Developments

Farm clean up and Pre-K graduation

On Friday Dave and I attended Ajax’s Preschool graduation. The kids had on little graduation caps and received a certificate. They also received gifts of sidewalk chalk and bubbles, which Ajax couldn’t wait to play with. After the graduation he played with his friends and when it was time to leave a dozen kids gave him one giant group hug as it was his last day at KinderCare. Ajax didn’t seem sad in the least, but was quite upbeat telling all his friends and teachers good-bye.

After that we went home and loaded up the car and then headed to my folks’ house in Brooklyn for the weekend as it was Farm clean up. Noomi did not sleep well on Friday night and therefore, neither did the rest of us. Ajax asked grandma Mary if she could please keep Noomi quiet as he could not sleep with all that noise. On Saturday, we trimmed some trees and built a huge burn pile. The chain saw died in the early afternoon, so my dad declared us done for the day. He and Ajax took the boat out to the lake and went fishing, which us girls went into town for hair cuts. Mr. Dave fell asleep on the couch. The hairdresser trimmed Noomi’s bangs (first haircut) so now they don’t hang in her eyes. She seems quite happy now. When we got home Dave and I went into Jackson for a date night while my parents babysat. It was very nice.

On Sunday, we bummed around a bit and then headed home. When we got home we did yard work, played in the dirt, went swimming and then had an early dinner and bed as everyone was exhausted.

On Monday, Ajax started his new summer camp program at the school and so far he seems to love it. He was a bit shy when we all dropped him off, but was too interested in all the toys to stay next to us for long. I don’t think Noomi liked leaving her brother there and heading to her school. Right now her repeated phrase is – mine. She will say – my baby, my daddy, my mommy, my Ajax, mine! Her favorite thing to repeat is – My daddy. Where’s daddy? Daddy? My daddy. Yea, it’s cute.

Argh.

Argh. Where to start. Here’s a down and dirty recap of our last few weeks. Starting with this past weekend.

We’re sick! Well, Noomi and Ajax are sick and Dave and I are still on our feet but fighting off the sniffles. It’s too early in the season for such nonsense. But there Ajax slept on the couch for the most of the day wrapped up in blankets and eating Popsicles. To compound our day, I had a doctor’s appointment in Livonia this morning, then on the way home I stopped in Howell and picked up a winter coat for Ajax, hats/gloves, and other misc. winter accessories (usually the first snow hits and I then I squish Ajax into his last years winter coat and then scramble to the store to buy whatever they have). I’m now officially ahead. When I got home Dave headed to his doctor’s appointment and then when he got home I took Ajax to the ENT to check his tubes. They did a hearing test and his hearing is just fine. Both tubes are still in place, but the doctor said he would be shocked if they were still in at his next appointment. The doctor didn’t know if Ajax would need a second round of tubes or not. He said that 80% of kids do just fine with one set. So we’re hoping this is it.

To back up a bit more. Last weekend Ajax headed up north for the weekend with grandma Dara and papa. He came home saying how nice their new dog, Moba, was. I kept asking him, Moba? Yes, he replied, Mobaa! Dave informed me the dog’s name was – Mabel.

Backing up a bit more. At 14.5 months Ms. Noomi is FINALLY WALKING! Hoorah! She is now walking and toddling all over the place and it is so darn cute. She is also sleeping better, which is wonderful. She still isn’t talking a ton, but understands a lot. She’s interested in body parts currently and today we worked on – eyes, nose and mouth. Again, pretty cute.

On a side note. I do believe that Noomi is our adventurous child and therefore more accident prone. I was prepping lunch and told her to go get her chair. So she ran over and grabbed one of the empty dining room chairs. She then tipped back and brought the chair right down on top of her, giving herself a fat lip. Poor baby. Ajax never did that.

Summer rewind 3: fishing

Ajax has been lucky this summer to spend time fishing with grandpa Gordy! Grandpa has taken him out on the fishing boat and they have had so much fun. Last week they were out from 12-5 and only came home because I called and told them it was time to come in. Ajax has now caught two fish- a bass and a bluegill. He refused to hold the fish, so we have no pictures of his catch, but grandpa said he reeled it in like a pro. They have also gone swimming, but now Ajax’s sandals smell so bad (after two rounds with the washing machine) that I think we may have to retire them, lol. Luckily summer is about over anyhow.

(this post is from last week, it just never made it up, sorry for the delay!)

I apologize for the lack of updates lately. My life has been taken over by an asylum case at work and preparing for Tough Mudder. The family however is surviving and doing well!

On Friday when Dave and I picked up the kids from school, Noomi’s teacher informed us that she spent the whole afternoon in the toddler room. She ate lunch with the big kids and even took a 2 hour nap on a cot. They said she did great. She loved going outside and playing, and the teachers walked her all over the place. I took the news ok. She is our little girl and she is getting so big, so fast, I cannot believe it. She still isn’t walking by herself. Dave thinks at 13 months she’ll be walking. She is a great eater and has been using more and more words lately. Her favorite right now is – What’s that?

Ajax has also been doing well (though both kids have a little cold, which seems to be going around). He has been obsessed lately with watching Tractor Simulator’s on the Kindle. Yes, tractor simulator is a computer/Nintendo game and he watches other people playing. They go around and work – harvest wheat, plow a field, etc. Ajax now tells us that he needs to go to his room to play tractor simulator and that he has a lot of work to do. Per his account his entire room is a field. He’ll ask you to come play with him, but when you go into his room, he won’t let you touch any of his tractors and tells you to just sit there, he’ll do the work. lol. I believe he told me that I wasn’t plowing the “field” in a straight line, so I should just give him the tractor and he’d do it.

Dave and I have also been checking out various towns around Lansing, so that we can decide where we want to move soon. We have explored Eaton Rapids, Dimondale, and Williamston. So far, we love Williamston, they just don’t have a lot of inventory as it’s kind of rural.

Recent News Update

Today Dave and I went to the hospital for our anatomy ultrasound. The technician was very nice and said that everything looked good and that the baby was measuring as it should for 19 weeks (so it seems were still on target for late July). The baby also had all its hands, fingers, feet and toes, so that is always a relief. We listened to the heartbeat and all sounded well ( at least to our untrained ears).

The technician also asked what our child was at home and we answered we had a son. She said, oh good, so now you also have a daughter, congratulations! Dave and I looked at each other and gave a high five as we had both been betting on a girl, lol. We are both very excited. Ajax, however, seems stuck on the idea of a brother and wasn’t too happy with the notion of a sister and kept saying, no I’m going to have a brother. Oh well, he’ll come around I’m sure.

We have also picked out a name- Noomi Elizabeth (good thing because Dave kept pushing for Ulysses for a boy).

Weekends

Although the weekend has come to an end, I actually have tomorrow off for President’s Day. Ajax and I have no plans and I’m definitely looking forward to doing nothing. This weekend has been very quiet, which was wonderful. On Saturday we bummed around, dropped my car off for an oil change, and went visiting my aunt Liz. And on Sunday, I went grocery shopping and then took Ajax visiting over my grandpa Nader’s house.

That was about it. How excellent, eh? Dave is finally getting our cold and was a bit rundown, but Ajax has recovered 110% and has been in a wonderful mood. He’s sleep is back on track after nights of congestion and he’s been eating a ton and has generally been in a good mood. He has also been feeling very affectionate, for example this morning, as I was sick over the toilet, he came in and rested his hand on my back, saying it’s ok mom, take your time, it’s ok. How cute is that?

On another positive note, after a year of hard work Dave and I have paid off all our “consumer” debt (cars, credit cards, line of credit, etc). That means we are debt free, except for my law school student loans (we paid off our undergrad loans) and the mortgage! This is such an incredible feeling to be able to say, yes I do know exactly where my money is going each and every month because I tell it what to do, lol. This is Baby Step number 2 according to the Dave Ramsey plan and if you haven’t read it, I highly recommend The Total Money Makeover. It changed my life (is that cheesy? I don’t mean it to be).

DSCN9564 — Ajax received a second cape as a gift and was super excited to try it out.

DSCN9570 — This was bound to happen. Two capes, two adventure men.

Mid-week update

It seems like this has been such a busy week and it’s only Wednesday. I think it’s because Ajax was under the weather, and then I was under the weather, and now it seems Dave’s getting our cold. And when you or the nino has a cold, no one sleeps.

On an upswing, we actually planned and wrote out our meal plan for the week and I must tell you it is so important to relieving stress during our week. I honestly don’t know why we don’t do one every week (pure laziness I guess). Because I’m proud of our meal plan, here’s what our week looks like- (M) Pizza calzone and salad; (T) Grandma’s chicken rice bake with apple slices; (W) Gringo enchiladas; (R) Italian sausage with peppers and onions; and (F) Hamburgers and fries! Yay planning!

On the nino update: I’m not sure what happened but lately Ajax has had a few accidents at night, I think it’s because he was sick, so tonight I put him in a pull up. He wasn’t too happy about being in one, but I explained that it was just until we got back on track and he seemed ok with this, and said, ok, till we’re back on track. Overall, he’s still doing well with the potty. We’ve had a few small accidents where he immediately catches himself and rushes to the bathroom, but overall I’m very proud of him.

For Valentine’s Day he received some candy from the babysitters, specifically those little heart shaped candies. For desert we let him have 4. He kept chewing them with a look of disgust on his face, yet refused to acknowledge that they were terrible. He kept saying, these are good. Dave and I just smiled, right kid, you just don’t get enough candy to know what’s good and what’s bad. Ajax knew it was candy and that he should like it, so he ate all 4.

Here are some pictures of me at 17 weeks. Ending last week and the beginning of this week has been a major turning point in my pregnancy. Although I’m still sick, it’s getting easier and I’ve been easing up on my nausea pills and my mood has greatly improved. You know you’re moody when coworkers tiptoe into your office and ask how you’re doing because yesterday you were a bit – eh- and simultaneously make the cat-scratch hand motion. Yes, at that moment you know you’ve been acting like a crazy person.

DSCN9556 — Ajax was doing laps around me. He was super Ajaxs.

Gangs

This morning when I dropped off Ajax at the babysitters, two other kids were already there and sitting at the kitchen table having a snack of dry cereal. As soon as we walked in they both shouted -Hi Ajax! Hey Ajax! Ajax walked right in, waved, and said, Hi guys! I had a moment of wondering how this gang operated during the day…. and all against one adult, lol. He really does get along well with the other kids at daycare and loves telling us all about his day during dinner. Oh, today for dinner Ajax ate mushrooms. As a side dish to our meal I made roasted potatoes, carrots, and mushrooms with a little olive oil and seasonings. Ajax ate everything and Dave and I were both amazed.

I also wanted to post a picture of me at 14 weeks. I’ve been squarely in maternity clothes for a while now as apparently your body gives up much quicker on kid number 2. That’s ok though; I forgot how comfy stretchy pants were.

The baby needs cool ranch Doritos

While I was grocery shopping this past weekend I splurged on a bag of cool ranch Doritos. I didn’t have a coupon, I didn’t look at the price, I just didn’t care. I needed them. I generally don’t keep many snacky items in the house because – 1. I’m cheap and 2. we just don’t need that junk around. But I felt that the baby really really needed those Doritos. Dave has attempted to eat a few and I have angrily demanded he put down the bag and back away. Ajax doesn’t even realize its in the house, which is good because that boy loves chips. I have also been craving tuna fish, but I don’t have to worry that anyone else in my home would even dream of touching that. On a side note, I’m 13 weeks along and just had my second doctor’s appointment yesterday. I listened to the baby’s heartbeat and all appears ok.

I feel it is now safe to say that Ajax is potty trained and I am simply amazed. We got him a step stool and seat that goes on the big toilet and he feels pretty confident using them. I think as a little boy he views pooing in the potty as a competition and brags constantly regarding how much/often he goes. He is also doing well off the dairy, though I haven’t noticed any major changes. He seems congested, but again, we’re all sick over here, so that’s not a good indicator. He hasn’t been pulling on his ear, so at least I know he doesn’t have an infection. I think after 30 days, I’ll introduce milk back into his diet and see if I notice any changes. I should point out, that as an attorney one of my top annoyances are people who google various legal questions and then spout off incorrect jargon that they picked up. Dave has pointed this out to me and that he is SURE doctors hate these same type of people who think they know more because webMD told them so. lol. The irony here is not lost on me.

Ajax asked me to take his picture while in the bath tonight-

Updates

Some more bad news. Dave’s grandmother passed away yesterday. She was 84 years old and a lovely woman who will be missed. This means that we are heading up north tomorrow for the funeral which will be held on Saturday. I think we’ll be coming home on Sunday. I hope the weather holds as we’re supposed to be hit with a snow storm tonight.

I also had my first trimester screen done today, which includes a blood draw and ultrasound and reports the chance of a genetic abnormality. We aren’t terribly concerned that about any risk, but it’s a non-invasive test and the ultrasound was cool. The tech confirmed that there was only one baby in there and that it appeared to have all it’s parts. So, that’s good.