Waking up on the wrong "side" of the bed

Kyle has been able to crawl out of his crib for quite a while now. The discovery of this ability combined with the uncanny ability to push mama's buttons (inherited from his ever loving daddy) made for very difficult nap and bed time transitions for a couple of weeks. Instead of going quietly to his room when it was time for nigh-night and reading in his crib until he was sleepy, a vicious cycle of mam-puts-ky-in-crib-ky-crawls-out began. For the most part we have broken this cycle, however every once in a while we will be awakened in the middle of the night by the sudden bright light glowing from the television set that is accompanied by the invasion of a warm little toddler body into our bed.

Our little monkey does continue to make rapid succession escape attempts on occasion, but mama has figured out a way to foil the little devil. As the mother of a toddler, I reserve the right to keep some of my methods secret, however this particular method may or may not involve the use of grip and twist door nob covers placed temporarily on the inside of un-named bedroom doors.

A few times in the past week Travis and I have had to employ my top secret method of keeping Kyle from escaping from his room during nap time. To our amusement we discovered Kyle had decided to try out some new sleeping arrangements.

and best of all.......

Kyle has also defined a whole new meaning to the term "waking up on the wrong side of the bed":

is it just me or does it sound like Kyle has a choice word for his mama around 1:30 and 1:32??

Absolutely amazing

 A couple of weeks ago our friend Kaiya came to visit. Even though she is only about 2 weeks older than Emmie, we were so impressed with Miss Kaiya's amazing head control that we drug the secret out of her mommy. "She sits in her bumbo all the time!" exclaimed Nikki (brilliant OT extraordinaire if I must say). Ingenious idea. I have been scared to let Emmie have much floor time consider her brother's penchant for being overly affectionate with his baby sidder (sister) whenever Mama's attention is elsewhere, so the bumbo just might be the perfect solution. Enter Bumbo

As you can see, we need more practice! Hang in there Emmie, it will get easier!

Ahh, so much better!

Two weeks ago little Miss Em really struggled to hold her little head up during tummy time, but with skills gained with the help of the magical Bumbo (and a little coaching from Ky) drum roll please....

"Like dis, Ahmie"

Something happens to a woman when she becomes a mother. Even the quietest, most introverted mama suddenly becomes a blabber mouth when it comes to her children. And, like most Mamas that I know, I feel that my children are absolutely amazing and I delight in sharing every little achievement they make. And so I bring you Emmie's newest accomplishment, rolling over!

Absolutely Amazing!

Amazing little mind

I am continually amazed at the way Kyle's mind works. After I gave Miss Emmie a bath and was getting her dressed in the bathroom Kyle decided that he wanted to turn the light off. He is able to turn some lights on by getting up on his very tippy toes and stretching as hard as he can, but turning lights off is a little more difficult. So he tried this:

a little book, and when that didn't work

he tried this:

a bigger book, and when that didn't work

he tried this:

hooking the handle of his sippy cup.....

Success!

(Emily and I were left in the dark, and Kyle couldn't be more pleased with himself!)

Life lesson

Washing dishes is really a mindless activity, requiring very little attention or conscious thought. There is no telling how long I stared at it as I was elbow deep in soap suds before it registered exactly what I was staring at. I dropped the bowl I was washing and tried to find the courage to walk on to the deck to pick it up.

Today I learned a lesson. One that I want to share with you. If you ever find yourself asking "now where is that sippy cup full of milk?" I beg you please, please do not let anything distract your attention from the mission of locating that sippy cup. I cannot say exactly what made me quit looking for the sippy cup of milk that I had given to Kyle with supper last night, but it was hot out yesterday, and it was hot out today. Needless to say once I finally forced my legs to carry me out onto the deck I not very excited to open the missing sippy cup. Did I mention that I had mixed a scoop of peanut butter flavored protein powder in Kyle's milk yesterday? Or how hot it has been during the 20+hours since the cup when missing?

pu·trid /ˈpyutrɪd/ Show Spelled[pyoo-trid]

1. in a state of foul decay or decomposition, as animal or vegetable matter; rotten.

2. of, pertaining to, or attended by putrefaction.

3. having the odor of decaying flesh.

 

I think that says it all. Lesson learned.

 

Shocking Crime on Livesay Lane

The scene of the crime: Kyle's Bedroom
Time of incident: Thursday, July 22, 2010 at 2:05 p.m.

Almost exactly one hour after the start of naptime Mama heard some suspicious sounds emanating from the bedroom of the suspect. Upon entering said bedroom, one male subject was found standing in the middle of the room, not in the crib where he should have been. I submit the following photos taken at the time of the discovery of the incident as evidence for your consideration:

The Evidence:

The MO:

Furthermore, if the above pictures are not enough for you, the jury, to find the defendant guilty, I submit the most shocking evidence of all. This following picture will undeniably prove that there can be no other verdict than GUILTY as charged!

The day of 200 stickers

Today was a good day. I continue to be weary of taking both of the itty bitties out in public by myself after a trip to the mall in which it took about 30 minutes to get from one side of the mall to the other. Being a two year old boy means that Kyle is infatuated with bacters (that's tractors to the rest of us), and since yah-yoh is his favorite color, you can imagine his reaction when we entered the mall only to find a yah-yoh bacter extravaganza, hence the 30 minute struggle stroll through the mall. Despite the PTSD related sweats I felt at the mere thought of another outing, I utilized my OT skills in self relaxation and decided to take Emmie and Kyle to story time with Ms. Sparkles. I figured that if I could endure the embarrassment I felt at dragging my toddler kicking and screaming away from bacters at the mall, that a room full of other moms with screech prone toddlers would be no problem should my little siren act up. Kyle loved story time! There were stories and songs about frogs, puppets and a drum, what more could a little boy want? Emmie smiled and cooed as I crooned about speckeled frogs eating delicious bugs, and Kyle danced his little heart out.

The success of story time made me brave enough to extend the outing and try another trip to the mall. I wanted to get some stickers for a potty chart for Ky, and figured I could bribe him with the promise of a new frog book if things got too hairy.  Trying to outsmart the yah-yoh bactors I parked on the north side of the mall, forgetting about the little cluster of those obnoxious kiddie car rides that are like crack for kids ~ expensive, and once they get a taste, they just gotta have more. Lucky for me, Kyle must have still had visions of frogs and dragonflies in his head, because we only spent about 2 minutes with the kiddie crack machines (no money exchanged hands), and the lure of a new frog book was just too good to resist. Once we got to Target we found some super sparkly star and smiley face stickers in the $1 bin, Score!

Have I ever shared Ky's love of dit-ders? He loves them so much that by the end of the day everything in the house was covered with the shiny little buggers!

the coffee table

Kyle's high chair

the couch

Mama, and last, but not least:

Kyle!

Only Miss Em was lucky enough to escape unscathed!

Fourth of July

For the past couple of years Travis and I have joined his parents at Aunt Cheryl's beautiful lake cabin near Alexandria. I was a little nervous about taking a toddler and a newborn this year, but we have always had such a relaxing time there that I didn't want to miss out.

The first obstacle would be the car ride. Even with the spaciousness of Travis's Altima, two car seats would make for a pretty tight squeeze for Mama should the need for her to crawl in back arise, but the call of Lake L'Homme Dieu was much too strong to ignore, so off we went.  Luckily the two angels slept until Fargo. Kyle's newest fascination is to watch videos of himself on the video camera, and so once he woke up I was able to jam the Handycam under the head rest of my seat so that I could feed the obsession of the little narcissist.

Once we arrived in Alexandria Kyle was very adamant that he was "all done" with the car ride. Counting the flags that lined the streets pacified him, and we made it to the cabin with only some minor screaming and tears.
Nana and Poppa were a couple of hours behind us, so there was only Aunt Cheryl to greet us. Kyle played shy, and Cheryl ooh and ahh-ed over Emily while Travis unloaded the well packed trunk. It didn't take long for Kyle to feel comfortable, and he soon made himself at home.

Travis and I tend to bring bad weather with us when we go the Lake, and this year was no exception. The wind howled at 20-30 mph sustained winds, with 40-50 mph gusts Thursday, Friday, and Saturday. Usually we spend a lot of time on the lake, but we had to find other things to keep us busy

 Like snuggling with Nana,

 reading books,

 watching the fake kitty sleeping,

and having water gun fights!

But we had traveled too far to keep Travis from introducing Kyle to two of his favorite things, boats and fishing.

Travis even made a special trip to town to get Kyle his very own fishing rod, but Kyle quickly found that fishing was way more fun if Mama held his rod for him.

And, much like puppies, fish are fun from a distance, but a little scary when they get too close

 

 Fishing and boating must be in Kyle's blood because when we had to be inside, sometimes he did this

and patiently waited for Daddy to take him back outside, but most of the time he did this....

Sunday morning brought calm winds and comfortable temperatures so Kyle got his first wave runner ride. Poor little guy was so exhausted from the weekend that he looked kind of like a zombie while Daddy drove him up and down the shore line, going a little too fast at times a perfectly safe speed. 

In the end Mama did end up scrunched in the back seat for a lot of the car ride home, but it was all worth it. Happy 4th of July every one!

You're gonna miss this

Where do my days go? I had so many plans for what my summer would be like ~ taking the kids to story time, being able to go for walks in the mornings, playing with Kyle and Emily, and having a home that is a shiny thing of spotless beauty. I was going to devote nap time to really getting into digital scrapbooking and creating this amazing blog to chronicle this precious time. Unfortunately, reality has turned into something quite different. I'd forgotten what it is like to have a newborn and between the two little darlings I feel as if I am either feeding someone, changing a dipe, wiping a nose, changing a dirty outfit, you get the idea. The universe has conspired against my best plans for a house that Martha Stewart could be proud of. Evidently toys do not belong in the toy box and shoes do not belong in the closet which could be explained by the repeated and frequent appearance of Hurricane Kyle.

Unbeknownst (yes this is a word, google it if you don't believe me) to either Travis or me, our home builder installed counter top that is magnetic and attracts random objects. Apparently this magnetic pull is so strong that it has also spread to my dining room table. My "needs to be washed" laundry pile never gets smaller than 4 loads at any given time. Digital scrapbooking is nearly impossible with a 2 year old tornado on your lap, and sadly story time at the library seems to fall right at the same time as Emily's 2nd breakfast, and nap time for the little ones generally turns into nap time for Momma as well.

Just when you might be thinking to yourself "Geez, is she going to complain her way through this whoooole post?" I am happy to say that all is not lost. My house may look lived in, and my time may not be my own, but I couldn't be happier because I have this

and this

and they won't be little long. In the wise words of Trace Adkins:

You're gonna miss this
You're gonna want this back
You're gonna wish these days hadn't gone by so fast
These are some good times
So take a good look around
You may not know it now
But you're gonna miss this

A little catching up to do

Where have the past 5 weeks gone? It is hard to believe that my little darling is already 5 weeks old, and harder to believe that I have yet to write something about the past month! Since women just love to tell everyone who will listen the story about their children's births, so I will share mine today. You might want to grab yourself a cup of coffee and a cheese danish as you may need the snack as you kick back and catch up on life on Livesay Lane....

May 4, 2010
Happy Birthday Emily Makenna! I started having contractions as soon as I woke up this morning. Travis took Kyle to daycare, and I was cautiously optimistic that today would be Baby Eviction Day. Even though I had hoped for a 38 week baby, a 39 weeker was just as acceptable (and much preferred over a 40 week, or heaven forbid a 41 week, baby!).  I called Travis at work around 9 to let him know that I was pretty sure today would be the day. I had to leave a message for him as he was busy with a patient. When he called back I let him know that he should cancel his afternoon appointments. Since his last appointment of the morning was scheduled for 11:00 I assured him that I could wait until after he saw this patient for him to come home.Unfortunately I had to call him back within 20 minutes to tell him to come home. By come home I really meant you need to be in your car 5 minutes ago. by 9:45 Travis had rushed home, snapped a couple of pregnant Momma pictures and we were on our way to the hospital!

There are many times when women are accused of being "emotional" or "hormonal". I offer the following events as evidence that just may prove that hormones have less to do with sometimes bizarre behavior, and that circumstances (and people) beyond our control just may be to blame.

Top 10 Events Responsible For Any Erractic Behavior That May Have Occurred On Baby Eviction Day

1. Sitting in a wheelchair for over 20 minutes because the nice man at the desk was new to the job and the hospital had incorrect insurance information.
2. Baby Eviction Day falling on the same day as 5 other Baby Eviction days, leading to being given a room that was barely big enough for the bed, let alone a laboring Momma, a nervous Daddy, a cheerful staff that included Dr. Bury and her posse of 5 or 6 nurses and CNAs along with all of the various gizmos and gadgets considered necessary for the birth of a baby.
3. The contractions that accompany progressing from being 7cm dilated to 9cm within about 40 minutes.
4. The memory of back labor setting in when I was 8 cm dilated during Kyle's labor.
5. The smiling anesthesiologist (think of an overly happy cheerleader) trying to make me feel better about the fact that I could not have an epidural because I was "already dilated to 9!!!"  and would be pushing before it took effect.
6. Not eating for 13 hours due to excessive bleeding and possibility of needing surgical intervention for a cervical tear (which turned out to be non-existant ~ I'm just a good bleeder).
7. A very nice nurse who all but stood on my abdomen whilst giving me a uterine "massage" every 15 minutes for 2 1/2 hours in an attempt to stop the bleeding .
8. Having my family and baby removed from the room during the 2 1/2 hours of uterine "massage".
9. Medically induced contractions via IV drip to stop the bleeding, a.k.a. labor all over again (without the reward of a squirmy newborn).
10. What? You really need one more to believe that sometimes women may act a little "crazy" and that it has nothing to do with hormones???

What type of erratic behavior did I engage in, you may find yourself asking. I will admit to nothing and just ask that you read through numbers 1-9 again and be satisfied that if I did indeed do, or say, something out of character that I really was not to blame!

In the end, what really matters is this:

and this:

To both my little darlings:

Before you were conceived, I wanted you
Before you were born, I loved you
Before you were here an hour, I would die for you
This is the miracle of love.
-Maureen Hawkins

Ok, so maybe you didn't need that cheese danish after all. I thought this was going to be the longest post in history to catch up, but the little ones are both awake and someone is always hungry in this house!

Kyle-isms

Kyle is a man of few words. Literally. Actually he tries to say quite a few things, it is just difficult to understand a lot of what he says. He has groups of words that sound the same, and he definitely has his own vocabulary. A lot of time the context of the situation helps me to decipher what we are talking about. Take balloons for example. Kyle looooves balloons. When he sees them in stores he gets so excited that he temporarily will lose the ability to speak intelligently and resorts to pointing and making a monkey like grunt of "oo-oo-oo-oo". Once he regains his composure, he then says "Loon! Loon! Loon!". However, if we are at home and he is standing at the window, pointing at the sky and chanting "Loon! Loon! Loon!" I know he has spotted the moon.

Kyle has a cousin, Brina, who is one year older than he is. I remember one day when Brina was about Kyle's age and we were all over at Travis's parents' house. Jessica had asked Brina to do something and she stubbornly refused, stating an emphatic "No". I laughed and jokingly said that my child would never tell me no, and I can honestly say that to this day Kyle has yet to tell us "no". His refusals generally come with a look of disdain, followed by a haughty "Mo" and a shake of the head.

"Appoh" is another good one. Red, shiny fruit is appoh, but so are his two Uncles. Next time Kevin or Mark come over I should give them an apple to eat and see what happens....

Kyle adores Brina, but since that darn letter 'b' is so difficult to pronounce, she has been dubbed Ninna. We have pictures of our family in the hallway and Kyle loves to name the people in the photographs. "Mamma, Daddy, Kywo, Ninna, Poppa, Appoh" The two grandmas get the shaft, but with prompting he will say "Nana, and Annie", which I think is kind of funny considering that he loves both of them so much. Kyle gets super excited when we go to Nana's and Poppa's house, and will start saying "Poppa! Poppa!" as soon as we turn on to their street. However, as soon as we get there Kyle runs straight to Nana, and in Travis's words, snubs his Poppa. 

Even though there are times when I worry about his speech being delayed I kind of miss some of the things he used to say that were uniquely Kyle. My two favorites have to be "bup" and "mom-mom". Who can resist a sweet little boy with raised arms asking to be picked "bup"?? Mom-mom preceded mamma and didn't last long, but it is the first thing Kyle called with me any consistency. And, of course, there is the famous Bo-boesssssss, but I have a feeling that one will stick.

Cry a good-bye

There have been various times thorough out this pregnancy in which I have been kind of sad to be moving from a cuddly family of three, to an "Oh my, what were we thinking" sized family of four. These times usually occur on a Saturday or Sunday morning when we bring Kyle into bed with us for some family snuggle time. What started out as a sometimes desperate, and almost always vain, attempt at trying to get some extra sleep has turned into one of my favorite parts of the week. In the eyes of a toddler (or more specifically, my toddler) Momma and Daddy's bed is not a place to sleep. Oh no, no, no. Momma and Daddy's bed is the place where Kyle starts his weekends off right.

It usually happens something like this. Sometime between 5 and 7 our human alarm clock wakes up crying (our little darling is not a morning person), and one of us will stumble to Kyle's room to hit the snooze button. Just kidding. Depending on how many times I woke Travis up when I got up to go to the bathroom, or by poking him in the back and hissing "just move over, you're too close", the least tired of the two of us will go gather Kyle, his 3 or 4 BoBoes (his blankies; pronounced boe-boessssss with a longggggg "s"), and his auder (water). Now the exact number of BoBoes can vary dramatically depending on how many he managed to snag over the course of the day. Kyle can't count to 7, but if he has managed to spread 7 BoBoes over the house during the day, you had better be sure he will account for every single on of them when it is time for nigh-night. And of course everything in the crib must also come out of the crib come morning time. Thankfully Travis and I have gotten much better at finding ways to make Bo-Boes disappear prior to bed time, which makes the morning gathering process oh so much easier to manage.  

Since I am new to this blogging business and we are partaking of this novel experience together I feel that I must explain something about my writing style. I ramble. A lot. I usually have a clear path that I set out on, however as my story unfolds it inevitably will meander off course. Sometimes that meandering may take us a down a path that has nothing whatsoever to do with where we started. I'm ok with this, and as long as you are too, then we will get along just fine! An excellent example of this is related to my time at St. Kates. Maybe some day I will tell you the story about the two erasers.....

Back to weekends started off right. Once firmly planted in the middle of the bed is when Kyle's fun really begins. If Travis is the one to bring Kyle in then I might hear a whispered "Momma? Momma?" just prior to getting a sloppy, wet Kyle kiss. These mornings may also begin with a sweet chant of "Momma, Daddy, Kywo". Once Travis turns on the t.v. Kyle immediately covers his eyes and cries out "My eyes! My eyes!" and pulls one of his Bo-Boes over his head giggling. Next can come any random number of things from steam rolling Daddy, to giving zerberts (you know, blowing a raspberry on an arm, or a tummy, or Momma's cheek), or just jumping off the bed to see what kind of trouble there is to be found. My clue to get clear the way and protect my precious cargo is the commencement of Wrestle Mania. Eventually I ask Kyle if he is hungry and if he wants to go eat breakfast. As my little man still tends to be of few words, this is usually followed by a quiet gathering of Bo-Boes, auder and a "bye-bye" to Daddy.

So why do these times make me a little sad? Soon we will have little darling #2 with us and these wonderful mornings are going to change for a while. I have found myself snuggling Kyle more, and holding him every chance I get lately. I have become teary eyed more and more frequently during our cuddle sessions as I think that, at least for a little while, the immediate future doesn't necessarily include many quality Momma/Kywo snuggles where he can fall asleep wrapped (albeit awkwardly right now) around my buddha belly.

I know that our lives will be filled with new, wonderful times, but it is still a little sad to say goodbye to one way of life. I think back to when Kyle was born and I remember feeling that it was impossible to remember what life was like with out him. I know that once little darling #2 arrives we will all feel this same way, but for right now it just feels good to cry a good bye every once in a while.

My world

There is a point that has to be reached whenever you are facing an event in your world that is life altering. You know that point I'm talking about. A decision has been made (little darling #2) and you've planned, worried, accepted, anticipated, etc. and you are able to just cruise along in your life with this event looming on the horizon. Then suddenly (please insert Emeril Lagasse's voice here) BAM! you hit that point. The full realization of exactly how your decision is going to change your world. Forever.

I hit my (please insert Emeril Lagasse's voice here) BAM! moment at about 3 a.m. this morning. Little darling #2 will be here sometime within the next 2-3 weeks. Oh. Emm. Gee.

Lately it is really is not that unusual for me to be awake when the rest of my world is asleep, but I'm usually back in lala land by now. Today is different. I got up at 3:30 to write down the list of things that I need to get done this week. It is a long list. A few weeks ago I was awake around this same time thinking that Travis and I hadn't really prepared much for little darling #2 yet. I was actually able to convince myself that there wasn't much to do after we spent that $1.5 million dollars on baby things when I was pregnant with Kyle. Call it denial, call it procrastination, call it what you will ~ I'm good at it! It is a talent that I have a love/hate relationship with, but try as I might I cannot change it. I think it is in my genes and right now, at 4:30 in the morning, I really am loathing it.

I have not yet been able absorb enough of Travis's take charge talent to be able to say that I have fully been integrated into the world of being a true "Livesay".  Travis's family (well, most of his family lol) is amazing in their supernatural talent to realize goals and get them done. No procrastination or denial, just action. And so as I review my loooong list of things to accomplish this week, I had a most delightful thought ~ I think maybe Travis should have our next baby.

Lift and Remember

"This wisdom, that to fly requires chaotic, sometimes even violent passages, becomes a metaphor for all of life's most meaningful endeavors, particularly the great flight that is parenting".

How many complete memories do you really have from your childhood? When I think back on all those years I spent growing up I realize how few things I truly remember. I think about all of the diaries and journals that I started, only to quickly abandon within a few weeks or even days. I have a small collection of photos, but not many words to go with them. When I became a mother I thought "how hard can it be to remember the really important things?" and didn't bother to write much down in Kyle's baby book. Now I find myself looking back at photos from the first two years of his life to try and piece together the order that his teeth are coming in so that I can write it in his book. You may find yourself asking "Teeth? Is this something that is really that important?" It is when you can't remember.

Maybe it is the fact that little darling #2 is going to be joining our family in about 3 weeks, but I have been thinking more and more about the little things that I don't want to forget about Kyle as he grows up. If it is this hard to remember wonderful little memories about one child, what's going to happen with 2 children? Or 3 children (gulp)??

"Lift" by Kelly Corrigan is a beautifully written, easy to read story of the road that lead to one mother's desire for her children not only to have more memories from the fleeting days of childhood, but an understanding of who their parents were before they were parents. It has inspired me to quit procrastinating keeping track of the little things like teeth and how I felt the first time Kyle called me Mom-mom and it really meant something to him. There is no time like the present, and with our second baby coming in a few weeks this is the perfect time to begin the most important journal of my life ~ the journal of my family's life!