See my top teethies?

Who thought selling a house would be so frigging difficult … when you have a realtor! But it is, and so we’ve decided not to re-sign our contract with our current realtor when it comes due October 31st. We had another open house on Saturday which was a BOMB, mainly because there was an UofO game going on that day – that’s why he and my husband decided to do it on Sunday. Makes perfect sense. 2 days before the open house he emails me an “oh by the way …” Yeah. One of those. “….Open house Saturday”. Uhhhh. His side is he doesn’t recollect having a discussion with Nate about the game being Saturday and he thought they decided Saturday. Well, case in point we went with Saturday and the Open House bombed. Gee!! No word from the Alaskan fisherman so we can assume that went nowhere. WooHoo *insert sarcasm*

On good notes, Griffin has discovered 2 new things this weekend – the weekend he turned 9 months old!! We went up to Albany yesterday to visit and hang out with Nate’s brother Josh and his wife Jessica and their cutie kiddos Jonas and Miranda. While there, Griffin busts out clapping his hands! It wasn’t the “slam both together like cymbals” clap, but rather he put one sideways on his leg and slapped the other one on top of it. He’ll do it on cue now, so that’s great! Then today he was having a meltdown due to no sleep and I had things to do! So he crawls to me and as I step over him to walk off he starts wailing this pathetic wail like I’ve killed him, then starts chasing-crawling after me and I hear “…Ma…..Ma ….. Maaaaa!” He’s never even said “Ma” yet, but to say it in a communicative way to be “calling” me was awesome. I don’t think moms every forget the first time their baby says their name like that. I am still beaming. He did it the rest of the night, too.

Back to Albany – we had a blast! We had pizza and the kids played their hearts out. We got back to their house and the men looked after the kids while Jessica and I went and “girlie shopped”. To our dismay we discovered that Poet’s Garden had closed. We then ended up at Blackberry Junction, which was SUPERCOOL. They are only in town about 4 times a year for about 9 days. People from the town bring their things to sell - good things, like antiques, etc...not just junk. They have VERY cute things there. I wish I had a bigger house so I could get some cool stuff! The day ended with us all watching the end of the UofO vs Washington ... we won of course! Next weekend's game will be a nailbiter, so I think the J's will end up coming to our house to watch the game if it all works out.

On a different note, Maysen is doing much better. I think he was getting settled into some changes and his attitude and cooperation is getting much better. The other night we told him one more Caillou show and straight to bed. When it was over, he came out, brushed his teeth, went to bed, and was asleep in 10min. We won't jinx it ... so ... shhhhhhh. :)

Hope you all had a great weekend...

Irony

After blogging the bit about not really wanting to sell/move right now, I got a call at noon yesterday for a viewing. Thankfully Fin was sleeping and I had planned to be gone from 4-? to meet Nate for Halloween costume shopping and dinner. So I busted my rear and mowed and cleaned house. Now that I have my mindset that I am going to miss our neighborhood to the point of tears when I think about leaving - we have a potential buyer. They are an Alaskan couple - he works off the fishing ships in Alaska and he's only in town a week every few months. He has been house hunting with his realtor for 4 days now and leaves in 5 days and he is wanting to buy something before he leaves. He LOVES our house and they have moved it to the top of their property list. He has to bring his spouse over to see it before any decisions are made, but if she likes it, they'll offer. Emotional rollercoaster!!

PS: Maysen - Mr Incredible Griffin - dragon

I love Prampa

This picture melts my heart. Thanks, Jo, for sending this to me. Taken during Maysen's first camping trip Maysen and dad swam for the first time together in the campground's pool. They even against rules played the "Jump to Prampa" game ... until they got caught. (No jumping into pool allowed). I live with my son and know the deep connection he's made with my dad, considering how sparingly they get to see one another. If this picture doesn't speak a thousand words, I don't know what does...

Today was an interesting day for Maysen. He had karate tonight and on Tuesday nights he gets one-on-one with the main teacher - his name is Kelley and he is wonderful with little kids and especially Maysen. He knows how to practice things one at a time and move quick before his attention fades. He's very patient and encouraging although Nate and I sit back and cringe when we know he's just screwing around (play falling down, etc). They moved onto the board-breaking part of karate. Now the boards they use are plastic and have perforated "breaks" in them. There are multiple boards with increasing difficulty of breaks. Maysen, being the youngest in the class, was sure to have the most difficulty. However, we were proven wrong when he bounced through level 1, level 2, level 3 and Kelley was shocked. Level 4 is a 1" thick board and it was "unheard of" for one this small to break it. It took Maysen a couple of tries but he busted through it. After class Kelley told us that Maysen was one of the top 5 kids his age he's ever taught. That gave us the encouragement we needed to definitely keep him in karate!!!

We came home after karate and Maysen went to T's house to play in the backyard. Within about 20min N (the dad) came running over carrying a crying Maysen. You see, some wasps had flown down his shirt and gotten trapped. He was stung a few times and N was afraid he might be allergic. After half an hour, Benadryl, baking soda paste, and some ice cream he was fine. He's had the worst luck! Poor kid is only 3 and he's been stung 5 times! I've never been stung in my life .... ever.

An Update on our house selling adventure: Multiple people have stopped to pick up flyers within the last week or so. With the economy the way it's gotten (although we did buy some majorly cheap stock in Fanny Mae and so far have doubled our money!), I doubt we'll be selling our house this winter. Our contract with our pretty much non-exsistant realtor is up October 31 and we will not be renewing. We will wait until spring and try again (ourselves or with a different-more-attentive realtor). Hopefully the market will be back up somewhat by then. We are, however, having one more open house on Sunday this weekend. I'm not really wanting to sell it now, mainly because I'm not motivated to pack and move during the rain so you watch - this will be the weekend we sell our house. Go fig!

Toilet Paper

Just as I started to get adjusted to the crawling at 100mph we’ve entered a new phase of movement. Although Fin is not walking yet, he’s standing up on his own and getting into things that way. Yesterday during a “down” day I noticed he’d wandered off from his pile of toys and was MIA. Here’s where I found him:

Here is what I'm afraid the next few months will bring: (This is Maysen when he was 9mo old) Is there a trend going here?

This was the last nice week of the summer here in Oregon. The rain is starting to set in and so are the chilly temperatures. We enjoyed it by swinging outside and seeing how high Maysen could get. One new thing fall brings to us: Maysen LOVES going to the highschool football games. We live right next to the highschool and Mase can see the stadium lights from our living room. When they're on, he knows the game is going to start and we MUST go. It's really fun. We end up walking over with friends who also live in our cul-de-sac.

Here is our fall/Halloween-ready house. I love fall ...

The Oregon Ducks lost yesterday in Autzen Stadium. BOOOO :-( I'm hoping they can pick back up and continue a great season ... I'm hoping so that my husband will get out of his depressed funk because the Ducks lost. Maybe I should go pout because my favorite shoes were out of stock when I went to go buy them ...

Hiiii-Ya!

Maysen started karate this week and is absolutely loving it. We're lucky to have a small town karate class, as each kid in Maysen's age group gets a one-on-one instructor. It really is helping keep him grounded and focused and we've noticed a great improvement in him going to sleep.

I can't wait to get his Gi, the karate attire. He is the youngest in the class and the newest so they are working with the basics with him right now, but he's learning them quick and hopefully will catch up soon. He had no problem going to town on this poor little girl, who luckily knew how to block and thought he was pretty funny. At the end of class, they talk to the kids about importance of "appropriate placement" of karate, ie: not at home or on other siblings! (or they have the instructors to answer to!)

I got some pretty cute pictures of Fin today eating his cottage cheese in the sun. They're on my flickr accnt if you're interested. His top teeth are still trying to poke fully through. Man are they the slowest or what!?


I'm working Triage tomorrow so I'd better hit the sack. 'm just waiting for my stinky self-cleaning oven to get done. Something about letting that hummer go at 2848 million degrees while I snore away that doesn't seem right. Until tomorrow ...

Literally.

This is not a funny event, as Oregon is experiencing major wildfires right now. However, when running across this picture of the one near Oakridge, the literal nature was outstanding. Look at the sign: Hot Food. With massive 50ft flames behind. Literal Hot Food.

Funny Perspectives.

We all know the holiday song "Rudolph the Red-Nosed Reindeer". I was singing that to Maysen the other night in the bath (I love holiday songs) and he was intrigued. The following is what took place:

Me: "Then all the reindeer loved him ... as they shouted out with glee .... Rudolph the red-nosed reindeer .... you'll go down in HIS-STORY!"

Mase: "Momma, what does his story say?"

It's amazing what kids pick up and carry through them. I'll share one more with you. We're caroling one year and we're singing Dashing Through the Snow. Nate and I had been married a couple of years and spent a couple of Christmases together. Never did I hear his take on this song:

Nate: "Dashing through the snow .... on a one horse soffen slay.... over the fields we g-" I stopped him there.

Me: ".....Honey ..... what's a soffen slay?" *eye brow cocked*

Nate: "I dunno ... I didn't write it!"

Yea. I have a few more that I will save for a rainy day....The lesson learned in this: Make sure your kids are clear on words and song lyrics. It could be an embarrassing mess when they're in their late 20s. Can't you hear Maysen now ... 28, on a date at xmas time, "I just wish they'd give up what was in that guy's story ..." *blank look, no 2nd date*

Insomniac

Ahhhh, so peaceful, right? And why am I blogging at 1:30am? I'll tell you why. It's because Fin has JUST gone to sleep. Yes, ladies and gentlemen ... its fun around these parts. He only naps once during the days ... for about an hour and a half. He is done with his nap usually around 1:30, so by 6:00pm he's fried. However, you'd think he'd take a small nap between 1:30 and 7. Nope! So he's fried at 6 and I'm not letting him sleep at 6. We hold him off until 7 and he's OUT by 7:30. That went like clockwork tonight until he woke up at 9:00. We did all the things we could think of, rocked him, changed him, cooled his room off, changed his jammies, fed him more. By midnight still nothing. He wasn't screaming ....just .... happy and awake. Laughing, "talking", coo'ing. Finally I gave him Tylenol and a bath (again) and he's OUT. Thank you! Maysen refused naps when he was 15mo old, and I'm thinking he'll be the same way. In which case I'll need a wig because I'm going to pull every hair out of my head.


Maysen and I are definitely in a rough patch. I guess from seeing the picture from above when he was 14mo, I knew I'd have my hands full. This was his "Piggy" face but he also made it if he didn't want to do something you asked him to do. I feel like I fight him ON.EVERYTHING. Getting dressed, making his bed, putting on shoes, get in the van, going to school, going potty, it's bath time. EVERYTHING. It's just this battle that is usually something to this effect, "Maysen it's time to get your shoes on for school" .... (whiny)"But I DON'T WANNNNNNNA GO TO SCHOOL" .... "You love school, now get your shoes on" .... "MOM!! Listen: I SAID .... I DON-" ... "ONE!!! ..... TWO!!!!................" ...."FINE ... AUGHGHGHGH!" That's just an example. And we have time outs quite frequently. It feels like a marathon. An absolute marathon, but I guess that means I'm on the right track - I've heard if it's too easy, you're doing something wrong. My goal is follow through, because it's so easy to just say "ohhhhh brother. whatever" and let it fly. I can't do that. I have to teach him that I mean what I say so that he doesn't start walking all over me knowing I don't' mean what I say. My neighbor (who is a teacher) even noticed his little "change" and said that this usually happens right before a growth spurt, either physical or social. I'm hoping this is the last HOORAY from the "Trying Threes" because the "Fantastic Fours" are on their way. I can hope.

Ok. To the bed. Who's the insomniac? Griffin or me?

Caillou Fanatic

I heard the scampers, but I chose to remain in bed to see what would transpire. If Maysen gets up before anyone else, he will come blowing into our room announcing that it is “daytime” and that it’s time to get up. Today there was no such announcement. Instead I heard cabinets being opened up, then the fridge as I thought “Hmmm…where will this go?” He’s never made his own breakfast or fended for himself in the morning, so I was perplexed. As I heard him grunting and groaning, I heard him turn and run into our room. “MOM! I got a prize brefast but I can’t get the milk! AUGH!!” I stumbled out of bed, wondering what the fuss was about and found the following:

“TA DA! JUST LIKE CAILLOU!” You see, the show Caillou on Sprout has peeked his interest and he’s been reciting phrases and various other themes off of this show and apparently last night’s show was about Caillou making breakfast and surprising his mom and dad. My heart melted as I cleaned up mountains of Rice Crispies and he insisted on helping cut up the banana. I have a very thoughtful little boy. On a daily basis he picks flowers for me. Yesterday, for example, he got his motorized racecar stuck in the neighbor’s Evergreen tree (which means he’s snagged a wheel and it won’t back up). I told him I was feeding Griffin so he’d have to wait. When I walked out there, he was standing by it (as if he were hitchhiking) holding a hand-picked dandelion. God, I love that little boy…

This is Maysen's "cozy spot. He takes his bath, then settles in on our bed for a 30min round of Caillou, many times with his own mini-bag of popcorn. One of Caillou's adventures included Caillou's daddy making an airplane with him. Insisting on taking advantage of one of daddy's days off, the boys made an airplane out of a laundry basket (base), silver bowl (steering wheel), and step stool (pilot's chair). Oh, and don't forget the "for sale" signs as wings. It was a riot! Later Nate tied a rope to the laundry basket for more leverage and they went sailing around corners so fast Maysen would get flung out (and laugh his head off!). I will try and get a video put up on here, it was hysterical!


Dad had to join in the fun ...


And Fin thinks we're all nuts!!!

Oh, just wait my little mister .... your day of craziness are on their way ...

First Day of Preschool

Miss Mona. Miss Betsy. The smell of the Methodist Church. Fish decorated Dixie cups at snack time. Grandma Hineman in the corner on bean bags for story time. Finger paints and the smell of our plastic paint covers we had to wear. Miss Betsy bringing back a new “kitchen” when she went on vacation to Washington DC and we all fought over it. Mom coming for our hoola-hoop game and how excited I was when she would come pick me up. The scary merry-go-ground with the chipping blue, green, and yellow paint.

These are my memories of preschool. You wouldn’t think you could remember back that far, but I sure can. It’s exciting for me to know that he’s formulating these memories now. Here I am, almost 30 and I can remember my preschool years. It’s so magical to watch his eyes knowing he’s making those life-long memories at that moment. It sure is special.

Last night Maysen threw the whole “I don’t want to go to school!!” Nate promised him a gold start if he was good at school and went to sleep. That worked like a charm, even though he “didn’t want to go”. I had laid out his new clothes/shoes and his school bag. This morning I went to get him up and he met me at the door – naked – carrying all his new clothes, shoes, socks, and school bag. “I’m ready to go, Momma!” Ahh, I thought so.

This year I have him in the afternoon class. He goes at 11:15am and eats lunch. I pick him up at 2:15pm, during which I come home and feed Fin and he takes his nap. I’m still in denial that I actually get a couple hours of PEACE AND QUIET!! Pinch me, please!! Maysen was so ready to be at school. Miss N walked in and Maysen perked right up. He has been across the hall from her all last year, so he knew her and the classroom. When I picked up Maysen, Miss N said Maysen was a big help. Since he was in pre-preschool last year he has some of the fundamental stuff down that the new preschool kids are just now learning. He met a new friend, R, and when his mom asked what Maysen's name is, Mase said "I'm M!". Well, he's learned the first letter of his name well!

My little boy is growing up and making life-long memories already. I know it's just pre-school. But there's a "pre" to everything and it's started. Pre-1st grade. Pre-high school. Pre-college. Really? Where does the time go? I love you, My Mr Bean. And we're very proud of you. You and the new dinosaur pencil.

Ode to the Fly Who Interrupts My Nap:

Why do you buzz
around my head?
Eventually landing on
the edge of my bed

You then come over
with one fail swoop
And dart up my arm
and down with a loop

And then you’re gone
with the slightest of twitches
Only to be back again,
you son-of-a-…. Guns.

But on the hundredth trip
and no patience remaining
I rose with avengence
and sent that fly sailing …

(And yes...I came up with this before falling BACK asleep)

PS: Why do I need a nap? And why am I up at midnight tonight? Griffin is sick. First fever since "the time" in the NICU so Momma's nervous (uncertainty to seizure response to fever). Plus he isn't sleeping well. I think it might just be teething but we're going on hour #20 straight fever (with mild breaks from Tylenol). Highest so far 102F. Please just be teeth!!!