These made the final cut!

Today is the last day of NaBloPoMo.

And I am happy!

Because I have no time this week to blog, and I may have said it all in the last 30 days anyway.

So here, look at my adorable boys!

 

 

 

I'm taking a break for a few days to finish a huge project I have going at work and force myself to finish up some photo projects I need to get done in time to order for Christmas.

Back soon!

These didn't make the cut...

Yesterday we attempted to take pictures for our holiday card.

It was cold.

And someone was not in the mood to look at the camera.

It was windy.

And cold! Did I mention cold?

Clearly too cold to smile any more. At all. Period. The end!

This is how Rich and I both felt within five minutes.

We went home.

****

We tried again today.

Not a bad start.

Noah was really getting into it.

I found out later he was heavily bribed.

Uhoh...is it over already?

Whew...it's OK. Just a little fear of the bird.

I promise Kiel, we won't let him eat you.

He didn't believe us.

"Urrphhh"

And that's all I have to say about that!

I'm not enjoying this. Not.one.bit!

I don't get it Noah. You never cooperate. What's going on with you today?

Wait? Daddy promised you what?

Well he didn't promise me anything.

What's up with that?

Forget this. I'm done. 

The. End.

**********************************

We did get some good ones! Here are some that I really like, but probably won't make it to our holiday card.

Why?

Because we really did get some even better!

 My boys!

 

There is something about this one that makes me think of the '60's. Who can tell me the designer I am thinking of? Was it Calvin Klein?

I just love this one! It is pure, unadulterated Noah.

He looks like he is levitating.

I often describe his energy level as if his feet don't need to touch the ground. He just spins above it.

Oh yes, he earned his bribe!

Tomorrow I'll show the pictures that most likely will make it to the card.

And OMG, but tomorrow is the last day of NaBloPoMo! Wu freaking who!!!

These things keep me going!

Noah asked to see the "cracker nut" movie this morning.

I'm finding that absolutely hysterical!

I should know better...

Since I wrote this post going on and on about how I thought things were getting better with Noah I know, what the fuck was I thinking? things have been going gradually down hill.

The first few days of the medication change Noah was like a different kid, at home and at school. Seriously, the comments from the teachers and staff at school those days were all "wow, Noah's a different kid, what happened?" For almost three days he wasn't hyper at school, he wasn't fidgety, he was just a typical six year old kid.

And then he started to show more hyperactivity again, and more impulsivity, and then more aggression. At home he was more irritable...cranky...angry. He was having more "flash" meldowns again.  And his mood was changing quickly from happy to sad, or happy to angry, with no antecedent that we could see.

We had parent-teacher conferences on Monday. We spent 90 minutes with his teacher; 15 minutes of that was spent going over his academics (which are great, yeah Noah!) the rest was spent talking about his behavior, especially how bad it had been for the last two weeks or so.

Rich and I found out he was close to being suspended last week. We knew there had been an "incident" with another child. It was worse than we had realized. The only reason he wasn't suspended is because the school knew we were seeing a new doctor and adjusting his medications. His teacher also knows that a suspension wouldn't teach Noah anything, and I imagine the principal can see that too. Holy crap though...I'm still in shock that it was even a possibility.

Then of course you all know that Kiel ended up with 12 stitches last weekend in his forehead. Noah said he only pushed him "a little." Honestly, I don't think it was intentional. They play pretty rough together, and Kiel is giving as much as he's getting. When they are playing together Noah is good with Kiel; it's more the random interactions like Noah tripping Kiel when he walks by, or pushing him when he doesn't think we are looking.

It took a few days to get in touch with the doctor, but I finally did on Monday and we cut out the additional dose of stimulants we had added a couple weeks ago, and slightly increased a different medication. The doctor said he was having a paradoxical reaction to the methylphenidate.

Monday he was with his favorite baby sitter all day and she said he did great. That doesn't surprise me too much though. He wasn't competing with anyone for attention and she is very, very good with him.

Tuesday we made the medication changes. He was with me all day and we spent a good part of it running errands. Noah wasn't as hyper as he had been, but he was very moody. He seemed to alternate between being angry and sad most of the day. It broke my heart.

Wednesday he was with Rich and Rich said they had a great day. The evening was rougher.

Thursday was tough. He cried a lot, seemed more frustrated and irritable.

Today (Friday) it is just the two of us during the day. I told him we would start decorating for Christmas. Then in the afternoon we need to pick up Kiel from daycare to take him to the doctor to have his stitches removed. I'm nervous about having Noah there with us when that is going on. He could be fine, he could get very upset if Kiel cries, or he could be a total pain in the ass and misbehave in every way possible.

We see the doctor again next Monday. Half of me believes medication is the key here and we just need to find the right regimen. The other half of me is afraid we are just fucking him up more.

The obligatory Thanksgiving day post (kind of like the obligatory green bean casserole - it's there but you don't have to eat/read it).

If you are looking for the UPrinting.com custom thank you card giveaway it is here.

Today I am thankful for my husband and my two beautiful boys! I am also thankful for being able to have a nice, quiet (well, as quiet as it can be with my two boys) Thanksgiving at home.


Yes, we decided to do what was best for Noah and stay home.

Yes, it created much grief and confusion with my mother in law. To the point Rich and I were wondering if we shouldn't just go and let the boys go crazy just to make a point.

Of course trying to make a point like that tends to backfire on the pointer (us), and never quite get the intended message across to the pointee (in this case the BIL and SIL).

Rich and I finally sat down and talked about how to handle this. It was a good conversation and we are definitely both on the same page.

I even offered to be the one to make the phone call and explain to the BIL and SIL. I figured it was ultimately better for me to take the crap if they offered it. And I'd rather they have issues with me than issues with Rich.

So I called, and luckily got their answering machine. I left a very pleasant message thanking them for their invitation and explaining that right now it was better for us to stay home. I told them we would miss seeing everyone, but would see them all very soon, and hoped that they had a wonderful Thanksgiving.

An hour or so later the BIL called and was very insistent that we come. He was quite pleasant about it, but was not taking no for an answer. He said they had already set the table and they had gifts for the boys. I explained more about what was going on with Noah and why we felt it was best for us to stay home. He kept insisting. I finally left it that we'd let him know if we changed our mind.

And that night the calls from Rich's mom started. She has Alzheimer's and it has progressed to the point that things stick in her mind and once she starts dwelling on it she can't let it go. Nor can you have a reasonable conversation with her about it. It's pretty much there until she finds something else to dwell on.

Apparently my SIL had called her to tell her about all of this. And that really pisses me off! The only reason she would involve my mother in law is to cause problems for us. They are quite aware of her mental status, and in fact complain often about how she calls them over and over to talk about the same thing.

I spent thirty minutes trying to get it through to her why we weren't going. All she kept doing was repeating that BIL had bought toys for the boys. I was completely unable to get through to her why we made this decision.

The next day there were five answering machine messages from her in a two hour period of time wanting to know why we weren't going to be at dinner and what was going on with her family.  In most of them she was crying. Unfortunately or perhaps fortunately? she was calling during the day when we weren't home.

The next evening she started calling again. Rich spent over an hour on the phone with her, saying the same things over and over again. She told him 14 times (he counted!) that BIL had toys for the boys and that we were keeping them away from him.* It was so sad, and so frustrating. And I'm still so mad that the BIL and SIL would involve her in this way.

There was no communication between Rich and his brother between my call to them Sunday and Tuesday evening when Rich had this long conversation with his mother. After that call he called his brother and they talked.

I was so proud of Rich. He was very firm in our decision and explanation, but he wasn't rude, and he didn't bring up any of the BIL's rudeness or the things they have said about Noah (most of which they think we don't know about). Rich felt much better after the call and thinks everything is straightened out.

I'm not as confident knowing how crazy and manipulative the SIL is, but I'm glad Rich thinks so.

Why do I think this? Because the SIL told her son that the BIL had called us and "gently" asked us to bring toys for Noah to occupy him, but we decided not to go because we are embarrassed by Noah. WTF?

Once again, please let me express just how thankful I am for having a quiet Thanksgiving at home with just the four of us!

*The "interesting" part of all of this is just why do they care so much all of a sudden? Their actions in the past couple months (lying to us about not having Rosh Hashanah dinner, the things they have said to other people that get back to us, his email) have made it pretty clear they don't want us there. And this "keeping them away from the boys" bit is hysterical, considering their complete lack of interest in seeing Kiel since he was born. It's a head shaker folks.

Save a buck! Earn a buck!

I promise, I'm not turning this into a review blog or money saving blog. There are so many great women out there who do that so much better than I could! I do enjoy running a giveaway every once in a while though, and when I find something I really like I enjoy sharing that as well.

So today, since I'm not feeling up to tackling a lengthy blog post which I really plan on doing soon because I still owe you all an update on that behavior program we tried with Noah, and I owe Kiel his two year letter. Soon peoples, soon!

Anyway, today I'm going to share two websites with you. One saves me money and one helps me make a little extra money.

I'd actually be surprised if you are the parent of a baby or young kids and you don't know this website, but just in case... it is diapers.com.

Enter Referral Code: mntblog  Fast Free shipping for orders over $49. Most orders will arrive within 2-4 business days from time of order. Not Valid for existing Diapers.com customers. Other Terms and Conditions may apply. See www.diapers.com for more details. No cash value.

 
I've been ordering diapers from them since before I was pregnant with Kiel. They offer free shipping for orders over $49 (I've never had a problem coming up with an order that qualifies), they accept manufacturers coupons (so you can take advantage of all those great coupons diaper companies send out when you first have a baby), and you can easily see and reorder products you've purchased before.I also love that with diapers they break it down and show you how much it costs per diaper, so it is easy to compare cost between brands.

They also sell way more than just diapers. Every time I log on they are offering something else. I've always found the prices to be reasonable and competitive.

This weekend they are having a great toy sale with discounts up to 40% off.

If you haven't ordered from them before you will receive $10 off your first order. If you use my referral code mntblog I'll receive a credit towards my next order.

****************************************

The next site is Swagbucks

It's basically a search and win site. I have it set up as my home page and do any searching from there. It uses google and ask.com for its search engine. You earn Swag Bucks from searching and also from swagcodes that get posted. You then redeem the Swag Bucks for a variety of available products. The most popular item is a $5 Amazon e-gift card.

Just by using Swagbucks as my homepage and doing my searches in it I've earned enough swagbucks to redeem for $30 worth of Amazon e-gift cards since I joined in September. You earn even more swagbucks by getting referrals. I don't have any referrals yet, but if you happen to be intrigued by Swagbucks and sign up by following one of the links on here I will!

I've been having fun seeing how many Swag Bucks I can earn in one day, plus its a bit of a game to see if I can find the swagcodes or figure out the swaghunts. It's basically free money from doing what you normally do online. So click here, check out the website and see what you think! Then signup!

How It Works!

1. SEARCH

Search the web using www.swagbucks.com and receive results from Google & Ask.com.

Click here to get the Toolbar.

2. EARN

Swag Bucks are periodically awarded as you search the web.

3. REDEEM

Redeem your Swag Bucks for exclusive swagbucks.com products and
more in the Swag Store.

Here, look at my kids, I'm too tired to write tonight.

Children of the corn.

Noah painted this last year.

Noah receiving his orange belt last week.

Do boys ever get over their love of mud?

Monkey see, Monkey do.

Scary!

"Moe ee" or A, B, effing C

If you are looking for the UPrinting.com custom thank you card giveaway it is here.

My favorite time of day is when I get to put Kiel to bed.

There is no drama, no resistance. I ask if he's ready to go up and read stories and he says "yesh" with a big smile and up we go.

Then we snuggle in my bed and read stories. He has definite opinions about what he wants to hear each night and in what order they should be read. When the stories are done I ask if he's ready to turn out the light and again he says "yesh."

I turn off the light and he cuddles in; one of my arms under his head, one wrapped around him. And then I sing. I don't have the greatest voice, but both my boys love when I sing to them. With Noah I would make up silly songs that he would ask for again and again. With Kiel I've tended towards the lullaby variety.

Until a few weeks ago, when he started asking me for the ABC song. I'm not really sure how I figured out it was the ABC song he was asking for, because what it sounds like is "moe ee" while he does the sign for more.

Every night now it is "moe ee, moe ee." So I sing the ABC song. And then I sing it again. When I stop I hear "moe ee." If I try to sing something else he covers my mouth with his hand.

I wondered if it was the predictable tune that he liked, so I sang Twinkle Twinkle Little Star (same tune, bet you just hummed a few bars didn't you!). Nope, immediate hand over my mouth followed by "moe ee."

I improvised a bit singing the ABC's to a different tune. Nope, hand over my mouth followed by "moe ee."

So I sing the ABC song over and over and over again. Every night. Until he falls asleep.

I'm beginning to hate that fucking ABC song.

How "Just a Saturday afternoon" can turn into "holy shit, grab some towels and get us to the ER"

 If you are looking for the DigitalRoom.com rolled canvas print giveaway it is here. (ends 11/22)

If you are looking for the UPrinting.com custom thank you card giveaway it is here.

I've frequently joked that I consider it to have been a successful weekend if we don't end up in the ER.

Well, the truth is we've only been in the ER once, and that was with Noah when he was about two years old. He fell into a bookcase at daycare and ended up with five stitches at the corner of his left eyebrow.

In fact, I probably cursed myself because we had a baby sitter Friday night who used to be Noah's TSS. We only see her every few months. I was joking that my boys seem to be made of rubber and bragging that we have only been to the ER once in the six plus years of having kids.

Why oh why did I open my fucking mouth??

Last night we ended up in the ER with Kiel. Toddler versus sub-woofer. The sub-woofer won.

I think he has a few words to say to that sub-woofer.

I forgot how much a forehead wound could bleed. And how long it could take to get it to stop. Fun times people, fun times.

Three hours and twelve stitches later we were ready to go home.

I was very proud of Rich. He has the biggest heart and it just kills him to see one of his boys in pain. Don't tell him I told you, but I know he was near tears listening to Kiel cry while he was being stitched up.

I tend to be pretty good during a crisis. I think a lot of it has to do with my EMT training. And my natural tendency to boss people around.

I save my freak-outs until after everything has calmed down.

I've spent most of today alternating between wanting to sleep, taming bouts of anxiety, and trying not to think about how much worse it could have been.

Just a Saturday afternoon.

 If you are looking for the DigitalRoom.com rolled canvas print giveaway it is here.

If you are looking for the UPrinting.com custom thank you card giveaway it is here.

Rich took Noah to the Temple football game this afternoon so Kiel and I are just hanging out together.

I love that Rich and Noah are able to go do things like this together. Finally! There is no guarantee Noah will be able to sit through it all, but the chances are good. And Noah is a lot of fun to be with now, when his temper isn't flashing anyway.

I love having alone time with Kiel. He's just so easy. We hang out and watch Sesame Street, or play with his cars. He's great playing by himself and just checking in every once in a while so I can get some stuff done. So different from my time with Noah at this age.

Today we spent some time playing with the Little People farm my parents sent him. (Yes, they sent him a birthday present. Just a box addressed to him. No card, no call. But at least they didn't ignore it, not that I really thought they would, but still.)

Yeah presents!

It's a farm dude!

Hold on while I rescue the horse!

Fun!

Never forget the joy of the box!

Am I a spaceman or a robot?

Out of my way!

Whoa....someone slow this box down!

And now it is nap time! And that is most definitely the best time of the day!