CRM's Surgery

CRM had his adenoids removed and tubes put in on Tuesday morning. He was a champ. We had to get up at 6am to get to the hospital on time. All through pre-OP he waited patiently and was very polite to all the nurses. CRM looked so cute in his hospital gown and being welled around in the wagon. Unfortunately I forgot the camera so no pictures. He was quite the bear after waking up, but was pretty easy to manage; he mostly sat on my lap and cried. However, all was made better when Elmo came on Sesame Street. We left the hospital four hours after arriving, and today CRM is back to his good old self.

A very very big thanks to my mom who flew up to help me with OMM. Husband is still very busy with work and it has made cooridinating all of CRM's need a lot easier. Mom's are great!

Cute Video of CRM at Ice Park

My little man is soooo cute! Ignore the coughing, he's prone to illness.

So I lied - pics from the ice park!

Corralling two boys is not easy. You can see the displeasure on both of their faces.

Fish slide.

Crawling through an ice tunnel. CRM had a blast in it. Husband and I were surprised he didn't get scared.

Weeeee!!!!

Having Issues with Blogger

Sorry to all who read this blog expecting pics of my adorable, cute, little rascals. Unfortunately, google has a javascript issue and has not fixed it and other people have the same issue. I can post blogs but cannot upload pics or video. It looks like it's an issue stemming all the way back to February for some people...so who knows how long until it gets fixed. I'll still post, but for now pics are a no go. I'm really saddened by this :(

I'm Calling It

I'm doing it, I'm calling it, spring is here! My mom will put me in the category of crazy with all the other newbie Alaskans who don't know any better, but I don't care. We have had temps in the high 20's, low 30's for a week and a half now, the snow is slowly melting, the sun is out, our days are longer...IT'S SPRING! And yes, I realize that only in Alaska do you declare spring when the temps are in the 20s! It has been wonderful. I've taken the boys outside to play and get fresh air every day; we've been to the park and CRM has played on the playground, gone down the slides, and even swung on the big boy swings! He is getting so grown up, well, for a two year old. I've been most amazed at how well he leaves the playground. Very minimal crying, but not tantrums, kicking or screaming, and running away from me. It'll be really great next year when I don't have to lug OMM around, 16lbs gets heavy, especially after an hour.

With spring here, it means the semester is almost over, which means Husband's job at the university will be on hiatus until September. This means we get much much more of him! The boys are missing him, and so am I. It's been a rough three months. Summer is going to be so awesome!

CRM is growing every day in every way. It's no wonder every parent of a two year old thinks their kid is a genius. There is such rapid development and he changes every day. He still isn't saying much we can understand, but what he understands is unbelievable. CRM picks up things so fast now.

OMM is still a movin' and a shakin'. Not much slows him down. The biggest development is how much he enjoys watching and interacting with his big brother. He lets CRM chase him around and giggling and laughing abound.

Husband and I took the kids to the Ice Park last week. CRM had a great time on the ice slides. This year they had a "train" (4-wheeler pulling carts) at the park, so we took a ride and saw all the sculptures the easy way. CRM thought it was a lot of fun. Check out the website to see more, it really is a sight to behold: www.icealaska.com I'll post pics sometime.

You all take care and enjoy the coming spring. Get outside and enjoy the fresh air!

That Explains a Lot

Remember how I said OMM was waking a bunch and crying? Turns out it's because he had an ear infection. Mom of the year award I know. It also turned out CRM had an ear infection as well, only his was in both ears. We had them both feeling well, or so I thought. CRM did really well on the antibiotics, but OMM was still pretty grouchy a couple days after finishing the antibiotics. Husband looked in his ears, and 'lo and behold the ear infection was back as bad. I was off again to the doctors office for the third time in two weeks. OMM is now on a stronger, horrible tasting antibiotic for ten days. Let's hope that although he spits some of it out it works this time.

Update on CRM not talking very much:

CRM has never talked very much. The pediatrician had us referred to an early intervention group who kept recommending we take him to an Ear, Nose, and Throat doctor (ENT). We resisted until I got really worried because I realized how far behind his peers he was. The ENT took some X-rays and his adenoids are HUGE, and he is basically impacted with gunk everywhere. CRM is now on a super strong antibiotic to try and get the crap to clear up. We may be looking at tubes. We'll know more after the 28th when we take him for a recheck. Husband and I both think there's already an improvement in his speech after just seven days on the antibiotic. I hope it helps, it would great to understand him. CRM is trying so hard to communicate and tell us stories. It's really sad and frustrating for us all. CRM getting ahold of a pen. At least it wasn't on the walls!

My poor boys!

My Big Fat Mouth

So, as soon as I tell you all that OMM is sleeping well at night, he starts waking up and fussing/crying for two hours. We've been doing this for the past week, and I am so tired, and tired of it. My parents didn't explain to me just how hard parenthood was going to be. Pretty sure that OMM is suffering from a mild cold, separation anxiety, and just plain stubbornness. The good thing is CRM can sleep through OMM crying, so at least one of my children is getting the sleep he needs.

Husband has been off working 96 hours straight, he'll finally be home on Sunday. I'll be SO thankful for the company. It is lonely out here with only my two non-verbal boys. Husband will be back to work for a 24 hour shift on Monday, Wednesday, and then works from Friday until Tuesday, another 96 work "day." I'm taking lunch off on Tuesday for a much needed break. I'm going to have lunch with old coworkers, and I may even get my hair cut!

The Sickness Has It's Grip

I have been sick going on two weeks now. It's an awful sick too, really sore throat, swollen tonsil (that's right, just one), stiff achy neck, bad cough. To top it off Husband has been away quite a bit so it's been up to me raise the kids while sick. Now Gumba (herein referred to as CRM) has it. Last night I gave up my bed and slept on the couch so that he (really we) would get some sleep. Today wasn't too bad. Only bad part is he gets so worked up over coughing that he cries, and then throws up. I can't wait for this phase to pass. This boy throws up a lot.

Gumba-ba (herein referred to as OMM) is doing well. We finally have him sleeping well at night, now I'm trying to get him to take naps during the day. He's not too happy that I put him in a crib in his own room. Pretty sure that OMM is teething, not sure how long it's going to last. He's been really fussy lately and wants to nurse all the time. Luckily he is still a happy baby that likes to smile.

Tonight was a lot of fun. CRM was entertaining OMM and both were laughing and playing a lot. It would be nice to get it on film, but, as we all know if the camera comes out the fun and games end and all attention is diverted to said camera. So, you'll have to remember when you had kids and how much fun it was to watch them play together. If you don't have kids, think of something lovely.

Oh, and I should mention how amazing my Husband is. This week we gave me a pass for the evening and I went to a hotel for the night. It worked out well because it gave me some much needed sleep from being sick and miserable. So, thank you wonderful Husband who is working a ton and supporting our family, you're the best!

Being a Homemaker is HARD

I had this vision that once I quit my job to stay home full time I would magically have all the time in the world to do all the wifely, motherly, homemaker stuff that I felt was neglected when I worked. One word, WRONG. Staying home is mega hard work, maybe if my kids, or one on them was in school, it would be easier. The first three weeks I barely stayed afloat. My only accomplishments were getting the laundry done (not always put away wrinkle free) and keeping the dishwasher running enough that you could sometimes see the sink and counters. I spent a lot of time worrying that I wasn't stimulating Gumba enough, what do you do with a two year old? And how do you balance the needs of one needy child with the other needy child? The weeks were also spent sleep training Gumba-ba. After three weeks of hair pulling, crying (me and baby), and frustration, I found a saint who has given me sound advice (at least I think) and the support to get him sleeping. I'll say that it worked fairly quickly. Within a week he had gone from waking every hour with an hour and a half wake period in the middle of night, to waking up twice to nurse and putting himself to sleep quickly if he woke. Hurray! Well, there are set backs always. Both boys have ear infections, so, now I'm back to listening to Gumba-ba cry several times a night while I re-train him to sleep. The hope is of course that it won't take as long this time. I myself am getting over a cold that knocked me on my butt. I've officially been home for a month now and finally feel like I'm gaining ground. A friend gave me a great website for daycare people/stay at home mom's so I feel better about the "educating" part.

Husband has been gone more then any of us really like. He is working three jobs: Lieutenant at the fire department, preceptor with the paramedic program at the hospital, and he just recently started working for a military medivac company. I'm making sure he's enjoying himself, and have on more then one occasion let him know that my sanity is worth more then the extra shift he can pick up. He is averaging seven days off a month. I know that's pretty typical, but of the 25 days or so that he is working, 15 of those days are 24 hour shifts. Plus, he works at the hospital at nights. It has been typical for us not to see him for four days at a time. Let's just say I'm here a lot by myself with the kids, and getting Gumba-ba to sleep better has been a necessity.

So, my hats off to those women (and men) out there that have choosen the more difficult path to be fully involved in your kids all day lives. Keep up the good work. And, if I've learned anything, it's rest when you can, and make sure you get out of the house when you can for a little "me" time.

Gumba and the Laundry

I now have a laundry buddy. It all started many months ago, him wanting to hold a hanger while we folded laundry. Now, he can't get enough of helping to load and unload the washer and dryer. The other day I heard him getting really frustrated and came down stairs to see him trying to put clothes from the washer into the dryer. I helped him out a bit and we got the clothes dry. A little later I hear him frustrated again, I come down stairs and he's putting the clean dry clothes into the washer. I calmly explain that clean clothes go into the basket. Next he finds the dirty laundry and starts to load the washer! This morning he is happily practicing taking clothes from the laundry basket to the washer. I think he's done this twenty or so times so far. I'll take all the help with housework I can get!