Back in the Saddle

Wow. What a month.


Yesterday I walked back in to my office for the first time since Dec. 11. Usually I dread going back to the office after a long break, but yesterday it was quite refreshing to sit at my desk, go through the mail, check voicemail, and then get to the business at hand. (Which included calls concerning a fallen tree on the property, a leaky gas line on the property, and a burst pipe in the rental house.)


I never intended to be out of the office for a whole month, but our holiday season was quite crazy. I traveled to Houston for a conference and returned to an overtired wife and mother-in-law due to another double-ear infection in Ezra. The next week Corrie's dad joined us, Ezra still wasn't sleeping at night, and on Dec. 23, he had tubes put in. The day after Christmas, Corrie's parents left. On Dec. 27, I preached at our church, and the bronchitis Corrie had been battling got so bad she could hardly move for two days. And Isaiah had rotovirus, which meant a lot of....well, you don't need to know that. Needless to say, I was at home during this time taking care of the boys and Corrie.


Finally, on New Year's Eve, Corrie was well enough for us to travel north so we could spend time with her family and my family. We were gone 10 days, had 2 more Christmases, 3 birthday parties, 2 dinosaur birthday cakes, and maybe 1 good night's sleep.


Now we're home and trying to find the routine again. We love our families and we're thankful for their hospitality. We're also thankful to be part of a university community so that we can take the time to visit them during the holidays. BUT, it sure is nice to be home. Hopefully, everyone will stay healthy for a while, and Corrie can find the rhythm of work she needs to finish her comps.


And in case you were wondering, we're not planning any more trips right now. If you'd like to see us, you're welcome to come on down!

The Streak has Ended

Well, it happened.


We had two sleepless nights on Thursday and Friday with Ezra, who was running fever and had some congestion. Our pediatrician met us at her office Saturday morning to give him the flu test...and he passed with flying colors...which is not a good thing.

Unashamed

Isaiah is now in a big boy bed. I could write a year's worth of posts of all the misadventures this has created. Isaiah is strong willed and very active, which makes asking him to stay in bed at bedtime an unreasonable request...at times.

Also new in Isaiah's world is his progression towards potty training. We talk about it quite a bit hoping that rhetoric will turn in to reality...this summer. In the meantime, Isaiah displays unique signs that he is beginning to understand what it is all about.

All this leads to what happened this morning. Ezra needed to be put back to sleep around 5am, so I was up pretty early. After getting Ezra to sleep and putting him down, I decided I would shower and shave before the rest of the house woke up. I also hoped that I might have some time to myself before having to start the morning routine.

Right after I finished shaving I heard Isaiah's door creak open. I opened the bathroom door to see Isaiah peeking through the crack. I told him to come on out, and once he stepped in to the light I saw that he was completely and unashamedly naked. I was kind of surprised.

I said, "Isaiah, why are you naked?"

He replied, "My diaper was wet."

"Oh...go see Momma!"

"No."

"Do you want a new diaper?"

"Yeeaah."

Eveidently his diaper had leaked so he decided that he would just take it all off, which means he is understanding that it's not good to be in wet clothes...one step closer to potty training.

While I didn't really get the time to myself that I was hoping for, my morning was anything but routine.

Kids are funny

Right now at our house, there's a lot to be happy about. We have a 2 year old boy who is changing so much every day, and we have his new little brother who can sleep through the chaos created by his aforementioned ever-changing brother.

But there are also things about having a new baby and a toddler that bring frustration. Little sleep. Cold weather (which limits outside playtime). LOTS of diapers. (Last night looked like an assembly line, we changed one poopy diaper and then literally turned around and changed another poopy diaper). Little sleep. You get the picture.

I saw this video and it made me laugh. Kids really are a joy!

Stoned Little Kid After Dentist Visit - Watch more Funny Videos

(HT to the Burnside Blog)

Dirty Learning

Yesterday, Isaiah decided not to take a nap. That's pretty unusual. Most of the time he'll go to sleep for at least 45 minutes if he doesn't take a 2 hour one. But yesterday, we put him in his crib and he talked and played and talked and played for 2 hours straight. Once we conceded that he was not napping, we went back to get him.

I opened the door to find him standing in his crib without his pants. The jeans he had been wearing before were on the floor with his socks. He also had a big smile on his face and one hand raised in the air. On the tips of his fingers...poop.

My first thought was that he had pooped sometime in the last 2 hours and the reason he didn't sleep was because he had been playing in it. Thankfully, that was not the case. He just did it a few minutes before and, as he sometimes does, stuck his hand in his diaper to see what was going on.

Moral of the story: To learn we have to be willing to get our hands dirty.

"The best part of waking up..."

...is having your son throw up all over you.

This morning we are going through our usual routine, which includes giving Isaiah his milk and yogurt, a banana, some cantaloupe, and half a piece of toast with blueberry all-fruit spread on it. He doesn't eat much this morning, which is not completely out of the ordinary, and after politely saying "down", we let him play while we finished our cereal. It doesn't take very long until Isaiah discovers that I've left my computer on the coffee table, so I go over to overt a disaster by picking him and asking if he's ready for a change of clothes so he can go to daycare.

The next thing I know is that he is coughing a little, but it is followed by all of the milk and yogurt he just consumed. Not wanting to get the furniture dirty or my computer ruined, I just stand there with Isaiah in my arms as he throws up all over the both of us. Finally, when he's done, we make our way to the bathroom where he gets a morning bath, new diaper, and change of clothes. (Meanwhile, Corrie is cleaning up what did manage to make it to the floor.) Once Isaiah is all cleaned up, I take a second morning shower, and realize that I have bits of milk/yogurt in my gotee. (But no, I did not shave it. It cleaned up rather nicely, thank you very much.)

Other than the shock factor, I tell this story because it appropriately demonstrates the nature of parenthood. I love Isaiah so much that I am willing to let him throw up all over me. And while I would have told you that before, I can now tell you that from experience. Being a parent is lots of fun, but it is also very messy.

The rest of the story... we all took a sick day today. Isaiah stayed home from daycare, Corrie cancelled her classes, and I am blowing my nose every 15 minutes because of some kind of late summer cold. The good news, we all took naps.