YIKES! It's been too long

To make up for my lack of blogging, here is a super cute video from Christmas:

:)

Isaac got everything he could have asked for. Seth unfortunately had laryngitis and because of his respiratory problems was on steroids (RAGE!). But, we made the best of it and still got to see most everyone. Morning at our house, then over to my dad and Peggy's house for more presents and breakfast, then my mom's house for more presents and lunch, then my grandparent's house to say hello. JAM PACKED, but great to see everyone.

Some of Isaac's favorite presents:

• LEGO CITY FIRE STATION!!
• Star Wars Legos 
• Stinky the, talking, eating, singing garbage truck
• Nintendo DS. Not just any! The 25th anniversary special edition Mario DSi XL.

Some of Seth's favs:

• Leapfrog alphabet train
• LIGHT SABERS (Star Wars). I've gotten clocked in the head way too much with these.
• Tonka car wash/garage

And while I'm at it....

MY FAV'S:

• DIAMOND EARRINGS from Kevin (he loves me)
• Black heels from Kevin (YES, he succeeded in picking out shoes for me!)
• Running shoes from my dad, since I am training for The Relay.

Kevin didn't make out badly either... he got a sweet new Xbox wireless controller, a hunting game with shotgun that I play just as much as him, and an awesome tool set from my dad.

Although the stuff is fun to talk about, it was really about family. It was great to see everyone, and we got to extend Christmas an extra day by going out to visit the Ericksons in Tracy. It's always great to see Chrystal, Scott, and the kids, and the boys love being with their cousins. Here is a sweet picture of Isaac and Nick from that day: 

I have to go clean now (yuck), but I'll leave you with our Christmas picture from this year.. Isaac was so cooperative :P

Sleep deprived Christmastime post

RAWR 4AM!!!

This is day four of Seth waking up at 4am, so this is being written by a frustrated, exhausted mother who is thinking her child is not really THAT cute anymore.

We are of the school that it's quite alright to show your children who is boss. So, for the first 3 days I decided "You, 18 month old, do not dictate our lives and 4am isn't appropriate because I say so." Had to move Isaac into our bed and move myself to the couch in order to let Seth know he isn't getting up no matter what he says. This used to mean that he would whine, cry a bit, and within 20 minutes be back asleep. NOT ANYMORE. He proceeded to yell, cry, jump on his bed, and repeat "Mommy!!!" incessantly. Luckily for Isaac and Kevin they sleep through anything and slept right through the racket, until 6:30 when Kevin's alarm went off for work. I had been sitting awake since 4, because who sleeps through that?!

So this morning, a defeated woman, I hear Seth yell at 3:57am and just give in. Okay, I'm up, and apparently this is my new wake up time. Lovely, especially when finals week is NEXT WEEK. RAWR, 4AM!!!

I swear this post was really supposed to be about Christmas. So, here it is!

We got the tree up, and most importantly:

THE TRAIN!! Isaac has made this Christmas season so special for us. He is SO excited that he started asking me on December 1st, "Mom, it's Christmastime.. where is our tree??" He was a huge help decorating, and asks me daily about Santa just to make sure he has all of his facts straight. We'll have to take them to the mall soon to meet Santa. (Sidenote: it seems like quite the social commentary that we as Americans expect to meet Santa at our haven of consumerism.) We get a rundown of his wishlist, daily. It goes a little something like this:

Isaac's Christmas List:

1. Stinky the Garbage Truck (Garbage truck that sings and dances. Yah.)
2. A Nintendo DS. Not just any, but the, "special anniversary Mario one." (Thank you, commercials.)
3. Lego Racers.
4. Nerf guns
5. Hot Wheels Criss Cross Crash

I must be forgetting some, but those are the main ones that we hear about every day and I'm pretty sure he is getting all of them from one family member or another. 

I love seeing his little eyes light up when we drive down a street with decorated houses. We put some lights up in our window and he said, "Now we have a Christmas house too!!" Love that boy. 

Finally... pictures from Isaac's Halloween school parade

Mario&Luigi! Luigi's name is A.J.   =)

This picture is SO Isaac. Don't you also love the Lego costume and how into character the Ninja is??

The whole class! Mrs. Lacey as the ringleader.

We went to visit Grandpa after the parade. 

Thanksgiving/Poopgate 2010

I started off Thanksgiving being extremely thankful for my whole, healthy family. Seth didn't make Thanksgiving last year because he had just gotten out of the hospital, so I was thrilled we would all be there this year. We make it to my Dad's, and after about an hour there it becomes apparent Seth is sick. Red eyes, feeling warm, and lazy. I hated to do it, but he had to go home. My wonderful husband took Seth home so Isaac and I could stay and have the Thanksgiving dinner. It was great (as always), but I was missing half of my fam.

I got home to a crying baby and vomit on the floor.. apparently I have great timing and arrived 10 seconds after the puke explosion. This was closely followed by a poop explosion, which I'm pretty sure was the original cause of this mess (I'll explain later). His fever was 102-103 and he was miserable, so he only slept that night if he was sleeping on me. Which means I got barely any sleep, and the sleep I got was in the form of the occasional nod off in the rocking chair. The fever finally let up on Saturday, and we knew he was feeling better when he started a pillow fight with Kevin.

Maybe now I should explain why I said a poop explosion may be the cause of all of this. Rewind to Monday: Kevin is at work, Seth just wakes up from a nap. I'm vacuuming, so Isaac runs up to open the door and say hi to Seth. Then I hear, "MOOOOM! SETH POOPED AND HE TOOK HIS DIAPER OFF AND IT IS ALL EVERYWHERE!!"
...
..
...
Great. So I run up, throw Seth on the toilet after stripping him down and scolding him, strip the bed and throw all of the sheets in the washing machine while he is crying on the toilet. It's everywhere, and I mean everywhere. His hands, feet, cup, crib... UGH.

Moral of the story - boys are gross and sometimes play with their poop, which could definitely lead to extreme intestinal sickness. Moms and Dads are awesome and clean up their poop and then take care of them when they are sick as a result of their grossness.

I feel sorry for those of you reading this that do not yet have children... I promise it's not ALL gross,but it is definitely part gross.

I started this post saying I was thankful for my whole, healthy family and that never changed. I am still thankful that Seth got through this without a respiratory flare up, and as far as I'm concerned that means he is HEALTHY. Two day fevers are serious, but I'll take it over respiratory issues any day.

And I am thankful that Isaac continues to be his extremely healthy, cute, smart self. We have decided today we need to write Santa a letter and send it to the North Pole. He figured out how to spell "Lego Racer" and he is doing SO well with his reading. Christmas is going to be extra fun this year with him. :)

Here is a picture we got on Thanksgiving, BEFORE Seth got sick... it's tough getting 2 kids to cooperate with a family picture!

POTTY!!

Okay, I know it's been too long. It's end of semester for me (a.k.a. crunch time), so school has taken over my life. Between my schoolwork and Isaac's schoolwork, I have no time leftover for anything. Yes, they have homework in Kindergarten now. I'm also helping out in his class every Wednesday, while Mona is the best Auntie/sister ever and watches Seth for me. He loves when I'm there helping out, so I will enjoy that while I can. In a few years I'm sure he won't be so anxious to have me around all of his friends.

I shouldn't say I don't have time for anything else, because I'm actually insane and am potty training Seth. Yes, Seth, at 18 months old. I swear he is ready, because he has been taking his diaper off before peeing and then pees on the ground. Figured I might as well teach him where it goes if he insists on running around naked. I'm loosely following this method and he has actually made huge progress today. He has initiated twice, and gone without first peeing on the floor. WOOHOO!

I'm sure he will appreciate me talking about his peeing on the floor in 10 years :)

Halloween!!

We made our annual trek out to Tracy for trick or treating with the Ericksons! Isaac, Nick, and Seth were Super Mario characters (Mario, Luigi, and Toad, respectively). Ashley was a witch with a cool light up costume, and Natalie was Ariel. I couldn't get a picture of Natalie because she never stays in one place, but I promise she was adorable!

We had a great time, and I wish we could have stayed longer. I had an essay due that night by 10pm - school is always such a downer, huh? We went with Chrystal's friends so there were about 10 kids. Isaac ran ahead with the pack of kids and we barely saw him during trick or treat time. He made out with tons of candy. Seth, on the other hand, was not in the Halloween spirit haha. He HATED his costume and only wore it for the pictures. We pushed him in the stroller while trick or treating, and he seemed thoroughly unimpressed by it all. Hopefully he'll be old enough next year to understand the concept of CANDY, which is usually a good motivator for kids. 

I'll try and upload some pictures from Isaac's school parade soon. If only I could find the camera....    :\

Slide at Grandpa's :)