Battling the boys

I sometimes get so frustrated with the things my kids choose and refuse to eat. I don't get why Owen won't eat sandwiches, but he'll gobble up diced ham and steamed broccoli or carbonara for lunch. Ok, I admit I should not be complaining about that, but when I don't have leftovers to pack in his lunch for preschool, lunch packing becomes a challenge. His teachers must think we're lazy always packing salami & crackers. I sometimes think, "It's been weeks since he's had a sandwich. Maybe today he'll eat one." I proceed to make a jelly sandwich. He takes one bite and says he's done. Frustration ensues and I eat a jelly sandwich for lunch.

I worry that Owen will do the same thing as his brothers: stop eating almost everything. Brandon bounced back, so he gives me hope. But that stubborn, pig-headed Deets is killing us. He eats so few things, he's practically weightless when you pick him up. He's like a bird with hollow bones. I worry the main reason is because he doesn't get enough calcium in his diet. He doesn't drink milk or even allow us to put it in his cereal. If we insist, he flat refuses to eat. You probably think, "Let him go hungry then." We've gone down that path. Dylan will spend hours vomiting because his blood sugar has dropped and his body can no longer function. We tell him that will happen again if he doesn't eat. Makes no difference. If he doesn't want it, he's not eating it no matter what. End of story. Don't waste your time. Our biggest problem is dinner time. He comes into the kitchen every night saying, "Don't give me something I don't like," gearing up for the nightly fight. Russ, thankfully, has figured out why he has such a problem with dinner time: it's the only meal where he isn't choosing what he eats. I make dinner and put it on the table. It could be something I know he'll eat, but because he didn't choose it, he won't eat it. We have since asked him to help us plan dinners. We'll see how that goes. I just want the anxiety to go away first. The look in his eyes when he comes to the table breaks my heart. The food at this point is secondary. We have given in for now, and let him pick what he'll eat for dinner.

Mmmm! Carbonara!

One of my favorite winter meals is carbonara. It's so warm and creamy with a hearty flavor. There is something about this dish that makes me groan involuntarily. Whenever I'd have this craving, I'd talk Russ into going to Spataro for dinner. I'd satisfy my craving and also get to spend the evening chatting with my husband in a setting far removed from home. Seeing as our dining out has come to a screeching halt due to one less job in the family, I no longer have this to fall back on.

Tonight was the night I had my craving, so I thought tonight is the night I would brave the kitchen. I've been told that it's a fairly basic dish, but having the knowledge that the sauce is raw egg, cream and cheese makes me hesitant in the cooking department. None the less, I felt confident that I would succeed. It kind of helped that during my blog reading, Sobrina posted the following: http://www.quietlikehorses.com/2010/01/roys-carbonara.html giving me even more confidence that I could do this.

It turned out pretty good, and my craving has been satisfied.

Found a new blog to follow

I'm making my best effort to get back into the swing of things with my blogs. So I remembered that when I had nothing to write, I would check in at a couple of blogs that I like to follow. I would also check the Blogger "Blogs of Note."

Well, I found this gem of a blog with nothing but one-liners muttered by the husband in his sleep. I was looking for a good writer, like Sobrina, but found Sleep-Talkin' Man instead. If you're looking for a chuckle, it's a good spot to waste some time. I included it in "My Blog List" to the right. Happy reading!

First rookie division tryout

We kept checking the website in hopes that today's tryouts would be cancelled again due to weather. No such luck. Russ and I stood around watching Brandon's baseball tryouts for 2 hours this cold, wet afternoon. None of us wanted to be there today, not even Brandon. He was so happy in the warm house playing video games. Even in his head, it was insane to go out in the rain to play catch and hit balls.

Brandon did as well as we expected. The cold definitely made a difference in his performance. His poor hands were so cold, that he couldn't catch as well as he would have liked. During the batting tryouts, he made contact with the ball 2 of 5 pitches. The only thing that made us frustrated was he wouldn't run after the ball. He walked just about everywhere. That's ok though. He'll figure it out next time.

On the way home from tryouts, we asked Brandon if he had fun. He immediately said yes. Then a few seconds later he said, "Not really." I can't blame him. He spent most of those 2 hours catching pop flies and grounders. When he did get to bat, he only got 5 pitches. There truely wasn't time for more than that. There were over one hundred kids trying out for just the rookie division. The president of the league let us know that there are more kids than teams available, and they aren't sure what they are going to do yet. Good to hear that our league is strong and growing, but leaves me feeling a little concerned. We will see what happens on that front soon enough.

We did get the low down on the tryout process from our neighbor who has coached rookies for 2 years: all the coaches care about is the batting. At this level, almost all the outs made are strike outs. The kids are still too little to catch and throw the ball to base for an out. When it does happen it's a big deal. So after all the tryouts are done, the coaches gather for a draft, which I can't help but find funny. Some coaches take the draft much more seriously than others. Our neighbor is one of the "others" who just wants to get all the kids' friends and neighbors on the same team regardless of talent. After that's accomplished he fills with talent if he can. This was good to hear, because we really wanted Brandon to be on a team of familiar faces.

Owen's new bed

We decided Owen is just too big to still be sleeping in a crib. What we didn't realize was that he actually liked his crib.

Every night he would climb into those sea of blankets, stuffed animals, books and pillows, find a little spot for himself, and snuggle right in with a sippy cup of milk. The best part was when he finished the milk. He'd stand right up, bang the cup repeatedly on the rail while yelling, "Mommy, I done!" until someone would come and take his cup away. We never got that on video, now that I think of it.

A couple of weeks ago, Russ and I went shopping for Owen's new bed. We thought it would be so cool to get him a Thomas the Tank Engine bed, since Owen love, love, LOVES trains. As soon as we saw the price tag on the Thomas bed, we turned straight away to a more practical bed. It actually looks a lot like his crib (same finish and same slats on the headboard). We were so excited to replace Owen's crib with the bed, but erred on the side of caution and waited until Owen agreed to the upgrade. We asked him if he wanted to sleep in a big boy bed instead of his crib. He said, "No," without hesitation. Not willing to accept that answer, I showed him a picture of the bed on our computer. He still said, "No." Russ and I just looked at each other in defeat.

So what did we do? We waited a week and asked again when Owen was in a really good mood. Owen hesitated before he answered, "Yes?" The look on his face said it all. He was answering what he thought was right, but just wasn't quite sure he was doing the right thing. Needless to say we ran with the answer. We took the boys to my mom's house that day, and when he came home we presented him with his new bed. He screamed and dance around. (Another video moment we missed.) We asked him if he liked it, and he said, "Ya!" Once we had the Thomas bedding on, he got even more excited. He exclaimed, "That's cool!" and immediately tucked his penguin into bed.

His first night in his new bed went off without a hitch. I realized that he needed a tiny little bedside table so he could put his cup somewhere when he's done with his milk. I figured the sit & spin would work just fine, so now it's his make shift table. No more banging and yelling when he's done with his milk, which I have to admit I'm going to miss. The baby stage has been gone for quite some time (some will argue there never really was a baby stage with Owen), but the changing landscape of the boys room makes it official.

The funny thing about the new bed is it took Owen almost a week to figure out that he could just pop out of bed and come running down the hall. Up until this morning he was still calling out "mommy." He wouldn't come running until he heard me call out, "Mousy! Come here!" That boy is the happiest morning face in this house. He's like a little ray of sunshine, and he makes me smile no matter how tired I am.

Santa Cruz update

Russ asked me a while ago to post the photos he took of the deck he has almost completed. He is proud of how the project turned out, and I'm proud of him as well. He just needs to add the top detail piece to the rail and we can call the top deck done. I can't wait to see it for myself!

The following link has photos from the beginning to where it is right now:
http://www.facebook.com/album.php?aid=45339&id=1132970605&l=febcd84723

Ok, ok! I'll write already!

I heard it from Russ last night. He asked me when I'm going to blog again. He keeps checking and ends up disappointed when he finds nothing new. For me blogging is kind of like going to the gym or for a run. If you stop your routine, it's very difficult to pick it up again. Russ actually said, "You stopped [blogging] because I was in Santa Cruz, but I'm home now." He's cute. I have 6 months of cobwebs in my head. After that long, the words aren't coming as easily as they used to.

Dylan reasoning

Did you know that poop sleeps? According to Dylan, his poop doesn't come out because it's sleeping. He says when it wakes up is when he will sit on the potty. I actually had to repeat what he said, because I wasn't sure I heard it right. Oh, I heard it right. Whatever makes him feel better about potty training is ok by me, I guess.

Stupid Box

Despite his best effort, Owen just can't get his box of wedgits open. I expected the reaction but not the words he chose. You'll also notice that he peeks at the camera before he says it again. Thank Mom for capturing this moment for me!

It's been a while

I know my blog is hit or miss these days...well, mostly miss. It's a reflection of my life at the moment. Everything that could have been considered normal ended when Russ took on the Santa Cruz house. We all expected it to take up the remainder of the summer, but seeing as it's almost Christmas, it looks like we were all off base with that prediction. It's no one's fault. It's just how things turned out.


This schedule reminds me a bit of when Russ still had a job. We would maybe see him on the weekends, and briefly in the mornings before he'd disappear into work until midnight. The big difference is he isn't bringing home a check. The plus side is that we've spent probably 5-6 weeks in Santa Cruz this year. The boys have been spoiled this year with all the hours they've clocked at the beach and in the forest. They love going to "grandma-grandpa" house, even though they can't play outside. They get so excited whenever they see the deer, and they are dying for the deck to be done so they can go out on it.

I can't say when I'll get back to blogging on a regular basis, but I did want to check in and let you know that I'm not giving up on writing here. Thank you to the family and friends who have helped out where you can. We appreciate it beyond measure!