It's been a long week. And a long weekend. I think I need a weekend from my weekend. Yep, that's the kind of week it's been.
Please pray for my friend's little boy. X has biliary atresia, a life-threatening liver disease, and is in the hospital now. He's just been listed for a liver transplant, and we're hoping that his father will be his match. This little boy is just a bit younger than Quinn, and has already been through so much in his life. I can't imagine going through what their family is dealing with, and all I can say is B, you're a stronger woman that I am, and I can only hope and pray that everything goes well with matching.
In other news, after spending the weekend battling with a seriously cranky, moody toddler, he reminded me why I love being a mother (and yes, I needed some reminding!) I went out for coffee with a friend, and left the boys with Garry. He put them to bed (he thought!) but when I got home I noticed that the light was on in their room. Went to turn it off, and found Eamon sitting quietly on his bed, reading a book and playing with some blocks (he's a multitasker like Mommy). As soon as he saw me, he smiled, moved everything out of the way, and laid down so I could tuck him in and give him his good night kiss. Apparently he was waiting up for me. I turned the light off, closed the door, and cried.
Moments like these, I know, are what make up for the days when I really just want to give him away, and are what I'll remember in ten years and cry about.
Moments like these are the reason I love being a mother.
Sunday, September 28, 2008
Monday, September 8, 2008
Fall already???
It's amazing - suddenly, it's the beginning of September and I would swear it was October, because it's been distinctly fall-like weather here. Poor Eamon has almost no clothes to wear these days, because he's outgrown all his warm clothes with the exception with 4 pairs of pants, 3 sweatshirts, and 2 long sleeved shirts. Needless to say, in the next couple of weeks we'll be stocking up on warmer clothes for him. Quinn, luckily, has a full wardrobe of fall and winter clothes, thanks to big brother and friends' hand-me-downs.
I'll get pictures posted of the house sometime this week, weekend at the latest. It's going to depend on how much time I have, really - tomorrow night Garry has choir practice (have I mentioned that he joined a men's choir? Tomorrow is his first night of practice.) For the next several weeks, we'll be missing Daddy every Tuesday evening, and probably every Sunday evening. It's in preparation for the Christmas concert, which we will definitely be going to, probably with Uncle Eddie who isn't going to be performing for this concert. We're excited and looking forward to it.
It's late here, and I need to get to bed so I can be ready for work in the morning. I'll check back in soon - my goal is NOT to wait an entire month between updates. Oh, and to take lots and lots of pictures of the boys. Of course.
I'll get pictures posted of the house sometime this week, weekend at the latest. It's going to depend on how much time I have, really - tomorrow night Garry has choir practice (have I mentioned that he joined a men's choir? Tomorrow is his first night of practice.) For the next several weeks, we'll be missing Daddy every Tuesday evening, and probably every Sunday evening. It's in preparation for the Christmas concert, which we will definitely be going to, probably with Uncle Eddie who isn't going to be performing for this concert. We're excited and looking forward to it.
It's late here, and I need to get to bed so I can be ready for work in the morning. I'll check back in soon - my goal is NOT to wait an entire month between updates. Oh, and to take lots and lots of pictures of the boys. Of course.
Friday, August 8, 2008
It's been a crazy summer!
So, yes, I haven't posted in forever, but I have an excuse. Really. I do.
Here's the short version: I changed shifts at work and now work evenings. Garry changed jobs and is working for a new company. And we moved across town, which has entailed a lot of sweat, frustration, and just general stress. There's my excuse for not writing at all in the last several weeks. Good excuse, no?
Now, for the short update on us.
Quinn is cruising, determined to walk as soon as he can. He has 4 teeth, 4 more on the way, and eats more than Eamon does at most meals.
Eamon is becoming so much more verbal and it's absolutely wonderful to see (and hear). His vocabulary has just exploded over the last few weeks and we're really enjoying being able to start communicating with him. He's starting to get the hang of what timeout means, and now actually stays put in the timeout corner as requested, which is resulting in far less tantrums, which means that Mommy and Daddy's stress levels are down considerably.
Garry is busy with the new job. He's loving every minute of it, although it takes up more of his time than previously. But he's happy with the company and what he's doing, and that's the most important thing for him.
And me? I'm here, looking forward to the end of August when I get to change my shift at work. I managed to get an awesome shift - Monday through Friday, 9-5:45. It was my second choice for hours, so I can't complain about it, and it will be nice to have my weekends back with my family.
I'll get pictures of the house and the kids posted soon, hopefully this weekend. And hopefully one day soon we'll have some family pictures to share, since I don't think we have a single picture of all four of us. Sad, no?
Here's the short version: I changed shifts at work and now work evenings. Garry changed jobs and is working for a new company. And we moved across town, which has entailed a lot of sweat, frustration, and just general stress. There's my excuse for not writing at all in the last several weeks. Good excuse, no?
Now, for the short update on us.
Quinn is cruising, determined to walk as soon as he can. He has 4 teeth, 4 more on the way, and eats more than Eamon does at most meals.
Eamon is becoming so much more verbal and it's absolutely wonderful to see (and hear). His vocabulary has just exploded over the last few weeks and we're really enjoying being able to start communicating with him. He's starting to get the hang of what timeout means, and now actually stays put in the timeout corner as requested, which is resulting in far less tantrums, which means that Mommy and Daddy's stress levels are down considerably.
Garry is busy with the new job. He's loving every minute of it, although it takes up more of his time than previously. But he's happy with the company and what he's doing, and that's the most important thing for him.
And me? I'm here, looking forward to the end of August when I get to change my shift at work. I managed to get an awesome shift - Monday through Friday, 9-5:45. It was my second choice for hours, so I can't complain about it, and it will be nice to have my weekends back with my family.
I'll get pictures of the house and the kids posted soon, hopefully this weekend. And hopefully one day soon we'll have some family pictures to share, since I don't think we have a single picture of all four of us. Sad, no?
Sunday, June 22, 2008
And...
New pictures
Monday, June 16, 2008
Busy busy busy
I've completely slacked off yet again. My excuse? Two mobile kids and some gorgeous weather. Summer is here and the boys love being outside, so between work and being outside as much as possible to wear Eamon out, it's been a little difficult to find the time to get online and blog.
So, an update for now, followed by pics later today for sure.
The family news first - we are considering moving. Not just houses, but states. Garry has begun looking into the possibility of jobs on the East Coast, so that we're closer to my parents and sisters; both of us would like the boys to be able to spend as much time as possible with their grandparents and aunts, and that means moving closer. Garry's also beginning to burn out on his job, and is just ready for a change. 3+ years is the longest he's stayed in one position, and he's ready for a new challenge. We have some options, so we'll see what happens in the next month or so. While we absolutely love Wichita, I'm ready for a new place (the perpetual drifter in me!) and Garry is ready for a new job, which likely will entail moving elsewhere.
In other news, Eamon is TALKING! Yes, he is finally talking. Two months after having his tubes put in, he's started to really communicate well most of the time and we're slowly seeing a lessening of the tantrums from him now that he can actually express himself to us and we understand. It's a wonderful thing, most of the time, although hearing "mom! mom! mom!" a million times a day gets very, very old. I keep reminding myself that he's communicating and we're understanding, and that's the most important thing, no matter how annoying it gets sometimes.
The last two months have been a huge milestone time for us. Eamon is in a "big boy bed" - we had to convert his crib about a month ago as he'd figured out how to climb in and out at will, and open his bedroom door to wander around the house. Rather than risk a broken neck from falling while climbing, we turned his crib into a toddler bed and he's currently loving it. He's so proud of his big boy bed that anytime someone new comes over he insists on taking them to his room to show it off.
Eamon is also suddenly decided it's time to potty train. He tells us when his diaper needs changed (every time he pees or poops, pretty much!) and likes to sit on the big potty. We're taking it slow and letting him tell us when he needs (or wants!) to sit on the potty, and that seems to be working well for us right now. We've had several days where he's woken up dry from his naps, so we're slowly moving in the right direction, and the even better news is that since he's so grown up now, the bottle is coming very close to being eliminated from his life. He takes a cup to bed most nights now, and doesn't throw a fit about a bottle unless he's very, very tired. Thank God for small mercies - I'm ready to be done with bottles and the way it's looking now, it won't be too much longer before we can toss the entire lot.
And now for Quinn and his big milestones... He sits like a pro, is a crawling machine, and just this weekend learned to not only get himself into a sitting position, but also to pull up onto his knees. Yes, he's considering starting to walk, I think. I'm so not ready for this yet - I've just gotten used to the idea that he crawls! Well, army crawls, but that's because he chooses not to crawl on hands and knees. For some reason he likes being on his belly and can motor around amazingly fast. We're getting close to being done with baby food, since he's all about finger foods and I'm slowly starting to just give him our dinner chopped up, with caution because he STILL has no teeth! I still have a hard time looking at him and realizing that he's going to be 8 months old in less than a week. Where has the time gone???? I don't feel like I should have an 8 month old. Of course, I don't feel like I should have a 2 year old right now either. It's amazing how fast time flies. I looked at our daycare provider the other day and commented that in 4 months we'll be throwing Quinn his 1st birthday party, and she immediately responded with "he's not allowed to grow up!" Needless to say, there's nothing we can do to keep him from growing up, and he's doing it much, much faster than his big brother did. Makes me want another baby, but it's not in the cards right now. We've agreed to wait a couple of years before starting on #3. I suppose I'd better get on some kind of really good birth control if I want to avoid another oops baby.
Pictures to come, as soon as I've had a chance to sort through them a bit and pick out some good ones!
So, an update for now, followed by pics later today for sure.
The family news first - we are considering moving. Not just houses, but states. Garry has begun looking into the possibility of jobs on the East Coast, so that we're closer to my parents and sisters; both of us would like the boys to be able to spend as much time as possible with their grandparents and aunts, and that means moving closer. Garry's also beginning to burn out on his job, and is just ready for a change. 3+ years is the longest he's stayed in one position, and he's ready for a new challenge. We have some options, so we'll see what happens in the next month or so. While we absolutely love Wichita, I'm ready for a new place (the perpetual drifter in me!) and Garry is ready for a new job, which likely will entail moving elsewhere.
In other news, Eamon is TALKING! Yes, he is finally talking. Two months after having his tubes put in, he's started to really communicate well most of the time and we're slowly seeing a lessening of the tantrums from him now that he can actually express himself to us and we understand. It's a wonderful thing, most of the time, although hearing "mom! mom! mom!" a million times a day gets very, very old. I keep reminding myself that he's communicating and we're understanding, and that's the most important thing, no matter how annoying it gets sometimes.
The last two months have been a huge milestone time for us. Eamon is in a "big boy bed" - we had to convert his crib about a month ago as he'd figured out how to climb in and out at will, and open his bedroom door to wander around the house. Rather than risk a broken neck from falling while climbing, we turned his crib into a toddler bed and he's currently loving it. He's so proud of his big boy bed that anytime someone new comes over he insists on taking them to his room to show it off.
Eamon is also suddenly decided it's time to potty train. He tells us when his diaper needs changed (every time he pees or poops, pretty much!) and likes to sit on the big potty. We're taking it slow and letting him tell us when he needs (or wants!) to sit on the potty, and that seems to be working well for us right now. We've had several days where he's woken up dry from his naps, so we're slowly moving in the right direction, and the even better news is that since he's so grown up now, the bottle is coming very close to being eliminated from his life. He takes a cup to bed most nights now, and doesn't throw a fit about a bottle unless he's very, very tired. Thank God for small mercies - I'm ready to be done with bottles and the way it's looking now, it won't be too much longer before we can toss the entire lot.
And now for Quinn and his big milestones... He sits like a pro, is a crawling machine, and just this weekend learned to not only get himself into a sitting position, but also to pull up onto his knees. Yes, he's considering starting to walk, I think. I'm so not ready for this yet - I've just gotten used to the idea that he crawls! Well, army crawls, but that's because he chooses not to crawl on hands and knees. For some reason he likes being on his belly and can motor around amazingly fast. We're getting close to being done with baby food, since he's all about finger foods and I'm slowly starting to just give him our dinner chopped up, with caution because he STILL has no teeth! I still have a hard time looking at him and realizing that he's going to be 8 months old in less than a week. Where has the time gone???? I don't feel like I should have an 8 month old. Of course, I don't feel like I should have a 2 year old right now either. It's amazing how fast time flies. I looked at our daycare provider the other day and commented that in 4 months we'll be throwing Quinn his 1st birthday party, and she immediately responded with "he's not allowed to grow up!" Needless to say, there's nothing we can do to keep him from growing up, and he's doing it much, much faster than his big brother did. Makes me want another baby, but it's not in the cards right now. We've agreed to wait a couple of years before starting on #3. I suppose I'd better get on some kind of really good birth control if I want to avoid another oops baby.
Pictures to come, as soon as I've had a chance to sort through them a bit and pick out some good ones!
Sunday, April 27, 2008
Life
I thought I should go ahead and write about what's happening lately with us. I'll start with the boys, go from there.
Eamon has tubes in his ears now. He had a hearing test done just before Easter, and we found that he has hearing loss due to fluid behind his eardrum. Took him to an ENT, who recommended tubes, and we went ahead and had the surgery two weeks ago. Since his surgery, he's become much more understandably verbal - he's starting to use more words and is even putting together little sentences. His speech is still slurred, so we're looking into some short-term speech therapy for him, but he's doing a ton better now in terms of communicating. It's amazing what a difference we've seen in him since he had his surgery and isn't hearing the world as though he's underwater anymore. His other big news is that he seems to be eating meat finally! Yes, my vegetarian toddler has eaten meat 4 nights in one week, and I'm ecstatic! We'll see if the picky eater continues with last week's trend of eating meat - I'm hopeful that he's maybe turning a corner on his problems with food textures. For anyone who doesn't know - Eamon's always had issues with the texture of meat and has generally refused to eat meat since he was an infant.
Quinn is 2 months old and growing like a weed still - we're almost into 9-12 month clothes because he's getting longer and longer and outgrowing clothes as fast as I can buy them. He's also a rolling fool - if you set him down on the floor he takes off most times and goes to explore the world around him (and invariably screams bloody murder when he runs into something that doesn't move for him!). He's working on getting those knees up under him and it's only a matter of time before he takes off crawling. He's also working on his bottom teeth and chews on everything in sight - for some reason, he likes my shoes, so between him and the dog, I have to keep my shoes up or I won't have any left soon! He's still as mellow as ever, and it's a wonderful change of pace from Eamon's high energy. They're as different as they could be - complete polar opposites in terms of personality.
Garry's working like crazy, adjusted to our new schedule pretty much. He likes his Saturdays with the boys - they run around town together and watch movies and clean house and sleep pretty much all day. I'm envious, because on my day off with the boys, we're generally going non-stop running errands. Figures. But he's doing well - supposed to be heading to Germany at some point this summer for work. Lucky dog!
And me? Well, I'm still liking the job, most days. I'm loving the schedule and getting to spend some real quality time with the boys and Garry in the evenings. That part of life, and the part when I get to hang with my guys a lot more, is pretty good. So what's the not so good part, since obviously there is one? The bipolar demon is striking again, and I'm finding myself having more frequent and more severe mood swings. My anxiety is popping up again as well; we went to a party last night, just Garry and I, and I got pretty freaked out by all the people and the noise and ended up having to take a break from it to get myself calmed down again. What's all this mean? Well, it pretty much means I need to sit down and think long and hard about whether it's finally time to go back on mood stabilizers again, which means that I will need to wean Quinn, since they're nasty drugs for babies. And therein lies my dilemma. I love nursing. I'm not emotionally ready to give up that time spent bonding with Quinn. I'm not emotionally ready to let go of that particular part of my relationship with him. And he's not ready either. It doesn't matter if he just drank a bottle; if I've been away from him and he sees me, he's ready to nurse. It's almost like it's his little touchstone, his reassurance that Mommy is back again. And I don't want to take that away from him, not yet. But I also know that mentally I'm starting to fall apart again, and that's not healthy for any of us. It's one of those decisions that's just really, really hard for me right now, and maybe I need someone on the outside to make that decision for me. I know that I can't keep on like this indefinitely. I'm going to talk a little to our new doctor about it tomorrow, and hope that I can get a little more direction, something to help me make my mind up. Because I know that if I wean Quinn now, there's no going back again.
As I say every time, I do have new pictures of the boys, and I will try and get them posted in the morning. Garry is planning to take the boys to daycare for me in the morning, so that I can try and catch up a little on missed sleep and have a little time to myself to try and work out things in my head. With any luck, I'll actually manage to remember to post new pictures.
Eamon has tubes in his ears now. He had a hearing test done just before Easter, and we found that he has hearing loss due to fluid behind his eardrum. Took him to an ENT, who recommended tubes, and we went ahead and had the surgery two weeks ago. Since his surgery, he's become much more understandably verbal - he's starting to use more words and is even putting together little sentences. His speech is still slurred, so we're looking into some short-term speech therapy for him, but he's doing a ton better now in terms of communicating. It's amazing what a difference we've seen in him since he had his surgery and isn't hearing the world as though he's underwater anymore. His other big news is that he seems to be eating meat finally! Yes, my vegetarian toddler has eaten meat 4 nights in one week, and I'm ecstatic! We'll see if the picky eater continues with last week's trend of eating meat - I'm hopeful that he's maybe turning a corner on his problems with food textures. For anyone who doesn't know - Eamon's always had issues with the texture of meat and has generally refused to eat meat since he was an infant.
Quinn is 2 months old and growing like a weed still - we're almost into 9-12 month clothes because he's getting longer and longer and outgrowing clothes as fast as I can buy them. He's also a rolling fool - if you set him down on the floor he takes off most times and goes to explore the world around him (and invariably screams bloody murder when he runs into something that doesn't move for him!). He's working on getting those knees up under him and it's only a matter of time before he takes off crawling. He's also working on his bottom teeth and chews on everything in sight - for some reason, he likes my shoes, so between him and the dog, I have to keep my shoes up or I won't have any left soon! He's still as mellow as ever, and it's a wonderful change of pace from Eamon's high energy. They're as different as they could be - complete polar opposites in terms of personality.
Garry's working like crazy, adjusted to our new schedule pretty much. He likes his Saturdays with the boys - they run around town together and watch movies and clean house and sleep pretty much all day. I'm envious, because on my day off with the boys, we're generally going non-stop running errands. Figures. But he's doing well - supposed to be heading to Germany at some point this summer for work. Lucky dog!
And me? Well, I'm still liking the job, most days. I'm loving the schedule and getting to spend some real quality time with the boys and Garry in the evenings. That part of life, and the part when I get to hang with my guys a lot more, is pretty good. So what's the not so good part, since obviously there is one? The bipolar demon is striking again, and I'm finding myself having more frequent and more severe mood swings. My anxiety is popping up again as well; we went to a party last night, just Garry and I, and I got pretty freaked out by all the people and the noise and ended up having to take a break from it to get myself calmed down again. What's all this mean? Well, it pretty much means I need to sit down and think long and hard about whether it's finally time to go back on mood stabilizers again, which means that I will need to wean Quinn, since they're nasty drugs for babies. And therein lies my dilemma. I love nursing. I'm not emotionally ready to give up that time spent bonding with Quinn. I'm not emotionally ready to let go of that particular part of my relationship with him. And he's not ready either. It doesn't matter if he just drank a bottle; if I've been away from him and he sees me, he's ready to nurse. It's almost like it's his little touchstone, his reassurance that Mommy is back again. And I don't want to take that away from him, not yet. But I also know that mentally I'm starting to fall apart again, and that's not healthy for any of us. It's one of those decisions that's just really, really hard for me right now, and maybe I need someone on the outside to make that decision for me. I know that I can't keep on like this indefinitely. I'm going to talk a little to our new doctor about it tomorrow, and hope that I can get a little more direction, something to help me make my mind up. Because I know that if I wean Quinn now, there's no going back again.
As I say every time, I do have new pictures of the boys, and I will try and get them posted in the morning. Garry is planning to take the boys to daycare for me in the morning, so that I can try and catch up a little on missed sleep and have a little time to myself to try and work out things in my head. With any luck, I'll actually manage to remember to post new pictures.
Monday, March 24, 2008
The monthly update
I swear, it seems I can't manage to post an update to here more than once a month or so lately. Life has been insane around here, and I'm lucky to get a bit of downtime, let alone managing to actually do anything!
Latest news from the Morrows -
I have a new job. And a new schedule. I now work for a call center, and for the next 90 days at least I am working 6-2:45, Tuesday through Saturday. One week in, and I still feel good about my decision to switch jobs. I'm making about the same amount of money, with far more opportunity to make more money than I've had before.
Garry is well. Adjusting to being responsible for taking the boys to daycare 4 mornings a week, but doing well. He's heading to Germany at the beginning of May for a week of work, and if I hadn't just started a new job, I would so be going with him! Unfortunately, I can't this time, but hopefully the next time he travels for work I can tag along!
Eamon is two! Yes, TWO! He had his birthday March 17, and was spoiled rotten with presents! It seems that everyone we know gave him a present, and he now has more toys and books and coloring stuff than he knows what to do with. He's growing like a weed still, and mostly happy. We still have some issues with the new schedule, but he's always had difficulty adjusting to changes in his routine. We finally got his hearing tested, after hounding our family doctor about his lack of speech progress, and he failed the hearing test, so it's off to an ENT to get him checked out thoroughly. There is some fluid build-up in his right ear that is likely severely impacting his ability to hear out of that ear, so we're hoping that once we get that taken care of, he will pass a hearing test and we can really begin to work with him on his speech. His appointment is next Tuesday; I'll be working, so Garry will be taking him to that appointment.
Quinn is 5 months old and growing out of his clothes faster than he can wear them. He's his usual happy self and has recently decided that sharing a bed with us doesn't work for him. We pulled the co-sleeper back out and he's much happier in there, so maybe I can finally get some good sleep without being woken up a million times by little feet and hands poking me because he's fidgety. He babbles non-stop and we're slowly starting him on solids, as he's definitely hungry for some "real" food. I'm starting to think that he has seasonal allergies, since he keeps having these episodes of massive congestion every time the weather changes. If he does, he inherited it from daddy!
All in all, life in the Morrow family is pretty good. I'll try and get some recent pictures uploaded and posted so I can show off my little men!
Latest news from the Morrows -
I have a new job. And a new schedule. I now work for a call center, and for the next 90 days at least I am working 6-2:45, Tuesday through Saturday. One week in, and I still feel good about my decision to switch jobs. I'm making about the same amount of money, with far more opportunity to make more money than I've had before.
Garry is well. Adjusting to being responsible for taking the boys to daycare 4 mornings a week, but doing well. He's heading to Germany at the beginning of May for a week of work, and if I hadn't just started a new job, I would so be going with him! Unfortunately, I can't this time, but hopefully the next time he travels for work I can tag along!
Eamon is two! Yes, TWO! He had his birthday March 17, and was spoiled rotten with presents! It seems that everyone we know gave him a present, and he now has more toys and books and coloring stuff than he knows what to do with. He's growing like a weed still, and mostly happy. We still have some issues with the new schedule, but he's always had difficulty adjusting to changes in his routine. We finally got his hearing tested, after hounding our family doctor about his lack of speech progress, and he failed the hearing test, so it's off to an ENT to get him checked out thoroughly. There is some fluid build-up in his right ear that is likely severely impacting his ability to hear out of that ear, so we're hoping that once we get that taken care of, he will pass a hearing test and we can really begin to work with him on his speech. His appointment is next Tuesday; I'll be working, so Garry will be taking him to that appointment.
Quinn is 5 months old and growing out of his clothes faster than he can wear them. He's his usual happy self and has recently decided that sharing a bed with us doesn't work for him. We pulled the co-sleeper back out and he's much happier in there, so maybe I can finally get some good sleep without being woken up a million times by little feet and hands poking me because he's fidgety. He babbles non-stop and we're slowly starting him on solids, as he's definitely hungry for some "real" food. I'm starting to think that he has seasonal allergies, since he keeps having these episodes of massive congestion every time the weather changes. If he does, he inherited it from daddy!
All in all, life in the Morrow family is pretty good. I'll try and get some recent pictures uploaded and posted so I can show off my little men!
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