Category: Josiah

Baby Updates

I just know that you have all been dying to ask about Siah and how he’s doing and what’s up with him????? Right???

Siah 5

I knew it.

Well, he is just shy of 2 years old.

I can’t even fathom that my miracle baby is going to be 2 years old this summer. It seems like so long ago that we were wading through the sticky pools of grief unsure if we’d even be able to take another step let alone another breath.

And here we are, and everything moves on….except all the memories. The memories of Nathaniel and that time all just stand still.

But Siah…..my sweet boy is amazing……and strong willed.

Siah

Who woulda ever seen that one coming? My kids are so placid and easy going and easily controllable and they ALWAYS do what they are told, right?

** SNORT **

Okay! Okay, maybe not so much.

I’ve mentioned before how it’s different with Siah than it was with Jeremy. Obviously they are different people, but parenting the girls – although they had different temperaments – was similar. Parenting Jeremy and Siah is a WHOLE COMPLETELY DIFFERENT BEAST ALTOGETHER.

For starters, Jeremy was moving at a million miles an hour. Siah only goes about half a million miles an hour……so although we are still moving, in comparison, it feels like standing still.

There are a lot of ways that parenting Siah is similar to parenting the girls….which, given how much stress there is involved in parenting Jeremy…I’m grateful.

I will never sugar coat how AMAZING Jeremy is or ON THE FLIP SIDE…..how brutally difficult and stressful parenting Jeremy is.

It is what it is and I’m allowed to LOVE the boy while HATING the Problems and COMPLAINING about the stress and effort and REJOICING in the triumphs…it is ALL apart of the whole!

Siah is busy. All my kids have been busy to some extent. I like to believe that I have brilliant children who need extra challenges and stimulation in their lives. He LOVES to climb on anything and everything. He LOVES water. He will spend hours in the tub or even just puddling in the sink. We can often hear him dragging a chair over to the sink to play with the water.

Siah 6

Most recently, he has figured out a way to climb both in and out of his crib. I’ve never had any of my kids still in a crib at 22 months old. I’ve moved them all to a bed well before this, but it has been more convenient to keep him in and he’s not made a huge deal or fuss about it and so this is how its going.

I’m not sure if we will try to put him in a regular bed soon or if we’ll just stick with the crib through the moving transition.

He is talking up a storm and for the most part is very clear and articulate. He talks better than any of my other kids have and I attribute that to how many of us he has nattering at him.

He is right in the middle of still using his high chair and standing/kneeling or sitting in a big chair at the table. We are thinking that we probably won’t take the high chair with us when we move and that we’ll just use a little “attach to a chair” seat that we bought a while ago.

It’s so much fun to see him growing up and learning about new things and yet I’m just seeing how fast this time passes by. He was just a tiny baby and now….now he’s becoming a little boy.

He is so happy and cheerful about 93% of the time……except when he gets it in his head that he wants something….then that stubborn nature that he must have got from his daddy (seeing I still have all of my stubborness) really kicks in. He can be so focused on something. It’s amazing.

Siah 2

He has the most darling curls. I hope that they stay. He is perfectly chubby and weighs in right at 30 pounds.

I love everything about this little man. His independence, his joy, his snuggles, his smiles, his bright eyes…….his little “I loves you.”

He is a huge joy to us and we are so grateful and thankful that we have him in our lives. He is such an amazing gift.

Waiting…..more waiting.

We had just sat down to watch a movie tonight and the baby started crying. He was saying owie and then asking for me and then more crying and well, I’m not sure why he woke up , but he doesn’t want Jon, but he does want to nurse and well….we don’t do that in the night. You know, unless he was really honestly sick or something and needed the extra comfort.

I recognize that I’m well into the “extended nursing phase” and quite frankly I’ve been surprised at the LACK of nasty comments that I’ve gotten. Not that i want any nasty comments, but Siah is definately far beyond what is considered normal to still be nursing. There are lots of people that I’ve read about and fewer that I’ve actually known who nursed beyond 2 years old and so when I sit down and nurse Siah in a public place….I’m not nasty about it, but he might nurse around noon when he would take a nap and if I’m out, then I nurse him…..I’m pretty sure people are thinking it and I get the “surprised” looks, but so far no ones said anything.

I won’t be nursing him when he’s 5 so don’t get all excited, but we’re enjoying this time together. Maybe he enjoys it more than I do, but we’re not ready to quit quite yet……I’m sure you’ll all hear about it when it happens….’cause I’m kinda open like that.

Okay, so all of that had NOTHING to do with what I was going to talk about tonight which was that we are waiting to hear some news.

It could be good news, it could be bad news or it could be so so news. I think that about covers any response that we could get back from the people that we made an offer to for their house.

We should hear something sometime tomorrow.

I’m hoping that we do get the home, but I know that if it’s not meant to be then it won’t happen and while I would LOVE to live in this house – I can be confident knowing that God has it all under control and that He is leading and guiding us.

If this one doesn’t work out – while I think that this could be a good fit for our family, there is obviously a better home for us.

To tell you a little bit about our offer and about the home….

We have offered a little over $20,00 less than the asking price. This is kind of a HUGE deal for me as we could do the asking price, but our Realtor did some homework and found another house in the same neighborhood with a smaller house, but a slightly bigger property that sold 3 months ago and we are offering roughly what that house sold for. This house has been on the market for a while and we are hoping that they want to sell it.

It has 3 bedrooms with one extra kind of weird room that could be used as a den or office or a bedroom. We will need to put the girls together and the boys together in bedrooms and so from that aspect it’s different from here where each kid has their own room, but when we walked into the place it felt like home more than any other place that we saw.

It has a kitchen that opens into an eating area which is seperated by a hallway from the dining room which opens in to the front living room from which the front doors opens and then hooks around again into the kitchen……off of the eating area and down 4 steps is a family room….

It all feels very open and cozy – if that’s even possible…I know that they typically contradict each other. There is a wood burning stove that would be awesome in the winter and the yard is fenced which is AWESOME especially for Siah.

We can SEE ourselves in this place for the next few years until the kids grow up and need more space.

We are praying that God would lead and direct us and we are willing to walk away, but we would LOVE to live in this place…if we had a say in it all.

And so….we wait…..hoping……

Just Clicking Away

I keep clicking over here and looking at this page and then clicking away as I’m not really sure what to say.

I went to see Geli at her Track & Field Day today….

So Proud of Her...

She was in high jump and discus throw, but we could only stay and see her do the high jump and well, she had two tries and didn’t make the lowest attempt, but I would say that 90% of the girls trying didn’t even clear the pads never mind the bar and so they were definitely weeding out the riff raff right off the bat.

I had this whole post in my head about how the “middle school PONG” was so bloody strong at the stadium, that you would have thought that it was an enclosed space. WOW! I can’t even fathom helping out at the school if the open air stadium smelled that bad. I do realize that it was a hot sunny day and that the majority of these kids are full on hitting puberty and also have no working knowledge of either deodorant or showers, but seriously….I was truly amazed at the stench that sat like fog in that place. It was UNBELIEVABLE!

Click on the picture to see some other shots from the event.

Then Jon and I headed out to our weekly Sushi Date. This is pretty much our only “protected” time of the week. Pretty much NOTHING messes with out one hour Thursday Sushi Date.

Siah was too cute. He loves coming with us and we love having him While it’s not the same as a NO CHILD date, it’s still pretty awesome.

Tea Time

We are going into Vancouver tomorrow to look at a bunch of town homes and one house in the hopes of finding something within our price range to be able to move into this summer.

I’m equally excited and terrified and annoyed and worn out. It’s an awesome ball of emotions and probably what’s wearing me completely out right now.

And that is why I keep coming here, wanting to post, but clicking away. I don’t know what to say and like this post shows…..I feel like I’m just verbally diarrhea-ing on you all. I LOVE this place. It’s MY PLACE. It’s my place to talk and chat and emote and I feel so tapped out that I’m not even sure what to talk about or chat about or even to emote about.

I have pictures lined up in iPhoto that I need to upload, and now it feels like they are so old that what is the point….I think that all the travel and uncertainty are just really wearing on me.

I need to get settled and we are working on that. This has just been a very loooooooong year with a freakload of commuting and well….I’m tired.

Is it summer, yet? I need a vacation.

I’d love a child free vacation, but I’m still nursing and so that’s a ways off yet.

That’s a whole ‘nuther post….if I could ever get enough emotional energy to write about. Yes, I am extended nursing. And I realize that Siah is at the age were others think that he (and I) should just stop and well….I’m not planning to yet. I am expecting the comments to start any time now and realize that there are some who are not commenting, but are sure thinking their comments and while I’d love to say that I don’t really care. It’s not the truth. I don’t like to be judged. I try desperately hard to not judge and I’d rather talk about “why” I can chose to make this decision for my son and myself and my family and that we could agree to be different.

But..it’s a big long topic and one I’m not going to try and deal with today. Maybe another day….soon????

I’d also like to talk about working outside of the home. Again, another day…

Also, moving into Vancouver…..BIG FREAKIN’ ISSUE……and terribly expensive and so against what we want in our lives and yet so much a part of what we want in our lives…..and once again…that freaking dichotomy……..

Also, Jeremy….he is at least a few posts in and off himself……oh man…

Well, I’m gonna sign off and hope for better things tomorrow.

ps. Can I just say that after using my father-in-laws camera, I HATE my stupid little camera. I LOVE his Nikon D90 and when we have a spare $grand+ kicking around I’d love to get one.

Perception……..Generationally!

It was funny to watch the kids this morning…..

They were sitting at the kitchen table having breakfast. We had made a lovely bowl of hot oatmeal and the little glasses of orange juice looked so lovely and refreshing sitting on the crisp white place mats. The silverware was all polished and it was all so worth the effort that it had taken to prepare. The extra hours worth of sleep that I had given up to prepare a lovely meal for my family was SOOOOOOOO worth it.

Ha HA HA HA HA HA! That was all just a joke…..I started typing and the part about the kids at the kitchen table and even the oatmeal is true. The rest of it….well, I just got carried away with a lovely picture in my head of what it could have been….had I not slept in. Reality, people. REALITY!!!

Siah picked up a card with a picture of Jeremy that we had just bought as part of a fund raiser at the school.

Card Phone

They come around at the end of the year and take pics of the kids and then the school gets part of the proceeds of whatever sale they make….I have no idea why I told you all that. It must be the 8 THOUSAND gallons of snot that is clogging up my brain right now. I FEEL AWESOME. Like you have never felt more awesomer……I know that’s not a word, but just go with me, people.

Anyhooooo….. Siah picked up this card and pretended to punch buttons and said into the card – “Hello? Hello?” Like he was talking into a phone. Xandra reaches over and picks up a banana off the table and proceeds to have a conversation with Siah on their respective imaginary phones.

Banana Phone

It’s amazing the difference in perception that a few years brings.

To Xandra, the banana looks like a phone….she’s from the generation that had phones around where the handset looked like a banana…or at least similar to it.

For the greater part of Siah’s life, what he would equate as a phone has been a cell phone and the majority of the cell phones that he’s been allowed to hold or touch or that he sees are the small little cell phones.

I think that its really interesting to see how even within just a few short years that our perception can change. What was normal can become old or “not normal”. I wonder what we will consider normal in a few years…..It’s a weird thought.

Okay, now I have to say that I’m giving myself an out here. I am thinking that there is a good chance that this post is interesting to no one by myself. And if that’s the case, then I am totally blaming my lack of funny (or heck, even just interesting) on this cold that is threatening to ooze out of my ears. I feel like crap and am so hoping that I’ll wake up tomorrow and be over the worst of it all…..I can hope, right?

Tikuitar

Siah is a music fanatic…in fact, I would go so far to say that he is obsessed with music.

Songs, Instruments, Videos, the Radio, Singing, anything that carries a tune is worthy of life grinding to a halt so that we can take a moment to groove and enjoy the music.

He’s recently become fixated on guitars…any guitar will do and if there is no guitar around, he will pick up the nearest toy and strum on it. So far, we’ve used a nerf dart gun and a lego base and a few random boxes as impromptu guitars. edited to add that the newest addition to our imaginary guitars is an iTouch.

He’s been trying desperately hard get into my guitar and has managed to drag the whole case out into the living room from our bedroom. He is a determined little one, yes he is.

Tikuitar

I decided to pull my guitar out the other day to put him out of his misery try and alleviate the pressure of the fixation and well, I was completely unprepared for the depth of emotion that came when I said that our time for the day was done.

Here he is our little tikuitar player…….

After this little clip, we played a bit more and then I handed my guitar to Jon to put away for me and Siah LOST IT. The little dude absolutely FREAKED OUT. He started chasing after Jon and pulling on his leg to try and get at the guitar. Jon tried to get away from him and he chased him around the chair that I was sitting in and well….it was brutal……and OH SO FUNNY at the same time.

Here is just a glimpse of the fury that he unleashed on us that day.

Melt Down

It was truly amazing and went on FOREVER. Literally he had a full on temper tantrum, throw yourself on the floor, get up to try and pound at the offending door that separates you from your beloved tikuitar….for over half an hour this all went on.

Even a cuddle from Daddy wasn’t enough to calm him down.

Inconsolable

I’m seeing a lot of music lessons in our future with this one….

The Early Morning Edition

Siah woke up at 5:30am this morning fussing a llittle. When I went in to get him – He had a fever.

Sucks!

So there is a good chance that he was starting to feel cruddy yesterday and that would explain why he was extra fussy the WHOLE WAY in the car, both on the trip in and out of town. It would also explain why, when I would pick him up to walk across the breezeway to the toilets that he wouldl ay his head down on my shoulder……both of those things are not normal for Siah. Both are within normal range for one and half year old toddlers, but not normal for Siah.

So, we snugled and nursed and just when he finally fell back asleep…..he rolled over and then……..BARFED. All over the bed.

Well, it was time to change the sheets, anyway, and really…..6am is the perfect sheet changing time, if you ask me?

So, at that point I figured that we were up for the day, but apparently sick is SICK and he laiddown beside me as we fell asleep for 45 mins….then he woke up and barfed again….because nothing says Good Morning, like a chest full of barf.

He’s been lethargic and feverish and I’ve only just been able to get him into his bed. I’m hoping that he feels better soon.

I’m not sure if it’s just the flu or if it’s something else…he’s not coughing or snotting or any of the “normal” fever things….

So, if you pray….can you pray for us?

Thanks!

What was with today?

I was at the office today, and well….it wasn’t that it was a bad day – per se – it just wasn’t a good day.

Siah must have needed to pee every 10 minutes and he’d go, but half the time he had already started to go in his pants, and really, I think that the little dude is backed up and just holding it all in.

He still hadn’t “gone” as of bedtime tonight and so I wonder how much fun we are in for tomorrow.

He’s been doing so well, so today was totally unexpected, and slightly inexplicable.

Thankfully, we are home tomorrow and hopefully a slow, quiet day at home half naked will be just the thing he needs to get back on track….I mean seriously – Doesn’t that sound the like perfect way to spend your day?

Okay, maybe not or maybe?????

Anyway, I am really looking forward to tomorrow. I need a down day. I really like my Thursday’s. I don’t have to go anywhere and I can just pick up around the house (okay, not my favorite – I’ll admit) or I can just hang out and relax.

It’s such a necessary thing when our lives seem to be flying as fast as they have been.

Jeremy’s having a rough go of it. We have an appt. booked with the pediatrician for Friday. Fortunately it was made forever ago, and it couldn’t come at a better time. He’s had a really rough week. He’s not eating very much. He’s not sleeping well, and he’s so tired and looks HORRIBLE.

The dark circles under his eyes are brutal. And when we comes out of his room 2 hours after bedtime, crying his eyes out and saying that he’s so tired that he just wants to go to sleep….something has to happen.

He lost it tonight. Nothing was going right, and everything set off the tears. At one point, Jon asked him to rate his frustration level outta 10 – he said it was a 6 out of 10. then Jon asked him about his tired level….he rated that at a 9 out of 10. Poor baby!

I can’t wait until the Dr.s Appt on Friday. I don’t know what to do. It’s so hard to watch your sweet little boy hurt and to not know what to do to help.

I hate that.

I’m in Shock over here, People!!!

Ummmmm, I think Siah has toilet trained.

I’m not sure if the past two days have been just a fluke or what, but yesterday I was at home at let Siah run around with his bottom half feeling free and easy and he peed on the toilet all day. He had one accident where he started to pee and stopped and finished on the toilet and then later in the day he was ummmm…..grunting a bit and well….dropped a log. It was not cool. I tried to stop him, but he was too far gone and it just happened.

Other than that, he stayed dry all day even when we went out for lunch.

Today we had one poop accident, again, but this time contained….and other than that, He has been wearing the same big boy pants all day.

I bought some of the Kushies Waterproof Training Pants, but today he’s spent most of today wearing the tiniest little pair of big boy underwear. He looks so darling. He even stayed dry through his nap and all the way on the hour’s drive home from Vancouver.

He says, “potty” when he has to go and has no problems with us helping to steady him on the big toilet (no baby potty’s for this big boy) and…….well…….like I said, I’m almost not even sure if this is for real or just a fluke thing.

He does know what’s going on. I’m sure of it…..I think!?!?

For example, we were driving home from the store this evening and he said potty, so we stopped at a Wendy’s ran him in to the toilet. He went and was still dry.

I might be eating my words in a day or two, but at a year and a half – he’s staying drier than his brother did at 4 years old….I really hope this continues. We are going to be encouraging it with everything in us.

I would be thrilled to be done with diapers. That would be awesome.

The Birds are Singing! The Sun is Shining; the Bunny’s are Hopping and the Unicorn….Well, He just Farted!

The kids have gone back to school today – GLORY HALLELUJAH!

I mean, I love ’em and all, but I also like to have at least one moment when no one is asking me for “something”….”anything”.

Mind you, Siah is still not 100% and he is still whining and whining and whining and whining.

I hate that whole….. “I’m sorta sick, but not really and actually, I’m just practising for when I’m all grown up and have a “man cold“. Yah, he’s starting young, this one is…..

I would probably be a bit more sympathetic had I been able to sleep a bit more over the past 3 nights, but sleep….sleep is for wimps. Who needs sleep when you can stay up all night cuddling a sick, coughing, crying baby who only taunts you with the possibility of sleep? Who? Not me, I tell you.

Anyway, I have this impossible notion that I’m going to accomplish all sorts of things today. Would you like to hear my list….I guess technically you’d read my list, but that is splitting hairs and the fact that I’m even coherent enough to be making any sort of a list……..delusional or otherwise – is pretty amazing as far as I’m concerned.

So, in a perfect an okay a decent world, I will:

– take a shower and get dressed (these two go hand in hand because if I only take a shower and don’t manage to get dressed, well…..that’s almost a step backward as far as I’m concerned because even though right now I’m in my pyjamas and I stink…I could at least answer the door. Right???)

Showered, dressed and even did my hair…no makeup though….oh, but I did wax the ol’stach off….was getting a bit manly for my liking….just keeping it real…..

– tidy the house (I’m not even talking about deep cleaning – just scraping the mountains of toys and clothes back into each childs room)

Not as much done here as I’d like….I still have time left in the day, though…..right?

– plan AND make dinner (we need to eat and I’m not thinking that the kids will be happy with a handful of vitamins)

Starting dinner in 20 mins…..chicken stirfry…mmmmmmmmm!

– Wash AND dry some laundry (Those darn kids think that “clean your room” means throw everything on the floor down to the laundry room…then it’s clean, eh?)

Only one load washed and dried (I still have time….) and 4 loads folded but not yet put away.

The pipe dream list includes Siah actually laying down and going to sleep for an afternoon nap for even just one hour…..but seeing as he’s woken up the moment that I’ve so much as breathed the thought of putting him in his bed….I’m not really holding out too much hope for that one.

He slept for 35 mins…..not an hour, but about 30 mins longer than he has in the past few days……beggar’s can’t e choosers, eh?

Now, the little monkey is on top of my work table trying out my new necklaces….so, I gotta go and rescue them him.

And it’s ON again….

The power has just come back on and thank goodnes….

I mean, I had the Internet to surf and forums to browse and blogs to read and a post to come up with and no music and nothing to do…..it was horrid.

Normally I would welcome the break that a power outage brought, but today I just wanted some time and space.

Siah’s not feeling well and he’s been a giant clinging bawl of whining, miserable, feverish mess and well, I feel like I’ve been nursing him ALL FREAKING DAY.

Which, normally, I love “our” time, but then again, I don’t have to deal with “our” time for hours and hours on end per day.

Now, it is 8:40pm! The kids are a bit wired because, HEY! Power Outage means that life is so cool what with all the candles and no electrical things to occupy our time and soooooooo……when the power does come back on….then we have to get all stressed and run around and flick on every light and play with every electrical machine at super loud volume because……seriously….we cannot even handle the peace and quiet and not being plugged into something.

I think it’s bedtime, right???? I mean, we gotta get back on that school schedule sometime before school starts………on Monday!!!!

Oh Yah! There it is. It is totally happening. They are all going back to school on Monday and I get to try and put some order back to this thing I call my home. Only 2 more days and just three more sleeps. WoooooooooooHooooooooooo!

Alright – apparently when I ask if the husband cantake the baby and play with him for a few minutes – that some how translates into picking him up carrying him into the next room, putting him down and playing on the computer…..so I now have a whiney baby once again attached to me. It’s AWESOME – you should get yourself one.