My "Mom Wall"

As the daughter of two teachers, I really hate to admit this, but I have always been "that mom." The one teachers hate. You may be her too and if not, surely you know her. It's usually not intentional, but "that mom" is a little scatterbrained, not *quite* as organized as she should be and has trouble keeping up with dates (like picture day, bring a special (fill in the blank) to school day, etc.) In her (my) defense, she really does love her kids and cares about what's going on with them, but she usually has many different things going on falls just short of doing any of them exactly like she wishes she could.

Combine having three children in some form of "school" now with three sets of papers, dates, etc with my new love of organization and you get a major brainstorming session on how to solve some of these problems. The result = my "Mom Wall." I started talking about "my wall" long before school started and thinking about what I needed and how I wanted to do it. I mentioned it to Aaron several times, but when I told him the week before school started that I was ready to go get the stuff for my wall, he replied "huh, what? what wall?" "Never mind, let's go to Target," I replied. :)

My mom wall has changed my life (not to mention my reputation with the teachers). First (and MOST important to me) is the large white board calendar that I actually do use. It's got all the important stuff on it and I check it nightly to make sure I'm all ready for the next day (and yes Mom, I KNOW the little kids have school pictures next Tuesday! You don't even have to remind me this year! :)) Next, there's a file holder with three levels (one for each child). Each child has a folder where papers that need my attention go. I leaf through each folder a couple of times a week to make sure we've turned in what we need to turn in, etc. Tyler knows if he has things that need my attention he is to put them in straight up and down (instead of sideways) so I can easily see that they are there. And finally, the bag hooks. I should mention that Tyler now has his own hooks in his room to hold his school backpack and his soccer bag and he has his own white board above it for attention items. But, the little kids are of course, too young to keep up with their own stuff, so they each have a clearly marked tote bag (thank you Land's End) that keeps their school folder (that teachers send things home in and we send thing back in), their change of clothing, diapers, etc that they need to take to school each day. The "Mom Wall" is right beside the door to the garage, so it's easy to grab things on the way out and hang them back up on the way in.

This system is so far working great. I know I'll have to adjust it as time goes on, but I'm learning that organization is an ongoing process and if it isn't tailored to your individual needs, it's not going to work long-term. I would love to hear from you about any cool tips that help YOU stay on top of things! :)

Big Boy!

Noah had his 18 month check-up this morning. He is doing great and is still a big boy! I used an online calculator and his percentiles are below.

Based on the data you submitted, your child falls into the following percentiles:

Length = above percentile 95
Weight = between percentile 50 and 75
Head Circumference = in percentile 90

At 18 months, he is a full inch taller than Grace was at age 2. I am holding out hope for a future Demon Deacon basketball player!! :)

In other news, the doc said he looked great physically, mentally, and socially and is slightly ahead of the curve on talking (something I've been a little concerned about because he doesn't talk quite as much as Grace did at this age). So yay Noah Balboa! Stay healthy and we don't have to go back for 6 months!!

ME?......RUN?....YES!

For those of you who know me well, the title will both confusing and surprising. You see, to me, running has always been something you do for necessity only. You know, if you were being chased by a bear or trying to catch the ice cream truck before it leaves your neighborhood. I've never understood the term "fun run" or how people could possibly find it relaxing. Any time I'VE done it in the past, I've ended up breathless, sweaty, and not amused. But over the past year or so, I've heard mentions of the Couch to 5K program several times. I even looked it up about 6 months ago, but didn't quite have the motivation to do it at the time.

Recently, a friend/neighbor of mine (hi Cortney!) and I started walking in the mornings. We've both found that doing it at 6:30 am is perfect, because it's done before the rest of the house even wakes up and it leaves you feeling revved up and rejuvenated for the rest of the day. We have some other friends who run. a lot. And while I think it's great, when they've mentioned it to me, I've always responded "uh...no thanks, I'm not a runner!" I also have a sister in law who is not only a runner, but a running coach. She's thrown out challenges in her blogs to everyone to get up and get running and I've always assumed she wasn't talking to me. (You weren't, right Shayla?) Anyway, some of these friends have started training for a half marathon (I had to look this up to see what it even was...basically it's about 13.1 miles) and Cortney happened to mention Couch to 5K one day as we were walking. Feeling a little less than challenged by just walking (and obviously in an early morning stupor), I suggested we give it a whirl. Turns out, the same event our friends are running also has a 5K. So, that is our goal. To run a 5K in December. We started this week with week 1 of Couch to 5K and while we're only running a total of 8 minutes per day so far, I feel GREAT every time we finish. It's hard for me to imagine that I will be able to run 3 miles only 8 weeks from now, but I've seen lots of success stories from people who've done it, almost all of whom say "If I can do it, anyone can." I have faith that I'll be saying that myself in a blog later in the year. And if I say it, you will know for sure it's true!

Wish me luck!

Noah's First Haircut

I have to admit...I LOVED the little curls (see beach pictures). I didn't want to cut it, but it was starting to look much like a brill-o pad in the mornings. Aaron kept threatening to sneak him off for a haircut and because I didn't want to miss an event as important as the FIRST haircut, I finally agreed. It started off great, but about five minutes in, he was sooooo over it. He looks like such a big boy now...

Beach Trip '08!

First, I've been a slacker and have a LOT of catching up to do.

In mid-August we took our annual family beach trip to Ocean Isle Beach. We went with my parents, my brother and sister-in-law, and Tyler took a friend this year. We had a GREAT time (Thanks Mom and Dad!!) Noah was fascinated with the ocean and Grace was a little intimidated by it this year. This year, the house we stayed in had a pool and the kids really enjoyed that. Aaron and I enjoyed taking the kids for bike rides and getting some rest! It was nice having so many adults around full-time. :) Here are a few pictures...

The boys hangin' out...

And Grace had her turn too!

Aaron and Noah in the pool

Nana catching some rays

All ready for a ride!

Mommy, Noah, and Grace

My little Lulu

...

Gramma, Grampa, Aunt Juway and Unca Nafun!

I could not think of a clever title for this one, so I thought I'd just use the names of our recent visitors as translated by our dear little Grace. Translation for those over 3: Grandma, Grandpa, Aunt Janae and Uncle Nathan.

I'm a little late in reporting this (work has been crazy busy), but I would be absolutely remiss if I didn't document our recent visitors. It was a real highlight of our summer and something we don't want to forget!

At the end of July, Aaron had to take another week-long business trip and with my workload being busiest during the summer months, he arranged for his sister, Janae to come and spend the week with us to visit/help out. Coincidentally, her husband Nathan has a client in the area and was able to get to fly out on his company's dime for a few days. At the end of the week, Aaron's parents flew in for the weekend and got to see two kids for the price of one flight. :)

Having Janae here was GREAT!! She did a great job of keeping the kiddos occupied, allowing me to get my work done in record time. I fear we bored her to death with our day to day activities, but she was a really good sport about it. Because we live across the country from all of Aaron's family, I really love when I get to spend one on one time with them so I can get to know them better. Janae and I had lots of time to get to know each other, including two "in car" sessions when the battery died and we waited for help. We also both got a lot better at Rock Band during the week (is it really terrible that my almost 3 year old can sing "Roxanne?" -- yeah, time to put away the microphone I think). ANYWAY, this was the least stressful and most fun of all of Aaron's business trips to date. Thank you soooooo much, "Aunt Juway!!"

Though Nathan was only in town for a few days, we did make a trip to Blowing Rock while he was here. The 70 degree weather was a nice break from the high 90's we were having. We ate lunch and enjoyed the scenery.

We hadn't seen Grandma and Grandpa since Christmas and we were so happy to get to see them. Grace greeted Grandpa with her rendition of Barney's ever-famous "I Love You, You Love Me" (about 10 times in a row). She's gotten used to singing to them on the phone and I guess it just seemed like the right thing to do. I know I'm biased, but I thought it was pretty flipping cute! While they were here, we visited Tweetsie (also in Blowing Rock). It was a fun day that would typically get it's own blog, but the focus of this blog is family visitors, therefore I'll just share some pictures and say... the place is neat, the train ride is cool, but the skit is super lame. Oh, and Noah's really, really scared of fake gunshots.

All good things must come to an end and while we tried to convince them all to move to NC, our guests had to go home. We are so thankful they came, thankful that Grace got to refresh her memory of the faces that go with some of the names she mentions each night in her prayers. We hope they'll come back soon and remind ALL of the family that there are plenty of open lots in our neighborhood! :)

Aunt Juway and Unca Nafun

Grace , the Cowgirl, at Tweetsie
Grace and Gramma
Lil Daredevil wanted the BIG horse

Choo Choo
Anxiously awaiting the journey and praying for no cinders in the eyes! :)
Noah, Mad Scientist
Bring on the Crackers, this was CHEESY!
Grace enjoying heading up the hill...
To see animals,
Ride rides, and
Pan for gold!
Just KID-ding around (okay I admit that was pretty lame too...LOL)

~THE END~

One of those days!

Today was one of those challenging days that makes a mom appreciate the boring, er...less eventful days a whole lot more. It started out just fine. I got my work done fairly early, the kids were in a good mood and we decided to take them to the pool. I should mention that Aaron is out of town and his sister, Janae, is here visiting/helping with the kids. More details to come in a separate blog, but I'll just say "Thank Goodness She is Here!" The kids and I are really enjoying visiting with her and she's been soooooooo helpful! Anyway, we took the kids to the pool and that's where things started to fall apart.

My two little ones, who usually LOVE to play in the water were not as thrilled with it as usual. Grace was most concerned about having a snack and Noah decided that the pool chairs made a nice jungle gym. After about an hour, it was naptime and we decided to head home. Just as we were getting ready to leave, Noah slid through one of the chairs and started to cry. We didn't see any obvious damage so headed out to the car.

When we got to the parking lot, there were about 20 geese hanging out by the lake. Noah started saying "Duck, Duck, Duck" so I put him down and let him walk towards them thinking "oh, this will be cute...he'll go towards them and they'll all fly away." NOT! As Noah approached, the head goose started hissing at him. I knew geese were dirty but I had no idea they were mean too!! I swooped in and rescued Noah. As I put him into the car, I noticed that when he slipped, the chair sliced a little chunk out of his leg. I looked down and realized from carrying him to the car I had blood spots all over me (no biggie). We tried to clean it off, but it bled for quite a while.

After we got that cleaned up, we were ready to go. I went to start the car and got the dreaded "click click click." Yep, dead battery. It's happened several times lately, so I've gotten into the habit of holding my breath as I turn the key. I sighed "Nooooooo! NOT TODAY!" Luckily the pool is only about 1.5 miles from our house so I called my friend Holly and she came to our rescue with jumper cables. But alas, after 3 different people tried different things to charge me up, we were not successful. Holly took us all home where the kids fell asleep in 2 seconds flat and slept soundly for a couple of hours. Later in the day, my dad helped me get a new battery into the van and I'm happy to report, it's now alive and kicking.

I, on the other hand, am not kicking. As I was preparing dinner this evening, Noah accidentally threw an iron trivet and it hit me right on the ankle bone. It was one of those pains that instantly brings tears to your eyes. It's swollen now and still pretty painful, but I'm pretty thankful he didn't drop it on his OWN foot. One injury in a day is enough for the poor little munchkin.

Tomorrow is a new day....and I think we'll just stay home! :)

Still a MAN ROOM (just a cleaned up version)

As promised, I wanted to post pictures of Aaron's office. He's been a little on the fence about the makeover. When I suggested it, he got very defensive and decided that I must be trying to move in on his man space (something he insisted he have when we moved into our house). Truth be told, I'm happy to let him have his space as long as he keeps it somewhat neat and lets me use it when I really need it for work (after all--I let him sleep in MY bedroom...lol)

Having said that, I'm on a mission to be 100% clutter free and the foolishness and mayhem (to quote Niecey Nash from Clean House) was not cutting it in there. So, the room got a makeover for Aaron's Father's Day gift. Despite his defensiveness I think he likes it. The other day I heard him tell a friend "hey, let me show you what I've done to my office!" :)

BEFORE:AFTER:

My NEW FAVORITE Room in the House

For years, I've had a "dream bedroom" in my head. Inspired by a picture in Pottery Barn, but unable/unwilling to pay those kinds of prices, it's been on the back burner. We've worked through most of the other rooms in our house, but our master bedroom has been, well honestly, a total train wreck. It's fairly easy to close the door and keep visitors from catching a peak, so it's been low on the priority list. Still, I've longed for one of the cozy retreats I so often see on hgtv.

There is a local furniture store that sometimes sells floor models dirt cheap and when we get a bonus or have a little extra money, I like to go check it out and see if I can find anything that fits into any of my "dream rooms." A couple of weeks ago I walked through and found my dream furniture marked down about 66%. I talked it over with Aaron and we decided if it was still there when the weekend rolled around, we'd get it and take on another weekend warrior project. Luckily, it was still there! We got up early last Saturday morning and painted the bedroom Laura Ashley Green Apple #4. It was a little shocking pre-furniture, but when we got everything in, it ended up being JUST what I had in mind.

So, I thought I'd share the before and after pics. Now to be fair, our bed isn't made in the before pics because I took the pics as an after-thought after we got up early to get ready to paint. I knew it was going to be a day for transformation so didn't bother with it. :)

BEFORE: (Builder Beige with a bed frame and old furniture moved in. Just a place to sleep.)

And AFTER (Made to Suit US!!)
(I have hung chocolate brown silk curtains since these were taken and plan to get a good cozy reading chair or two at some point, but this is 99% done)

Next time, I'll share Aaron's favorite room in the house, the "man room" (the office). It also recently got a makeover!

Wii've lost our minds!

Tyler is home for the summer. He is here all day, every day. We've joined our local pool to give us all a break from hanging out at the house, but still there's a lot of time to pass. We try to do fun things, but sometimes it is hard to find things that a 1, 2, and 12 year old all enjoy. Not to mention, Aaron and I do have to get some work done during the day!

Enter the wii. I have been dead set against getting any kind of gaming system because I don't want the kids to sit and veg, but our friends the Skinners brought their wii over a couple of times and it's just different. We've played tennis, golf, and bowling interactively and had a blast, but the other night they brought over Rock Band, a fun game that comes with a drum set, a guitar, and a microphone. One song and Aaron and I realized we'd missed our calling. Oh don't worry, we were meant to be together, but there is no doubt we were meant to be Rock Stars. When our friends left, we missed the wii and vowed that when we saved enough money, we'd buy one. The very next day we got a nice little check we weren't expecting. We were at Gamestop within 24 hours. Now buying TOTALLY non-practical stuff is not commonplace for us, so it felt a little weird, but between Aaron, Tyler, and I someone's been playing non-stop practically since we got it. Grace and Noah love to watch us play -- they are cute dancing to the music -- it really is a group activity.

So, if you call and wii don't answer, wii're surely cleaning the house or working or doing something completely productive. Don't worry about us, wii'll call you back just as soon as wii get a spare minute! :)

When the cat's away...

The mouse will sleep with her Teddy!

We have been trying to help Noah find a "lovey," but none we have tried interest him as much as GRACE'S scraggly, scruffy, PINK Teddy. He's learned the hard way not to take it from her when she is around, but he was sick and throwing up this morning so he and I stayed home from church. Grace usually takes him with her, but today she forgot. So, at nap time, guess who Noah came carrying? Yep, our sweet Teddy.

Excuse Me?

I apologize in advance if this is TMI for some. Part of the purpose of my blog is to help me remember funny/cute things the kids do or say so I can terrorize them with it when they start dating. :)

Aaron and I have always worked with Grace on manners...please, thank you, excuse me, etc. Usually she remembers and if she doesn't, a gentle reminder usually elicits the appropriate response. Tonight, she forgot. Nonetheless, she had Aaron and I laughing to near tears.

The scene: Aaron is putting Grace in the car when she burps REALLY loudly.
Aaron: Wow Grace, what do you say?
Grace: I say that tastes like GATORADE!!

Can't argue with that!

Guess who finally started walking tonight?

That's right! At 14.5 months, Mr Noah beats Grace's time by 2 weeks. Who says boys are slower than girls? =)

He's been teasing us for a while now and has started standing up on his own in the last few days. Last Sunday, I predicted he'd be walking in the next week and apparently he didn't want to make a liar out of his mommy! Aaron put him down on the bedroom floor tonight and he just walked across the room to me, not a step or two but a full-on walk. Of course, we kept having him do it until he got totally tired and frustrated with us, but those first steps are just too darn cute! Yay Noah Balboa!!

This picture is also to record his first goose egg on the noggin'. He took a little tumble on the patio yesterday. It's always scary to see those knots pop up on the head, but he seems to be feeling fine now.

Don't Tell ME Not to Jump on the Bed!

Duly Noted. But Grace, sweetheart, it really isn't nice to use those hand gestures. Especially to your parents. Love, Mommy.

Fiesta Night!

Our neighbors have been feeding us so much for movie nights or other get-togethers lately that tonight we decided to take a turn at hosting and we had such a great time! We called it fiesta night and the food had a Mexican theme.

We had 4 families from the neighborhood over (Cortney, we missed you...next time we will pick a weekend you are in town! :)) In total, there were 10 adults and 10 children age 6 and under. I made shredded chicken in the crock pot, Aaron grilled beef brisket (with a kick!) and we laid out all the fixin's (homemade guacamole and pico de gallo, cheese, lettuce, tomatoes). Our friends brought homemade salsa, watermelon (Grace's favorite item of the evening), veggies, tres leche, and pecan pie. I ate soooooo much I think I'm good for the next month or so!!

We ate out on the newly poured patio and then the adults got to chat, while the kiddos played on the swing sets and with the sand table. My ONLY regret is that I forgot to bring the camera out and take some pictures. Oh well, maybe next time!

I am pretty sure I have already spent more time outside this spring than I have in the last 5 years combined. It helps to have kiddos who are now all old enough to find fun things to do outside (and to not be pregnant and miserably hot!!) We also joined the pool this year. We went a couple of days ago and Grace and Noah both LOVED it!

I used to be a big fan of Fall, but Spring sure is winning a spot in my heart this year. Summer (which brings NC humidity) is just around the corner though, so we'll enjoy it while we can!

The Great GOOSE Outing

Grace just turned 2.5 and man oh man, what fun and creative stage this is!!

For background, nearly every time we leave our house, we pass my parent's church. There is usually a church bus parked outside and when we pass Grace says "There's papa's bus!"

One of her favorite things is seeing the geese in the neighborhood across the street from us. Quite often, they're just standing around as we ride through but if they are not, she says "I wanna go see gooses!" (We are working on "geese" but it just hasn't stuck yet). Let me just say that Aaron and I now totally understand the phrase "wild goose chase" because we have scoured that neighborhood time and time again for geese.

One particular day, as we went through the neighborhood we were completely unable to find the geese. Grace was really sad and kept saying "Where did the gooses go?" We explained that they were probably taking a nap (we use this one to account for anyone and anything that suddenly goes missing and that usually satisfies her curiosity). As we continued down the road, she noted that papa's bus was missing from the church parking lot. "Where's papa's bus?" she questioned. When I told her I wasn't sure, she said...."The gooses took papa's bus!" Amused by her creativity, I said "ohhhhhhh, is THAT where they went?" "Yep" she confirmed. "They got on papa's bus to go out to eat pizza!"

The mental image she created at that moment still makes me giggle! Ah, it just gets better and better! :)

Missing Daddy

Aaron has been in Los Angeles all week and we are all missing him. So I can keep my business going when he's out of town, the kids and I always spend most of our time with my mom and dad. They are a GREAT help (thanks mom and dad), but that means changes in routines, lots of running back and forth and well, I'll admit it, I miss my sweetheart.

Luckily, these week-long trips only come around a few times a year. It's been about 9 months since the last one (I totally lucked out!) and this is the first time Grace has really "noticed" her daddy was missing. It's been a good opportunity to work on days of the week with her. Starting Monday morning she woke up with "Where's Daddy?" to which I responded "He is in L.A. He will be back on Friday. Today is Monday, so we have Monday, Tuesday, Wednesday, Thursday and then Daddy comes home." We've been through this multiple times every day and she now tells everyone she sees "my daddy is in L.A. He'll be home Friday." It's really very cute, but not as cute as the conversation I overheard her having on the phone with him last night....

Hi Daddy...you in L.A.?
You coming home on Friday?
I gonna see you and give a BIG HUG to you!
I love you.

Aaron thought I had prompted her, but that was straight from her sweet little heart.

The kids have been so well behaved -- I've been so thankful and so proud of them. But we are ALL ready to have Daddy home with us. So hurry home, Aaron! We love and miss you!!

We've been hit by a VERY nasty bug!!

(Note: do not read this blog while eating! :))
I should start by saying that generally we are a very healthy family. Grace had her very first fever AFTER she turned 2 (it accompanied her first ear infection). Noah has never had a fever and other than a runny nose here and there has never been sick. Tyler has not missed a day of school so far this year (that will change tomorrow) and in the time I've known Aaron, he's had sinus infection or two, but NEVER a stomach bug. Other than my kidney stone, I've avoided any "blog-worthy" illnesses as well.

Having said all of that, some kind of super germ kicked our trash this week! It started Tuesday night with little Noah throwing up. We thought it was an isolated event until it happened 45 minutes later...and 45 minutes after that...and 45 minutes after that....and so on and so on for the next 12 hours. The next morning we took him to the doctor. We assumed it was some kind of virus, but wanted to be sure it was nothing more serious. Sure enough, the doctor said there was something going around. Noah was very lethargic for the rest of the day and then seemed to feel much better (though his illness moved South...let's just say we bought some disposable diapers to get us through the week).

On to Thursday, Grace went to Mother's Morning Out as usual, came home, ate lunch, took her nap and 2 hours later woke up SCREAMING at the top of her lungs. I went in to get her and found her pitiful, covered in vomit, trembling, and saying "I'm sick." I think she was scared by the mess so I tried to comfort her while stripping her down, stripping her bed, and identifying which stuffed animals needed cleaning up. I got her bathed and cleaned up just in time for round 2. Like Noah, she had an episode every hour or so for about 12 hours.

By Friday morning, both of the little ones seemed to be past the worst of it, but at about 5 am, Aaron started throwing up. Same 12 hour deal. Now, I have to say during all of this I felt very queasy and very tired (24-hour laundry perhaps?) but so far I have yet to hit the vomiting stage. We all felt well enough by Friday evening to do the movie on the lawn with the neighbors.

On Saturday, both kids were still dirtying lots of diapers, but they acted very normal and Aaron was well, so we ventured out to the store. Bad idea. On the way there, Grace begged for some water so we gave her some. 10 minutes later she was projectile vomiting in her car seat. Thinking it was caused by too much water too soon, we proceeded into her store where she had a VERY. MESSY. DIAPER. Aaron took her out to change her while Noah and I finished the shopping and we left very quickly. On the way home she had another episode that was probably the worst I have witnessed in three kiddos. Aaron is not that easily amused and even HE was impressed. Bless her heart, we felt so bad for taking her out. We got her home, got her out of the car seat and cleaned up. We pulled the car seat out of the car and washed every part of it we could figure out how to get off. We cleaned the carpet, pulled the 3 outfits she had gone through out and washed them (let's just say my washing machine has had a heck of a workout this week). In the meantime, Grace took a nap. When she woke up she felt much better and has done very well today.

To be safe, the kids and I stayed home from church today in an attempt to not infect all the other kids at church. Wednesday through Friday, Tyler was on a trip with his school and I prayed that he was not experiencing this during his trip. He got home and reported he had felt fine through the trip. HOWEVER, he started throwing up at 3 pm today and seems to be on the same track as the rest of them. He'll be missing his first day of school this year tomorrow.

I'm feeling guilty that all my family has suffered through this bug and I've escaped relatively unscathed. But at the same time, I know they have needed me to comfort and clean and I am thankful I've been able to provide these things for them. I just hope Tyler recovers quickly and we can put this nasty bug behind us because it has been one messy, miserable week at our house!