Well I never did update, did I?

So... Riley had her 2.5 yr appt. Kind of. I promise you, at one point, the pediatrician told us that she wanted to see her at 2.5, but when we got there, she was shocked! Oy. But it worked out well. I expressed my concerns about Riley's sleeping. We also talked about her speech. And her wild mess of a self.  Oh and the fact that she snores. LOUD. And the fact that she lost weight when she was already under weight. So the dr suspected sleep apnea. Ok. Makes sense. We went to the ENT... and the adenoids are coming out a week from today. The dr suspects the sleeping will become worlds better after this and that her speech will also greatly improve.

Asher had his 9 month appt on Monday. SOBBING. How is he already 9 months? I can't believe it! I could be having another kid right now! NOT. Please punch me in the jaw when we decide to do this baby thing again. I LOVE the age he is now. It's so much fun watching his little personality explode out of those big blue eyes.  He is still not on the charts for weight - though he DOES weigh more than Riley did at this same age.  He's just a peanut.  He's meeting all of his milestones like a champ.  The dr was smitten with him.

Also at Asher's appt, I mentioned Riley's hips popping whenever she moves them a certain way. The dr is concerned since my dad had to have a hip replacement at <60, so it could be hereditary. So, Riley gets some hip x-rays in a few weeks. Sigh. Poor girl. Hopefully it'll be nothing!

Now... to see the little cuties.

Hey Mr. Bright Eyes

Smiles

Trying to get a tan

Such a happy baby

And sweet Riley with her haircut...

(she was trying to take a picture of herself.  Oh and she got her face painted at the Family First Event and I asked if she wanted a flower or butterfly... she said, "no a spi-yer on my cheeks. color a spi-yer.")

And this is what you get when you try to take a picture of a toddler and infant.

and then I got irritated.

I was going to write this super long, emotional post today. I really was.

Then I got really ticked off about life.  No writing is going on tonight.

Maybe tomorrow night... you know, after Riley's 2.5 yr appt at the Dr... there will be a post. Updated pictures. Pleasant mood.

It's just better for the world if I keep my thoughts inside my head tonight.

Some recipe reviews

So I ventured over to visit my friend at Three Pugs and a Baby and started browsing her recipes as I made my grocery list 2 weeks ago... I found all of my new meal ideas there!

Here was my menu for the time I went grocery shopping for and a brief review. Click on the meal to get the recipe!

Day 1 - London Broil w/ potatoes (Riley INHALED these potatoes! Delicious!)
Day 2 - Steak (leftover) salad
Day 3 - Oven-baked chicken & veggies (I loved it and could definitely see different ways of varying it!)
Day 4 - Stuffed peppers and rice (Sooo yummy!!)
Day 5 - Pizza
Day 6 - stir fry w/ leftover steak and frozen 'stir fry' veggies.
Day 7 - fettucini alfredo (LOTS of leftovers! WONDERFUL re-heated! I just added garlic to it...)
Day 8 - layered mexican corn-cakes (AMAZING!! Will definitely be adding this to my 'go-to' list)
Day 9 - breakfast
Day 10 - leftovers

the haircut

It was bound to happen. I have heard it from every mom out there. Every kid cuts their own hair at some point. I had the knowledge. I knew it'd happen one day. I even see those kids in the store that have already suffered the tragedy and thought to myself, "looks like someone grabbed scissors when mom wasn't looking," knowing one day I'd be that mom with THAT kid. But I had not yet prepared myself for it. I really thought we had a little while... at least a few years... before it happened to us. WRONG. I was WRONG. It happened this week. Monday, to be exact.  If you look at the post below, you can see how Monday was.

And here is how it went...
Sunday night I had been cutting threads off of a project and left the scissors laying on the bookstand. I noticed them when I went to make dinner Monday evening, so I moved them to the kitchen table. Asher was playing in the exersaucer and Riley was in between the living room and the kitchen. All was well. Ryan got home and brought the mail in. I read one of the letters  and made him come and read it b/c I was SO confused.  So he did. We discussed. He went to check on Riley. I hear, "oh.my.gosh. RILEY! What have you done!?" followed by hysterical laughter. I am yelling, "WHAT!? WHAT!? WHAT HAPPENED!?" and see that he has the scissors in one hand and hair in the other. Gut punch. No sir. Don't show that to me. Not today.

She got a good chunk of hair and, quite frankly, the pictures don't do it justice. Bangs... gone. About 3 chunks off the side of her head. And a chunk out of the middle. Yep... she does everything BIG and dramatic. Nothing little with this girl.  We've gotten her hair trimmed, but the camera battery is dead right now... I'll try to get a picture of that tonight. There really was no fixing it though...

The middle chunk...

The side... there are a few clumps hidden in there

The bangs

For reference... this is the other side and the amount of hair that she USED to have on both sides.

Another look at her cuteness w/ the bangs...

Just a bonus picture

through the tears

I'm going to tell you a few things up front with this post. 1. There will be no pictures. Don't have any that I can share. 2. It's about my work baby and not my (gave birth to) babies. 3. It's gonna be long. 4. You might cry, but you might just think I'm rambling.  5. Tomorrow evening I will share pictures of the adventure last night.

As some people may or may not know, I work with kids that have emotional and/or behavioral disorders. My job title will vary from place to place. Behaviorist. Behavior Specialist. Clinician. Behavior "therapist" (I do quotes b/c I don't have a masters degree, therefore I am not technically a therapist...). All of the kids we work with are either considered "at risk" for a SED (Severe Emotional Disturbance) or are already considered to have an SED.

So yesterday morning started with breakfast with my favorite 2nd grade boy. We'll call him T. He was goofy, giddy, and (quite frankly) WILD. I took him to the nurse for our normal routine and he informed me he needed 5 cups of water. Oy.  Then I dropped him off in his classroom and went to enjoy my breakfast and put on that make up. Within a half an hr, I'd already chased him around the school, given him a firm talking to, and then had to remove him from the library. It progressed and got worse and worse. As I removed him from his classroom again, I managed to end up with a few battle wounds. Such is life.

He was in the room with us for the entire morning. He was in NO shape to go back to class. He was, however, calm and just sat at the table. We completed a few of his classroom assignments, but  not all of them. I had him walk with me to heat up my lunch. I noticed that he seemed on the verge of tears the whole time.  We talked about how sometimes we just need to cry.  We don't ALWAYS have to be tough. Crying is ok. And sometimes after we cry, we're ready to talk about what we are feeling inside. I'm not sure if I was talking to him or myself, to be perfectly honest.  But he maintained and was able to transition back to class for lunch. We spent recess together completing another assignment and he was able to go back to class.

And then it started. Then the tears started. And they kept going... and going... and going. He just had his head on his desk and he wept. He covered his face and quietly left the room with me and went back to our room. Where he sobbed some more. And he looked at me with tear streaked cheeks and for a moment, our eyes locked. I felt his pain. A pain so deep that I cannot even begin to comprehend the pain this little boy is feeling.  Now, he wouldn't open up to me about WHY he was crying, but we got through it.  And he held my hand and hugged me. He was able to pack up his bookbag without a problem and bounced to the bus line with a huge smile.

I was reminded that sometimes we need to cry.  Sometimes the only way to feel better is through our tears. One huge, big, ugly, snot face, boo hoo cry session leaves you feeling so much better (and sometimes with a headache...). I want to know what is causing him pain, but right now that is not what is important. Right now a little boy felt the freedom to cry until he couldn't cry anymore. Through his tears, he was able to get through the day.

And a huge break through... he's never apologized for the times he has gotten aggressive around me. NEVER. And... I don't make him. And actually, he has never intentionally hurt me. He will intentionally go AROUND me and avoid hurting me... even in the midst of his anger and aggression. This morning when I told him today was a new day and a day filled with good choices. I let him know that the expectation was that he would make appropriate choices. I told him I didn't come to work to get scratched again b/c I had a 2 yr old at home that was capable of doing that. He told me it was the dry erase board that scratched me (well, he was right about ONE of the scratches) and then that the one he did was smaller.  But also that he couldn't have done it b/c his nails were short. Well, I checked... he cut his nails last night. Short. (they were pretty long yesterday...). For the first time in working together, he recognized that he had caused me pain and he took the  initiative to take care of a problem. no prompting. And he apologized. Today was a good day. A day of firsts. It was the rainbow after the storm. Each storm is worth it if there is a rainbow at the end...

Too Many Kisses to Count

First and foremost - I got new glasses. A certain little lady we all know and love mangled mine last summer and I'd had them since 2005, so I just had to wait until it was time for a new pair on insurance. I'm a fan.

So we did it. We took the plunge. We switched the rooms this weekend. Riley has only has her bed, a few babies, and a dresser in her "new" room.  Asher has... EVERYTHING. Ha! It's a hot mess in his room now, but Riley's is spotless.  It's made all of the difference in the world. She is going to sleep within 30 minutes of being put down and she's sleeping later. She slept until 8:00 today... that's later than she has slept in MONTHS. It's a good thing, too, because I accidentally turned off my alarm this a.m. and was able to get ready quickly!

So the other night I was laying in bed with her (don't yell at me... they're only little once...) and she was finally relaxing and super calm.  So she is cuddling in to me while I lay there and she's rubbing my arms and so chill. It was such a sweet and tender moment... one I hope I don't ever forget.  Every few seconds she would lean over and kiss me. She kissed my face, my lips, my arms... anywhere she could reach. It was so sweet. She is such a great little kid when she gets plenty of sleep.  Don't get me wrong... she still throws a temper tantrum if the wind blows the wrong way or screams, "GO AWAY!" if she isn't getting her way... but I'm choosing to cherish those sweet moments. The ones that just melt my heart.

Asher is just so cuddly. I took him to the chiropractor today and when Dr Wimmer held him, Asher just snuggled in. Oh it's so sweet. He's just getting so big so very fast! I can't even believe he'll be 8 months on Sunday! Where did the time go??? It seems like just last week I was screaming, "I CAN'T DO THIS," as I realized he'd be born in just seconds without an epidural! Oh my baby boy.

Now the two of those together... they just make me a big puddle of mush. Riley loves to get on the floor and roll around on him. I choose to ignore the fact that sometimes she lays on top of him. Whatever. Minor detail. Asher likes to pull Riley's hair and, well, that just doesn't work for ANYONE.

Anyways... the part you all care about...

Hands taste so delicious

Big smile

Playing together - Riley was actually sharing her baby doll

So very sweet that little boy is.

So what if there is no snow, Riley is shoveling the sidewalk.

Dirt streaked face... that's how you know she had a good time!

She likes to take herself on a walk with her "child harness" (aka: baby leash)

Those hands are so yummy

(this reminds me... call the guys about cutting our grass this week...)

what in the world has gotten in to this child?

So the sleeping issue has not gotten better with Riley. I gave in tonight and went and laid down with her. Problem solved. I laid with her for about 20 minutes and then told her I needed to go clean up (what a funny joke.) and I'd be back to check on her. Worked like a charm. Mind you, this came after an hr of hysterical crying.

At least we've eliminated the problem of her destroying her room each night! Baby steps, right?

The rooms didn't gt switched. Ryan went to take apart the crib and it turns out the screws/holes are stripped. I have no idea. I just used it as leverage to get a new crib. Asher was using Riley's old crib... which she had so lovingly chewed up the rails... and I was over it. I'm excited for it to come - Walmart site-to-store shipping - and it should be here in about a week.

Now let's discuss the wild woman. Today she pooped on the floor. Um... what? Yes. You most certainly did read that correctly. I have no idea how or why that happened. Then she helped our fabulous nanny clean it up and clogged the toilet with toilet paper. That was just a fantastic text to get at work while I was trying to get a kid calmed down.  Then she was SO MEAN today. However, after nap she ate 2 small bowls of cheerios and a piece of toast... I got home and she was being so mean. No amount of redirections or consequences was working. I gave her some shredded cheese and sat her on the couch... a few of the cookies I was eating... and she was still hungry!!! She then ate some yogurt.  And to top it off, she still ate dinner - well most of it! Zucchini, pork loin with a Ryan created sauce, and rice. I'm going to go out on a limb and say that the girl is growing. Once she had a lot to eat, her behavior and attitude improved greatly!

And Asher boy. Oh sweet, sweet Asher. He's feisty, but laid back. The boy knows what he wants, but just rides the wave of this crazy life. I love it. I love that whenever I get home, he gets so excited. I pick him up and he snuggles in.  Oh I love that. He's getting frustrated b/c he wants to get to toys he likes, but can't do it fast enough. Poor guy. lol

Other than that, we've been pretty boring! Life is still wild at work... but that's why I love it. Still missing family. But ya know what? We're making it. We're thriving. We're growing.  I mean, it could be that we were looking at beach houses for September that is motivating us... but whatever. Details!!

Ohhhh... new project alert! Cloth lunch bag!

This is how I'm expected to get things done. Wild girl climbing up my back. What we failed to get in a picture was the seconds later when that front foot was over my shoulder and her whole body was leaning on my head! I was trying to hand stitch something.

After she brought Ryan the camera, she kept saying, "picture Riley! CHEEEEEESE! uh-mile!"