Just a little crazy

This morning I felt like I was in a multi-tasking challenge.  I had sent Silas to time-out for telling me never to talk to him again, while Levi was refusing to finish nursing.  Eventually I put Levi down so I could pump what he didn’t eat.  Silas kept popping his head out of his room and asking “peas me come out now?” and Bella was barking and hopping around because she needed to be taken outside.  Levi fussing, me pumping, Silas asking to come out, Bella barking and hopping.  It felt a little chaotic but it got worse.  Soon I found out why Levi had been so fussy – he had what I call a volcanic poop.  The kind you have to change as soon as you hear them explode or you might have to change more than his diaper.  About this time Silas again asked if he could come out and when I said no he replied, “I don’t want to come out ever again!” I hoped that “ever again” would last five minutes so I could take care of the craziness surrounding me.  I hurried up and finished pumping, while continually telling Silas he couldn’t come out yet, all the while trying to figure out what my next move should be.  I went over to Levi and saw this…

That is a tame picture.  Be glad I am not posting what it looked like once I removed his shirt!  Well once I saw that the damage was already done and it would be a process to clean, I decided to take Bella outside.  I figured that I could make things a little less complicated by removing the barking dog from the equation.  So I took her out and the little stinker did NO business – she just ate grass.  I brought her back inside, and started to tackle the challenge of changing Levi.  Before I got his shirt off, my phone rang.  It was our pediatrician calling me back and I didn’t want to miss the call.  I thought I had poo on my left hand, so I answered with my right.  Now…nurse on the phone, poopy baby smiling at me, Silas sitting right there watching since I had told him he could get out of his room.  I soon saw that this clean up would need to include a bath, so after I hung up I asked my little helper Silas to get the baby bathtub and put it in the regular bathtub.  Then I got the bath water ready, while singing a song I made up, entitled, “Please don’t pee on me, Levi.”  I normally have everything ready and take off his diaper at the last second to avoid him peeing on me, but there was no choice this time.  Then I set him on our bed for less than ten seconds so I could prep one more thing, and when I walked back to him he was displaying a lovely fountain that had no place to land but on our bed.  I guess I should have sung, “Please don’t pee on our bed, Levi.”  Next time.  Peeing on our bed was extra special because an hour earlier I had stripped the sheets and comforter to wash them.  He had spit up on our bed a few days prior and I had been so tired that I just scooted over and tried not to sleep in it.  Gross, I know, but it’s my reality.  I was proud of myself for remembering the old spit up this morning, and washing everything.  My great initiative provided him a new opportunity to pee on our mattress cover, thus another load of laundry to run.  At this point I just laughed.  Laughed, laughed, laughed.  Did all of that really happen in a matter of minutes?  But we made it!  Then we celebrated by putting Levi in my new ergo baby carrier and taking Bella for a walk!  It was great to get out of the house!

People have asked if I am enjoying my summer.  I really, really am.  I am so glad that my job allows me to be a stay-at-home-mom during June and July.  I get smiles, and funny quotes, and coos throughout the day.  I get, "I wuv you mom" and "mom, he smiled at me!" and "I want to snuggle you mom." My heart bursts with joy.  But I’m also glad when my two little bundles take naps at the same time so that I can blog instead of cleaning the kitchen like I should be doing right now.  

Love my miracle boys!  God so obviously placed them together.  They love each other so much.  Just look...

Look closely - Bella is in this one. :)

Look What The Lord Has Done!

I was excited the second I woke up today.  That tightness-in-the-chest excitement that a five year old feels on Christmas morning.  Before being fully awake, I immediately smiled with the realization of…it's adoption day!

The surreal moment of standing before the judge 

who has been a huge part of our journey!

Both sides of the family - all smiles!

Living room, transformed!

His birthday is in two days, so our family 

had a party with two wonderful purposes.

Showing Silas the adoption photo book I made him.

I teared up today on the stand, when a lawyer asked me questions like, "How do you feel about this boy?" and "How has your extended family accepted him?" and "Will you feel different about him and your biological child?" Those questions feel odd because...he is just my son!  He's always belonged in our lives.
This whole day has been kind of surreal.  Maybe because he has already been our son for so long.  But we will taste of some new freedoms.  The first is that I can finally post pictures of Silas online.  Because he is truly, in every way, OURS!

We have a court date!

Can you believe it?  We finally have an adoption court date.  After living in our home for 957 days, our son is officially becoming Silas Winston Stickling.  No more monthly caseworker visits (though we do love our caseworker!), no more licensing visits twice a year, no more keeping clothing and toy receipts to turn in, no more logging when we give him medicine, no more turning in Bella's rabies paperwork…I could continue.

We will just BE FAMILY.  We are beyond excited!

The adoption date is December 16th - two days before Silas turns three.  He won't understand what this is about - I mean, he knows about his birth family and LOVES visiting his siblings twice a month, but he doesn't understand adoption.  Someday he will.  Every night we pray for his birth parents and siblings by name.  Someday he will realize why.  

I just finished making him an adoption photo book.  When I give it to him he will just think he was a cute baby, and say "yeaaaa" at the pictures he sees of his siblings.  But someday that book will mean more, way more.  It's part of his life.  One of my favorite pages in the book is titled "my new family tree." It has pictures of his grandma's and papa's, of Micah and me, and of him.  We're a family alright!  Just built differently.  There are different roots in this tree.

I get to go to the adoption in a wheelchair.  Woo hoo!  And my Jesus-loving Dr. gave me clearance to go to church that Sunday (it will be the day I become 33 weeks) so we can finally have a dedication service for Silas. Any and all are welcome to come to Jacob's Well and celebrate with us on December 22nd.  The dedication will be during the church service, which starts at 10:30.  It will be so WONDERFUL to formally commit to raising him in Jesus, with the church family who has loved him since he was tiny.

YEAAAAAAA!

Five years!

Happy five year anniversary to my wonderful husband Micah!

In honor of five years, here are five reasons I love you.

1.  You are patient, so patient.  

From all the times I change my mind about something, 

to getting up with our son three times last night!

2.  You seek wisdom to slowly make good decisions.

A perfect balance for my tendency to just 

make a choice and act on it right away.

3.  You have incredible work ethic.

And you are passing along this trait to Silas, 

who loves to "work" on projects with you!

4. You care for me, so much.

I am thankful for all the big and little things you do!

5.  You love Jesus, and it is so apparently seen through your servant's heart.

Thank you for leading by example.

Here's to many more years of laughter and cuddles...

It's getting better!

Today's potty training stats:
- 2 times in underwear
- 9 times in the potty!!!!

And two of those times he actually stopped playing (while outside no less!) and told me he needed to go!  My little boy is growing up!  I'm so proud!  Now if we can just get over the fear of the big toilets in public restrooms...

Also, in unrelated stats, he killed at least 4 bugs today.  If you need any assistance in that area, he's your guy.  However, yesterday he said, "excuse me bug" when one was on the slide with him.  Doesn't quite line up, does it?

Everything you need to know about potty training (not really)

If you gauged a person's favorite hang out place by how much time they spend there, this would be mine.

These are the top 10 things you need to know about potty training, especially if you're doing it with underwear instead of pull-ups:

1. You're probably going to get peed on, and you'll most definitely touch pee.  (Silas has started to say, "No pee on you mommy.  Walk away.")
2. You'll need a special place to put all the soiled clothes, because there is no doubt that they'll pile up...I have a whole load in my washing machine right now.
3.  If you have a boy, one area of your bathroom floor is going to get washed way more than it usually does.
4.  When you tell your child there's a new reward they can earn if they go pee, they might think you really mean, "pee in your pants in exactly one minute and you'll get three raisins."
5.  Playing outside is not nearly as scary as playing on your new carpet.
6.  Have your child wear rubber sandals, because once he pees on two pairs of old tennis shoes you only have the good shoes left.
7.  Remain clam.  Say "oops," smile, and clean him up again even if you feel like pulling out your hair.
8.  You might start looking forward to bedtime because then he'll wear a diaper and you will be safe.
9.  If your child pees while standing at the back door and you pick him up and run him inside to the bathroom, remember to shut the door behind you.  Otherwise your dog might run outside because she wants to jump the fence, and you and your spouse might be chasing her around the tree until one of you catches her.  Meanwhile your child will be running in your house without pants.  Hypothetical of course.  Or it could have happened to us a few hours ago.
10.  When your child poops in the potty at 6:00 p.m. after a long day of changing his wet pants...well that my friends, is nothing but pure victory!

There are some more things I've learned, but that pretty much sums it up.  Also, this song is our new anthem.  Found it on youtube today and Silas loves it.  Seriously loves it!  "The Potty Song"

P.S. Thanks to the grandparents for being excited every time Silas calls to tell you he went in the potty.  I think it might be his favorite reward!

Kids make me laugh

Silas seems to add a new word to his vocabulary every day, and it is so very fun!  A couple days ago he saw the green light on the dishwasher, indicating that the dishes were clean.  Apparently he didn't want to see the light, so he covered it up with a sticker.  Soon after we couldn't find the sticker, and he tried to blame it on Bella.  He said what I believe is his longest sentence yet:

Did Bell-wuh eat dis ticker here?

He has also, on multiple occasions, said, "Bell-wuuuuuuh" after he passes gas.

Last night Micah was clearing the table after dinner, and picked up the cheese to put it away.
Silas:  Cheese, cheese, cheese!
Micah: We're going to have ice-cream.
Silas: Oh. Bye cheese!

Then, when he was trying to scrape every last ounce of ice-cream out of the bowl, and he was not pleased at the performance of his spoon, he said, "no work, no work!"

Today a clerk asked him if he wanted a sucker, and produced a little basket for him to choose from.  He had been holding a toy, but quickly handed it to me and said, "hold dis mommy" so that his hands were free to choose!

He has also really been into double pronouns lately:
I cheese me.
I toot me.
I some me.
I fall me.

Tonight on the drive home I started to sing a goofy song and in less than a second he called out, "no song!"

This kid knows what he wants!

He is also constantly asking, "what dat?"  The cutest one is this...
Silas: What dat?
Micah: It's my wedding ring.  It means I'm married to mommy.
Silas: Oh.


I have to share a few recent student quotes as well.

Student: It's floggy outside.
Me: Floggy?
Student: Yes, floggy!

3rd grade student: ISAT is coming.
Me: Oh, really?  (I know...boy, do I know!)

A student was picking her nose and eating it...

Me: What does it taste like?

Student: Ketchup and mustard.

Me: I don't think so.

Student: Pickles!

Some great news

For over five years my husband has worked as a plumbing apprentice during the day, and spent two nights a week at class.  Last week he took the state plumbing license test.  It's a pretty difficult test - many don't pass it the first time.  But my smarty did.  Woohoo!  I'm SO proud.  Just got this in the mail today...

On another note, people are wondering if Silas is sleeping better.  Here's the rundown:

Saturday night - up from 1-2 a.m., up for good at 6:15 a.m.

Sunday - no nap

Sunday night - up at 3 a.m. for a few "go back to bed" routines, up at 5:30 a.m., went back until the bunny woke up at 5:45 a.m.

Monday - finally took a nap after an hour of me sending him back to bed.  I had put the iPod on "lullaby radio" to help him sleep, and unfortunately a commercial WOKE HIM UP.

Monday night - Micah figured out that he would stay in bed if his door was cracked open, so he went to bed easily.  Yea!  He was up once at 1 a.m. and once at 3 a.m., up for good at 5:45 a.m.

Poor little guy was pretty tired after all that.  He was happy to be back at daycare today, where adults stay in the room while he naps.  Check out his form from today - a 2 hour 20 minute nap!  

You can also see that he had seconds on lunch today.  He is eating everything in sight.  Must be growing!  Love my boy!

Here's hoping he doesn't get up until the bunny wakes up in the morning!

Who can last the longest?

Fifty-five minutes.

We decided it's time to transfer to the toddler bed.  I bought an alarm clock that has two pictures - one of a bunny sleeping, and one of him awake.  The idea is to tell toddlers that when the picture of the sleeping bunny is lit up, they need to stay in bed.  Then, at the time you set for them to wake up in the morning, it switches over to the awake bunny.  Cute idea, huh?  Well.  It's not magic!

Tonight I spent fifty-five minutes putting my son back in his big boy toddler bed over...and over...and over.  Multiple times per minute I walked him back to his bed and covered him up with his blankets.  Sometimes I just pointed.  And he went right back.  It was like he was on a one-route track...bed to door, door to bed.

I was standing or sitting outside his door, because, let's face it, I couldn't get any farther before he opened it again.  He had lots of cool tricks.  Hugs.  And kisses.  And bringing his blanket out to try to sit with me in the hallway.  He thought he was pretty clever when he kept throwing his pillow and blankets on the floor, as if those same hands weren't able to pick them up.  He cried for me, and daddy, and even plead for his dear Bella dog to come save him.

But I won.  He's sleeping.  And honestly, I kind of enjoyed it.  It was comical.  Me repeating "Go back to bed.  The bunny is sleeping," and him in his cute dinosaur jammies, walking back to that bed over and over again.  And also, in case you missed it, I WON!

I better go to sleep.  Who knows how soon the next round is coming?

Here's hoping that tomorrow's nap time and bed time routines are shorter than fifty-five minutes!  And that I have energy to keep persevering!

Not from today, but still a cute pic of  my little sleeper.

Don't forget the important things, mom!

Picture this.  I pulled into the garage tonight and looked behind me to see my sweet son Silas sleeping. (How do you like that alliteration?!)  I carried him inside and he slept through the first part of me changing him into pajamas.  Getting the shirt over his head woke him up though, and he was half aware as I put him in bed.  But he snuggled up to his pillow, I wrapped his blanket around him, and started to leave the room.  He immediately stood up, folded his hands together, and said, "pray?"

I could melt right there.  Yes, buddy, I will pray with you!

I love this little guy so much.  And even though I don't think he understands who we are praying to besides what we read in picture books, I am thankful that he loves our nightly tradition.

If you want to know who he most likes to pray for, as in he says their names repeatedly as I pray...it's daddy and our dog Bella.  Actually, I think Bella might have a slight win over daddy.

We have also been known to pray spontaneously during the day when something comes to mind.  We take requests if you want to send them!  God loves the prayers of children, right?

A Total God Thing

I noticed tonight that Silas had some greenish-yellow discharge coming out of his eyes.  I wiped it really good, and watched to see if it would reappear.  It did.  I had a strong feeling that it was pink eye.  So we ate dinner (late by the time we got home from an appointment) and then packed up a bag of toys, diapers, wipes, and water to take to Prompt Care. A third of the way there I realized I was wearing slippers.  Oops.  And oh well.  Silas feel asleep in the car, and I was thinking about how I was messing up his night of sleep, and wishing I could just go to his pediatrician, who I trust much more than other doctors.  Just sayin' - sometimes they misdiagnose him.

I got to Prompt Care at 7:26, and they had closed at 7:00.  Nothing else I could do, but wait until tomorrow, and take him to his pediatrician.  But since I was near a large chain store that I hate (those who know me well know which one it is!), I broke down and went there, so I could at least get him a cold mist humidifier, in hopes that it would help him feel better.

Guess who was ringing the Salvation Army Bell?  HIS PEDIATRICIAN!!!  Can you even believe that?  He recognized me and asked how we were doing.  I sighed and said, "Well, we just went to Prompt Care and they are closed."  He asked what was going on and I replied that I was hoping he didn't have pink eye.  He said "let me take a look," and quickly confirmed it.  He asked if I just wanted to treat it there, and my wonderful pediatrician introduced me to his family and then walked up to the pharmacy and wrote a prescription for Silas!

Now, I knew I had the best pediatrician in town, but seriously?!?  It would have been completely acceptable for him to say, "if it's not better in the morning, come see me."  But no.  He really cares about his patients.  

And just in case I was wondering if God was concerned with my life details...he is.  I mean really, that encounter tonight could not have been more perfect for our need.

Sand, stain, repeat, sand, polyurethane, repeat

I just finished working on these.  Two coats of stain down, 

two coats of polyurethane to go!

Here's my finished pile, with the "to do" pile on the right.

Wow, all my hours working this summer and it doesn't seem like I've accomplished much!  The doors are my least favorite, because of the design that takes more time to cover, and also because when I've finished four coats of really smelly fumes, I am reminded that in 24 hours I get to flip the door over and start on the other side!

BUT...I am happy that I can help, since Micah has done so much in our basement.  Sometimes my iPod and I have a pretty good time working, singing and praying as I work.  Some of you have gotten much prayed over you as a result of this remodeling.

 Sanding is serious work!

I guess when I look at this "old" finished pile, 

I can see that there has been a little bit of progress.

I wonder if that's how God feels when he's

working on us and our imperfections?

 Before that we primed...

 and had to get creative in using every last drop!

 We painted with the help of Micah's dad...

and our little man!

So that's the update.  I have now become realistic since we're doing most of this ourselves and end up only having 1 or 2 full days that Micah can work on the basement each month...I'm thinking the goal for a finish date is Christmas?!?

Barefoot before breakfast

Micah likes to make a big breakfast on Saturday mornings.  Today D and I decided to go outside and play with his new bike while daddy was cooking.  I got it at a yard sale yesterday for $5 - so excited because I've been looking for one that was small enough for him!  And I'm ch...frugal.

 This is how the pros do it.

 Seriously, isn't this a cool old bike?

 Mommy, I really want to water the flowers right now!

 I want to turn the hose on so bad that I'm willing to 

sit in mulch to figure out how to do it!

Snuggling in for kisses from "Bewa."

I won't lie and say that life is always this peachy.  We have hitting, hair-pulling, refusing...he is definitely an active toddler.  But I sure love him.  And I can't wait until I can show you pictures of his precious face.  There are some real cuties of him smiling, leaning on Bella today.

Coming soon...a post about what I do when he is asleep!  It has to do with our basement remodel.  Micah is banging down there as I type.

Changes

 This five gallon bucket and I became good friends today, and we plan on spending more quality time together.  

The guys hanging and mudding our drywall finished on Thursday, so this morning we started wiping down and priming the walls.  Here are some pics of the drywall in general, and then of our work today.

 Looking into the bathroom, laundry room to the right.

 View from the laundry room, with tiny hallway area ahead, 

bathroom on the right.

 Hallway, with guest room on the left.

 Before they mudded...

 And wiping down the drywall dust!

 Micah working on the ceiling.  I got to do the walls and some trim.

 Guest bedroom and closet - officially primed!  

We also got the ceiling and trim primed in the other rooms.

On another note...

This coming week has the potential for other changes.

Court is Friday morning.

This picture was taken on Easter Sunday.  I am hoping for many more Easter Sundays with this precious little guy!  But at the same time I think about his bio mom.  Please pray for her - this whole thing has got to be so hard.