It's in the picture......

If you are a reader of my blog then you will understand this picture....if not oh well. Read on and you'll figure it out. Soon I'll just be posting a picture without any description and you'll just have to go off of that....ha!

Baby Boot Camp, Sleeping 101...an update

Most know that our house has been in Baby Boot Camp for sometime....well, since Paulie decided that sleeping was not a priority....crying/screaming at night was (since we moved). Over Kevin's leave we decided to enroll Paulie in Baby Boot Camp, the sleeping sessions. The entire family was starting to show signs of deterioration from his nightly rebellion. I have been debating on whether or not I should post an update because...well, we all know what could happen....I jinx myself and then I am back to completely enrolling Paulie into the next session. But the need to post the results have gotten the better of me and here I am posting. So onto the results......

I am so proud of Paulie! He has graduated from BBC and has returned to his normal sleeping patterns. We have been on a really good streak for about 3 weeks. Life has returned to normal in our household. We did have a set back about 2 nights ago....we had to let some crying occur but that only lasted 10 minutes. Sleep is so wonderful!

We have a lurker....please identify yourself....or go away

I have noticed that we have a lurker hanging out and watching the blog. Actually, there are two lurkers. One is in Victoria, TX the other is in Dallas. Now whoever you are in Victoria, TX you popped up watching our blog in June 2008 and have remained a very consistent visitor. Dallas, well, you seem to come and go. Your viewing is not as consistent as Victoria's. Now mind you, I do have some friends in Texas, but not near you two. So, please do us a favor and leave us a comment as to your identities. We would like to know who you are. Thanks so much.

Week's catch up/review and some pretty photos

We had a lazy weekend. I had a migraine Saturday morning that was very intense with nausea. I spent most of the morning in the bed while the boys ransacked the house and Kevin went to work to practice shooting. But, by the late afternoon the migraine had passed and we all enjoyed the night together. Today we cleaned up the house, ran errands, and enjoyed spending time together.

William's half-day camp ended on Friday and it was a very successful experience for him. He was tired and would often fall asleep at an earlier hour than normal for him. He has this week off and then begins Pirate Camp next week. I am hopeful that these experiences will make for an easier transition into Kindergarten. He is also continuing with his weekly swimming lessons at the health club and LOVES it. Friday was the first time that he swam the pool by himself. It was a great moment....and I have to say I got teary-eyed. He is getting to be so big....going to camp, Kindergarten and swimming. All boy and lovin' every minute of it. He was so proud of himself after Friday's lesson. We have a few more weeks and then level 2 begins.

During hand to hand combatives this week, Kevin had his templar membrane in his left ear ruptured and got a black eye. The unit doctor says it should heal, but due to the large size of the rupture, he will probably need surgery to completely repair the membrane once the training course is over. He is on antibiotics, Tylenol and has a bit of a head cold from the rupture. The eye is not so bad....just the outer corner part of the eyelid. He needs plenty of sleep to feel better and was successful in achieving that over the weekend.

I have been going to the gym alot....and anyone that really knows me knows I am not an exercise bunny. This past week I was there twice a day, everyday working out and watching William with his swimming lessons. One good thing is that I have met with the Exercise Physiologist and created a strengthening workout routine for me. I had my one-month review and learned that I did not loose ANY weight.....I weight exactly the same....but I lost 4% of my body fat. That is good...I guess. So I go back in another month and we will see if I have lost inches.

Now I will end this random post about the week's catch up with some beautiful flowers from Adrienne. These are the replacements that were sent for the original ones that started drooping immediately. This picture makes me feel like my house was a florist's shop....these roses were so beautiful.



And Paulie....what can I say....I just love to watch him curl up, snuggle up and enjoy his day whether watching his favorite show (right now it is a toss up between Blue's Clues.....you never can escape Blue and her crew..... or The Backyardigans) or reading his favorite ladybugs book.

Ratings

Have you ever noticed that certain things only get done on good days or bad days. I recently realized that when it is a good day, I make the bed - completely make the bed. On a good day, my bed is made with the duvet pulled up, pillows fluffed and placed neatly on the bed for decoration. When it is a crummy day, well let's just say the bed never makes it past that crumpled sheet look. On an in-between day, I pull the sheets up, maybe the duvet, but definitely leave the pillows on the floor. From my picture, can you tell what kind of day I am having....what about you?

Better or worse.....you tell me.

As you know, William is in camp this week from 7:30 to 12:30 everyday. This means that we are having VERY early mornings in our household.....and as many of you know, our household is not an early morning household. I tend to arise out of bed around 8AM, Paulie shortly follows at 8:30, and William....well, William will arise somewhere between 9-10AM. He is just not a morning baby....and never has been. So getting him up early is a chore. In fact, getting him plain up is a chore. I have to wake him early, let him sit for about 30 minutes and then offer food. At that time he might eat or might not. Getting ready for preschool when we lived in Florida was a process and so will be getting ready for Kindergarten. This is how William is and this is how it goes. So knowing that, it is better to get up early or return to our normal schedule after this week?

If we return to our normal schedule, the kids will be going to sleep around 8-8:30PM. Sometimes William makes it to 9:00PM. If we continue with the early trend, they will hit the beds around 7:30PM. I have not quite decided which is better. I personally like sleeping later....but have not really minded getting up earlier. I am hitting the gym more with the earlier rises, but that is because William's camp is at the Mommy gym (so if I am there to drop him off might as well stay and work out, right?). I think working out everyday is making me a bit more tired too. So what do you think...should we stay early or move back to a bit later? Let me know your thoughts.

Strange.....

I feel really strange today...... and so does my house. Why, you ask? I am home with only one child....the young one, too! William is at camp from 7:30 to 12:30 this week. How strange to be with just one baby. I forgot how it is with just one child in the house. Paulie and I can play and laugh and not worry about big brother charging in or I don't have to worry about big brother and little brother fighting, hurting each other, or running a muck in the house. Nope, this week it is a bit more quiet here. Paulie just doesn't know what to do with all the space....he just runs from room to room. Strange isn't it....this quietness.....soon enough it will be back to normal. What will I ever do with myself and just Paulie when school starts?!?!?!?!?

A bit too quiet

Yesterday afternoon, while the kids were eating lunch, I took a quick break to jump on the computer and upload this post. William finished his lunch and ran out into the other room to finish his Wii game with Dad. I heard Paulie humming away in his highchair and continued on with my post....and then I heard nothing. It took a few moments for the silence to register and I thought "Hum, that sounds weird. There is not sound. It is too quiet." I looked over and this is what I saw......




I just had to take a picture. Sleeping in the highchair is the cutest thing for me....they are just so precious. Paulie had left over BBQ for lunch, and well, you can see he thoroughly enjoyed his lunch before falling asleep. The middle and bottom pics are EVEN after I tried to wipe him clean. He slept for 3 hours that afternoon....catch up from having friends over the night before and just running wild....or feral as the Whitneys say.

And, again I am greeted with these......

As I do on a regular basis, I sat down at the computer to upload some photos onto the blog and once again discovered that my resident photographer found the camera and took his own pictures. Here is just a sampling of his work. I would post more but the photos are often of the same thing, or are out of focus and often are of random objects like floors, ceilings, fans moving, the sky, the deck, toys from far away or close up, his brother in various poses and at various distances.....anything that will capture the interest a 4-year old. He has now moved into taken secret photos of his parents as evidenced by the photo of his father....just look it is quite funny.

And if you are wondering about my original post....well that will come after this one.

The many faces of William that he tries to capture on the camera.

The secret shot of Dad that came out of nowhere and does make me laugh.

The ear shot....followed by the eye shots. Very interesting stuff.

The random photos of his favorite and most dedicated model.

And a sampling of the random shots. Believe me, there are many, many, many more photos likes this one. Shots of the tv, shots of trees, shots, of trees with sky, shots of clothing, close-up of clothing, close-ups of toys, books, etc. I really could go on and on and on. This one is of the golf course thru the deck railing. Quite artistic.

Taste buds

From birth my two boys have had VERY different palettes. I am constantly trying to get William to eat protein in the form of meat....chicken, beef, pork, ham, lamb, fish. It is often a discussion that ends up coming down to eat four bites and you can be excused. This has been since I introduced baby food at 5 months. Vegetables.....that is a completely different story....William loves fruit, vegetables, beans. Most meals for William consist of fruit, veggies, bread (some form of starch), and cheese, cottage cheese, or yogurt. Paul is a traditional baby in that I have to find creative ways to get fruits and vegetables in him....protein in the form of meat...chicken, beef, pork, fish...meat in any form, cooked any way....just give it to him and it is gone. Vegetables need to be disguised in meat. Casseroles, lasagna, meatloaf...Paul has not idea that veggies are in there...and now so are purred beans so that William gets double protein to make up for days he gets very little. So what is this all leading up to.....this.....here are the two lunches I served today:

William:
Raspberries
Blackberries
Yogurt
Cheese
Pretzels

Paul:
Beans
Rice
Ground beef
Cheese
Pretzels

Here is what has been eaten:

William:
Everything.....and without any prompting or discussion from Mommy.

Paul:
Everything....and extra servings of beef, rice, beans and cheese.

The benefit to this is that when they grow older my grocery bill and food prep should remain the same because Paul eats all the meat and William eats all the veggies....so we are good, right?!

Changes in latitudes, changes in attitudes

Moving makes you think about change....things you miss and don't miss. Here is my running list of both:

Don't miss:

1. The 30 minute drive to the main road. Having to watch out for Special Police (SPs).
2. Errands taking a minimum of 2 hours because of the drive.
3. Staying in town for countless hours because of road closures.
4. Watching out for bike cyclists on 3-5-9 mile, especially Tuesdays at 5PM when bike club would meet.
5. The poor and extremely slow Internet connection.
6. Feeling like the house will never be clean because it is jam packed with stuff.

What I do miss:

1. Good friends that shared time with us.
2. The smell, feel and sound of the ocean.
3. The beach and feel of the sand.
4. Our boat, being out on the water.
5. William being able to ride his bike in the circle.

And, it always seems that good things come from moving. Here is my running list on that:

Things I am happy for from our move:

1. Kevin being professionally satisfied and feeling challenged.....being happy with his work when he comes home.
2. Having more space in our house...not feeling so cramped.
3. Close shopping and quick trips for errands.
4. Making roots and settling down.

For those that missed the Fourth......fireworks!

For those that did not get to see fireworks on the Fourth of July (Angie and the rest of the Harris crew), here are some pictures from our show. Now you can see fireworks whenever you want to. I just wish I knew how to upload some American-themed music that played specifically for this post....then it would really be a show. All of these where taken by my resident photographer, William E. Enjoy.

The bone!

Kevin bought some really nice T-bones for dinner on my birthday. We grilled them up and sat outside.....everyone who visits the blog knows this because they have seen the photos from that night. Well, Paulie, like any boy/man, loves steak. I have the traditional struggles with Paul to try and eat vegetables. So, we had these steaks. Kevin's T-bone was enormous. I mean gigantic. When Kevin was cutting away the last few pieces of meat from the bone and Paul could actually see the bone, his eyes were the size of saucers.....just eyein' that bone. It made me think of my younger brother, Trent, and how he was this way as a boy. So, I decided to give the bone to Paul. You are just going to have to scroll to the bottom of the blog - to our video section - to see for yourself.

Happy 34th....um, I mean 35th birthday

Today is my 35th birthday. When my parents were visiting, my mother spoke with Kevin about getting a cake and some candles to celebrate. She told Kevin to get the number 34 because it was my 34th birthday. Kevin gently reminded her that it really was my 35th birthday. Too funny, my mother forgetting how old I really am. I told her, and Kevin, if you are going to make me younger why not 25 instead of 34. It was a good laugh.

To start my birthday off early, Adrienne and her boys sent me beautiful flowers. They were a total surprise and just so pretty. Then Kevin gave me my present....an iPhone! Very exciting.....he even uploaded it with episodes from Sex and the City. After reviewing the phone and getting a quick introduction on how to use it, we had breakfast and were off to the Mom gym. I got to watch my shows and listen to my music while working out! I am so technologically advanced I don't know what I am going to do with myself now! After the gym, we hit lunch in town with the boys and then came home to relax. Kevin took William to the store for some grocery shopping and birthday cake purchasing. We then had dinner and birthday cake. It was a great day! Enjoy my pics.

My beautiful flowers.

My cake....with 35 candles.

Blowing out the candles with help from my assistant.

Eating cake...the best part of birthdays.

Trying to get a nice photo of Mom with her boys....William was "angry", I was on the phone, and Paulie was chillin'. Not a good photo but still one worth posting.

The new obession

Kevin has a new obsession.....coffee. In the six and 1/2 years we have been married many obsessions have come and gone in Kevin's life. The new one is coffee - hot coffee, strong coffee, espresso, roasting coffee, reading books about coffee, spending hours on the Internet looking at any site dedicated to coffee, grinding coffee, roasting your own beans, getting the right/perfect blend, trying to get the perfect cup of espresso with good crema....I could go on and on about coffee. So in staying true to Kevin's obsessions, he read about how you can roast your own coffee beans. Here is some video from our first attempt. We have not had this coffee yet because 1: it needs to sit for some time (another new thing I have learned), and 2: we don't have a grinder....it was misplaced in the move.....so another reason to buy something new for the obsession. And, of course, we can't just buy a normal $30-40 grinder....oh no.....we have to have the top of the line which costs about $250. But hey, it keeps him happy....and our visitors will always have a great cup of coffee....until the next obsession hits.

Our dancin' man

As everyone knows from reading our blog, Paul LOVES LOVES LOVES music. No matter the song or the source, he starts shakin' and shimmin' his little body. His best dance move, the run in a circle, get dizzy and fall on the floor. Here he is dancing to the music on our blog.

The weather pixie

I think the weather pixie has been on vacation for awhile. Everytime I log onto the blot, and my friends' blogs that have the weather pixie, she is nonexistent. She just does not scroll up. I think she has decided to travel Europe for the summer, or maybe rent a yacht in the Caribbean, or try to win it big in Vegas. Whatever she is doing, she is NOT telling the weather. Maybe she is overtired and needs a break.....so I am going to give her one. You will notice we have a new weather bar on our blog. It is a bit more advanced than the weather pixie, but hey, she doesn't seem to mind. And if you think about it, she doesn't really show up for work anyway.

Welcome the Balows to bloggin'

My best friend, Adrienne, has finally seen the light and created a blog!!!!!!!!!!!! Now, mind you, I have been buggin' her (only slightly) about creating a blog for sometime. Thank you, thank you, thank you for creating one. We can now all see her boys grow, here about the crazy stories that only happen to the Shireys, and enjoy Chicago thru the Balow's eyes. Welcome the Balows.

PS. You will find her blog under my Family and Friends Blogs section.

Fireworks....and gazing into the sky (the fourth, part 2)

Have you ever noticed that nobody takes pictures of others when watching fireworks....of course not, everyone is watching the fireworks, duh....!!!!! My mom decided she would capture the moment by taking our pictures. I didn't know she was doing this, but it is funny to look at....us all staring into the nighttime sky. William took pictures of the fireworks, so I will post what we were crooning to see.

The night started with kisses.

William thought he would not like the sound of the fireworks, so taking pictures was a good thing....he was diverted and enjoyed the night. And more kisses...

Watching the show.

A picture of our nighttime photographer, my mom.

And the night ends in kisses.....the natural kind. hehehehe

Fourth of July, 2008, part 1

We had a great Fourth of July celebration. Mom and I went and saw Sex and the City.....thoughts on the movie are for another post....I'll just say I LOVE IT!!!!!!!

Back to the fourth, we then came home and had a cookout and headed off to Aberdeen Lake Park to watch the fireworks. The boys played on the playground and jumped in the bounce houses. We all had funnel cake and then watched the fireworks. William, our resident photographer, took several pictures of the fireworks, which I will post in another post. Paulie, sat in everyone's lap and said oooohhhh, aaaahhhh several times. It was just too cute. We had a great time.

Paul loved going down the slide.

William learned how to climb the rock wall and just loved it. He spent about 30 minutes doing this one wall, over and over and over.



Paulie has learned to smile for the camera and loves to have his picture taken. He is growing up so fast.

Waiting for fireworks.