Blake's Best Bits

Last night we read from the Book of Mormon and the last word of the last verse that I helped Cody read was "plentifully."
Me speaking to both boys: "Do you know what "plentifully" means?
Blake: "Yeah, it means when you plant stuff in the ground - plant-if....plant-ifly"


Earlier this evening the following exchange happened between Blake and I.

Me: "Sorry sweety, I don't want you playing with this.  I'm going to put it away."
(follows me to the kitchen where I've returned the item to it's place.)
Blake pouting: "Mom, Jesus loves you."
Me: "Yes, He does love me." (I'm thinking what does that have to do with why you're pouting?)
Blake: "But Mom......Jesus doesn't like it when you take away toys."
Me suppressing a laugh: "True, but the screwdriver is not a toy, it's a tool."
Blake: "Oh."

And they lived fearfully NEVER after

I'm very proud of how I've never allowed any of our children to sleep in bed with us.

I have nothing against anyone who does, but it's just not a good thing for our family.

I want my room to be a sanctuary for sleep. That can't happen if I have little feet kicking me or a child's head hogging my pillow.

HOWEVER...

I broke that rule. This morning, last night... whichever time it was.

I LOVE thunderstorms. But after who knows how long it had been shaking our house, I finally woke up... TERRIFIED. Just for a second. 'Till my reason caught up to my wakefulness. Then I realized what it was and was very afraid it would wake the kids.

I laid in bed awhile longer... listening (and watching the VERY BRIGHT flashes of light make shadows dance on the walls). The storm was fierce! It felt like it was RIGHT above our roof. I started making plans for all the 'what ifs' that could happen.

What if.... the house catches on fire? Plans for who to grab which kids. Who to grab their phone and call 911. Who to go wake up our downstairs neighbor. What else to grab? Where would we live in the meantime? How would our landlord react?

What if... a house nearby catches on fire?

What if... the power goes out? What if it's out for a long time (I'm imagining charred trees and loose live wires) What would a power surge do to the DVR?

Then after another loud boom..... "AAAAHHHHHHHAAHAHH" coming from the boy's room.

I remember my terror and multiply that by a hundred and rush to comfort my baby (who's not really a baby, but still needs his mommy)

Blake had JUMPED out of bed, RAN to the door and got lost and scared in the corner. I open it and find him behind the door crying hysterically, crouched and SHAKING like a leaf. I hold him long enough for my touch to soothe his franticness, then guide him to my room. I go back and get Cody, who is too scared to even cry. (I think he's scared because of Blake's dramatic reaction, I don't think he even has noticed the thunder).

I thought of my rule for .....hmmmm.... half a second. I realized that they would only be soothed while a parent was with them, so that could be in their small beds, or in our bed. And of course this is only a one time thing.

So all 4 of us (Gwen surprisingly slept through it all.. and she doesn't even have a fan to drownd out the smaller booms) cuddled together, and I could feel peace return to my little one's hearts. They knew nothing bad would happen as long as mom and dad were there to protect them.

We dozed for I don't know how long, before I started falling off the bed. At which point I realized that all was quiet outside. So... my rule jumped forefront in my mind again. I led the kids back to their beds and we all slept peacefully ever after...

'till they woke up earlier than I'd have liked, having blissfully forgotten all about the terrible scare.

Blake's Best Bits

The scene: Blake trying to get food, that is stuck on his palate, off with his finger.

Blake: "HEY!" (with surprised eyes)

Me: "What?"

Blake: "I can feel my brain."

Cute Stuff

I've forgotten to post about some of the cute things the kids have said or done. I have a spare moment to write about some funny things I was reminded of this morning.

The scene: Blake is bothering Cody.

Me: "Blake you're acting crazy. Please stop annoying Cody."

Blake: "Mom, I'm not a crazy guy."

Me: "You're not?"

Blake: "No. I'm just an old guy."

The scene: I'm talking with Blake about letters and the sounds they make.

Me: "What does your brother's name start with?"

Blake: "It's Co-te. (Cody) It start with an 'm'."

The scene: I'm asking Cody what sounds animals make.

Me: "How about.... a bird?"

Cody: "Tweet, tweet, tweet."

Me: "How about...... a frog?"

Cody: "Wibbit, wibbit, wibbit."

Me: "How about.... Buzz Lightyear?"

Cody: "Fshewwwwwwwww." (with flying gestures)

"Ow bow (How about)...... Woody?

Howdy, Howdy, Howdy!"

Summer 2011

In no particular order, here are some things we've done/experienced this summer:

Moved to Pocatello (loving it by-the-way)

Gwen sleeping 12hr/night

Fix car

Blake and Cody having a blast in our back yard

Splash park in Rexburg

Swimming in Rigby Lake

Go to the Temple

Fireworks in Idaho Falls

Make train table (boys love it)

Procrastinate washing dishes by hand

Paint and distress headboard (didn't love it)

Fix car

Enjoy thunderstorms

Cody learned to say Cheetos (sounds like 'shadows')

Fix car

Install new washing machine

See a couple movies at the discount theater

Paint and distress headboard (love it this time)

Go to lots of parks (especially the one we can walk to, which I love)

Dread washing dishes by hand

Gwen learned to roll back to front, and front to back - a few weeks later

Dustin start 3 week Anatomy course

Loath washing dishes by hand

Enjoy more thunderstorms

Watch all types of fun shows with the DVR that comes with our rent

Make friends in our new ward

Visit with family that lives in Rigby and Boise

Phew... we've been the exact amount of busy to be fun, but not stressful.

It's been my most favorite summer so far because of ONE reason. I spent it with Dustin. He hasn't had a job since we moved so we've done so much together, and the kids have had lots of time with him.

Now that school has started, we wont have near as much time with him over the next 4 years. But at least we started it all with a wonderful summer.

We've taught him to pray...

Blake just tore a kinda important paper that he knew he shouldn't touch.

So I gave him that 'oh-no-you-just-didn't-do-that,-that-was-bad' look. I point to the stairs. That's our time-out spot.

He obediently goes and this is what I hear; "Dear Heavenly Father. Please make mommy be nice to me so I can be happy."

I didn't know being silent, giving a look, and pointing towards time-out was so mean.

Now I'm wondering what will happen next. Will his prayer be answered?

Broken

The scene: a rare quiet moment with Gwen and Cody asleep, Blake reading a book, and me writing some emails.

Blake walks over to me. He puckers up, so I lean over to give him a kiss. Just before our lips touch he pulls away and puts his hands on my cheeks.

"Squishy face, mom," he says. I smile, making my cheeks and lips contort between the pressure from his hands. Blake laughs and smiles, a sparkle in his eyes. He loves this game. The next few minutes are joyful as he giggles at all the silly faces I make.

Concern washes over his face, his eyebrows knit together. "Uh-oh," he says, pointing to my eye. "Ummm... Mom... your eye is broken." Now it's my turn to smile and laugh.

He walks away as I try to explain that it's just a capillary with blood in it....it helps my eye move...everyone has them. He sends one last word over his shoulder before returning to his book, "Gross."

"Mom, I doing dishes"

Had (still have) a migraine so I took a nap while Blake was asleep. I got woken up when I heard his door open. He came in my room, said "Hi mom, I awake". I love it when he's happy after a nap, but I still wasn't feeling much better so I asked him to get back in bed and close his door. He did.

I don't know how much later, but I think I unconsciously heard his door open again, so after I could walk without getting nauseous I went to find him. He was in the kitchen. "Mom, I doing dishes." Luckily Dustin had done dishes earlier and Blake was really filling up one cup and pouring water from it to another.

I love that kid.

Always Backwards

Blake's language is exploding. He studies my mouth and tries to mimic the sounds of the letters I say. He does really well too. Not perfect, but he's 2. I'm grateful for my Speech Therapy education so I can understand what is normal and what he would need help for.

There are two words that no amount of modeling has been able to fix. They are suck in his mind a certain way, and who knows when he'll grow out of it. I used to get annoyed (that was the speech therapist side of me), but now I find it cute! It's just very... Blake!

The first word (and most common one, for now) is SNOW. He transposes the 'S' to the end. "Nows" (sounds like 'nose'). It doesn't matter what kind of way he is using it.
Blake: "It's nosing."
Me: "You mean SSSSSSSS-nowing?"
Blake: "SSSSSS -------- nosing."
Me: "Should we make a SSSSS-now man?"
Blake: "Yeah, nose man!"

The second word(s) I just noticed. BATH TUB. Again, he transposes the first letters, but with each other. "Tath Bub".
Blake (while stripping off his clothes): "Mom, tath bub?"
Me: "Sure. You can get in the BB-Bath TT-Tub"
Blake: "Cody, tath bub?"

I love the conversations we get in to. Also lately he's been telling me "Go shopping... Caleb?" We've never gone shopping with Caleb, so unless they play "shopping" in Nursery, I don't know where he got that idea. (Just 30 seconds ago he just asked "Go shopping Piano?")

I wonder what fun language developments will come next!

Taught by Example

About three weeks ago I was in the hospital for some monitoring. After I was released Dustin and I went to pick Blake up from Grandma and Grandpa's house. While we were there Dustin and his father gave me a Priesthood blesssing. Blake sat on Grandma's lap reverently the whole time. It was a wonderful blessing and everything with the pregnancy since then has gone well.

A few days after that blessing I was sitting on the floor in front of the couch. Blake climbed onto the couch behind me, put his hands on my head, mumbled for a bit, said "Amen" and got down to play some more.

I thought "Did he just do what I think he did?"

A few days later it happened again. And then again a few days after that.

I am so grateful for my husband, immediate and extended male family, and also friends that hold the sacred power of God. It is a great comfort to know that I can receive a blessing at any time of need. It is also wonderful that I have so many men in my life that can teach my sons by their righteous example.

I doubt Blake really understands what he's doing, but I'm positive he understands the peace that filled the room that Sunday evening three weeks ago.