Sleepless night...

I have been up and wide awake since 4am. Good thing it is Christmas break, but bad thing that the next several days are say busy that I will not have time to even think about resting during the day. I got up to pee at 4 (I dread when this happens for many reasons!). Once I laid back down, I could not go back to sleep. I realized I was hungry, and then my mind began to race of all sorts of things (some stupid and pointless, while others quite crucial):
*why didn't I wrap the Christmas presents last night? Now I have to stress about getting that done with E running around and wanting to help!
*is it really gonna snow on Christmas and the day after? This could be dangerous yet interesting...
*what am I going to dress Ethan in over the next few days? Sure, it does not matter, but I want him to be somewhat festive!
*what am I going to wear???
*what are we going to do about the new baby's room/Ethan's room? Gotta get thinking on this one!
*a new bed for Ethan? another dresser/changing table?
*double stroller? van?? These really make me feel old and like a soccer mom in the making!
*what in the world will I be doing with my students when we return in Jan? Yes, I always think about school, lesson plans, and my students!
*what needs to get done in my classroom before I go on maternity leave? I have some organizing that I want to do, I need to be thinking about lesson plans (which really stresses me out cause I NEVER plan that much in advance!)
*when will our garage look normal again? Normal meaning all the random junk is gone.
*will I be able to stay home the rest of the school year? This question will be answered very soon once I go to the county meeting about my leave.
*what will we do next year with 2 little boys as far as childcare/school etc?
*why is it that as soon as I straighten/clean the house, you cannot even tell?? I know I should just get used to this with 2 little boys, 2 dogs, and a husband!
*how can I better organize the toys? I will surely wait until after Christmas for this one!


At the beginning of this pregnancy, I had a terrible time sleeping. It got better, but then over the past few days (maybe a bit more), I have not slept well. It is not the big belly. I just cannot get comfy, wind down, and get my mind settled enough to rest peacefully. I know that before long this will be my normal routine with a newborn baby, butI would really enjoy a good night's sleep! Napping during the day is imposssible; I try to sleep during Ethan's nap, but I never can fall asleep right away, and before I know it, we are up and at it again! I know I should go to bed earlier, but I am never tired enough, and that is the only time that Matt and I get alone. I was not like this before break. I suppose it is because I am so tired from being so busy getting stuff done and playing with Ethan, or it is simple because I am getting further along in the pregnancy.

I absolutely love being at home with Ethan and Matt, and I know they both love it as well! :) Me being here definitely messes up the routine; today, the only time Ethan napped was in the car. It was that way the day before too. With Matt, he is asleep at a certain time. Because of the nature of the beast, I have errands to run and things to do, and Ethan must go with me. Needless to say, being bundled up in a warm, moving car soothes him to sleep. It would me too if I was not driving!

I am so looking forward to the next few days of celebrating Christmas! Ethan actually knows what to do with a present, and it melts my heart to hear his precious voice squeal with excitement and saying, "Look!" (Ethan's trademark for sure!) Next year will be even more fun for him (and us too), and then of course there will be little brother crawling (maybe) all over the place. Our years of making special holiday memories and traditions are here, and it makes me so excited!

Well, I have been up for 2 hours now! I think I might go play a yahoo word game that Matt and I have recently gotten adicted too. I really wish all the presents were out and available for me to wrap, and that Ethan's room was not right down the hall! Before long, E will be up, and momma will be exceptionally tired! Hopefully Ethan will be so worn out from going to my mom's house for Christmas that he will go to bed even earlier than usual! I might actually have to join him as well!

Momma's little helper...so he thinks!

Ethan, as well as any young child, tries so hard to do everything just like a grown person. We love watching him do things as if he were so much older. But considering he is only 18 months old, he is doing pretty well! Here are some ways that he has "tried" to be my little helper:

*Ethan loves to sweep...always has. Since we have 2 big dogs, a toddler, and wood floors, there is a lot of sweeping going on! When I grab a broom, Ethan grabs one too and becomes a shadow of me. I use a small broom and dustpan to collect it all at the end, and Ethan has always enjoyed this task as well. He will often times walk around holding the small broom and dustpan, and he will even open the trash can to drop in his dirt/trash--which is nothing. Well, a while ago, the small broom went missing. We looked everywhere, and then gave up. We came to the conclusion that E most likely threw it away.

*Just the other day we were all upstairs watching TV, and Ethan of course grabbed to remote. We have duds of remotes for him to play with, but somehow he knows they do not work. All of the sudden, the TV had subtitles on the screen, and we did not know how to get them off. Matt was beyond frustrated, and I was looking on-line to find any help/hints. Ethan was only doing what he sees us do; hold the remote pointed at the TV and press buttons.

*I was in Ethan's room putting away his clean clothes when he begins to open random drawers and take stuff out. He then proceeded to throw and entire drawer of clean socks into his dirty clothes hamper. After all, this is exactly what he sees me do every day. Either I did not get all of the socks or Ethan did this again, because when I was doing his laundry, there were several pair of clean socks in the mix.

*I went to switch Ethan's clothes from the washer to the dryer, and as I was grabbing to damp clothes, I noticed a strange residue on many of the items. I then stumbled across a diaper that was hloding so much water that I was quite impressed with Luvs even more! Apparently my precious son had now tossed a diaper (don't worry, it was unused and clean!) into the hamper. Why he did this, who knows? In his little mind it made sense. The clear, sticky residue on the clothes was the inside of the diaper. I then had to re-do the laundry, and Matt and I still laugh about it!

*As I was cleaning the bathrooms yesterday morning, Ethan was so intrigued. He watched every step I made, and he loved sloshing the brush in the toilet. He did that for at least 20 minutes while I finished up the weekend chores. It was so cute!

What fun memories watching him mature!

sick toddler

Ethan has been fighting a cold all of last week, but he was not too fussy, and he did not have a fever. Saturday, he developed a cough. By Sunday night, the cough was more constant. I took him to the doctor this afternoon to discover that he has an ear infection along with a bad cold. Ethan must have a pretty high pain tolerance because he does seem to upset about any of it. He is definitely not himself, but things could surely be worse! After I got him home from the doctor and going on a quick grocery run, he ate some dinner, took a bath, and went straight to bed. Hopefully the antibiotics will kick right in and he will be healed! We do not want this cold and ear infection to turn into anything worse; we have had worse, and it is not fun...especially during this special time of the year!

Needless to say, I do not feel awesome either. I have been fine, until yesterday. Ethan and I both stayed home from church (mainly because of his runny nose and cough), but by yesterday early evening, I had a pretty bad headache and a runny nose. I still have it today, and there is only so much that I can do. I know that I should go to bed, but I do not feel tired enough to sleep. Perhaps I will just lay in bed and watch TV!

I am counting down the days until Christmas break! Matt and I are so excited to buy Ethan presents (big boy toys)! Nearly all of his toys are infant to 12 months, so he is actually in some need of more complext toddler-oriented items. Our Christmas celebrations as our precious family are only going to be more and more fun as the years go by!

No pink in this house!

We are expecting baby boy #2! We are excited; we would have been no matter what the gender. All we want is a happy and healthy family. We have not decided on a name yet. Before we knew what Ethan was, we had a girl name and a boy name determined. Matt and I have not been as decisive with this baby. We have plenty of time left to decide, and we are not stressing about anything. I have never stressed about all the baby stuff. After all, there is only so much that you really need at first when the new baby comes home!

I have this entire week off, and I am loving every minute being home with my boys! I surely needed the extra rest and relaxation! So far I have done several loads of laundry, graded essays, cooked many meals, and cleaned our bathroom...sure doesn't sound like rest does it?? As long as I am at home and not having to be somewhere, I am resting and happy! Ethan has loved playing with someone else besides Daddy and the doggies. He makes us smile every day! He melts both our hearts saying "Daddy," and giving his smushy kisses! Such a love boy!

Ethan is getting very independent. I know it is all part of him learning and growing. He wants to get his own cup out, do everything like we do, push his own car outside, feed the doggies, put on his own shoes....etc. The list goes on. He will get rather frustrated when things do not go according to his plan. If only he knew what the future will hold!

Pregnancy update:
weeks pregnant: a lil over 22 weeks

cravings: nothing in particular. I just feel hungry all the time.

maternity clothes: definitely in the pants! Some shirts, but many things look so frompy! I do not like it!

short-term goal: still need to finish Ehtan's baby book...I will have another to do very soon! We have finished the bonus room, so there is some organizing that needs to be done in the storage area; however, that is a goal more for Matt than me. :)

baby movement: all the time! It never ceases to amaze me!

What I look forward to the most: Seeing the new face of this lil man! I cannot wait to see Ethan with his little brother!

Monkey see, monkey do!

You never really realize just how much a little toddler is learning and taking in until...
*he puts a toothbrush in his mouth and tries to brush his teeth
*he changes the channel on the TV with the remote
*he puts a Qtip in his ear
*while taking a bath, he takes the wash cloth and rubs his body; he wanted to do it this time instead of me.
*the pantry door is left open and he gets each dog a treat
*he throws away a piece of trash in the actual trash can
*he uses the toilet bowl brush to clean the toilet
*he brushes his hair with my hair brush
*he holds a cell phone to his ear and mumbles his gibberish
*he claps and yells for the doggies when they run off
*he attemps to put my or Matt's shoes on his little feet
*he crawls up on his rocking horse and begins to rock all on his own
*he wants to push his Cozy Coupe car--just like Mommy and Daddy!
*he takes a spoon and attempts to stir in a bowl or pot
*he sits and turns the pages of a book for minutes
*he bangs on the fridge wanting something cold to drink

I am sure that I am missing some really cute ones, but you get the idea!

New baby coming= more updating to the house!

Before Ethan was born, Matt and I decided to get rid of our carpets and install laminate hardwood floors; this was one of the best decisions we have made! With 2 dogs and a lil rugrat running around, life is so much easier in the house!

Now that we are expecting #2, several conversations have come up between me and Matt. Should we get a van or SUV? Should we try and buy a slightly bigger house in the next few years? Should we finish our bonus room over the garage? The last question is honestly something that we have been debating since we bought the house 5 years ago. We had convinced ourselves that it was not worth it because we would most likely not get out money back when selling. Well, we have gone round and round, but the bonus is room is now finished...except for the trim and carpet. It has been a long 2 weeks of installation, but it will all be worth it in the end! It has driven me crazy to have my garage even more of a mess than it already was;to have both cars in the driveway or street;and to have a mess in general of tools, paint, dust, and everything else. We are hoping that over the next week the new addition will be complete and we will all have yet another room to destroy with toys, juice, and snacks! :)

There are a few other things that we want to do in th house, but this is by far the biggest one. As always, there is some organizational stuff that I want to do, but I always find something else to do--even if it is just playing with Ethan or relaxing.

I have still been feeling incredible! People ask me (every single day) how I am feeling, and I am not lying or stretching the truth at all when I say great. Some of my friends hate (not really!) seeing how well I do with pregnancy because their stories are not the same. God has truly blessed me beyond belief in this area. My belly is getting bigger and bigger by the day; a few students have even made little comments about it! It is hard to believe that life will be changing so much in the next few months! I could not ask for more!

Busy mommy with another baby on the way!

I feel so bad that I have not blogged at all about our second precious baby! I was laid back with Ethan, and I still am, but I feel even more relaxed with this one. I had a marvelous pregnancy, labor, and delivery with E; so far, this one is just as smooth! I am astounded at the energy I have after working with 8th graders all day, coming home to a house that has been terrorized by a 16 month old and a at-home working daddy, cleaning up, fixing dinner, playing with Ethan, sometimes running an errand, and then settling us all down for the night. I remember when I was pregnant with Ethan that I would take a nap when I got home from school, and still go to bed by 9. All I can say is that this energy is from God! Now don't get me wrong...I am exhausted at times. Especially once the weekend comes! I have looked forward to this 3 day weekend for quite some time now! I enjoy just being lazy and hanging out with my 2 boys!

My only complaint with this pregnancy is that I do have a hard time sleeping at night (see, strange that I am not exhausted during the day!). I have been having to pee at least once in the middle of the night since I was about 8 weeks pregnant. Once I get up, I will literally toss and turn in bed for sometimes over 2 hours. My mind will not go back to sleep. I wish I could say that I was stressed or feeling anxious, but I feel nothing of that sort. Sad to say, but this whole sleep thing will only get worse over the next several months! And then the lack of sleep altogether from a newborn baby!

Pregnancy update:
weeks pregnant:16 (it is already going by so quickly!)

cravings: anything! I feel like all I want to do is eat! I want Oreos, salad, fruit, cheese...you name it!

maternity clothes: pants, yes. My waist has thickened a lot faster this go round!

short-term goal: finish Ehtan's baby book...I will have another to do very soon!

baby movement: you would think that I would know for sure if I feel the baby or not, but I am really not so certain. I felt Ethan flutter right at 16 weeks, and from then on, it was constant. I have felt a few things, but nothing too strong yet.

weight gain: according to my scale, about 4 pounds.

memory from this week: taking a nap with Ethan snuggled up against me. I guess you could say that we both had enough of NFL football this afternoon!

I will try my hardest to blog more often! I am one busy mommy and wife! I will definitely be better once the new little one is here!