Alex becomes a big boy!

We finally decided that it was time to get Alex a toddler bed. Lately when I have been putting him down for his afternoon naps he has just climbed out of his crib and spent the next hour or so playing in his room quietly, which is nice, but I am afraid he is going to fall and crack his skull during one of his escapes. IKEA here we come.
Jack's bed.

IKEA is where we got Jack his bed and we really liked it. We were hoping to get another one for Alex just like it so they would match, but, of course it has been about 2 years since we purchased Jack's bed so they had a newer, updated version. It is still nice and well made, but slightly larger. Normally we do not buy anything large from IKEA, but they did a really good job in the construction of this particular piece of furniture.
Alex's bed.

We got it home and Andy put it together that night. I was kind of hoping he would do it the next day when I would be working a double, but he didn't want to, so i stayed up later then I should have helping him put the room in order and get the bed in. needless to say, I was exhausted after working 15 hours the next day.I still have yet to recover.

We also got some character sheet sets with matching comforters for the boys. Jack got to pick them out. He already had Cars and Transformers, so he chose Thomas the Tank Engine and Spiderman.
They are so cute together.

Anyways, Alex loved it and immediately crawled in and pulled the covers up. He slept pretty good in it that night and didn't fall out even once. The next night (last night) he decided to crawl into bed with Jack after playing in the dark for about an hour with each other. I checked on them this morning and Alex was sleeping right beside Jack at the foot of Jack's bed. So cute. I wish I hadn't been on my way to work this morning, I could have enjoyed it more.

I guess my baby is growing up. He no longer will be in his crib, he walks around and climbs just as well as Jack does, and pretty soon he will be talking too. All his milestones are going by so fast. He is no longer a little baby but a little boy. It is hard to say when that change takes place, but you can see the little boy in his face now. I saw it when Jack turned from a baby to a boy too and it was just as hard then as it is now. This is just a little hard to swallow only because I know I will not be having anymore kids, so I will not get to see these milestones anymore in my immediate family until My kids grow up and have kids of their own. Makes me sad. makes me love them more each day. Makes me want to take lots of pictures. makes me happy.

My babies are growing up

I am being matriculated!!

I have been patiently waiting for my grades to post in my last two classes. I was worried that I really didn't do too well and was expecting a B or less; however, I was pleasantly surprised when I checked today and got 100%. 100%!! This was in my grammar class, which I am not fond of, and the teacher had always marked my assignments off by 1 point every time, so I was expecting to be graded harshly. Who knows... maybe I was and I am just that good. Anyway, I passed both classes with flying colors and can star putting my full focus on my 2 new classes. I have another grammar/writing class and, finally, an accounting class. It's about time, considering that is what I am trying to get a degree in. I am super-excited. That's right, I am happy to be in school. I forgot what it was like to learn and I love it. Frustrating sometimes, but I love it.

Speaking of school, I am waiting for the new GI Bill thingy to pass to see if it allows spouses of veterans to use the GI benefits . If it does, i will be doing a lot more educating of myself. Let's keep our fingers crossed.

Coincedence? Perhaps

So we finally decided to take the time and go see the new Indiana Jones movie. We took the kids to the drive-in and were all set for a really good movie... were we sorely disappointed. For anyone who has not yet seen the movie, I can tell you to save yourself the money and just stay home and re watch the earlier movies. It made me think that George Lucas really has no more ideas in his head and was truly in it to make money and not a good film. I don't know how Harrison Ford can look at himself in the mirror after making such trash. X-files the movie remade.

Anyway, we got home and put the kids to bed and went to bed ourselves. At 3:42 am I awoke to Jack coming in my room to tell me he had thrown up in is bed. I was smart and had covered his mattress with plastic due to several previous events, but still had to get up and change the sheets and wash the bedding and remake the bed and put him back in it. I don't recall him eating anything out of the ordinary or feeling at all sick prior to putting him to bed; therefore, I can only conclude that the movie was so terrible it made Jack physically ill. This is just a guess and I am not willing to sit through the movie again to test his theory.

Robert... you were right.

I just wanted to share this with everyone. It is a poem I wrote for Alex when I was putting together a scrapbook page for him. I tried to find a poem that fit, but ultimately made up one of my own. I submitted it to poetry.com for publication and they liked it enough to put it out in their current book. Unfortunately the book is only for sale online for about $60. Out of my price range. Anyway, I like it and hope you like it too.

Little Baby Pieces

You're tiny legs and your little feet,
Little baby pieces that are so sweet.
You're small, small hands I want to hold,
You're big eyes shine bright as gold.
Ears so cute and a button nose,
You barely fit in you're baby clothes.
So small right now, It's hard to know
These Little Baby Pieces are going to grow.


Jessalee Konlock
Copyright ©2008 JessaleeKonlock

The house that Jack built

So remember the patio set that we purchased in the not so distant past? Well, we have just gotten around to cutting up the boxes for the recycle pickup, but they would not all fit in the tiny receptacle so we had one box left over. Being as they are fairly ginat boxes, I made a command decision to keep the last box and use it as a little club house for the boys.

It works really well as the box itself is very sturdy. I taped the two larger flaps togoether to form a roof and then folded the other shorter sides to fit in so there would be no opening. i then cut out a door and a window so the boys could go in and out without climbing.

They love it! They are so cute when they play inside. Jack calls it his house and he plays with his toys in it and if you are lucky, he'll invite you in for tea. I have to say this is one of my better ideas. It keeps them entertained for hours at a time and when it is not a nice day to play outside, it gives them something to do other then watch television. We even decorated it with crayons by putting a little fence around it and drawing shingles for the roof.

Not a week goes by...

It seems like everyday or every week at least, something happens to poor little Alex. It seems that just as soon as he heals from one wound, he is on to the next. Today was one of those days.

Afte work I came home and Jack wanted to go outside and play. He was in and out for a few hours, as was Alex, until his daddy came home with some Taco Bell. Jack wanted to eat his taco in his 'house', which is actually the little platform on his play set. I said it was okay so he took his taco up there to eat. Well, as we all know, Alex is very adept at climbing that thing and he made his way up there. No big deal. he's done it before and he just cries when he wants down.

This time I don't think he made it onto the platform before I heard him start crying. I ran outside because it was one of those "I'm hurt" cries. I found him laying on the ground at the base of the ladder screaming. I asked Jack what happened and he said Alex fell. Then he said he pushed him. He said Alex was trying to get his taco so he pushed him. I went a little nuts and yelled at jack and sent him to his room crying. He was not allowed out for about an hour.

Alex calmed down and i checked to make sure he hadn't broken any bones or fractured his skull. Andy checked for bleeding in his eyes, nose and ears (his EMT traing comes in handy a lot more now). Nothing out of the ordinary except a big welt on Alex's forehead from hitting one of the rungs of the ladder and a scratch on the side of his cheek from scraping the support beam on the ground. This boy has a guardian angel... and it's not me. He must have fallen about five feet onto the ground. I am foreseeing a lot of ER visits in the future.


All is well in the end. Perhaps Jack learned his lesson not to push...EVER, and Alex is wiser for knowing not to go after Jack's tacos. Meanwhile, Mommy's schoolwork suffers.

Post traumatic stress....from the pediatric nurse

Alex had a doctor's appointment today and we made it into a little family outing. No big deal, just in for a couple of shots and some measurements to make sure the little monkey is growing okay. We arrived early and Alex and Jack played with the few toys that were in the office. We were called in right away and all was going well until the nurse walked in the room. I am not quite sure what Alex thought of her or what he thought she might do to him, nut he started screaming bloody murder and would not stop. All she did was weigh him and measure his length and head. She wasn't mean and did not touch him otherwise. Afterwards the Doctor came in and tried talking to us, but we could barely hear what he had to say because of all the crying going on. Mean while, Jack is covering his ears saying "It's too loud".

The shots are next and Alex continues to scream. Food does not stop him.Rocking does not stop him. Holding him does nothing. He climbs down then he wants back up. He wiggles out of my arms and then screams because I'm not holding him any more. The Doctor does his best to let us know what is going on and what we need to do. All I get is that we need to bring the two of them back early October for the flu shot. We leave and put Jack and Alex in their car seats. Alex stops crying immediately.

We make a stop at Costco to stock up on diapers because Andy heard that the price is going way up this weekend due to the high price of oil. I get 4 mega boxes that contain 223 diapers each. Alex only put on half a pound so I figure I am safe to buy so many size 3's. Two more random stops and Alex is asleep before we get home.

Did he remember what happened the last time we were at the pediatrician? Did he remember that it was the same nurse this time that stuck him four times last visit with those awful needles? I don't know, but he would not calm down from the time he saw her until the time he was safely strapped into his car seat.He reminds me of Stewie from the Family Guy. He knows more then he lets on. He understands me when I tell him something but doesn't always do what I say.

Right now he is angry because the stools he's trying to stack won't go together the right way to let him reach the top of the counter. Smart. He knows that they stack together. Strong. He can lift them even though they weigh half of what he does. If he could talk, I'm almost positive he'd be swearing. He's going to figure it out. Little baby genius.