The Switch-Witch

What comes to your mind when you hear the following words?

Halloween
Thanksgiving
Christmas

I'll tell you mine:

Halloween? Candy
Thanksgiving? Feast and pie!
Christmas? licorice caramels, fudge, gingerbread men, yummy breakfast...FOOD!

This is what I WISH would come into my mind:

Halloween: Carving pumpkins, dressing up, doing crafts
Thanksgiving: A day with family, turkey bowl, watching a movie
Christmas: The birth of Christ, thinking of thoughtful gifts to give, time with family, parties, music, Christmas movies, service

I've been worrying lately about the fat genes that Brad and I are passing on to our kids (my brother-in-law calls this fat potential). Brad and I changed our diets shortly after we were married to Whole Wheat everything (bread, pasta, brown rice, ect). We go all natural on what we can and have mostly eliminated any type of corn syrup and hydrogenated oils. We're usually pretty good about getting in our 5 or more fruits and veggies, and we exercise -- but we own up to these two facts:
1- We can throw down the "occasional" unhealthy meal (Brad) and a dessert (me) with the best of them, and
2- We are not naturally skinny, petite, or small boned people.

I do not want special occasions, especially the Holidays, to be focused on food, so this year we are instigating the switch witch. I read about this last year on my cousin, Angela's, blog, and thought it was brilliant. We'll go trick-or-treating, as usual, with our friends, tomorrow night. But after Nick goes to bed the Switch Witch is going to come and switch out his candy for a small toy and a book. In my head, this is going to work out splendidly. In reality, I think Nick is going to wake up the next morning, ask for his candy, and throw a fit when I explain who the Switch Witch is and what she did. I'll keep you posted...

Update: We thought it would be fun to share Nick's sickness with his this week! Brad had his turn on Monday and Tuesday, and then it was my turn yesterday and today. Hopefully everything is now on the up and up and we will all NEVER THROW UP AGAIN! :) Hope everyone else is healthy!

Interesting...

I thought I felt like a mom the first time they laid Nick in my arms...

This feeling intensified the first time I saw Chase...

But I must admit, I feel as though last night I was truly inaugurated into the world of parenting. I'll spare you the pictures, but Nick woke up at 1am, and when I rushed into his room, the poor vomit covered lad cried, pointing, "Mommy, I spit." Well, that "spitting" has continued about every two hours, and during the night it was my time to hold the bowl, rub the back, wipe his mouth, ect. And my thought at 3am was "Now, I am a mom." I reflected back on how even up through high school I would wake with horrible stomach cramps and would immediately go and sleep with my parents. Luckily, I was able to hold my own bowl by this point (or make it to the porcelin one in the bathroom), but my mom would comfort, hold my hair back, and wait on me all through the night. Isn't it ironic that you don't really appreciate your parents until you are one?! Just like how you don't really know how special the "before kids" years are with your spouse until you have a kid! Anyway, Nick is still throwing up every two hours, but seems to feel okay in between. This has become his permanant spot for the day. We're letting him watch movies, even though it's Sunday.

Onto happier, less disgusting topics, this is my beautiful niece, Ella. I have 2 sons (duh) and 4 nephews, so Ella, as the only girl, has a special place in my heart. She was 5 months old when I came into the family, and I love her to pieces. Incidentally, so does Nick.

Chase is crawling! I have been waiting patiently for this event, as I seem to remember with Nick how much mobility changes my life. He has 6 teeth, so as he was first learning and would sometimes face plant into the floor, he got a couple of good fat lips, poor baby.

Nick's imagination and pretend play has really taken off in the last few months, and I love to watch him develop. A couple weeks ago, Nick went up to Brad and said "Shhhh. All these peoples in our house are sleeping." Looking for clarity, Brad noticed that Nick had gathered all my Willow Tree figurines and had put them to bed. What a nice Daddy Nick is.

Here is a picture of my boys two weeks ago, on a happier, healthier Sunday.

And last but not least, I have to say, GO PENN STATE!!!! It's official. I'm a fan. Not that I wasn't a fan before, it's just that I don't recollect ever caring about sports before in my life. But I finally sat down and watched, yes watched, a game last night, and it was fun! I'm even excited for the next one. Super Bowl, here we come!!! Ha, ha, just kidding. National Championship, here we come!

Hmmmm...

I've been having the itch to blog all day today, I think because I know it's been over a week and I've been slacking. But because I don't have any pictures of our fun-filled weekend with Brad's sister Mindy, her husband Phil, and their kids Ella, Preston, and Brennen, I went through my photo files and found these pictures that I've been meaning to blog and just haven't yet. Lucky you. :)

This photo made me happy because it was taken on a day where I was sick of playing horse, trains, trucks, and roaring like a dinosaur and/or lion. I walked outside to see Nick not only playing with all girls, but playing with a doll. This has not happened before or since, but I'll take what I can get!



Seriously, the sweet nature of this baby boy kills me. His sleep schedule at night leaves something to be desired (despite mine and Babywise's best efforts), but other than that I could not ask for a more perfect baby.

I never blogged about our trip to Utah in August, so I thought I should add my favorite picture from it in case I never get around to it (which is likely). My dad is such a great Grandpa! My boys both adore him (and so do I!). We adore my mom also, but she won't let me take pictures of her!

The Clark Dudley family got a dog! And while Nick is going through a huge animal phase right now, he also happens to be terrified of them (which is perfectly fine with me -- as much as I might like to be, I am definitely not an animal person). Anyway, this is how he would "play" with Oly at my parents house. Oh, and looking at this picture reminded me that I forgot to announce that Nick is now (finally) potty-trained! We've had very few accidents and the whole thing went more smoothly than I was expecting. Thanks to the 14,186 people I asked for potty-training advice from!

Have a great week, everyone! Hurray for fall!

A Day At The Farm

My little boys and I spent Saturday morning at Way Fruit Farm, a local farm here that has a kids fest sort of day each October. We got to go on a tractor ride out to the pumpkin patch, pet bunnies, play in the pretend tractor, and sample fresh kettle corn, apple cider, and apple butter. There is nothing like the fall here in the rolling hills of central PA, and I really love all it has to offer our family. Thanks to great friends who make outings like this all the better while our husbands are busy with school, callings, and EQ football! :)

Look who's T H R E E!!!

My b a b y b o y turned THREE YEARS OLD today! How did this happen? I simply can't believe it. As Brad said earlier, "We officially have a three year old. We are old."
We woke up early this morning (perhaps with a little coaxing from me...) to give Nick his present. He loves play kitchens and I couldn't wait to see his reaction!



This afternoon we went to his 3 year old well-child check up and he did great. His weight and height are still both in the 97% and he's developing in every way right on track.

Tonight we had Nick's 2 favorite friends, Morgan and Russ (and their wonderful families), over for dinner, FHE, and cake and ice cream. I asked Brad to take pictures of Nick blowing out his candles and this is what I ended up with: Remind me to delegate that job to someone else in the future

Wonderful Russ, birthday-boy Nick, and beautiful Morgan at the end of our party.

Every year (yes, all three of them) I go and hold a sleeping Nick at the exact moment he came into my life on October 6th, 2005. And every time, I cry. This boy turned our lives upside down and taught us not only what it really means to love, sacrifice, worry, and give; but also what it really means to be loved, be needed, and be filled with complete and utter J O Y. I can't imagine my life without this little man and his brother, but I know that I am extremely blessed. Happy Birthday, Nick!

The winds of change...

I've been in the mood for change lately. Nothing all that dramatic or anything, just small changes. Some changes have just happened, others have been by choice;

* I used to only like milk chocolate. I wouldn't even eat chocolate chip cookies if they were made with semi-sweet chips. But for the past few months, milk does nothing for me. I'm all about the dark.

* I used to ALWAYS wear socks to bed. If I didn't have any on when I went to bed because I had been wearing sandals, I would put some on. Now I can't stand wearing socks to bed. It drives me nuts.

* I get up AT 5AM now, Monday-Friday. Me. The night owl since birth. The girl who could easily sleep 10 hours at night and still take a nap. The girl who would sleep in until noon on weekends and in the summer. 5 A M. Early, I know. And last night I went to bed AT 10:15. I think I was in elementary school the last time I went to bed that early. What is going on here? I'll tell you. Baby weight, my friend Melissa, and the YMCA. This has been happening since June (except then it was 6:00am and my friend Kendra, who moved the beginning of August).

* I am sick of the color red. I have sold every red thing I own on craigslist, along with my couches, my elliptical, and a number of other things. I'm redecorating. Brown and blue, I think. I figure I'll get sick of that in another 3-4 years, and by then we'll be done with school and we'll be moving so I can sell it all and redecorate again! And I'm becoming a minimalist. No more useless stuff in the storage closet under the stairs. No more hanging on to clothes I don't wear, books I won't read, ect. It's all gotta go. Sort of cleansing, in a way --

All I can say is that change is good...