Toddler Tales Week 32: Ew, Uh-Oh

Well, I've done it again.  I've gotten behind in my blogging about our fairly normal and yet seemingly carzy (at least to us) life.  TTW 32 (February 2-8), was another week like basically any other.  The biggest news of the week was that found our new minivan.  After weeks of searching, we had found a 2008 Honda Odyssey at Carmax that we were interested in.  We agreed to take a few days to think about it before finalizing everything.  It was in great shape and had low mileage, but was really basic and a bit older than we were hoping.  A couple of days after we took it for a test drive though, I found another Honda Odyssey that had more mileage but was 2 years newer with a lot more features for $3 less than the 2008.  Eric, Asher and I headed down to Highland Park, IL on Wednesday night after work to check it out and then decided it was the van for us.  It did have one little rust spot on the hood, which we negotiated to have the dealer fix for us.  Thus, we couldn't finalize the purchase until the following week when everything was fixed up.

Besides dealing with the new van, family life was busy too.  Asher was finally getting over his cold, but still not so happy about being stuffed up or the new teeth that he is working on.  Work was busier than normal too.  Eric had a project deadline that he was working on, so Asher and I spent Tuesday night flying solo.  I also was very busy with work and had to work full time for the week, making me miss my day home with my little buddy. :( 

Below are some pictures and a video from my Tuesday night date with the cutest little man ever.  We had leftover spaghetti if you can't tell.  Side Note: I was recently reading a friend's blog and she was writing about how her husband was super excited to give their little man spaghetti for the first time, hoping to get some epic messy baby photos.  Instead, he (the little guy, not the dad) wasn't quite sure how to eat it and spit it out, ending the fun.  All I could think as I read that is, don't worry...you'll get there...and then, you might wish that you could go back!  ;)

Video: Mastering the Fork (He's been practicing with it and is getting pretty good.  When he successfully gets a bite of food on his fork and into his mouth he often makes an exaggerated "Uhm" noise and looks thoroughly pleased with himself!

Dinner required a bath afterwards.

The new-to-us van.

On Friday night, Eric and I were thankful that our busy week was drawing to a close and like every Friday we didn't want to cook dinner.  So we took an Olive Garden gift card that we had, went out and treated ourselves to a nice, tasty meal.  Then on Saturday, we finished the week off with swimming lessons, our weekly taste-testing at Pick-N-Save, nap time (Asher was so exhausted from swim class that he kept asking us to put him to bed saying, "Na Nigh"), and some good-old lazy family time.  It was the perfect way to end a crazy week.

Video: Swimming Lessons

Video: Brother/Sister Love (Asher & Emma "playing" together)

So, that was week 32, but you're probably wondering why I named this entry as I did.  Well, Ew and Uh-Oh are Asher's new favorite words.  He says them All.The.Time, but unfortunately does not always use them properly.  He will often say, "ew" when we take off his diaper, or when he points at the trash, but he will also point at other things that are by no means grotesque and say "ew".  He says this so frequently that when we went the following Monday to purchase our van, we had to tell the manager filling out our paper work to not be offended if Asher points at him and says, "ew".  Asher also likes to say "uh-oh" and again uses it both correctly and incorrectly.  Sometimes he will accidentally spill something or drop something and say "uh-oh".  Other times, he will hold an object out (with obvious intentions of dropping it), say "uh-oh" and let the object drop to the floor.  He is trouble! ;)

Toddler Tales Week 31: The Cold

This week was all about "The Cold", and although it did go down into dangerously (unwelcome) temperatures outside again, that is not the type of cold I'm talking about.

-12.  The Temp on Monday night before bed.

-17.  The Temp on Tuesday morning when we got up.

No, instead it was the week of Asher's first real cold.  Most parents, I think, can say that their 19 month olds have had at least a few colds already, but I (fortunately) cannot.  Asher has had a stomach virus, and a very irritated throat/fever, but he really has never had a cold that included the faucet nose, fever, chest congestion, etc.  This week that changed.  On Monday night, we awoke in the middle of the night to a very unhappy little guy who I realized immediately was quite warm.  He had a fever and was starting to cough.  Tuesday morning the fever and cough continued and the congestion worsened.  This went on through the rest of the week.  His fever ranged from 100.8-103.5.  It was never anything completely awful, but definitely enough to make a little guy very irritable.  Eric and I each missed two days of work as he couldn't go into daycare with his fever and we spent those days tending to a little guy that wouldn't eat much of anything and walked around most of the time whining and crying.  It was heartbreaking and nerve-racking all at once.  Again, I found myself wondering how single parents do it?!  The days felt impossible as nothing we did would make him happy and if I'm completely honest I looked forward to the days that I got to go into work (I felt terrible that I wasn't home tending to my little guy, but relieved at the same time).  On top of everything else, Eric also realized on Wednesday that Asher is also got is two upper canine teeth coming in.  ...NOT a happy camper!

On Saturday, it seemed that we should be turning a corner.  He slept fairly well on Friday night and at first seemed to be in good spirits.  For a little bit we even considered taking him to his swim class.  After a bit though, we realized that he needed another day of rest at home.  So, instead we trudged on through the day, getting in some snuggles during The Little Mermaid and attempting to keep ourselves from reaching insanity (it was close...Eric even had to intervene for a couple of hours in the morning so this momma could have some time to herself).  Thankfully, he took a great nap yesterday afternoon and seemed to be in much better spirits afterwards with a little more of an appetite.  Unfortunately, last night was another rough night filled with intermittent crying and coughing.  So, we will see how this week goes.  Praying for something much more promising than the last!...

Toddler Tales Week 30: The Good, The Bad and The Normal

Toddler Tales Week 30 was overall a pretty good week.  It started off with normal family life...

While we were getting ready to leave the house one morning, we turned around and found this.  He was just laying there with shoes on his hands staring at the ceiling??...

On our day off together, Asher & I were upstairs, when he disappeared for a moment.  When he reappeared, he had Eric's electric razor and he was attempting to shave like daddy!

Video: Asher Wants to be Just Like Daddy

After naptime on Wedesday, I decided that Asher and I would make some chocolate chip cookies.  Originally, my plan was for us to make some cookies for Daddy and bring them to his work to surprise him.  However, Asher didn't wake up from his nap until after 3pm and we still needed to make a trip to the store, so there wasn't enough time for that.  We still had a good time making the cookies together and Asher did a great job helping.  I measured out all of the ingredients and then let him pour them into the bowl.  He also was my official taste tester (pre-egg addition), and enjoyed eating the sugar that he spilled off the counter and chair.  Unfortunately though he was not very happy when I had to use the mixer and wouldn't let him help.

When the cookie dough was done, our friends Britni and Theo (her little guy) came over to enjoy dinner and dessert with us.  It was fun to share a simple crock-pot meal together and catch up on the events of our lives afterwards.

On Friday, I received some great news.  After years of being told that I "deserve a raise", my boss finally gave me one (such a blessing) and told me that I will be getting my own office in the next few weeks!

Then, after work that evening, we loaded up the van and headed North.  A few weeks prior, my mom had asked us if we would be willing to come home this weekend for a belated Klingenmaier (extended family) Christmas party.  Since we rarely have a chance to see those members of our family we readily agreed.  By the time Friday night came though, the weather was not looking real great.  There was light snow falling, which wouldn't be a big deal if it wasn't blowing all over the roads.  While we were in Kenosha, it didn't seem bad though, so we decided to go on as planned.  The drive home wasn't terrible (most of the way), but it was a bit stressful.  We left Kenosha at 6pm and didn't get there until almost 1am (even though it is normally at 3.5-4 hour drive).  By the time we got to Menominee, MI it was about 11:00 and we were thrilled that we were almost home.  Another 15 minutes down the road, however the thrill changed from a positive to a negative.  Just after Wallace, we came across a deer standing right on the white line.  Eric tried to slow down for it, not knowing if it would stay where it was at or stupidly cross right in front of us.  When he slowed, we realized that the roads had gotten dangerously icy and the van immediately went into a spin.  We quickly turned almost 180 degrees and went flying into the nearby ditch.  It was terrifying.  In just a few seconds, millions of thoughts crossed my mind as I wondered if we would hit the deer, if we would hit the telephone pole that we were headed towards, how to comfort my husband who was calling out to God to save us and protect our family, what the damage of this accident would be to our family, and what the damage of the accident would do to the value of our (hopefully sellable) van.  When the van came to a stop, we were in the ditch, surrounded by snow and very shaken up (Eric was swearing that we would get a new vehicle immediately and won't travel again until it happens and Asher, who had been woken up by the incident was screaming unconsolably in the back), but we were safe and unharmed.  The van had no damage to it, but we were far enough down in the snowy ditch, that we were not going anywhere on our own.  Eric got on the phone with AAA and I called my dad who was home waiting for us to come and get us, thinking we would just leave the van until the next day.  A few moments later though, a state patrol car pulled up to check on us and then called a local tow truck who (for $65) was able to be at our location within about 20 minutes and pull us out.  The whole ordeal only lasted a little more than an hour, but when it was over we were more than ready to get home.  My dad followed us home where we promptly put Asher to bed (who went to sleep without a peep).  Then Eric and I tried to get some rest and push our the thoughts and horrors of the day (although I had several dreams that night about hitting deer).

The next day, we were able to relax a bit in the morning with Aaron, Erika, their boys and dad.  Mom was not able to make it home until later that afternoon as she had gotten stuck in St. Ignace after a work trip downstate and closed roads.  Later in the morning though the relaxation went out the window as I found out that Mom had promised to bring the dessert for the party and since she wasn't there, the task was given to me.  She had the ingredients to make Oreo truffles, so I whipped up a batch of those and then Eric and I headed to the store to find something else...we bought an apple pie and a turtle pie.

When the desserts were ready (we had to bake the frozen apple pie) and so were we, we headed out to my Aunt Gail and Uncle Mike's home on the Menominee river.  It was a great party, although I was utterly exhausted from the previous night.  We had a fun time catching up with the family and watching the children play.  Then we headed back home for a quick dinner and everyone was in bed by 8pm!

Grandpa with three of his boys.

Hudson & I

Asher talking to Hudson

Emma trying to get some rest from the terrorizing of the boys.

Toddler Tales Week 29: Time Flies

So I am a bit behind in my blog.  Time has gotten away from me lately.  The hustle and bustle of life is exhausting and finding the time to sit and my computer and write has been difficult.  At this point, I really don't even remember what happened this week, I guess I'll just let the pictures do the talking.  One thing that I do remember though is that Asher started saying "Amen" after our bedtime prayers.  I think he may have been saying it for a while but we just didn't realize what he was saying. Then this week, Eric asked me if Asher says "Amen" after our prayers.  I wasn't sure so the next night, I paid attention and sure enough he said something that sounded very close to Amen after I did.  So cute.  Praying for this little heart to know and love the Lord!  God made me wait a long time for him, but he was WELL worth the wait and I KNOW that God has big plans in store for our little guy!

Eric & Asher building towers with his new blocks.

Asher still needs to learn to think OUTSIDE the box.

Video: Lately we have also been working on "So Big" with Asher.  This past Christmas, everyone kept asking Asher, "How big is Asher?", and Eric and I felt bad because we had never really taught him the response to that question.  So, we began to ask him the question during dinner time and then show him the response.  He picked up pretty quick and thinks it is pretty funny.  On this night we tried to get it on video and although he was interested in being very cute and hamming it up for us, he wasn't so interested in participating in our game.

We ended the week with another Swimming Lesson.  At first, Asher seemed to have no fear in the water, wading deeper and deeper and relishing the slide.  When the class started though he became very hesitant and wasn't interested in doing things that he has done in the past with no problem. We think he was just a bit grumpy & tired, but hopefully the next class will be a little better.

When swimming classes were over we stopped at PickNSave to get some groceries before heading home.  I had received an email from them earlier in the week that said that they were going to have a "Chocolate Fest" on Saturday afternoon.  Chocolate Fest INDEED!  Everywhere we turned in the store there were free samples, most of which contained delicious chocolate.  We feasted on chocolate covered strawberries (which were DELICIOUS!), brownies, chocolate croissants, entire chocolate chip cookies, sea salt dark chocolate, chocolate ice cream and more.  By the time we made it half way through the store, I was completely chocolate-ed out!  Asher was thoroughly enjoying it and although we don't really give him many sweets other than Craisins, fruit and yogurt, we did let him enjoy the free feast with us.  Thankfully he was so tired from swim class, that we still got to enjoy a good nap afterwards, despite the sugar high!  :)

To close, during that nap, Eric surprised me by bringing this home.  Since Christmas time, we have been on the hunt for a new vehicle to replace our minivan (which although it was free it handles TERRIBLY in the winter conditions and therefore needs to be replaced ASAP).  I have to say that I loved it, inside and out (although I did down-play this to Eric).  The price was close to our range and it had a third row seat.  My only hesitation was that it doesn't have a lot of extra storage behind the third row and I was concerned it wasn't right for our family with how much traveling we do back and forth to Michigan.  We decided to wait it out and see what else came along.  One week later (after events that I will share in a future blog), we were ready to do a more thorough test drive and seriously consider purchasing it.  Unfortunately, on Monday when we called the dealership about it, we found that it had sold over the weekend.  ;(  Thus, the search continues and we pray to find something right (& affordable) for our family.