Knows His Cars, Wes to Sabbath School, Middle of Night Waking, Bumbo & No More Swaddle

Wes:  16 Weeks Old

Ty:  2 Years, 4 Months & 3 Weeks Old

Last Friday was a busy day.  We hit up the grocery store and spent the rest of the day packing up to go to the Edwards’ house for the weekend.  Heath actually did not want to leave our house for the weekend, but he caved because I really wanted to go.  It is a problem.  With all the commuting that Heath is doing a week (2 ½ hours a day), he just wants to stay home for the weekend.  With me being home most of the time during the week, I want to get out of dodge when the weekend hits!  We just have to compromise!  On our way to the grocery store Tyson did something amazing.  We were driving in our car, when all of a sudden, Ty squealed and said, “Noni!”  I thought he was just randomly calling out her name but the car that was coming towards us was a silver Prius!  I couldn’t believe it!  What a smarty pants!  I won’t hold it against him that they just got rid of it!  He also showed his smarts in the grocery store.  We were passing some pistachios and Ty pointed at them saying, “Nut…nut…nut!”  I said that he was right that they were nuts, and that they were called “pistachios.”  I exaggerated the word and tried to get him to say it.  He looked like he was concentrating very hard to try to say, “pistachio” but then he exaggerated (very slowly) the word, “nut” again!  It was very cute.  We booked it over to the Edwards for supper and, amazingly, both boys went right to sleep in their own respective beds all night long!  Not bad at all!     

Hanging on the Boppy while Mama packed up

On Sabbath we were fashionably late to Sabbath School, but made it.  I decided to bring Westin in Cradle Roll now.  I had been going to the adult Sabbath School, while Heath took Ty in, but Wes loves to look at everything and takes it all in…so I think he will really enjoy the songs and activities!  We stayed for potluck after church and we witnessed a modern-day miracle!  It was one of those potlucks where everyone brought dessert or a salad.  We had only 3 casseroles to feed quite a few people.  But somehow God stretched it!  After lunch, I will freely admit (with guilt) that I went to Walmart.  I had been so proud of myself the day before.  I had thought that I had done so well with packing for the weekend.  I had gotten everything…I had time to spare…I was all set when Heath got home.  It wasn’t until about 15 minutes down the road that I had a horrifying feeling and then I started laughing.  I had forgotten to pack underwear for myself!!!!  I have never, ever done that before.  I know exactly what happened.  I had gotten my nylons, then my socks, then my bras…and then Tyson screamed about something and I had turned away – not going to my last drawer.  Then I forgot about them and thought I had everything.  Anyways, it was an emergency and since we don’t pass any stores that sell underwear on the way to the Edwards – I knew that I would have to go to Walmart in Conway after church.  As I was getting out of the car, like I said, feeling that guilt, I looked over and saw a friend of ours from church in the car beside us!  What are the odds?  We had a laugh about it (she was bringing an elderly friend to Walmart, it wasn’t for herself)!  After Walmart, we went to Heath’s grandmother’s house (Norma) to visit.  She had been in the ER the day before for neck pain that she had just woken up with.  Well, the pain had intensified and she could barely move.  She didn’t want to go back to the hospital, so they were just going to play it by ear.  We went back to the Edwards and decided to have a Downton marathon.  It turned out to be not much of a marathon – we only got through 1 episode!  Norma got even worse and went by ambulance to the ER (where Shannon and Devin took care of her).  So Sonia, obviously went and met them and she was there all night.  Norma got admitted, but thank goodness, was discharged on Monday.  They think she was having the horrible muscle pain from a statin drug (for cholesterol).  She is doing great now, we are glad.  It is so hard to see someone in so much pain like that.  Speaking of pain, I had the absolute worst headache I remember having on Saturday night.  Advil did nothing and it was just terrible.  I sat there, in a daze, and put frozen peas on my head and finally, after hours…it finally got better.  But I was spent and went to bed at an unheard-of time of 11 PM, or something like that. 

See what Sabbath School will teach you?  It's cute - he calls "Jesus Loves Me" - "Bible So!"

On Sunday we didn’t do much.  Our number one goal got accomplished, but it took hours.  We went through all the homes I found, made a decision, and booked a house to rent for when we go to Florida on vacation next month.  Very exciting!  We went out to eat with Keith & Sonia on the way home.  Ty needed to a few walks while we were there and I had to give him a time-out, as soon as we stepped in the building for his attitude.  But overall, he wasn’t bad and Westin was great.  I had to nurse him there and I was able to pry him out of Grampy’s arms!  Keith loves to hold Wes all the time – it is so cute.  Wes is his “mini-me” - so it just makes sense!

On Monday I don’t remember any funny stories or anything.  It was a busy day of unpacking from the weekend and the boys & I went shopping in the afternoon.  We went to 2 out of the 3 pharmacies and Walmart.  Ty did great and didn’t have any accidents.  I did put him on our portable potty in the middle of the trek and he just thinks that is great.  He loves to sit on it, in the back of the Outback, and waves at everyone driving by.  I saw so many people cracking up!  It must be quite a scene…a little boy, sitting on the potty, with the biggest smile waving at everyone!  I do remember that Wes woke up a couple of times during the night that night.  I didn’t know what the heck was going on.  You really get used to your baby sleeping through the night and it feels like the end of the world when they don’t!

Look at that angelic face!  You can't stay mad at him!

Tuesday was a busy day.  Shannon & Fin came over for the afternoon.  We watched the last Twilight movie together.  It had just come out and I had bought it at Walmart the day before.  I definitely like it more and more with every time that I watch it.  After our company had gone home, I killed myself doing a full cleaning on the house.  I had done some of it the night before (after the kids were asleep, at about 1 AM), so I was able to finish it all on Tuesday.  One thing Ty did that was funny was when the puppies started barking.  Reeses was lying in her bed, covered with a blanket, but had most of her face sticking out.  Well, she didn’t move much but had just started barking.  What did Tyson do?  He took the blanket and pulled it completely over Reese’s head!  Of course, I told him not to do that, but I was dying laughing inside!  On Tuesday night, we sat Westin in the Bumbo for the first time.  I just love that thing!  He looked so adorable in it!  I don’t know what it is…but seeing a baby sitting up “by themselves” is just so cute!  He wasn’t cute again on Tuesday night when he woke up at 3 AM and 5 AM again.  Growth spurt?  Separation Anxiety?  Not sure.  I always get a terrible night’s sleep the night before I have to work.  It never fails!      

Shannon will kill me for this picture!  But I think it is cute!

He rode vacuum like this the whole time I was cleaning!  It was heavy to move it!

First Bumbo experience!

Jealous much?

Ty joined in on the early morning waking party that Westin was throwing on Wednesday and got up at 6:30 AM, when I was trying to get ready to go to work.  I brought him to our bed and he ended up going back to sleep.  What is crazy is that he didn’t wake up until 10 AM!!!!  Poor Shannon had to baby-sit all 3 kids because my parents were in Florida.  She got through it and said it went better than she had thought, but that it was really busy.  She said my boys were “angels” (her words) and that her daughter was the problem! (=  A mother loves to hear that  - especially when someone is taking care of them!  Ty didn’t have any accidents for Shannon, so that was awesome!  Wes gave Heath a run for his money at bedtime.  He just would NOT go to sleep.  He has done that a bit lately, I don’t know what is going on.  He seemed tired and he cried for quite awhile, but he wouldn’t go to sleep.  After 2 hours of weeping & gnashing of teeth, Heath gave up and laid Wes on our bed.  That is when Westin started cooing, smiling, and laughing at Heath.  It is impossible to stay mad at that kid!  I tried something different on Wednesday night and did not swaddle Westin – I put him in a sleepsack instead.  I was wondering if he was waking up so much from the swaddle.  He busts out of that thing constantly and they do say that when they start busting out, then it is time for them to be out of them.  I didn’t think it would be so soon – since Ty was swaddled until about 8 months.  Well, Westin seemed to love the freedom and had no problems sleeping in the sack and only woke up once during the night!  Improvement?

Thursday was another busy day.  I do remember a few cute things that Ty did on Thursday.  First of all, he had been bad and had taken the dog food (that he is not supposed to touch) and had thrown it over the gate downstairs.  Dog food was everywhere.  I had a small bird and told him that he had to pick up every last piece of dog food.  He took it right in stride and got to work.  But he couldn’t just pick up the pieces in the regular way, he had to make it interesting!  He grabbed a block and put the pieces inside the block and then dumped the block out into the dog dish!  He is something else!  He also was very cute with his baby doll.  He decided that the doll really needed a nap.  He did everything with the doll that I do with him before naps!  He brought the doll to the bathroom and put him on the potty, then he put music on for the doll (he changed CD’s, turned it on and everything), gave the baby doll a “drink”, and then put him in the crib and covered the baby with Ty’s blanket!  For lunch, we went down to Concord and met Shannon & Fin at Friendly’s.  We had the worst waitor ever there.  First of all, I tried to order a grilled cheese & tomato with swiss cheese and he said they didn’t have swiss cheese.  I knew they did, but I asked him what they had besides American (because I hate it) and he had no idea.  He didn’t know the menu at all!  I was able to find in the menu that they DID have swiss cheese, which was no big surprise.  Then he screwed up Finley’s order, but the worst was yet to come.  I had forgotten to ask for separate checks, but I figured he could handle a couple of coupons.  Man, was I wrong.  We each had a coupon that made the kid’s meals become $1.99 with a purchase of an adult entrée (they are usually about $5.75).  Well, wouldn’t you know, he comes back and says, “It will only take 1 coupon.”  Instead of telling us this, he ran my credit card and just used the 1 coupon.  We told him that we needed to use both coupons, and asked if he could split the checks so we could use both coupons.  He looked at me with a blank stare and in his “I-smoke-too-much-pot-and-fried-my-brains” voice he said, “I already ran your credit card.”  And I was like, “So what?  Can you have your manager void it and split it up so we can use the coupons?”  After quite a pause, he leaves.  He comes back with 1 credit card bill for $15.88.  So, obviously his manager overrode the machine and let us have both coupons on one bill.  We both had grilled cheeses that were $5, and the kids meals were both $2…so with tax, it was clearly on one bill.  I paid with my credit card (Shannon gave me cash) and we left.  We were in a wicked rush to make it to Shannon’s OB appointment.  As I was backing out of my parking spot in the parking lot, this retarded waiter comes flying out of the restaurant waving our receipts.  I rolled down my window and he said, “You didn’t pay for both meals.”  I’m like, “Are you kidding me?  Yes, we did.”  I went through the math with him and again, he was staring blankly at me.  I said, “Obviously your manager overrode the problem and put it on 1 bill.”  And then he said, “But I gave you 2 slips!”  I could not believe this guy was this stupid.  I said, “Yes, there are two slips.  One is the restaurant copy and one is the guest copy!  I would never run out on a bill.”  I’m not kidding, he still did not look convinced, but he let me go.  I have never in my life had anything happen like that to me.  If we were not going to be late, I would have totally complained to his manager.  He was terrible in every aspect, but running into the parking lot to flag me down to accuse me of not paying…that is ridiculous.  I was shaking, I was so mad.  But, I got over it.  On a more positive note, Shannon had a good OB appointment – Griffin is looking great!  Yes, they have named him already!  Overachievers.  I had to nurse Westin during the appointment, so Wes, Ty, Fin & I all stayed in the car.  I locked the doors and had Ty & Fin go crazy in the car!  They did and I was happy to see Shannon when she came back…but she had just done a 10 hour shift with all 3 of them the day before.  So I had nothing to complain about!  We went to Mexican again that night with Adam and ate well, as usual.  Hope you have a great week!

Ty needed help getting his doll into his crib!  He got him stuck in the bars!  He wasn't trying to kill it!

Playing with the balloon from Friendly's

Fooling around with Daddy

It's just too much for him to handle!

Lining up all the salt & pepper shakers...perfectly

Look at the drool!