Goodbye 2012

Another year has come and gone.  It felt like an eternity yet a blink of an eye.  I'm anxious to see where the next year takes us and how Lucian will grow as a person. He amazes me every single day and I feel blessed to call him my son. I'm a proud Mama.

Some parental successes of 2012:

Back to potty training more regularly
Regular bowel movements
Will let me put gloves on him and a hat
Will halt when we need him to
Dancing and gymnastics are a win

Recent Lucian successes of 2012:

Learned how to text message from Mama's phone
Can turn the remote control car on and off by himself
Assists in putting on his shoes when willing
Uses the potty like a big boy
Can speak a few words and conversation has improved
Is more intelligent than Mama and Daddy can comprehend
Climbing, balancing, and jumping have all improved
Has turned his bed into a personal trampoline and diving board ;-)

It was nice to be able to take a few relaxed breaths recently and realize how far we've come.  I think Lucian is starting to settle down from his craziness/testing stage. Though some days will be better than others, I can certainly see the difference. I'm mostly just happy we all survived the craziness and hope we do in the upcoming year as well. If I could make a toast right now it would be to less self induced head injuries in the upcoming year. Maybe we will make that a resolution. Happy New Year's everyone.

Merry Christmas

Today was a wonderful Christmas day.  Last night it was snowing.  Lucian was able to watch it out the window.  I know he wanted to go out and touch it, but he had to wait.  I was excited myself.  I love snow. After I was able to get him to sleep, Joe graciously cleaned out the front room in preparation and built a cute little track with Lucian's wooden train track.  Nothing elaborate.  Just a nice little track to place his gifts about.  After the boys went to sleep, I moved all the presents in the room and placed them around the track in the corner.  I was excited about morning.  Especially now that Lucian is in the present opening stage.

This morning was fun.  Every morning Lucian wakes up and goes to the front room to play.  That is why we chose to set everything up in that room.  Plus our little tree, which we will be moving outdoors soon, is in the window of that room.  When he woke up this morning he did his usual move to the front room.  As he broke through the threshold I heard this big "Ohhh".  I knew he noticed the difference and the added presents wrapped in pretty paper.  Daddy and I made our way into the room and Lucian wasted no time in jumping into the action.  He played with his train for a little and then went to the presents.  He did a great job opening and exploring each gift with curiosity.  If he talked more, he probably would have asked a million questions. It was great. We played, we ate, and then we got dressed.  There was snow for us to explore!

After the struggle of getting everyone dressed and ready to go.  We grabbed his new sled (thanks grandpop!) and my camera and took off.  After getting him into the sled, Joe pulled him around the yard.  He loved it.  We decided to go the field across the way since there wasn't that much snow left from it melting.  Plenty for us to drag him in though.  He enjoyed the little ride.  Then we built a little snowman.  Lucian helped roll the balls of snow and pack extra on the sides. We stacked them up into a snowman shape.  He loved it.  Then Daddy taught him how to taste the snowman.  Lucian was ecstatic about having built a giant snow cone.  Even with the snow melting as we went, we all had a great time.  After visiting my family for the holiday and enjoying some food and company we came back home to find no more snow on the ground.  Our snowman, however, can still be seen across the way.  He's not too big and not too small - he's just right.  The boys went over to see him and say hello.  He was doing well even after some more tastings from Lucian.

Overall, it was a successful holiday season.  There was snow on the ground making it a white Christmas.  We built a snowman, sledded, opened presents, visited loved ones, and ate snow (not yellow of course).  Lucian received a lot of presents that he is currently enjoying.  Out of everything he received, I think he enjoyed the play scarves that Daddy and I have been hand sewing for him to play with.  They brought lots of laughs and several falls.  Doesn't get much better than happy tears.  Merry Christmas everyone. I hope the next year is just as fruitful.

Pictures

Pictures are officially updated through Halloween.  There are quite a few - phew.  Next time I'll put up the holiday pictures. You are welcome :)

Holiday Pictures and New Years

It's official.  We have our annual holiday pictures done and ready.  The location and weather ended up working in our favor for these beauties.  That means the holidays are officially here.

Photo with santa = complete
Family photo = complete
Wrapping presents = incomplete
Shopping = incomplete

So we have a little work to do before the end of the year - big deal. Doesn't everybody?  I know one thing I'm going to complete before that pesky ball drops - getting these pictures online of course! At least we can all enjoy the season with family, good memories and a big cup of cocoa. Maybe we will even get a bit of snow? I hope so.  We could use a big snowman in our little yard.

Visiting Santa

Every year our borough has a little Christmas party.  Well, it's really just a chance to enjoy some snacks and take a picture with santa.  It's one of the two free pictures we get every year (the other being the Halloween hayride).  We got to the hall too early and ended up coming back.  When we returned we immediately got in line for the picture since it was very short.  Figured it would be better to get the picture done right away.  Lucian, naturally, didn't want to sit on santa's lap.  Mama had to sit on santa's lap too.  Daddy had to get his attention for the picture.  In the end, the picture came out pretty good.  The second photographer, who I thought was just affiliated with the first, was actually a reporter for the local paper.  That's right, the next day Mama and Lucian was featured in the Berks and Beyond section of the Sunday paper.  How awesome is that? Super awesome.  We ended up getting a copy of the paper so we can treasure the moment.  I will see if they have any online.  Otherwise, we will attempt to scan it to post.  We will see.  Just thought I'd share such a fun moment.  Afterward, we enjoyed cookies.

Coconut oil makes us Nuts

So we found out that extra virgin coconut oil is not only antibacterial, but a natural laxative. Lesson learned. It's funny though because I've used this as an oil for massage, the cat eats it, and I cook with it.  I guess raw is the way to go.  I'm glad we know now though.  Definitely a better solution than pain, holding, and miralax. Yay for small victories, even if they come out of discomfort.

On a brighter note, my grandparents came to visit.  That would be lucian's great grand parents. It was a wonderful visit and I'm thankful they were able to come down.  They treated us to lunch and Lucian was very well behaved.  One of the best I've ever seen him.  Watch out grandpop, he's taken a liking to you!

Now it's time to count down to the holidays and new year.  I hope everyone has a wonderful season as winter is officially right around the corner.  There is nothing I can think of that the little man needs. Maybe some fresh air? Until tomorrow....

The Holiday Season

This is the time of year where it is always more difficult for me to post things.   Mostly because I can't post from the nook and Lucian likes to "help" on the computer.  I am going to do my best to keep up.  I want to thank everyone for sending birthday wishes to Lucian in October.  He will be more stylishly clothed this year.      We definitely are all set in the clothes and shoe realm.  So thank you all again.  Now that the holiday season is coming up I have to try to come up with new gift ideas.  Honestly, I don't think he really needs anything.  If anything, I need to go through his toys and weed out the stuff that he doesn't play with anymore.

I'm hoping to start him in gymnastics class this friday and see how it goes.  The hardest part is going to be getting him into the car since he hates being in the carseat. I'm hoping that he'll like the class and want to go.  Otherwise I'm going to have to bribe him with cartoons or snacks. I'm definitely ready for the holidays to come.  People are always crazy this time of year, especially on the road.

Joe and I have been working opposite days and spending the weekends together.  We are patiently waiting to hear about graduate school.  I'm excited to see where we go next.  Will we return to Bloomington or head up to North Dakota?  I'm kind of intrigued by ND.  Close to Canada and Minneapolis. I think it would be a nice new experience.  And I'm sure there are some beautiful sites, including the stars.  We will keep you all up to date with the news and our decision.  We love you all :)

Smothered with Baby Love

Last night we had a nice adventure to the weekend hayrides in Exeter.  It became increasingly cold as the darkness came and none of us were dressed warm enough. The breeze wasn't helping either.  Thank goodness for body heat! But we were able to enjoy the (family friendly) hayride while it was still light out and not scary.  Lucian was really relaxed on the hayride and just enjoyed his time on it, even with the random chainsaw and horns (the not scary version- I know). Plus we were able to enjoy free cookies, cider, and cocoa. We went to this event last year too (also freezing). So we decided we just HAD to go this year to update the photo on our fridge.  See, every year they set up a photo station and take free fall photos of families, print them out, and supplement the package with advertisements.  I can live with that! So we end up with a new family picture, which I don't have to attempt to tripod and time (yay).  Voila, Family photo success. I'm sure I'll peak at the advertisements too before I recycle them.

While waiting for the hayride to begin, Lucian was just dying to go on the moon bounce. We were like "why not?" It's free and one other kid was there.  So we decided to give it a try and see how he does in that environment.  We couldn't go in with him so it was a solo act. Daddy popped his shoes off and helped him through the opening hole.  He was soooooo excited! He couldn't really bounce because more kids came in and made it unstable, but he was surely having fun.  He walked around, crawled around, sat while others bounced him.  It was cute.  Joe took some short videos on his phone; maybe I can attempt to load one again.  The last one I attempted wouldn't go through, I think it was too long. Oh well.

In the end we had a lovely day.  The best part of my day didn't come until right before bed. Lucian decided he was going to smother me with kisses. He would come over, kiss me and walk off.  10 seconds later he would come back over and give me another big smooch.  He did it over and over again - we were both giggling.  That made the perfect day for me.  He's so full of love and I love him more than he understands.
He even gave me more kisses this morning.  I'd be lying if I said I didn't like this new trend!

Birthday Ideas

Lucian's Birthday is coming up and here are some ideas for gifts:

1. Clothes - size 24 months/2T - Pants, long sleeves, tees
2. Socks - size 6
3. Large paper - poster size, he likes to color
4. A wooden ball - about 2 inch diameter to go with his hockey stick. We'd prefer wood because we'd like to also use it over the summer in the box hockey boxes, which typically use wood balls.  That way he won't steal the ones the other kids are using (which would require it be wood).
5. A Squirt toy/gun - We have a few small ones but he gets frustrated with them because they are crappy.  Maybe a better one that he would be able to operate? Anything related to water is good
6. Remote Control Car - A small one made for younger kids.
7. Phineas and Ferb - Season 1/2
8. Books - We have a lot and he is partially interested. He likes the touch and feel ones. We also make regular visits to the library and read him youth novels.
9. Gymnastics class - I'd like to sign him up for this year. Money towards this is always helpful
10. Gift Certificates - We typically shop online so a visa giftcard would be the best bet.  Target is a popular place for us as well (mostly because its close to the house and he likes to run around it)
11. Cash - Will either go into his piggy bank or towards a class for him to be social

As always I support reuse/rduce/recycle and welcome any hand-me-downs or used items. 

Fall Is Here

Fall is officially here.  Cool breezes, rain, and tons of fresh produce. Does it get any better?  Of course it does! Lucian's Birthday is around the corner, followed by Halloween.  The summer has been fun while it lasted.  We picked fruit, went swimming, and even went to knoebels (outdoor camping and amusement park).  Lucian went on several rides and enjoyed them. He's getting so big and I couldn't be prouder.

Now that he is bigger and taller he enjoys new things.  He likes to color on his giant paper (and sometimes the wall urgg).  We have hung several examples of his artwork in the hallway upstairs. Coloring on the wall is ok if he is coloring with chalk on the chalkboard wall in the kitchen, which he can now reach due to his stool.  Naturally, he wanders around color on everything with chalk as well.  But, he'll clean it back up if you give him a wipe. My cute little cleaner.  He even helps me vacuum on occasion.  The nook has become a good friend of his.  I downloaded a few games for him and he likes to play them everyday. Though he doesn't form many words, he still talks your ear off and is very smart and specific about everything he does.  I can't wait to see what he gets into this next year.

I'm looking forward to the next month with his birthday and Halloween events.  Hopefully I will be able to upload new pictures immediately after this post (wishful thinking).  I'll post another post with possible gift ideas for Lucian.  Happy 23 months Lucian!

Summer Fun

I've had a really lovely summer so far with my boys. We've stayed in town for the most part. but it's been fun still. We have been trying to make friends and have playdates. I've joined two groups and it has been going pretty well so far. Lucian has always been good around other kids; I'm glad he gets to play with them. We attempted to go camping at a small campground/amusement park about 2 hours away. We decided to try to stay over one night to see how he does with camping. Plus we didn't get to have any other type of vacation and thought it would be a good substitute. We drove up and managed to snag a campsite. We set up the tent and ventured into the park. Lucian was too tired to go on anything at the point, too close to nap time. Plus it was blazing hot out that day (so much for partly cloudy). We decided it would be better to swim in the campground pool to cool off and attempt the park after a nap. Lucian and Daddy had a fun time in the pool (too cold for Mama). There was still no sign of napping other than being tired so we went for dinner instead, where he crawled up on Daddy and fell asleep after all in the a/c. During his nap Mama and Daddy decided to play some arcades. In the midst of the excitement he woke back up. Just in time for the storm! That's right heavy downfall, thunder, and lightening. We had no choice but to wait it out knowing that our campsite was going to be flooded out on our return (no top cover hmmpf). Luckily they gave us a credit to return for a night of camping and fun. We managed to pack everything up, take Lucian on two rides, and save a baby rat (we later found out it was actually a squirrel go figure). All in all I'd say it was a success. We didn't get to camp out, but we still had a good time. We have done a few other things this summer too. We created a pretty good garden in our backyard and at our garden plot by the playground. Since our garden is down there, we get to spend lots of time on the playground playing. Speaking of that Lucian and I need to pick tomatoes! Ok Ok I need to pick them while Lucian tries to steal playground equipment. Besides that, we have spent hours outside, had plenty of swimming time, and have gone to pick fruit. I do have pictures I just need to find a bit of time to get them up online (not much computer time with a toddler I found out). He is having a fit as I write right now. Starving for attention this one is. Yeah right! He's just tired and refusing to take a nap as usual.

Recent Likes

Straws: He has his own bag of straws that he can play with.  He likes to chew on them, stack them in piles, put them in thinks, and, of course, drink from them.

Phineas and Ferb: Still enjoys his favorite show.  And occasionally requests to watch the movie.  He will either bring the remote or movie to us depending on which one he wants to watch. Smart cookie.

Cars:  He is starting to show an interest in matchbox style cars. A new game for him is to roll cars down the cellar door out back.

Dirt: Not only does he like to cover himself with dirt when he gets the chance, but he also likes to dig in it with the hand shovel.  Sometimes he gets the rocks or water involved too.


He's getting so big and has a wonderful personality.  I can't help but love him; even when he is beating up the cat or biting daddy. Fun times.

It's Hot and Humid

Now that the weather has been really warm (too warm really), we have been spending a lot of time outside.  We've already been at the pool and had a nice cookout. Mommy didn't go in - surprise surprise! But Grammy was able to get Lucian to go in for a nice cooling time. He seemed to enjoy it. I just bought him a sprinkler for out back.  I'm excited for it to get here Sat. He has been enjoying the hose and activity table.  I think a sprinkler will definitely set it over the top!

Lately, Lucian has been lucky enough to be able to enjoy ice cream.  We usually don't get it often, but lately we've been indulging.  Lucky for Lucian, indeed. We even ran into the ice cream truck one evening at the playground.  Nothing like some high fructose corn syrup to end the day! I guess he doesn't eat as well as I once dreamed. He's doing well so I can't complain too much.  Plus it wasn't like we had a repeat of the jellybean fiasco. I guess I'll have to tell that story sometime.

May May Go Away

Though May is usually a nice month, and it hasn't been so bad.  Right now I'm ready for it to pass.  Lucian has been sick and grumpy.  We are all lacking sleep.  I only say this because I'm lacking sleep.  I'm sure it will be better in a few days and then I can really enjoy the hot weather we've been having. We are all looking forward to some outside time at the pool (please open soon). I would love to post more but Lucian just threw a bottle at me and is now rolling around on the floor crying.  Poor Lucian.  Better days to come.

April Winds and the Plotting Begins

Well April is upon us, and I have been poorly updating the website. Tisk Tisk to myself. On a positive note it is Spring and the sun has been shining more than it has been raining. Not that I mind rain. I'd almost prefer it over the wind at this point. The wind has been a bit brutal and can turn the nicest day into extra layers of clothing and hats. We have been able to play outside a bit even with the windiness. Our garden plots are hoed and ready for planting. This year we even got a nice big plot down at the playground. It gives us an excuse to plant more goodies as well as spend most of the week visiting the sliding boards. With all this wind maybe even fly a kite. Lucian is going to be sad that we won't be able to let him romp through the backyard garden once we start planting. He was becoming accustomed to rolling his ball off the side of the porch, which happens to be right in the middle of the garden. Naturally he climbs right into the garden and takes his good ole time retrieving it. He may even pick a weed or too if he sees me doing it. He's a good little helper.

We took him to two different easter egg hunts this year and I think he did pretty well at both of them. The first one was better because it tailored to his age-group. They had a section just for 1-2 year olds with age appropriate goodies inside. The other one was very early in the morning, had children up to 6 years old and was full of candy. Even though we were able to keep the eggs, he didn't get to enjoy any of the candy inside them. Not quite ready to walk down that road. I don't think we will end up going to that one next year. Too much of a hassle, too cold in the morning at that time, and the fire engine scared him to the point that he almost couldn't focus on getting eggs before the rampaging kindergartners headed in our direction. I don't think it was worth it to have two cold, grumpy children on my hands. ;-)

Current likes: crackers, playing with balls outside, trying to climb up slides, wondering in fields to his hearts content, squeezing juice boxes all over the floor, and ring around the rosie/ hide and seek.

Current Dislikes: not being able to walk when he wants to, having to go into the carseat, having his diaper or clothes changed, and finding broccoli in his food.

Welcome March

Though the weather has been crazy, it gets closer to Spring everyday. As much as I love winter and the snow it often brings it is nice to see nature in bloom and enjoy the warmer festivities. Lucian has been wanting to get outside more and play all day long. With the cold weather and whirling winds, that has been a difficult task. Of course, we have had our fair share of short outings to the playground, but we are mostly forced indoors. It breaks my heart every time we have to fight him back into the carseat and out of the harsh weather. In the end he gets over it, but we are looking forward to the long hours we will get to spend in the sunshine.

Ashes to Ashes

My old phone finally retired itself a few weeks ago when the screen stopped working. Luckily I transferred all my photos to the memory card because I knew it was going to happen soon. Now that they have been transferred to the computer, I have had a chance to look through them. I'd like to share a few with everyone. Some of them are really cute. Then I guess I can find the camera USB and update the picture page. Wohoo!

Old Man Winter

This has certainly been a busy winter. We've managed to introduce Lucian to a large portion of our families within a month. Unexpected and in poor circumstances, a funeral. In the end, we remain with vivid memories and stuffy noses. Thank you Cold Man Winter.

Our first trip was out to the west coast to visit my father's family. It was a blast. We didn't really want to leave. Actually, we were able to stay an extra day thanks to the large amount of accumulated snow and ice before our flight out. I can't say long flights are the most enjoyable thing at Lucian's age, but he definitely did well. I was more than happy to have layovers so he could run around the airport for a bit. We actually discovered a few play areas at airports, which kept him quite busy. I didn't know they existed before. I think Joe and I might have had more fun playing on it than Lucian did. Nahhh, who am I kidding? We made it there and back safely; that's all I could ask for. Well, that and snow. Even though it was cold, foggy, and we were unable to leave the house, we had a great time sledding, throwing snowballs, and playing with my family and their two big dogs. All in all success. Thanks for having us.

Our second trip was unexpected and last minute. We had a long drive out to Indiana and a long drive back. We ended up stopping along the way in both directions. On the down side, we were out there for a funeral; Lucian's great great grandmother. The last time we saw her he was in my belly. On the upside, we were able to see a lot of family that we wouldn't have seen otherwise. Having all the kids together, running around the house was a fun experience. We were so busy while we were out there and still didn't manage to see everyone. I wish we could have. At least we took a few memorable pictures in case the heat of the situation and the hustle and bustle of our time there happened to blur our memories. Thanks for spending that time with us. Maybe next time we can make it to Bloomington.

No matter how expected or unexpected things become in life, you always have family. Take the good, take the bad, take the ugly. In the end, it all looks the same through the family goggles, which can make any situation happier. Now we are going to go make some soup and feed out colds so we have the possibility of sleeping well tonight.