree out, without any incentive from Mommy.
26. Post-feeding snuggles with Jonathan.
27. Preschool - for great connections with people for both me and my kids, and for some downtime with Jonathan during these early, tired days.
28. All the meals that people are providing for us - wow what a blessing.
29. A date night that someone reading this is going to offer so David and I can actually have a conversation ;)

I could keep going, but I'm only 29 :)

Jacob Turns 3!

Our little Jacob turned 3 on September 19th. I just wanted to take a few minutes to remember what he is like at this age, since time goes quickly, and I will too soon forget this stage. The biggest thing that stands out to me about Jacob is that he is a helper. He is so in tuned with what needs to be done (at a three year old level...) The other day, he made a mess on the kitchen floor. I sighed and said, "Oh, Jacob. Look at this mess. Now we need to sweep the floor." It was morning, and I was tired, so I kind of gave him a guilt trip. He very quickly replied, "I'll vacuum it up!" He ran to the closet, got out his little hand vacuum, and vacuumed it up. All while I sat at the table and watched! He's so enthusiastic about helping. His little "please", "Thank you", and "you're welcome" comments just make me giggle all the time. He'll ask to eat outside for dinner, and then offer to wipe off the table to we can do so. He'll get out the spray and paper towels and go to work (I realize this makes me sound lazy and like a bad mom for letting my kid play with chemicals...he's supervised, don't worry). He's always asking to help with what I'm doing - from folding laundry (again, he's 3...not perfect!), taking out the garbage, bringing in the garbage cans, sweeping, mopping, spraying and wiping, making a bed, etc). You'd think our house would be clean...haha, no. He can make messes, too!

Another thing that stands out about Jacob is he love for "scuggling", or snuggling. He really needs time to be loved on. He will say, "Mommy, scuggle me." That usually involved curling up and watching TV. I remember when he was younger, we'd turn on the TV and he'd get mad and turn it off. Now, he's an addict, unfortunately. And at this very pregnant stage of life, I just can't make myself care! At night, he has a hard time going to sleep. He still wants to be near us, and preferable, touching someone. He'll still sometimes fall asleep in the hallway, while we sit and wait for him to do so.

Jacob loves to go to the museum and the zoo. He asks all the time to go. He'll say, "Let's go to the Museum. It's open." And if I tell him it's not, he'll tell me the zoo is open. He also loves Parky's Farm (I think I was asked to go to that at least a dozen times this morning) and Glenwood Gardens.

He has a hard time being left at school. He cries when I leave. But it's all a show. I hear he stops before I get out of the parking lot. Actually, I think today may have been the first time he didn't cry. He always asks if I am staying. He loves when it's our "helper day" and I stay to co-op. I think next week when Matthew is down the hall, it might help. When I pick him up, he always has had a lot of fun and loves it. He just likes me and wants to be with me :)

Other loves of Jacob right now are Mickey Mouse, Word World, Curious George, he's starting to enjoy reading, and I'm sure I'll think of some others...But Mickey ranks pretty high. And of course he loves anything his brother loves - Wild Kratts is pretty big on our house. It's a PBS show, that I must admit, is pretty good.

His cake is a funny story. He told me he wanted a mickey mouse cake. I thought, oh that's easy....three round cakes, two for the ears, one for the face, right? Oh no! As I looked online for ideas, he points to a picture and says, "I want that one". It's the Mickey Mouse Clubhouse. If you don't know what that is, google it. So, instead of telling him no, I sought out how to make it. And I did. It's on the pictures in the next post - the ones from Facebook. I had the cake almost complete one day during naptime. He comes out, and I expect him to glow with excitement. He takes one look at it and says, "It needs a door." Man he was picky! And the day of his party, he told me, "Put the balloon on it, and take a picture." Again, pictures on the next post. Who knew a three year old could be so particular. But in the end, I think he was pleased!

Well, I'm out of time...I need to do a post about this for Matthew. And I don't have time to edit...sorry for typos :) I have to go get Matthew :)

Recent Pics

This is a post for those of you not on facebook. Here are some recent pictures that describe what has gone on in our lives recently:

Pics of a tour of Rumpke, Jacob's Birthday, and other stuff

https://www.facebook.com/media/set/?set=a.2269491450204.128740.1036134076&l=5c2c1cc8f0&type=1

 

Nathan and Sarah get married

https://www.facebook.com/media/set/?set=a.2269461289450.128738.1036134076&l=36d58e739c&type=1

School Changes

So I fell behind again on blogging... ;) (not that anyone actually reads it anymore!) With sick kids and doctor appointments, my Friday morning time to myself went away for a couple weeks. But that is to change soon!

In the last week or two, I've been starting to wonder if we made the right decision on what to do with Matthew for the year. He's had three years of pre-school at Northminster. We still stand by our decision to wait to send him to Kindergarten. Since he has the late summer birthday, we decided to wait until next year to send him. While I feel that he would have been totally fine this year academically and socially to go, so many people say the differences show up years down the road. We figured we might as well give him an up on life, and maybe things would be easier for him. He can be the first to do things instead of the last (to drive, etc). Maybe it'll get a little extra college scholarship.... ;) So, we had to decide what to do for the year. The preschool he has been going to does not have a 5 year old class. So our initial decision was to unofficially do some homeschooling stuff with him (things he won't necessarily do in Kindergarten, just to spend some good time together) on Monday and Wednesday while Jacob is in preschool. Then we enrolled him in a pre-K Friday program at another school, Forest Chapel, which is around the corner from our house. He was just going on Fridays. I thought that would give him the social interaction he would need. But, in the last couple weeks, we've noticed that our little social guy needs more social time. Last year I was really good about getting out and spending time with friends on Tuesdays and Thursdays when the boys weren't in school. This year, between being pregnant and tired, Jacob needing some downtime in between school, and just being generally over committed all around, we tend to stay home on those days a little more. So, Matthew just isn't getting out to see people. In watching him, I'm afraid that after a year of this, he may start to struggle socially by the time he goes to Kindergarten in the fall. So we were faced with a decision....there is an opening at Northminster in the class that he was in last year. He could do that again, and just be on the older side instead of the younger side. There is an opening at Forest Chapel where he could go (every day,if we wanted). Part of me wants to keep him at Forest Chapel, since it would be something different. We could do Mon/Wed/Fri with them as well. But, I can't imagine every M/W/F doing drop off and pick up at two different schools. It wouldn't even give me enough time to get to the grocery. I would drop Matthew off at 9, Jacob at 930, pick up Matthew at 1130 and then Jacob at 1. It's just too much driving. It would be so much simpler to have them at the same school. And with a baby coming, simple is what we need. So while I feel sad (and guilty) pulling out of Forest Chapel, I think we're making the right decision for the family. I feel a little bit like a failure for not doing well with the homeschooling I was trying to do. But I think if I get the little bit of time with both of them at school to catch up on life (my schoolwork, preparing for dance, treasurer work for the preschool, and just general mom/wife things), I will be a better mom and can do that at other times. And I think Matthew will be more a joy to be around if he gets to spend time with friends. So, for now, that's the plan...

Big Brothers

Week 2, and I'm keeping up with my goal - so proud of myself! Last weekend the boys had a "big sibling" class at Christ Hospital. They got to go and learn all about what it will be like to have a baby in the house.They got a tour of the hospital, too. Matthew seemed to really take on the idea of having a baby. He was really tring to be responsible and take to heart what they said. All week he has been processing things like how big of a toy and what kinds of toys the baby can have. I think he's going to be a great big brother. Jacob, well, let's just remember he's not quite three.... ;) He was paying attention a lot of the time, but also consistently dropped his doll on it's head :) We'll have to keep an eye on him. My guess is that he might have the hardest time with the transition. And if Matthew's having a hard time, he will have no problem telling us!

Here is a picture of them leaving their class

Baby Update

This week I had my glucose test (don't have results yet) and another ultrasound. At 20 weeks, one of the baby's kidneys wasn't measuring right. So they checked again now and everything looks great. Praise God! It's been fun to watch how the baby has changed throughout various ultrasounds. At 20 weeks, we thought he looked a little more like Matthew. At this one, he had filled out. The technician thought he had Jacob's cheeks and nose and Matthew's forehead ;) I'll have to post some pictures. I don't have them with me now. But, he weighs 3 lbs 8 oz and is in the 38th percentile.

First Day of School

So another two months have passed since I've upated. I'm a slacker at a lot of things right now! With blogger, I feel like I already spend too much time at the computer, so adding one more thing is a lot. But at the same time, it's the only way I usually keep track of what my kids are up to. Now that school has started, I have about 1.5 hours on Friday mornings to myself. My goal is to do an update each Friday. So here is today. The first day of school. Matthew started at a new school. Because he is 5, he could have gone to Kindergarten. But since he has such a late birthday, we decided to wait a year. We just didn't want him to be the last to do anything. I'm sure he would have been fine to go, but there just seemed like more risks in sending him than waiting a year. And selfishly, I'm thankful I get to keep him one more year before he goes to school for the rest of his life! We are going to do some unofficial homeschooling two days a week while Jacob is at preschool. Then on Fridays he is doing Pre-K Friday at Forest Chapel, right around the corner from our house. It gives him a place to go, some structure, some extroversion, etc. So I drop him off at 9, then take Jacob to Northminster at 9:30. Matthew has been so great with this transition. He told me he was nervous to meet new people (which I kind of find hard to believe ;) He's a kid who will make friends with someone on a playground.) But he went right in. I can't wait to hear how it went!
Jacob on the other hand, has been protesting going to school for weeks now. Everytime we ask him about it, he says "No, I stay home with you." or "I go with Matthew." This morning he had every excuse in the book to not do what he was supposed to do (get dressed!). I heard everything from, "I'm too tired." to "I'm comfy." When I tried to get a first day of school picture, he threw his backback into the yard. He was a goober in every sense. I was sure he was going to throw a fit when we got to school. But, he surprised me. He went in, washed his hands, and sat down to play playdough. He didn't make a peep when I said goodbye. I set both boys up with a little rock with a heart on it that they put in their pocket so they could get it out when they missed me. We'll see if either one of them even remembered it was there. Here are a few pics of our morning:

Matthew at home

 Jacob throwing one of many fits.

 Matthew in front of his school.

 Jacob in front of his school.

Little Fish

So don't fall off your chair...I'm updating the blog. The real reason I"m doing it, is because David is out of town for the week and I wanted to show him the amazing progress Matthew has made in swim lessons. He's doing College Hill's Swim Ministry, about which I can't sing high enough praises. He made awesome progress last year and I was so excited to see what he could do this year with another year of maturity on him. In three days, he can now swim quite a bit (which he couldn't at all do on Monday). He's still working on figuring out how to breathe while he's swimming. Right now he just holds his breath, so he eventually has to stop to breathe. It has been so fun watching him all week, because he's working so hard, and he's smiling while he's doing it. I'm just so proud of him. So, above is a little movie clip of him swimming to his teacher. She has been so dear to him. I feel like she is just as proud of him as I am, and she just met him on Monday!

 (He's so good, he's walking on water ;)

 He throws the toy and then swims to get it.

 A look I've gotten a lot lately...can you tell what he's saying?

All the great grandkids...and it's not even a holiday!



He Loves Me

This morning David offered to take the boys to the zoo to give me some time to do a project I have been working on. Matthew came up to my room, because I was still in bed at the time, and he was all choked up. He was getting upset because he wasn't going to see me all morning. He wouldn't be home until rest time and it really bothered him that I wasn't going. So sweet. We had some good time together yesterday, so I think he had really enjoyed it. I'm going to remember this moment for a long time. I'll try to remember it in a few years when he mutters under his breath, "Bye, mom", because he has to ;)

Extroversion to the Max

To say Matthew is extroverted is kind of an understatement, bless his heart. He will talk to anyone, anywhere, anytime, about anything, whether the other person wants to or not. Most of the time, he uses this characteristic in a positive way - he includes others while playing (note that I said "most" of the time), again, whether the other person wants to or not. Last night we ate dinner at Brookdale, where Great Papa Rudolph lives, and Papa works. There was a fish fry. After Matthew was done eating, he asked me, " Can I go downstairs and see how everyone down there is doing?" I told him he could (Older people usually love little kids, right?) Next thing I know, we hear him (we were up in the balcony) down in the lobby singing B-I-N-G-O in front of everyone. Hilarious. As soon as Jacob heard him, he went running to join, because it's his new favorite song. He didn't quite get there in time. And poor Matthew, the crowd really just wasn't into his song this time :) I wish I had had my camera with me to tape it!

6 Chairs

Sorry I'm so bad about blogging. I need to try and just capture more of the little moments of our lives. Our good camera had to be sent to be fixed (the LCD screen died...thankfully still under warranty!) and I just am not quick to remember to use our little camera. So in my attempt to write down a few things, here's something heard tonight at our dinner table:

Matthew: Since there are 6 chairs at our table, the baby will take up #5. That means we need to have one more baby after that so all 6 are full!

Glad you have it all planned out, Buddy....but now's not the time to mention having another baby :) Maybe after I forget about all this getting sick stuff... :)

Old Pics

So I know I've been slacking on the blog lately. A lot has happened in the last month (and I mean A LOT!), and it's going to need some long posts! I'll get around to it, eventually!

But for now, to hold you all over (I'm sure there's a ton of you who actually read this...), here are some old pictures. We have loaned our usual camera out and have an old camera that we are using now. I hooked it up to the computer for the first time and it appears that some of the pictures on the camera are so old, that they were originally put onto our old computer. We bought the one we have now in 2007, I think, so they are from around that time. Here are some of the things we found (and I admit I got a little carried away):
More recent trip to the zoo.

Blurry, but a precious moment captured.

Taken this morning. My three super heroes.

Back in July, 2007.

A definite fave.

The sailboat David raced at Family Camp on Matthew's 1st birthday.

First cake! Note to self: Don't use red icing on a first birthday cake. It stains.

The wall in our nursery, painted by my mom.

Someone got ahold of Nama's reading glasses.

At Old Navy back in 2007. I love the Linus look with his fingers in his mouth (two of them, upside down. He still does it.)

Playing with Jacob in the early days.

Short hair cut!

Awwww...sweet brothers.

I must admit, I love that smile.

It's not everyday you get to pet a wallaby.

I love this smile, too!

Apparently his feet are funny.

If you've been to the zoo recently, you probably have a picture like this, too.

Another one I like :)

A knight and a princess.

Dress-ups over jammies. Classic.



Shiner

This happened last night...we'll see what kind of shiner it turns into! Not the best picture, but he doesn't stop moving long enough to get a good one! He was running in his room, tripped and fell and hit the frame of Matthew's bed (which has now been removed from the room!)

While Left Unattended

After our housekeeper being sick for two weeks (me....), I am starting to dig out from under the mess. I was downstairs cleaning up and the boys disappeared for a bit, and were quiet. This is what I found. They were going swimming and fishing.

Guess I'm heading to do their room  next....

Quotes to Remember

Some funny things heard around our house.....
1. Matthew: "Daddy, are all 21 pieces there?"
David, while still counting: "I don't know yet"
Matthew: "You're a math teacher! You should know that!"

2. The other morning while I was on Matthew case to get his shoes on and stop doing what he was doing.
Matthew: "Whatever you say, Mom" (with a tone like he was rolling his eyes, which I'm sure he would have been doing if he knew how.)

3. I put this one on facebook, so if you're on facebook, you already saw it.
After having a conversation about his less than awesome behavior:
Matthew: Well, my head is telling me to be good, but my body is telling me to be bad.
Me: Maybe you should listen to your head instead of your body.
Matthew: But my body is bigger and my head is smaller, so my body is winning

4. Matthew: Where is the tape?
Me: It's on the counter.
Matthew: Which counter? The messy one or the not so messy one?
(I was able to tell him "the messy one" and he found it :)

5. Jacob, after peeing in the potty and having bubbles form as he does it: "Oooo! Pop in the potty!"

Meeting Drew

Here is the most recent Koesters/Rudolph kid clan picture (and some others in whaterver order they upload). We used to call them "TiSamMarPhew" for Titus, Sam, Mara and Matthew (Andy's nickname for Matthew is "the phew" - not sure if it is "few" or "phew" Any opinions?) Now what do we call them?

Do not leave this one unattended with a little one...it would be a for sure disaster.

 Beautiful.

 Buddies.

 Does this just not make you smile? So adorable!

 The clan. Everyone is looking. Impressive.

 This one wants a baby. Now he just has to get mom and dad on board.



We enjoyed our short but wonderful trip to visit our good friends. Now we're just praying that Lord brings them back closer after seminary!

This morning

This just summarizes the morning.

But a bin of old happy meal toys provided relief to all. Thank you, God, for providing sanity in simple ways.

Dinner Comment

A conversation at our dinner table last night.
Jacob: (in a curious tone, looking at David) "Daddy, where hair go?"
David: (in a sarcastic tone) "Very funny, Jacob."
Jacob: (giggling) "Jacob funny."

The Result of a Very, Very Busy Weekend

Can we say "behind on laundry"??!!

This past weekend (well, week) was way, way busy (fabulous, but busy). And this is one of the results. This is all clean (and somewhat organized in piles). And there's one more load in the dryer. Guess what I'm doing tonight...and probably all day tomorrow! Gotta love the kids' contribution to the work...the toys surrounding the piles. But, to give Matthew credit, he helped me bring the laundry downstairs, sort it, and put the first load in. Jacob helped me clean out the lint trap in the dryer almost every load. Now if I can teach them to keep from making so many dirty clothes...

Fun on a Snow Day

Daddy's master construction skills were hard at work today. Take a look at what he made (inspiration from Family Fun magazine and boxes supplied by Papaw). It's a kitchen. We need to paint it, and get some play food. The boys are having fun cooking and baking and having a restaurant!

Tribute to Jacob

Oh Jacob...while you are talented in so many ways, a gifted sleeper you are not. Since Matthew was itty bitty, David and I always kind of patted ourselves on the back for the great sleeper we created. He slept through the night early and has been a good sleeper ever since. He can sleep through just about anything (I will never forget the night that we shut the boys door so tight that Jacob couldn't get out. He was so upset and we found him SCREAMING in Matthew's ear, "Brother, open door!" and he totally slept through it. Jacob on the other hand, just has not had that natural born sleeping ability. We were humbled...it wasn't us that made the good sleeper. It's just the way he came. Jacob took longer to sleep through the night (only a month or two, but they were a LONG month or two). He wakes up so easily. Even as a baby, we couldn't go into his room while he was sleeping because he would wake up. We combined the boys into the same room probably 9 months ago, hoping it would help both boys. Matthew was claiming he was lonely, and Jacob wouldn't stay in his bed. It helped some, but I'm sure many of you have heard us complain about the lack of sleep we've had, thanks to Jacob. We have tried every method you can think of to keep him in his bed. In the fall, he was coming out of his room several times each night, for various reasons. We recently moved him from a toddler bed into a twin, and that has helped a lot. He only comes out maybe once a night (but to give him credit, it's not every night, and he's a lot better). But he fights going to bed, for up to two hours some nights. He went through a phase where he just had to be near us. And eventually, we just let him. He would fall asleep in the most hilarious places, often bringing with him every "lovey" in his bed. And being the good parents that we are, we took pictures to show him when he's older. He now is falling asleep in his bed, but still takes a very long time to go to sleep, often not falling asleep much before us! Here is our tribute to our not so gifted sleeper:

At the foot of our bed, taken from our bathroom.

 In his doorway, with absolutely everything but his mattress and sheet.

 Hallway.

 Hallway again.

 We were probably sitting at the kitchen table when he fell asleep here.

 An uninvited guest in our bed. He did this while we weren't nearby.

 Undoubtedly the most comfortable place in the house, under the kitchen table.

Middle of their room, George as a pillow.

Hallway, with absolutely nothing to make him comfortable.

One of my faves, hanging off the top of the stairs. We were in the basement and wouldn't let him come down.

This just makes me want to curl up and sleep....not.

I am pretending, but for awhile, this was a good way to get him to sleep at naptime. And really, how could I pass it up? Those snuggles come with a limited time warranty on them!

This one is a fake. They are pretending.

Middle of his room.

His most recent trend, stripping after we say goodnight.

He went through a phase where he insisted on falling asleep on the couch, and we'd later move him to bed. Sometimes it's just not worth the battle (especially late at night when you're tired!)

And about the lack of posts...sorry. Life's busy. I'll try and get better, but it's not on my list of new years resolutions. Ironing and reading are.