Category: Family news/Updates

Today didn’t really turn out like Dave or I expected.  Ajax woke up at exactly 6 am and so we began our day.   Dave woke up with a terrible headache, which over the course of our running around started turning into a migraine.   After hitting up two stores I took Dave home to lay down.

As I wanted to give Dave as much quiet time as possible I noticed that Garden City was having a little fair.  Specifically, the fire department was having a open house along with a chili cook off.  Bingo!   Ajax and I drove the one mile to the fire dept. to explore.   There was a lot going on and Ajax was a bit overwhelmed.  He also wanted to see everything at once and I had a hard time keeping him next to me.  I can’t really blame him, I mean firemen, water hoses, and fire engines – that’s just too much for one little nino.   Ajax got to sit on a fire truck, which he thought was pretty cool, and he also got to “man” a fire hose.  This took him a very long time to work up the courage to stand next to the fireman to do it.  He watched several kids do it and then attempted to walk up to do it himself, but it took him three tries before he finally succeeded.  He was so shy.  He wouldn’t even let me do it with him.  He decided it was either going to be him doing it all or nothing.  I didn’t force him and we just stood there watching other kids for quite some time.

There was also a tractor ride that took us down a few blocks to the chili cook off.   The event actually had a lot going on.  There was food, live music, a petting zoo, horse rides, and an antique  car/motorcycle show.   Again, Ajax was besides himself.   He greeted all the animals, though he kept trying to get into the cage with the bunnies, lol, and he went for a horse ride.  At first when I put him in the saddle, I stood there and asked if he wanted me to walk next to him.  He immediately shrugged my hand off and said, no momma.

We ate hot dogs and listened to a band.  Ajax loved the live music, though I couldn’t really hear what he was saying during the set, as the music was too loud (that didn’t stop him from talking and talking).   Overall, it was a great time.  When we got home Ajax went down for a nap and Dave was actually feeling much better.  I’m glad the quiet did him some good, but we definitely missed him during our outing.

Every now and then Ajax’s little boy characteristics really show through.  I’m not quite sure what’s gotten into him lately, but he’s really been a pistol.   He has an opinion about everything and lets you know it, at quite high volumes, he’s being a bit of a bossy pants, and has slipped back into hitting when he wants something.  Last night he also forgot how to sleep through the night; I got up with him at 2 am and Dave got up with him at 3.  Combine that with both Dave and I trading turns working late and we’ve got one tired household.

Our home is also under minor construction as we finish installing the door to our room.   My parents have offered to take Ajax when the door is complete so that Dave and I can go through the house in one sweep doing touch-up painting.   We’re totally on track to locate a realtor and get our house up for sale in January or February!

I don’t think that Ajax likes having the house torn up.   But he has been a wonderful helper cleaning up.  He’s a swiffer pro.

As I know I’ve mentioned part of our nighttime routine involves story time.   Depending on how late it is Dave and/or I usually read Ajax one to three books.   Lately Ajax has been all about “Where the Wild Things Are.”  I think I’ve read it to him a handful of times now.  For the past few nights during dinner Ajax will abruptly stop eating and glare (yes glare) at Dave and I.  He’ll then pull his elbow into his chest and point at each of us, squinting, saying, You better eat up your food!  Now!   He’ll then glare at us some more and then bellow, Or I’m gonna eat you up!  Pointing at me he’ll say, I’m gonna eat you up momma!  Pointing at Dave he’ll say, I’m gonna eat you up daddy!  At this point, like any good parent, I try to scold him not to use such harsh language or point/yell at us during dinner, etc.    It really is so hard not to laugh and on more than one occasion I’ve had to stare up at the ceiling and let Dave handle the serious stuff.  But honestly, those lines are right out of his book and he knows it!

Today the work continued at our house.  Ajax spent a good part of his day at Ikea with Grandma Dara, while Dave and his dad worked on putting up the dry wall and mudding.  I painted the door casing and stained our 6 panel pine door.

I never realized how nice it would be to have a door to our bedroom, but I think I love it.  It’s funny how you live in a house for years, but never finish it until you’re ready to move, lol.

I’m a little concerned how Ajax will do when we do eventually move.  I know that kids are resilient; however, he is a child that needs his routine.  It takes him quite a while when something in our routine changes and I’m hoping the transition will be as smooth as possible for him.

I also was able to put up 11 quarts of apple sauce from our apple picking adventure.  I used almost the entire bushel, but set some aside for eating and I also want to make a few pies.  I didn’t really get how many apples a bushel was and after spending a very long time peeling the apples Dave collected me and took me to buy a grinder attachment for my mixer.  We also tried to find the veg/fruit strainer attachment and went to 4 different stores, but none had it.  I’ll have to order it online.

 

What a hectic week.   Seems I’ve had to work late more often than not lately as we recently lost our secretary.  It’s been rough and the guys have eaten lots of eggs for dinner.   Today Dave’s parents came down and my dad came in so that we could install a door at the bottom or our stairs so that we can list our house as a two bedroom.   It’s been a busy day.

Ajax also finally discovered that nothing horrible/terrible would happen to him if got out of bed at night without mom or dad present.  It was about 5 am when Dave and I heard a loud thump.  I flipped out of bed and ran down the stairs to find my little man standing in the kitchen.  As soon as he saw me he said, I’m all done sleeping now mom.  He then ran into the living room and climbed onto the couch, I’m all done!  I said, oh no you’re not!  I then picked him up and put him back into bed.  He actually didn’t fuss too much over this and did in fact go back to sleep.  He’s only done it once, but I’m sure it won’t be the last.

I found this great deal on diapers while at Kroger.  I was so excited that I was almost giddy.  I kept trying to tell other patrons about the deal… but maybe they didn’t have kids because they didn’t seem to interested.

Pampers diapers (128 ct) – regularly $25.49, on clearance for $12.79.  Then I also had a $1.50 coupon, making them $11.29!  So of course I bought two, yea.

On Sunday when Ajax was napping (and Dave) I turned on the movie Secretariat. It’s a cute Disney movie about horses … I wanted something on in the background.  As soon as Ajax got up he insisted on Dave carrying him around and then sat, angrily, on the couch.   He was angry because he wanted to watch “real cowboys.”  Dave explained that I was watching a movie and that they could watch real cowboys when I was done watching my movie.  Ajax then said, “I don’t wanna watch what mama wants to watch.”  Honestly the nino woke up on the wrong side of the bed and just wanted his dad and cowboys.   Ajax is quite into his cowboy movies lately.  This is good because Dave and I have also been in a cowboy kick.

Helping me make pumpkin muffins.  It seems all I have are photos of the kid cooking.   It just seems that lately when I remember to grab the camera we’re cooking.

Today was a nice day.  It was a relaxing day.  It was perfect.   We’ve been so busy lately that we were all exhausted.   We bummed around the house all morning.  We watched TV and Ajax played with his trucks.  Ajax also helped me clean the house a bit, he loves to use the swiffer and did the floors in the kitchen and bathroom.

After our lazy morning we headed out for my cousin Kim’s wedding.  Actually, her wedding was up north last month, but this was the reception in town.  It was held over my Grandpa Nader’s house and was so much fun.  It reminded me of the corn roasts we used to have when I was young over my grandpa’s house; playing with my cousins, running wild all over the yard, and eating lots of food.

The reception was a blast.  Her family did an excellent job putting it together.  There was even a bounce house for the little kids.  This was Ajax’s first time in such a bouncy house and he loved it.  He was basically in it for about 4 straight hours (on the way home, he kept whining – where’s the bounce house? the house!).   He played so well with his cousins.  It was so cute.   He was to busy to eat, so his dinner was pretty much popcorn and cotton candy.  Yea.  Oh well, it was a party.

 

Quick Note:  I took Ajax to the ear specialist on Wednesday for a quick check up before our scheduled surgery and the doctor noted that Ajax’s ears were perfectly healthy!  The nasal spray the doc put him on has worked wonders and Ajax is now at 100%.  We did another round of tests and he came out fine.  No hearing problems to report.   Because of this turn the doc advised that we cancel the surgery and just keep him on the spray.  We have another check up in Dec. to be sure the spray is doing its job.  The doc did note that if he does start to have ear problems we’ll go straight to tubes.  So that’s where we are!

Today was a lovely 70 degrees and sunny, so we headed out to the Apple Orchard!   I have great plans at canning apple sauce and therefore needed a bushel of apples to make that dream happen.  Dave and Ajax were great apple pickers.   It took a while for Ajax to get the hang of it, but after a while he was hooked.  He actually ate about an apple and a half while we were working through the orchard.  We also went on a hayride and saw some barnyard animals.   Ajax of course loved the hayride and immediately wanted to go on another one.  We only got him off by distracting him with all the animals.  He heard some other kids saying the pigs were “stinky.”  So, although he thought the pigs were cool, he kept saying- they’re stinky@!

My parent’s picked up Ajax from the babysitters on Friday, which gave Dave and I the opportunity to have a nice date night for Dave’s 31st birthday.  My parent’s said that Ajax did wonderful for them; however, when they were driving out to the farm Ajax said, I want to go home and I want you (grandma) and grandpa to come to my house.  After some discussion Ajax finally agreed that he did in fact want to go out to their house.

Dave and I headed out to the farm Saturday morning and helped my parents take down a large tree, about 35 feet.  We planned to take down a second but of course the chain saw died.   On Sunday we all worked together and stained the barn’s massive porch.

Ajax of course had a ton of fun at his grandparents and got to spend some quality time with my sister who is still home from Alaska.   Emily took him on multiple Mule rides and did some general exploring.  My parent’s also got two new barn kittens and Ajax had fun playing with them and chasing them around.   On the drive home on Sunday he was a bit of a pistol (as he was so overtired) and kept demanding that Dave and I stop talking with each other and only talk to him.  He now feels slighted whenever you engage in a conversation that does not directly include him.