terrarium fun!

tyler and i decided to make a terrarium. i got the terrarium box from my old boss, and she was excited to see how it would go... here it is! it was actually a lot of fun to hunt through the yard to find the bits of moss and plants and rocks and and sticks and such. tyler had a great time finding different varieties of moss. it was a wonderful way to teach him about how different things can be even when they look the same from far away. even i didn't realize how many different kinds of moss there are just in our own backyard! i think tyler had the most fun picking out the treasures that he wanted to put inside. we have seashells, shinybeads, and marbles.
put some rocks on the bottom of your terrarium container. then some sand. then some good soil (miracle grow would be good). then plant yourself some pretty green things! use a spray bottle to keep it moist. only spray it when there isn't any condensation left on the glass.(that's a good little 'chore' for little ones too!)

starting kindergarten and some kid quotes to enjoy

tyler started kindergarten this week, on my 7 year wedding anniversary. i think my husband said it all when we woke up that morning, i said 'happy anniversary' and he said 'what the hell happened?' where did these 7 years go? it started with a wedding on a rainy august saturday that made the news and now we have two perfect little boys. one just getting used to air and sunlight and the tornado that is his big brother, the other who is taking tae kwon do and starting his 13 year journey of classes and friends and cafeterias and homework.

eliot and i brought tyler to school that morning and walked him into the auditorium. i am so proud that tyler was so good about it all. he is taking this all so well (new baby, new school...) he adjusted better than me! i think the only thing that kept me from crying right then and there was that i know i am going to do it all over again with my second baby boy. i'm not going to say i didn't cry, i just didn't do it in front of anyone! 

i would like to take this time to document a few quotes from tyler. there is something wonderful about the mind of a child (except when he calls me back into his bedroom, after he should already be asleep, to tell me i will need to do some exercises after the baby comes)...

*"i really do like babies, even though they are disgusting" (talking with hockey mimi, august 2012)

*"did you marry dady because he got all As and A+s?" (july 4, 2012)

*my sister: "i hate star wars" tyler: "well do you like the nauseous parts like the kissing? they have those parts" (july 2, 2012)

*"your life is awesome so don't complain about it" (to my sister, june 22, 2012)

*me: "how do i look?" t: "smaller but you're still in the shape of pregnant" (trying on clothes, june 13, 2012)

*"my dad is a nerd for books" (march, 2012)

*"you just don't remember because you're pregnant. it takes away your mind" (june 4, 2012)

*"if you obey me you'll get a flower. if you don't obey me you'll get a booger" (May 8, 2012)

*

*some of the more wonderful baby names (before he decided upon eliot david) Mr. Poopcrotch Harold, tyler junior james harold (he would then be tyler james harold the first), Cockroach of Doom, and Plaster Dirtyman.

*Greg: "i used to write poetry when i was a young man" t: "you did? guess what you're my favorite writer" (april 9, 2012)

*"i have a good idea. if we win it's a race if we lose it's not a race" (feb 16, 2012)

*"is batman mark twain?" (november 28, 2011)

*"peeling is my favorite thing to do in banana skills" (november 21, 2011)

*t: "mommy, is this a ninja?" me: "no, sweetie, that's mother teresa" (november 18, 2011)

*"this music is like crap going into your face" (greg playing slayer, raining blood, september 11, 2011)

*"did you guys ever have kids? you have to teach them to be quiet when you're on the phone, oh and when they're hungry you have to feed them" (teaching my sis and bro in law "how to be parents" august 8, 2011)

*question: "why did you let bugs bite you?" t: "shirts don't glue to people" (june 2, 2011)

*"i'm gonna whisper something to you... i farted on daddy (*laugh*) i told you it would make you laugh" (may 25, 2011)

*"i am too gonna do big things" (january 17, 2011)

*"buy me! buy me! i'm in a cage!" (after climbing inside laundry bin, december 1, 2010)

*"mommy!" "what?" "i love you...thanks for everything" (just closed the door for bedtime, nov 29, 2010)

*"mommy mommy...i like her" (seeing pic of me and t, july 20, 2010)

*t: "i am sick" mimi: "from what?" "jessie's feet. she made me smell them" (april 29, 2010)

the new addition: a tale of two (completely different) labors

ok i know it's been a while since i have posted. ok a while is an understatement. but in my defense, i spent the past 9 months in the bathroom. my body hates hormones! i expected it though this time around since i was just as lucky with my first pregnancy. if it says anything at all, my all-time favorite preggo book is called 'pregnancy sucks'.

on august 11th, his actual due date, eliot david was born. it was a surprise for two reasons...only 5% of babies are born on their due dates AND tyler came 10 days early (so i was prepared for maybe even having a july baby!). this labor was definitely faster and way different, just like everyone said it would be. with tyler, i had contractions from wednesday evening until we finally went to the hospital friday at lunchtime. he wasn't born until saturday at 3:10am. it was long and slow and i pushed for 3 hours! eliot on the other hand, i had on and off contractions for weeks but nothing regular. at my ob appt on the 10th at 3pm, there was still no progression. around 6pm i felt contractions enough to start writing them down. i was up all night. they came every 20 min... then 11... then finally around 5am they started at 5min apart. at 630 i called the dr and she said to come in. i guess i shouldn't have waited, but in my defense the contractions felt way different. with tyler, it felt like my whole uterus was contracting and pushing down. with eliot, they started low, moved up to my bellybutton, and then wrapped around my back- and felt like death. they were so different i wasn't even sure i was in real labor for a while! anyways, i called my mom and she came down to watch tyler until i was admitted into the hospital. by the time we left the house the contractions were 4 minutes apart. 20 minutes later by the time we got to the hospital, they were every 2 minutes. it was going so fast that while we were in the car i had my mom wake tyler up to come down right away instead of waiting. by the time we got from the parking lot to triage, they were every minute. i was already in transition! they checked me in triage and i was already 5cm. the contractions were so close together that the next one would start before the first was finished. and it was all back labor- it felt like he was pushing out of my spine. NOTHING prepared me for this... not even having gone through labor before. by the time we got to a birthing room, which was not long at all (enough time to take blood and get me the heck out of triage), i was 7cm. it was excruciating. the anesthesiologist came in minutes. (this is way different with tyler, where i spent hours in triage and just waiting and waiting for someone to feel some type of sense of urgency that i was having a baby!). the epidural helped and the guy gave me an extra something for the back labor. got scared for a minute when my bp and his heartrate dropped when i switched sides but once i switched back it was ok. 

eliot was born at 11:10am, after (to my shock and delight) 6 minutes of pushing and only 3 rounds of pushes (again with tyler it was 3 hours!). he was perfect. the next shock was his hair! there was so much and it was so long we all couldn't believe it. then came his weight. 8lb 9oz! a full 1lb 2oz heavier than t. 

tyler was the first to come in. he officially told eliot what his name was and we spent some time together before the other guests came in. we are so lucky to have such perfect little boys. 

now i'm just waiting for this compression neuropathy to work itself out without having to pay any co-pays...

brotherly love at the hospital

8/29, after his bath. can you even stand it?!

homemade winkie costume (let's get ready for fall!)

  i had to put on a jacket this morning when i left the house for work. i love the cool crisp mornings that remind me fall is coming!! and i am definitely ready to get into the spirit of fall.  it is easy for me because my birthday is at the end of this month, so the end of summer means the beginning of birthday season!! anyways, thinking fall means thinking halloween. and when a mom thinks halloween, she always wonders what genius (and marvelously time-consuming) idea our child will have for a costume. 

this past fall season,when i asked my son what he wanted to be for halloween, he said an O-E-O. what he calls an O-E-O is, in fact, called a Winkie. to be honest i didn't know it was called a Winkie either (until a google image search enlightened me). It is one of the soldiers from the Wicked Witch of the West's castle in the Wizard of Oz. so i thought to myself... ok...an O-E-O. i can do this. can't i?? so i started by doing some research online. this is the pic i found to use as a reference. looks do-able, right??? anything is do-able. 

so i started... bought a sweatshirt, furry stuff and some felt,tassels and buttons... and piece by piece began figuring it out as i went, hand-sewing each stitch.

first, i cut strips of gray felt and sewed them onto the sweatshirt...

then came the shoulders.....

then some furry fabric and fancy buttons....

then the sleeves.....

then i added the bottom flap part of the 'jacket'...

then some applique work with white and red felt...

add a fancy necklace and furry hat and taaa-daaa!

and there he is as happy as can be, my little O-E-O!! 

this year he wants to be a peacock......

what have you made for your little ones???

i'm back!

ok. i admit it. i've been neglecting my blog! but i have been gone for a while. among a bajillion responsibilities and things to do keeping me away, i went down the shore. it was awesome and now i'm back. i wish we lived closer to the shore. growing up in new jersey it was so close. i took it for granted! now it's 7 hours away and i don't get to go nearly as frequently as i would like. i just had to share this photo. isn't he just the cutest?!?

anyone out there live somewhere other than where they grew up? do you ever feel torn, like you have two homes?  it's how i feel all the time. pittsburgh has been my home for most of my life and is where i have established my life and family. but when i go back to new jersey, i just feel better. i don't know if that even makes sense. i'd love to hear from anyone out there that's in the same boat (or even not in the same boat!)

Interview with a preschooler

i knew i wanted to use my blog to acknowledge mother's day in some way. i wasn't sure how at first, but this idea came to me while i was at work. i decided to interview the boy that made me a mother. my son, tyler, is 4 years old.

what's your favorite food? pancakes.

what's your favorite color? oh, green. you know that.

what's your favorite game? candyland. 2nd favorite? trouble. do you know what's the boringest game ever? chutes and ladders. 

what's your favorite thing to do at school? paint. 2nd is draw for my daddy and mommy and kenya. you know what's the boringest ever? smelling the stinky fish.

what's your favorite show? jake and the neverland pirates.

what's your favorite book? my favorite book is the dinosaur book. why? cuz it's so long. cuz there's lots of killed dinosaurs and fighting dinosaurs and punchy dinosaurs and stabby dinosaurs and prickly dinosaurs and armory dinosaurs.

what's your favorite toy? my toy trains.

if you could be an animal, which animal would you be? i would be a giraffe. why? cuz i would have a long neck and i could reach up in trees.

who is your favorite hockey player? dah, it's crosby already!

what do you want to be when you grow up? oh a police officer. why? cuz i can arrest them. arrest who? arrest people that steal things.

what do you like best about yourself? oh, hopping on one foot
about daddy? that he is big.
about mommy? cuz you get to pet kenya nice. cuz you help me.  and we help everybody else.

what is your favorite treat? just a donut. a sprinkle donut. or a blueberry donut. or a vanilla one. vanilla icing.

 

throughout the post are pics of tyler over the years.

where does the time go?