Sammy's Thankful for...

So this past week while we've been saying prayers (either blessing the food or getting ready for bed) Sam has started to interject things. The first day he added Shane, Troy, and Sarah, some days it is just Troy, but today he added in some of his favorite letters (W, F, E, H, L, D, B, A, O to name a few), oh and Grandma and Grandpa, trains, and baby too. It's fun that he's finally getting it and adding in what is important to him! Hopefully one day he'll say Mommy and Daddy too! :)

My first week back to work :(

So...it finally happened. It was inevitable I guess...I am a working mom! :)? So, last Sunday I was dreading the next morning, a little excited to see my school kids, but already sad thinking about leaving my boys, and definitely sad about the lost sleep and having to "fake" being awake and ready to teach at 7:40 am! LOL. I have wanted to put a few things up here but it's been crazy to say the least, so here's a run down...
Monday...back to school--not too bad overall, but a long day. There is a meeting after school (yuck) but Sam's asleep and Nathan stays asleep in his car seat until the meeting is adjourned (phew)
Tuesday...I wake up at 4:30am with a swollen/hard breast and I'm in MAJOR pain...want to cry..feed Nathan...pump...feed...pump...feed etc...go to work, start having chills, fever, aches realize it's Mastisis (double yuck) and have to go to the doctor...then I have to figure out how to get the boys down when I am feeling so awful!! I want MY MOM!
Wednesday...still sick and working, and the medicine they've given me is making me sick to my stomach and to make matters work I can't eat when I take it (I have to take it way before or way after eating---dumb!) I'm still in pain, and still feeling sick...the medicine is starting to work...I go to my mom's to pick up the boys and pass out there and Thad ends up coming over to spend the night there too!
Thursday-Happy Turkey Day...I'm feeling a lot better. No work today thank goodness! I cook with my mom (I really enjoy doing that) to help get ready for the family shindig. We make soda cracker pie (a family tradition--yummy), some jello/cool whippy salad, and green bean casserole, and then Thad arrives and we make Derby pie (our new Marcroft tradition). We went to the Marcrofts and eat, and then over to my brother's house and eat again! Sam misses his nap and is super hyper and goes to bed late. I am glad that I don't have to work on Friday. :)
Friday-We lazy around, Thad hits Home Depot and Lowes for sales (he really should get paid he's there so often) and then we lazyaround some more!
Saturday-Hmm...what did I do Saturday? Oh, I remember, finally felt good enough to get things done and cleaned up the mess that accumulated during the week!

Anyway...Sam did some cute things, and Nathan too, but I don't remember them now! Ugh. I do want to stick a few pics from Turkey Day here...Nathan is cooing a bunch and will smile and talk back to you (it's quite fun, Sam wasn't a big coo-er). Sam is just getting more fun every day. He loves to go to Nursery and on the way home started singing Jesus Wants Me for A Sunbeam -- I heard "Sunbeam, Sunbeam" in the backseat. It was cute!

P.S. Here is a pic of most of the Driggs grandkids (except 17 month old Ashley who was too tired, and Nathan who was asleep or eating?!) Lizzie/Jared, Natalie/Cameron, and Sammy!
More Turkey Day Pics-Click Here

Sam-isms

Thad took Sammy to his two year appointment last month and we found out something we didn't know (ha)-- that Sam is a big kid! He's 35 lbs and 39 inches tall (off the chart and taller than most 3 year olds). The doctor also asked if Sammy knew at least 20 words, and that got me thinking, geez, I haven't been writing down the cute way that he says things (even though I bought a little notebook to stick in my purse so that I would have it with me ALL of the time so that I could write it down when he said new words-lol) So today I'm going to try to list all of his words, and if I can figure it out, how they sound so that we'll have this later for Sam when he wants to look back at it...

So, I was going to do all the words he knew, but he knows so many now and is learning a so many more each day that I'm just going to put down some of his and my favorites...

A Dictionary of some of my words/phrases at 24 months (by Sam, written by Mom)
-Where are you _____? (One of his first phrases...he used to go to the back door at my mom's and say, "birrr (birds), where are you?
-Up high!! = Look at that way up there...or wow, I'm up high, or help me, I want to go up there!
-"All Aboard" or "All Aboard choo choo train!"
-Uh oh... + tie shoe, or baby way (awake), or fall, or uh-oh poo-poo! and then "Stee-key" (Stinky)!
-Splash = Splash (when he's in the bathtub), and doubles for spill when he spills anything else, used with the previous word I come running with a towel, "Uh, oh! Splash!"
-Down! = Sit down by me (now!)
-'mere = Come here (and if you don't respond he'll come and grab your hand and drag you to where he wants you)
-Peeese and Tay-Too (he is very polite and remembers to say Thank you when he's playing with toys or wearing clothes that he got from various people)
-"Bless+ name" = bless you -- He picked up this one on his own and I couldn't believe it when he said "bless mommy" after I sneezed! Go Sam!
-Pa-pa and Ma-ma = Grandma and Grandpa (and anyone who looks old enough to be a grandma/grandpa)
-Baby Nay-nan = Baby Nathan
-Mauw = Cat
-Neigh = Horse
-Deep Grumbling Noise = Vacuum (or any other loud machine)
-Aunt Beppy = Aunt Becky
-"bah-perd"- backward(s), he likes to say this as he's walking backwards...
-ice, cookie, cracker, ketchup (which he likes putting on everything this week, even his broccoli-yuck!), muhmuh - mustard, waf-waf=waffle/pancake, oh-meal=oatmeal, pahp-porn=popcorn, pop=lollipop
-choo choo track, clickety-clack, "ding-ding-ding-ding" and various other train noises...
-"Turn, turn, turn"- to turn off or on (He used to say "PaPa turn turn" when we were at church talking about the chandeliers in the chapel)
-Fasss! Fasss! = Fast! Often accompanied by really fast arms going back and forth...
-Greeeen, go! (Said two or three times or more if we're stopped for a minute in the car)
-Fly = butterfly or fly
+ many more things!!! :)


Also, here are some of the cute things that I do (again written by Mommy)...
- say hi to everything (especially buses, trains, ambulances, fire engines, grandmas and grandpas)
- "tickles" you to wake you up if you try to sleep when he's awake (LOL)
- Used to grab Grandpa Driggs' toes to make Grandpa squeal
- *I'll add some more as I think of them...to be continued...it's midnight!

My Favorite Songs:
-Itsy bitsy spider
- Wheels on the Bus (when he was 18 months or so, I had to sing this all of the time!)
-ABC's
-Twinkle, Twinkle Little Star
-Popcorn Popping on the Apricot Tree (his favorite right now!)


My Recent Milestones (this week)
-I used to count things but I would only count to three...this week I surprised Mom by counting first to five, then seven, and then to nine by myself while I was playing with my toys.
-I can sing most of the alphabet by myself (not perfect sounding but I can get through the song) and I can identify about half of the letters by name, and say most of their sounds (phonics).
* When we were out running errands I heard a "wa wa wa" and then "U" (he has trouble saying W) and I looked up and we were passing Weinerschnitzel and the Big W...he has been identifying lots of letters in signs... it's fun!

Okay...enough of my blabbing..now I can feel better, at least I have this stuff written down! :)

SMILES!

So, the last two days we have been enjoying Nathan's first smiles... it is crazy how they go from "smiling" while passing gas, and when falling asleep (Nathan even does this giggle thing sometimes as he's falling asleep), and then all of a sudden they seem to react to you and smile tons! It's so fun. I tried to get some pictures, but as with anything that you're trying to get pics of with the kids, he started staring at the camera..I think that I might have gotten a good one or two... I think if nothing else Thad and I passed on our good smile genes to our boys! Sammy sure has a show stopping smile and it looks like Nathan will too (and he has Grandpa Driggs' adorable dimples!)

Call us crazy, but Thad and I went to Disneyland with our two boys, my 2 year old niece Lizzie, and her 4 year old brother, Jared. Two adults, four kids under four...we got some crazy looks and a few comments, "God bless you", "you poor thing", "are those all yours", and my favorite, "are you starting a football team?" LOL. We took the Monorail in, jumped onto the train to see the dinosaurs (by request), went on Pirates of the Caribbean (Sammy and Jared didn't like it at all) but Lizzie liked most of it. Then we sat and enjoyed lunch in the French Quarter (PB&J and crackers for the kids) and Thad and I splurged and shared a bread bowl with clam chowder-yummy! They ran around and in right in front of everyone walking by and got really tired, so we headed back to the train, rode it around the park and then took the Monorail back to the car. The last 15 minutes I was really wondering what we had gotten ourselves into...I even stepped on the back of Sammy's shoe (since he wanted to push the stroller not ride in it) which pulled his shoe off and sent him face first to the ground...sigh. We eventually made it back home and put all of the kids (and Thad) down for naps! It is nice to be able to run over and ride the trains and get out of the house for a few hours! It was fun, but I don't know if I'd do it so close to nap time next time..maybe after naps? To see more pics go to SmugMug-DisneylandPics

Sigh, Trying to figure this two kid thing out...

So not too much exciting stuff has been going on... I feel like all I do is feed Nathan, pump, change Nathan, try to keep Sam happy while I'm feeding/pumping/changing one of the two diapered boys/fixing food etc...but I don't feel like I'm doing a good job of it. I haven't quite figured out how to keep Sammy happy while tending to Nathan. Today I was fixing lunch for Sammy-Nathan was in a little vibrating chair and content since I had just fed him-and then I realized that it was about time for his nap (it was 11 am) and he hadn't been outside to play at all and get all of that 2 year old energy out! Ugh! He had been stuck inside early in the morning because it was wet/cold, and then I was stuck feeding Nathan from 10-11 which meant he was stuck inside with me. I can't just let him run free outside because he's only two, but I don't want to sit outside feeding Nathan--he has a hard enough time eating when he's not covered with a blanket! I keep telling myself that it's okay that I have bf issues because I've been blessed with two beautiful healthy boys, but man, sometimes I wish I knew what it's like to have enough milk and not worry about how long you've been feeding, and pumping after each feeding, etc! Anyway...anyone have any ideas about how to keep your two year old happy and not glued to the TV or computer while you're feeding your newborn?? Sam will play for a little while by himself but then he says "Down (sit down) Mommy!" and wants me to play trains or build Lego towers with him (both hard to do while bf-ing). HELP!

Ugh! What a dork!

So, this is a quick and frustrating post! I went to my mom's to get dog food, throw a batch of laundry in, and grab some things and then Thad called. Yesterday we had switched car keys and I his keys were still in my purse and he needed to get the car off the street for street sweeping ASAP or we'd get a ticket! I grumbled but said I'd head out in a minute to bring his keys back to him. When I got my car, which I had parked in front of my mom's house, I had a ticket from parking on the street when the street sweeper came by my mom's house!!! :( UGH! I lived in Cerritos for 29 years and they just barely started ticketing for street sweeping and I'm not used to it yet! Also, I'm on maternity leave still (1.5 weeks left) and who the heck knows what day of the week it is when you're not working?! Ugh. There goes $25 that I could have spent on things we actually need! Oh well...I WILL remember the next time for sure!

"Up High"

So, I was in the bedroom working on stuff when I thought to myself, "Hey, I haven't heard Sam in a few minutes, I wonder what he's up to..." I immediately checked the front door (he's figured out how to unlock and open that) but it was closed, phew, but then saw the back door open. We are dog sitting for my parents while they are on a cruise to Hawaii and I left the back door open for Millie..no worries I thought. The gates are closed he's probably just playing in the dirt. Thad and I went out to check on him and then I almost screamed--he (as you can see in the pics) was on the top of the ladder that was propped up for Thad to do some work on the roof. He wasn't scared, he just smiled, or smirked, and said "up high, yea". After saying a quick thank you in my head to that still small voice who reminded me to look for Sammy I ran and got the camera while Thad watched him. He screamed when Thad made him come down--he wanted to play more. Sigh. It will be nice when our construction is all done and we can have a nice play area in the back (although I think that Sam will miss the dirt & piles & fun, dirty boy stuff!)

Big Brother Sam

Sammy loves "Baby Nay-nan" (I put some of our favorite big brother shots here) so this week's biggest challenge has to be keeping my sick 2 year old away from his 1 month old brother. He's had a nasty cough and a fever and we don't want Nathan to get sick b/c they'll make us take him to the hospital (this happened to Sam when he was 28 days old and got a high fever from one of us and we had three scary days in the hospital until all of the tests came back negative and they ruled out Meningitis...) Sam seems to finally be getting better! It's been 5 days of coughing and germs and a sick and whiny 2 yr old and I'll be happy when I don't have to wash my hands after touching Sam every time!

"Beeping" Nathan's nose

Too late for Halloween Pics?

Well, since I wasn't officially "blogging" on Halloween I didn't post pics here. They were up that night on SmugMug for our faithful followers, but here are a few of our favorites.
Sammy was a train engineer since he loves trains and says (or sings) "All Aboard" all day long as he plays with his trains, cars, or anything else that you can board. :) Nathan, although he slept through mostly everything, woke up enough at one grandma's to put on his pirate outfit (from Build-A-Bear; it fit great--Thanks Aunt Addie!) He even had a patch and a parrot--too bad the hat didn't fit! We had fun and by the end of the trip around the block Sammy kind of knew what he was doing and for sure he knew that he had candy in his bucket! I didn't dress up on Halloween but at the ward party I donned my striped tights, my grandmother's black funeral dress and a witches hat and had a blast!

Here goes nothing..

I have both kids (Sammy-24 mos. & Nathan-1 month) down, which is a miracle in itself, and have been inspired by my little sister's recent addition to her life, a blog. Enough is enough--it's time to start a family blog! I had one friend recently who, after receiving an email announcing Nathan's birth, told me that she didn't even know that we were expecting--a blog would have fixed that! We have been SmugMugging it for three years now, but I guess it would be fun to have my random thoughts accompany our pictures?! Will people actually read my blabbing and run on sentences? Maybe it will just be the same people who know me and still somehow love me ;) Anyway, I am happy to begin this...and invite you to check in when you feel like knowing more about me and the boys. :)