Inside

The pictures of Blake in nothing but a diaper are only a week old. I'm just happy he is now filling out his 18 month clothes pretty well. Brock had an assignment months ago to write his sight words with shaving cream on the table. I opted for sugar in a cake pan. Well Brock and Blake love that one... and Blake inevitably ends up with a sugar rush.

As far as our life goes nothing has changed. Jeff just started Wendys and we just pray that he wont have to do this for long. I have recently seen numerous spiders and so had a man come out to spray today. Hopefully we will be good for the next three months. I have gotten huge and cant believe I have almost three months left. I have been binging on the sugar and need to cut that out. To date I have only gained about 7-8lbs. Well enjoy the pictures

Outside-

If we are not outside...Blake is not happy. Oh fun fun in the sun (and dirt). Those rock piles in the front are gone now. We only have one on the side of the house to do. Next we can spread dirt, call my landscaper to finish up, and then order our sod....Is there an end in sight? I dont know.

I get updates from Babycenter.com sent to my email weekly for both the pregnancy and for Blake. This is the info they gave me for "Your toddler 17months, week 4"

Hello, Katherine!

It will be a year or two before your toddler leaves most of his tantrums behind. Until then, expect to deal with outbursts of anger and frustration on a regular basis. You can cut down on the frequency of tantrums by making sure your child gets enough sleep and eats well during the day. It's probably unrealistic to expect your energetic toddler to sit still for three square meals a day, so try giving your child a variety of foods throughout the day. Remember, a hungry, sleep-deprived toddler is a meltdown waiting to happen.

Hmmmmmm...how did they know? And what if it has nothing to do with sleep and eating and it is all about thier determination to just get their way????

Boys and Dirt

I guess I should post some pictures, but it just takes too long for my camera to download and so forth, for me to be willing to sit in the cold basement.

Yesterday was beautiful and Brock spent the day up the hill at Hatch's house and played outside for over 4 hours with the Vista Ridge neighborhood kids. Either Brock needs to learn to ride his bike the mile up the hill or I will have to drop him off there all summer long and make sure one of the mothers will keep an eye on him. Hopefully our neighborhood will grow that fast and have that many boys to keep my Brock entertained. He came back golden brown and just happy as he could be. He had lots of stories about dirt, poop, scrapes and bruises...I'm almost glad to not have been there watching five boys discuss boy things.

Blake went out yesterday as well where he biffed it really good. His whole face is messed up with bruises and goose eggs all over. He cried, I brought him in, and he was still bleeding and not even wiped off before he was trying to run out the door again. I really really need to get my lawn in for Blake's sake, but we are looking at AT LEAST a month of work left before that is possible. Blake does love the dirt though. At Granpa Johns, Jeff took him outside and he just didnt know what to do with all that grass. Finally he found a nice dirt pile under the deck to play in. We will have the garden and may have to get a sandbox or something to keep his dirt needs met.

Today was crazy windy and drizzly and so I had to keep Blake in. The only saving Grace was an empty paper towel roll. The boys kept themselves busy for hours taking turns hitting it off the table, singing in it, and hitting each other and their Momma. The thing is really beat up now...

Another good note, Jeff said they had the trees we wanted at costco (only a little smaller then what the HOA wants us to plant-ahh well) for just around 25 dollars. We cant wait to go on Saturday to pick a few up as well as some bulbs.

Love them more then I hate them

Remember when the Schuhmachers went to Germany and Ryan's relative, in regards to his kids made mistranslated quote...I love them more then I hate them... and though it was funny, Ryan had to agree with the way the phrasing came out.... WELL SO DO I. Blake is waking us up all night, and screaming demands at us all day. We have set up the playpen in our bedroom as the new place for time outs. We get about 30 minutes of peace after each 1 minute timeout, and then he is at it again. I just keep saying to myself "I love him, I love him, it is only a phase". Hopfully it is almost over (well it better be in the next 3.5 months or I might lose it).

Blake also wont eat. All he wants is to go outside and play in the cold. Nothing else matters; food, toys, us. At least when the weather is good we can actually go out. I really hope we can get our grass in soon- that would help.

I just got an email from Brooke that Tim is trying to find a job in Utah... AHHHHH. I am letting them have Brock one week a month for the summer and every three day weekend and school break (minus Thanksgiving this year) all school year long. I dont know if I could handle every other weekend as well. At least the economy is slow....I just hope Jeff finds a new job before Tim!

Jeff

So after spending almost 700 dollars on repairs for his car (that's only worth 1200) because we cant qualify or afford a new one, Jeff's tire blew out on him way to work this morning. Poor Jeff changed his first tire on the freeway at 7:45 this morning with it less then 20 degrees outside (in his only pair of slacks-his suit is too small now). The 100 dollars for the tire is daunting, but at least he didn't get hurt and all is well now.

Jeff has been working like mad to get rid of the massive inventory that was accumulated the two years before he got there. With trying to move the DataCom store into the Royal office they moved out inventory from June to Sept, which only adds tens of thousands of the stuff he needs to get rid of now. Jeff feels confident that he can get it somewhat under control by Sept, and make it so next years is 100% better.

My husband is wonderful- he works hard, plays with the boys, and even helps out with Blake at night (yeah Blake just started the wake up every three hours to be held phase and since he only wakes up at all once every couple months or so we accommodated him... now that it has lasted three nights...we are forcing him to cry it out.)

The job search is going and going. As of now we arent too hopeful since the national layoff numbers have increased so dramatically, and so we are grateful he even has a job. We are trying to not get excited about every contact he gets since most dont go too far. But as Evan always said to me before... it only takes one job-the job.

Unfinished Basement

Ao our basement layout is wonderful. We have the family area in one half and then behind the stairs thru a hallway we have the bedrooms and bath. The family area is wonderful when kept clean. We have old flower couches, a tv, sq mats for a small floor play area and the computer. Well now that Jeff has cleaned up what we hope to be the last of the dying bees, Blake now loves to play in the back half. We have Brocks bikes, a kiddie basketball hoop, a few balls, one stuffed teddy bear and the airhocky table. Blake has just learned how to go down the stairs by himself at lightening speeds and I worry he will get a rug burn on his tummy. All day long he pleads and pleads with his little grunts to go down stairs to watch me play ball. Though it isnt finished and a bit dusty, it is insulated and isnt scary at all. It has turned out to be a really great play area. Beacause of the dust and some random slivers I do have to require the kids to wear socks. It is even nice to have a place where Blake can run around with a Pen and I dont have to worry. The boys just opened the giant airhocky box propped on the wall and have made a mess with the packing form. Well I guess it is time to vaccume some of the dust again anyway.....