Photo Editing in Progress

I swear I am taking pictures of Brian still. I just haven't had a spare minute to edit said pictures, file them, and post them to the blog. Tomorrow maybe. Anyway, here's one to tide you over. This is the face Brian made today and I asked him to say "cheese." He is actually saying it. Clearly he does not understand what it means in relation to taking pictures.


Also, and update from this morning. Baby Martin came home tonight with his adoptive parents! He is so freaking cute! Dreams do come true. Keep praying, please. We all know how scary the process can be for quite a while.

Whirlwind

The last 24 hours have been just insane.

Yesterday was mom's birthday. She also received a pretty huge award from the Madonna Manor, the care facility where both of my grandparents spent the last years they were with us. I helped my aunt Norma sneak into town to surprise her. Fun!

I worked in the morning and on the way home received a text from a very good friend. "It's a boy!" This friend has been trying to adopt for a long time. The birth mom has until 4:30 today to change her mind. Prayers, please. Lots of prayers.

Brian was so good last night at the awards dinner! We have had a rough few days with him. Naps have been short. Sometimes non existent. My patience has been short. Sometimes non existent. Two days ago he dumped an entire pitcher of ice cold water on himself, stuck an important key in the church copier (which we had to take apart in order to retrieve the key), and managed to get himself stuck in a chair. Don't ask.

Yesterday he got a good nap. And then on the way to the dinner he dumped his entire cup of water on himself, his car seat and the diaper bag. I was pretty sure the award dinner was going to be a disaster.

BUT he rallied! He was polite. He was sweet. He was the only child there, so he relished in the attention. He listened. He sat. He whispered. He was charming. He got a little restless toward the end, but what 2 year old wouldn't after 2.5 hours. He was good.

Then this morning, more news. The father of a family I taught passed away this morning after an almost 2 year battle with brain cancer. Prayers, please. Lots of them.

"I Poop in da Water"

I used to babysit all the time for this family in our old subdivision. They have a boy and a girl very close in age. The girl was younger. Let's call her "L."

L had a bit of a problem in the bathtub when she was little. Every time she bathed, she would poo. She thought it was hysterical. I never had to bathe her, so I did too.

I would ask her all the time, "L, what do you do in the bathtub."

She would respond, "I poop in da water."

Freaking hysterical!

Not anymore. Not now. I now realize the disgusting mess "poop in da water" creates. Oh my gross-poop infected toys, poop infected cups...smashed poo in the drain. YUCK.

Yep, Brian pooped in the tub tonight. ICK! Icky!

The house smells of bleach now. And I'm going to bed.

Oh, and there are no pictures of this either Bibber. Sorry to disappoint.

That is all.

PS For those who receive the blog via email, sorry for the early send. I hit enter on accident and couldn't stop it!

A Day in Review

Shawn has this awesome thing that he does with Brian almost every evening. Brian typically throws a fit when it's time for bed because Shawn puts him to bed and not me. This is not a reflection on his feelings for Shawn, but instead an example of him knowing how to play us. Brian rarely falls asleep for me, hence the reason Shawn puts him to bed. Brian knows this, and thus prefers me at bedtime.

At any rate, to get Brian to calm down, Shawn starts reviewing Brian's day with him. He typically knows how the day went because I have told him already. He runs this review in the form of a conversation. He asks Brian questions about the day. Sometimes Brian answers, sometimes he repeats what Shawn says, and sometimes, Shawn answers for him.

It goes a little bit like this:

Shawn: So, Brian, how was your day?

Brian: Silence. Kind of. Tears are calming down at this point.

Shawn: Did you go to school?

Brian: School. (Through the last of the tears.)

Shawn: Did you go to school with mommy? Did you see the kids?

Brian: Mommy. Kids.

Shawn: Did you pick up the boys? Did you see the dogs?

Brian: Dixie. Shavo.

You get the idea. Anyway, I'm always amazed by his patient way of calming Brian down at bedtime. This is a time of day when my patience is long gone. And I know Shawn would rather be playing video games, than rocking a 2 year old to sleep in the dark. Thank goodness for good daddies!

Thank Goodness for Old Friends

So it turns out an old friend, Renee, who I met when I was coaching cheer leading, now runs the babysitting area at the gym. (I would say my gym, but I haven't joined quite yet, so let's not get ahead of ourselves.) Anyway, she heard about Friday and MET ME AT THE DOOR today. It was such a relief to see her smiling face. She apologized for Friday and personally walked me and Brian into the the child care area. She helped me get Brian interested in something, and even though he was still crying, she told me to go on and go workout. She stayed with him until he was playing happily and making friends with another one of the babysitters. And then she came and told me he was okay. She asked me questions about him so that they could do a better job of entertaining him and understanding him. She told me all the words he was saying that they did understand (which was a lot).

When I finished my workout, he was playing happily with his new friend Ms. Brittany. Of course, as soon as he heard my voice, he decided to play me and began crying immediately. BUT, he did not cling to me. He walked out holding my hand, AFTER giving Ms. Brittany a high five. He said he's not going back tomorrow, but his is. Now that I know Renee is in charge we will continue to keep trying until he caves.

It's good for me and it's good for him. He will be okay.

Down on the Farm

Yesterday the Bengals won! WHO DEY! Wasn't the best game offensively, but we'll take a win any way we can get it.

During half time, we headed down to Bibber and Billy's to celebrate Shawn's birthday. We met them at the top of their road and then followed the to the place where they get their hay. (Billy needed help lifting it.) The lady who sells the hay also has a ton of baby animals, so we got to see them all!First Brian held a little kitten! He was so excited, but a little dangerous. He kept lifting it by the neck. Poor thing!

Then we saw all sorts of animals.

Miniature horses and alpacas.

Goats.Bunnies...lots of bunnies!

And more cats and kittens.

And of course some HAY too. (That's for you, Shannon.)

When the hay was loaded up, we headed back to their house for dinner and the birthday celebration. Brian tried out the 4 wheeler and the lawn mower.


He played outside.We got to see their goats.And dogs. Brian LOVES Munchie.

Nana, Pappy and Mari were there, and Jade also came with Candi and Neil! She and Brian are about 4 months apart and they are so cute together.

They played outside.


And fed the goats.Hid in Bibber and Billy's bed. (Which they thought was totally hysterical!)

And rode around in the cozy coupe.

Brian was WORN OUT when we got home. Seriously. He feel asleep in like 3 minutes. Before we left though, he said a sweet good bye to baby Jade.

Super Saver

So, I decided to give the gym a try again. Well, I guess it's not really the gym that's the issue, more the babysitting area. Epic fail. Brian cried before we even got through the door. I decided to stay with him and play for a bit to try to get him calmed down. Every time I made a move for the door he went berserk. Every. Single. Time. It probably didn't help that there was only one staff member on duty and she was holding a little baby. She didn't even get up to try to calm him. I get that she had 3 other charges and a baby in her care, but it would have been nice to see her attempt to get him to calm down.

After a while I got him somewhat distracted, so I snuck out. I stood just outside the door where he couldn't see me, but I could see and hear him. Within 30 seconds, he was crying again. Then he was crying really hard. Then sobbing. The stupid girl just sat in a chair and kept saying, "Brian, do you want to color?" Not once did she walk over to him. It really doesn't take much to calm him down or to distract him. It seemed like she wasn't even trying to be honest. So after the torrential sobbing ensued, I went back in and got him out of there.

I went to the enrollment office to talk to the girl I've been working with and explained the situation. I think I got the girl in the child care area in trouble. Maybe even fired. At first I felt bad, but I really think she deserves to be in trouble. She wasn't doing her job.

They extended the three day pass to Wednesday and said they will continue to do so until I give up, or Brian does. Hopefully he will give up. I really do enjoy getting to workout.

On the way home I decided to run by Kroger to grab something for dinner. What a great day to stop by Kroger! They were "tail gating" in honor of the first home game this coming weekend. Brian got a free football from his Auntie L's place of work, and some free pizza too! He was even more ridiculous than usual with the pizza. He was still sucking sauce off of his arm when we got home.
But the real story here is that I spent 73 cents on dinner. I was a saving machine today! Truth be told I forgot my wallet, so I had to be thrifty. My Dad occasionally gets coupons for free things since he works at Kroger and I had a few in my coupon pouch (which I thankfully always keep in my car). I got one of those already cooked rotisserie chickens FOR FREE, a bag of salad FOR FREE, some really yummy fresh baked bread ALSO FREE and even some gelato for dessert FREE! I scrounged around in my change compartment of the car and came up with about $2.50, so I grabbed that as well. I also had a random $1.00 coupon on any order. So I used the change and that coupon to buy corn and watermelon. Total cost = 73 cents! Even the 16 year old cashier was impressed.

So Much For That

Well so much for working out. Brian had a crying fit that resulted in puke. He said he missed Mommy. Sigh.

Back in the Saddle

I'm working out again! Really working out at a gym. I'm still in okay shape since I've been walking all summer (not to mention chasing Brian), so I actually was able to do a full cardio and weights workout yesterday-my first day back. And I'm not really THAT sore. Yet.

I have struggled with working out since Brian was born. We quit our gym membership when I decided to stay home for two reasons.

1. We weren't using it.
2. We were trying to trim the budget.

We weren't using it for a lot of reasons. Mostly because Shawn and I like to work out together, and we didn't want to leave Brian in the childcare at the gym. And when we tried working out separately, we realized we didn't have enough time in the day for both of us to get in a work out.

My parents bought us an elliptical machine and we already had some weights and a weight bench, so we made part of the playroom into a work out room. But again, we had the problem of both of us getting in a work out. I could work out during the day except, who would watch Brian? And there wasn't enough time to get both of our work outs in at night. Neither of us sleep if we work out too late at night.

We toyed with getting up even earlier to work out. Yeah right!

So, with Shawn starting grad school (thus getting a free workout membership at the gym there), his problem was solved. NKUs gym is on his way home, so he can just stop and work out then.

But what about me? Walking is great, but I really needed more.

Last week I started calling around and settled on our old stomping grounds, Silverlake. Right now I am using a free 3 day pass just to see how things go.

Brian is older now, so I am a little bit more okay with leaving him in the childcare area. There are a bunch of college girls who work in there, and he likes them. It was very, very hard for me to leave him yesterday even still. BUT he had fun, and I had a BLAST having an hour to concentrate on myself.

So we'll try it again today and tomorrow, and then decide whether or not to join. I feel really strongly about taking care of myself and modeling a work out routine for Brian, so I am trying to convince myself that the benefits out weight my aching heart. We shall see.

Some Randomness

We've been busy! School started. I love it, but it's exhausting.

The Bengals LOST the first football game of the season on Shawn's Birthday. Total bummer.

They seemed to play better though when Brian was wearing his team helmet. He will be wearing it for the remainder of the season. At least during games.


Yesterday I caught Brian sitting in his toy bin. He's a mess.


Today we went to the ENT. No news. The right tube is still in there, but not really in. Left tube is still where it should be. No fluid. Yay! So we see the audiologist for a hearing test on November 8th. Hopefully there will still be no fluid and we will get positive results (no change).

I took a stuffed Arthur along to the appointment due to a project we are doing at school. Here is a picture of Brian poking Arthur's eye out with a tongue depressor while waiting for the doctor.

After the ENT we decided to enjoy some nice weather at the park. Brian was in a posing mood.


Well until the end. Then he decided no more pictures, please.


I love how he says, 'CHEESE" and then immediately says, "See the baby?" He's trained to look at himself on the camera preview window! Won't be long and he'll be insisting I delete pictures he doesn't like.

Speaking of his speech, it seems to be coming along. He's figured out a way few ways to get around talking from time to time. He says "Em-hem" a lot instead of actually answering. He also occasionally says "Oo-oo, ah-ah" as an answer to a question. I guess he's been watching too much "Curious George." We'll have to break those habits, or ban that monkey...one or the other. He did just run into the room earlier and very clearly say, "Mommy, do you want a popsicle," though, so I can't complain too much!

Waking Up

Brian only napped for an hour today. The garbage truck woke him up. THE GARBAGE TRUCK WOKE HIM UP! Yay for being able to hear the garbage truck!

Last week he woke up two mornings saying "choo-choo." I thought he wanted to play trains ,but Shawn knew better. The train tracks are close to our house, as I have mentioned before. The trains whistling woke him up. CHOO-CHOO!!!

Small miracles.

St. Louie

Well today was the first day of school. As mom said, perhaps a trip the weekend before the first day of school was somewhat ill advised. Perhaps.

But, it was worth it. We had fun visiting with the family, Mom saw the Reds beat the Cardinals at Busch Stadium, and we even saw some of the sights of the city!

There are a lot of pictures below, but not nearly as many as I took! Enjoy.

Cousins!

A random shot of B chilling on the floor of the hotel hallway.
Very unsanitary, but I love his expression and the color contrast!\

Swinging down the stairs with Nana and Pappy!

Playing on the lawn with Daddy!

At the Arch!

In the pod, on the way up!

The underlying reason for the trip. Busch Stadium!

B was not nearly as impressed by the view as he appears to be in this picture!

What appears to be a cute expression is actually
B licking snot off his upper lip. Yum!

The creepy Koi near Hard Rock Cafe.

B getting a closer look at the "Fish." He actually said the "f"
sound a few times this weekend! Finally!!

The fam.

A quick visit with Aunt Teri and Uncle Jon on the way back home.

Bugles, Coke and 3 Musketeers

I was thinking about our pending trip to St. Louis when I was at the store with Brian last week. I slipped a bag of powdered sugar donuts onto the bottom of the cart while he was distracted. Why? Because on each and every trip we've taken so far, we've had powdered sugar donuts. So I figured this one shouldn't be any different.

Mom always gets Brian animal crackers for trips too. The kind in the circus box. He loves them! He can eat a whole box in one sitting.

Anyway, while we were making our way through Kroger, I got to thinking about how when Brian thinks of family trips, he'll always think of powdered sugar donuts and animal crackers. How do I know this? That's easy. It's because when I think of family trips, I immediately think of Bugles. And a coke with a 3 Musketeer bar.

My grandma always gave me Bugles when we were traveling. Sometimes we would get our own bag, but usually, it was a paper or plastic bag full from her big bag that she had at home. One for me and on for Jon. Always.

And I always got a coke and 3 Musketeer bar while on the road with my parents. I loved how they tasted together! Now I wouldn't even eat that combination on a bet. But for some reason, it was my go to travel treat.

It's funny how certain traditions carry on.

Nanny

Yesterday we got a chance to pay Nanny, Shawn's grandmother, a visit! Brian just loves her and the feeling is mutual. Wish we could see her more often.

Update on Poo

I realized I forgot to update everyone on Brian's poo report. It came back negative. And his poo has been solid for a week. So I guess we're good!

Cute Pics

I haven't taken a lot of pictures lately, but I thought I would post a few. I'm trying to figure out how to catalog them in snap fish. I tried to upload the 23 month...or was it 24 month...I can't remember...pictures three different times and the site kept crashing. Too much work. And now that he's 2, it seems weird to keep doing it by month. So all of the pictures from August are in an August 2010 folder (rather than a 25 month folder and 26 month folder). But I don't like that either. We'll see. Anyway, here's a fun one from our old favorite Mexican restaurant "Rio Grande." We've found a new favorite over by Shawn's work." El Jinette." YUM. But we ate at Rio the other night anyway. And Brian was a hoot with the queso.

Then at the Bantas yesterday, Brian discovered that their ottoman is loads of fun. And an excellent hiding place. He's really into hiding lately. He thinks it's hY-sterical. I wish the first one wasn't so blurry, but it gets the point across the best.

Um, gotta love that grin, don't ya?

And finally, our first tumbling adventure from last night. This is one class Brian really likes! I was really impressed with how well he did. He was the only two year old who participated in the "tada" portion of the evening. He didn't do the lunge they were asking him to do. But, he danced his way to the square in the center of the circle, threw his hands up in the air and yelled "tada!" I can't imagine where he gets his love for attention.

Special thanks to Melissa for that last photo of Brian and Addison going across the "bridge." So fun taking classes with Addison! And isn't her leotard precious?! We decided we need to bring a photographer along to class. It's too much work to chase a 2 year old at a gymnastics facility AND take pictures!