Bank Issue

This morning Evan didn’t want to leave the house to go to school. I think he just didn’t want to give up playing GeoTrax. It wasn’t that he didn’t want to go to school. While I got Noah dressed Evan played GeoTrax, but then he didn’t want to come downstairs when it was time to leave.

I set the house alarm, got Noah strapped in the car, then Evan told me he needed a diaper change. I just changed him in the back of the car in the garage because I didn’t want to have to get Noah out of the car and everything.

When we finally got to school it was about 9:30. School starts at 9. We hardly ever get there right at 9:00.

While Evan was at school Noah and I just stayed at home. Usually I clean on Thursdays, but we are having a cleaning lady come tomorrow, so I didn’t have to do as much. I still straightened up and did laundry.

When we picked Evan up, they were just coming in the classroom from being outside. They made butterflies (out of coffee filters, I think). They had been outside letting them fly in the wind.

I let the boys play a little when we got home and then I put them down for naps. Evan did not nap, but Noah did.

So, I’m really annoyed at our bank. The ATM ate a check a few weeks ago and I filed a claim. They credited my account and I thought that was it. Well, today I got a letter in the mail saying they never found the check and the credit would be reversed and they were closing the dispute. The bank said it was up to me to contact the person who signed the check to place a stop payment and issue me a new check. What a pain! I had to email the parents of one of my students. I hope they are ok with that. I called the bank, but there’s nothing they can do, they said it’s all up to me and the person who wrote the check now.

For dinner we had corned beef that I made in the crock pot.

We just gave the boys baths and put them to bed. Morry read Where The Wild Things Are again to Evan. He's really into that book now. We have read it for the last few nights now.

Kevin’s House and Panera

Last night neither Evan nor Noah slept well for some reason. Noah was up a few times. Evan woke up crying at one point. I’m not sure why. He said he needed a diaper change, but it was just a wet diaper. I didn’t sleep well.

This morning, I thought it would be good to get out of the house. I thought maybe we would go to the mall. The weather still isn’t great. It was supposed to rain on and off all day.

I called Yenis and we originally planned to meet at the mall, but then we started talking and both of us decided the mall might not be a good idea because of the whole Swine Flu scare. She invited us to come over and play.

Yenis has a nice covered back patio. Even though it was humid and a little wet, we were still able to play on the patio. Evan, Noah, and Kevin played well at first. Then, for some reason Evan and Kevin started getting cranky and not playing to well together. We had fed them snacks, but thought maybe they were still hungry. Evan threw a fit when it was time to leave Kevin’s house to get lunch. Evan said, “I don’t want to go to dinner.” He gets lunch and dinner confused some times. We managed to get everyone out of the house and we went to Panera for lunch. The weather had cleared up some and we were able to sit outside. All 3 kids did well. Evan and Kevin played for a while after lunch.

We came home for naps around 2:00. It has just gotten quiet upstairs and Lizzy started barking. It woke or disturbed Evan from almost sleeping. Evan never ended up napping. Noah slept well though.

Blanca came at 4:00. I tutored one student and got home at 6:00.

We had grilled chicken with carrots and celery for a side.

Noah got real cranky, but as soon as Morry cut up watermelon and put in on his tray he calmed down. Both boys ate a ton of watermelon. Morry couldn’t cut it fast enough.

We just gave the boys baths and put them to bed. So far, so good. Let’s hope for a better night tonight.

Library

This morning I dropped Evan off at school. Noah and I just hung out at home this morning. He actually took a late morning nap and I woke him up at lunch time.

We ate lunch and then got Evan.

I had some checks and cash to deposit from my tutoring so we went to the bank. This time I just drove up to the teller window. It takes so long to deposit the checks individually at the ATM and last time a check got eaten. It was a pain dealing with that. Anyway, I deposited the money and then we went to the library.

Evan and Noah had a good time playing in the kids section of the library. We picked out some books and movies.

When we got home I put the boys down for naps. Noah slept until Blanca got here at 4:00. Evan slept until 5:00.

I tutored 3 students and came home at 8:00.

Before bed, we started having Evan help clean up. He’s still not doing so great. He pretends he can’t clean up. Tonight he was holding a basketball in one hand and was pretending he couldn’t open his other hand wide enough to pick up the train tracks. He’s such an actor. I asked him a few times to put the wooden train tracks away. Eventually, I picked them up and told him he couldn’t play with them for a while. We said we’d keep them in the garage for a while since he wouldn’t clean them up.

The boys are in bed now. Evan went to bed without a fight tonight. Hope that continues.

UT and Green Eggs and Ham

This morning we had an appointment at the University of Texas Children’s Research Lab. They called to see if I could bring in Evan for a study. They said the study involved showing a kid toys, taking them apart, and having them put it back to together. So, I said we could come in at 11am today.

It was pouring down rain on the way there.

When we got there Evan was very quiet. Noah and I were able to watch him from another room. I could see, but not hear anything. The girl said he did well and did what he was asked. She told me he said something about a Cars birthday and she asked me if he was talking about the Cars movie. After the study they brought a box over to Evan with toys and let him pick one. Evan picked the sidewalk chalk. As we were leaving, classes must have just gotten out and there were a ton of students everywhere. There were people on bikes, people walking. Evan was very curious about where they were going.

On the way home we stopped at Target to return a couple of things. Evan was upset that we didn’t go to the toy section and threw a little fit in the parking lot. It had just started raining hard again and we got wet while he was throwing a fit and I was trying to get him in the car.

Driving home I asked Evan what he wanted for lunch. I listed a few things and the last one was eggs. He said he wanted green eggs and ham. So, when we got home we actually made green egg and turkey. I didn’t have ham. He helped me mix the eggs and add a drop of green coloring.

Noah went down for a nap around 2:00. Evan wasn’t tired so let him play Geo Trax for a little bit upstairs and then he took a nap around 3:00.

Blanca came at 4:00. Noah was just waking up at that time. She said Evan got up around 5:00.

I tutored and got home at 6:00.

We had steak (Morry) and shrimp (me) and rice for dinner. Evan ate more of his green eggs and ham for dinner. He really didn’t each much of it at lunch. He did finish them all at dinner though. Both Evan and Noah ate a lot of fruit. Our boys love strawberries especially.

We took a walk after dinner. We went around the block. Evan rode his little bike the whole way while we walked with Noah in the stroller.

We just put the boys to bed. Evan is still crying. He started fighting bed time a few nights ago. Hopefully he calms down soon and gets some sleep.

Getting Better and HEB

This morning it was my turn to take care of the boys and let Morry sleep in. While Morry was sleeping I made muffins. Evan helped me mix, but he kept running off with cranberries.

Morry came downstairs at almost 11. We ate breakfast and then went to HEB. We had a lot to buy and both boys were pretty good during the shopping trip. They are both feeling better today and are not quite as cranky. I saved us $10.88 in coupons today.

After we got home we put Evan and Noah down for naps. Noah slept, but Evan didn’t.

After naps, Morry ran out to pick up dinner at Pho Thai Son. We had a buy one get one free dinner. I was able to print it out from the Entertainment book web page. Morry and I ate our vermicelli dishes. Noah had some cheese and fruit. Evan had macaroni and cheese (minus the cheese). He wouldn’t let Morry mix the cheese in the pasta. Evan also ate a lot of fruit.

Right now Evan is sitting on the potty downstairs. He hasn’t done anything yet. I think he’s just stalling because he knows it almost bedtime.

A Saturday At Home

Hello everyone, this is Morry writing my weekly blog entry.

This morning, Evan got up at 9am and Noah got up close to 10am. I brought both boys downstairs and played got them breakfast and played with them. Evan was good until Noah got downstairs. Noah was really really cranky when he came downstairs. We didn't think the doctor was right earlier in the week about Noah having a sinus infection, but he yesterday and this morning he seemed to be congested and coughing. I think that had a lot to do with Noah's crankiness.

Rachel finally came downstairs around 11:30. At that time, Evan wanted to go upstairs with me. I helped him play with the SmartCycle for a while (it's a video game learning system that Zayde got him for his birthday) and then he played with GeoTrax.

Then Rachel and I decided we should pick up the antibiotics for Noah from HEB. Rachel stayed at home with Noah and Evan and I went to HEB. He insisted on wearing his Steelers helmet. He wore it in the car and into HEB. He finally took it off as we walked to get samples of cheese and bread.

We had some lunch and then put the boys down for naps.

While the boys were napping I watched the NFL draft. It's an annual tradiition for me to watch the entire first round of the draft. The Steelers drafted Evander "Ziggy" Hood, a defensive tackle from Missouri. They showed a highlight of him sacking Colt McCoy, the quarterback for the Longhorns, and Evan (who was up by this time) said, look that's the Longhorns.

For dinner, we went to Chipoltle and ate outside. Noah wasn't as cranky as he has been, but he's definitely not his normal self. Evan was very well behaved the entire time and even helped throw out all the trash on the table.

The boys are now in bed. Both of them are quiet.

Until next time...

Stay at Home Day

We stayed at home today and took it easy. I still wasn’t feeling well and both boys were kind of cranky.

Evan asked to sit on the potty this morning and he actually peed, so we did the dance and put on underwear.

He wouldn’t sit on the potty throughout the morning so we went through 2 underwear. Yuck.

For lunch I made peanut butter and jelly. Evan ate 1 ½ sandwiches and Noah ate ½.

Before naps I asked Evan again if he would sit on the potty. He refused, so I put a diaper back on him.

Evan and Noah took good naps.

For dinner we met Morry at BJs. On the way there Evan told me he wanted a pizza for dinner. We got him a kids pizza and he ate ½ of it. Noah was really cranky at dinner for some reason.

We just put the boys to bed. We have no plans tomorrow. Hopefully, we can all sleep well and start feeling better.

Parent Teacher Conference

I dropped Evan off at school. It was our turn to bring snacks to class. I cut up apples and brought a drinkable yogurt for each kid. Evan insisted on carrying the bag into to school. It was pretty heavy.

Noah and I went to Target. I wanted to get some containers to organize all the toys we have at home. I feel like we have toys all over the place and the gameroom was a disaster. I bought 5 of those big plastic containers with lids and 6 stackable cube shelves to put in the gameroom.

Today we had our parent-teacher conference with Evan’s teacher. At 12:20 Morry, Noah, and I sat down with Wendy. She had really nice things to say about Evan. She talked about how much she loves his sense of humor. It sounds like he is right on track and doing all the things he should be doing for his age.

Our meeting ended at 12:40. Pickup is 1:15-1:30, but I decided to go ahead and get Evan early since I was there and it didn’t make sense to go home and come back again. Evan was very excited to see Morry. Natasha told us that at one point Evan looked out the window and saw Morry’s car and said, “That looks like my daddy’s car.” It’s pretty impressive that he recognized Morry’s car. We don’t go in his car that often.

At home I tried to clean up while the boys played. Blanca came over around 1:30 and only stayed until 2:00. The boys really needed naps. I cleaned while she played with the boys outside.

Noah feel asleep right away, but Evan did not nap. I was hoping to nap too. I was starting to not feel well. I think I’m getting a cold or something. Since Evan wasn’t napping and he playing pretty loudly in his room, I knew I couldn’t nap. I let him play in the gameroom while I cleaned. I went through almost every toy and filled up 4 of those plastic containers. I also put together the cube shelves. I put books on the shelves. My plan is to just rotate the plastic containers of toys. I’ll have one out at a time and keep the extra in a closet or the garage. We’ll see how that works. It was getting too hard to clean every night when the boys went to bed. They would just dump and pull the toys off those little shelves we had.

I was absolutely exhausted by the time Morry came home and I still wasn’t feeling well.

For dinner we had brisket and couscous.

After we put the boys to bed, I had planned on going to Alissa’s to help her get ready for a garage sale. I just wasn’t feeling up to it. I’m really exhausted right now and need to get to bed soon.

A Little Better

Noah’s doing better today. He didn’t have a fever at all this morning. Both boys slept late and then we went to a new grocery store. Newflower Farmer’s Market opened in South Austin and I decided to give it a try. The prices for produce were really good. We’ll see how it tastes. The other products were a little bit higher than HEB. I would probably go back for produce though assuming it tastes good. I have reusable bags that I bring to the grocery stores with us. I didn’t realize, but they give you 10cents off for every reusable bag you bring in and use.

When we got home I made lunch and we ate outside. Noah started getting cranky, so put him down for a nap and let Evan play a little more.

Blanca came at 3:00. When she got here Evan was still talking in his room, but he did eventually fall asleep.

On the way to tutoring I stopped at HEB. They were giving out a free reusable shopping bag if you brought in 5 plastic bags for recycling. I stopped on my way to tutoring because I thought they might be out of bags by the time I was done tutoring.

On my way home I went to the HEB near us to get a few things that I couldn’t buy at New Flower. When I got there they were all out of the free bags. I was glad I picked one up earlier.

I got home around 8:15 and we put the boys to bed shortly after.

Poor Little Fella'

The boys slept until almost 9:00am this morning. We were late to school because I wanted to let them sleep.

Noah felt really warm, so I took his temperature. It was at 102.7. The doctor said to call if it got above 102.5.

So, after I dropped Evan off at school I called the doctor and spoke with a nurse. A little later, they called and said the doctor called in a prescription for another antibiotic at HEB. She said the doctor believes Noah has a sinus infection. I was sort of surprised because yesterday he said nothing at all about suspecting it could be a sinus infection. Noah has a little bit of a runny nose, but nothing that made us think he had a sinus infection.

Anyway, Morry picked up Noah’s medicine on his way home this afternoon. When Morry got home, we realized it was the exact same antibiotic Noah just finished on Saturday.

Morry took Mottel to the vet. They were going to do a urine test, but Mottel didn’t have any urine, so he has to take him back for the full day tomorrow.

I called the doctor to make sure Noah got the right medicine. Later they called back and changed the prescription. They must have given us the wrong antibiotic. Maybe they didn’t look at his chart? We had a different doctor than normal, but still he should have looked to see what Noah had just been on.

Blanca came at 4:00 while Morry was at the vet. I tutored 2 students.

I got home around 7:15. Normally, I would have gotten home at 7:00, but there was a big accident or something at Slaughter and Mopac. They were making everyone turn on Slaughter, so I couldn’t go straight South on Mopac. Slaughter was a mess.

For dinner we had Coke ham.

After dinner I called the nurse’s line. I spoke to a nurse because I was concerned about giving Noah more antibiotics. I don’t want to give him medicine if he doesn’t really need it. She said it was ok to hold off on the medicine tonight. She suggested I call tomorrow and talk to Dr. Mouser (our regular doctor).

Evan and Noah didn’t nap well today. Noah slept a little, but Evan didn’t sleep at all. They were pretty cranky tonight so we put them to bed around 8:00. Evan is still awake. He was crying and trying to stall going to bed. He kept saying he wanted different things. Hopefully, Evan falls asleep soon.

Doctor again

I called the doctor this morning to make an appointment for Evan and Noah. Evan still has a runny nose and cough and Noah needed another check after his antibiotics finished. The only time they had available was 2:00, right at nap time. I called at various times during the day, but nothing had opened up.

Noah was very cranky this morning. I wasn’t sure how he was going to make it to 2:00 without a nap.

I took the boys and Lizzy for a walk, but that’s all we did this morning.

At lunch, Noah hardly ate anything and fell asleep in his high chair.

We got to the doctor a little early. I was hoping that if we showed up early, they could maybe fit us in. They ended up seeing us about 10 minutes early.

Noah had a 101.2 fever. I had no idea. The doctor isn’t sure what he has, but his ears looked fine. It could just be a virus, so we just have to watch his temperature for the next few days and give him Tylenol. If it gets worse or still hasn’t improved in 3 days we need to go back.

The doctor thinks Evan has a sinus infection since he’s had the coughing and runny nose for so long. Evan’s ears looked fine. Now, we have Evan on antibiotics for 10 days.

When we got home I put the boys down for naps.

Blanca came at 3:45. I tutored and got home at 6:00. For dinner, we had bbq brisket (already cooked, just needed to be heated) and a pasta side.

Evan and Noah were cranky tonight, so we put them to bed early around 8:00.

Noah is sleeping, but Evan is still up. He’s actually crying/whining right n

Nutty Brown

Evan woke up early this morning. We heard him singing the ABCs in his room in various voices (low, high, ..)

At 11:00am we met Susan, Frank, and Laurel (family from playgroup) at Nutty Brown for brunch. We were able to sit outside right by their sandbox. It was a little cool when we first got there and we had to wear our sweatshirts. By the end, both of our boys had their sweatshirts off and were covered in sand. We had a nice time. The brunch food was good and we had fun talking with Susan and Frank. We came home around 1am.

When we got home we put Evan and Noah down for naps. They both took pretty good naps, but Noah has been really cranky all afternoon and evening. I’m not sure what his problem is.

We Freecycled our old entertainment tv stand. We finally got rid of it and got it out of our game room. Some guy came and picked it up in his truck while the boys were napping.

Morry went to Sams Club to pick up some stuff we needed while Evan, Noah, and I played outside in the backyard.

When Morry got home we made dinner. We had a pasta bowl mix thing for dinner. I put zucchini, corn, and chicken with pasta and added some seasonings. We ate outside for dinner. We had a nice evening.

Below is a scan of Evan’s school picture. I’m not sure if we’ll order some. We’ll see.

Outlets

Hello everyone, this is Morry. Saturday is normally my day to write the blog.

The boys let us sleep in a bit this morning. Evan woke up around 9am. Rachel and I both got up and got him dressed.

This morning was the Circle C-wide garage sale where they encourage everyone in the neighborhood who wants to have a sale, to have it today. Unfortunately, it rained all day yesterday and was raining up until about 8:30am. Rachel thought she'd drive around with Evan anyway.

We let Noah sleep and he ended up sleeping until after 10am. Last night, he was up fairly late. I finally had to rock him to sleep around 10:15pm. So I wasn't surprised he slept later than normal.

Rachel and Evan got back very quickly from the garage sale. I guess everyone literally had the stuff in their garage so it was hard to pick through and Evan decided he wanted to come home. Not before he asked Rachel to buy him a donut from some girls that were selling donuts for 50 cents.

We all had some breakfast and drove down to the outlets in San Marcos. We had been there a month or so ago and gotten some stuff from the Gap and decided we didn't want it. We had to go down and return it. While we were there, we stopped in Carters, Children's Place and Adidas. Carters didn't have anything for the boys. They needed jeans. We were able to find jeans for them at Children's Place. We also found dress shirts and sweaters for $1.99 each. I got some stuff at Adidas.

We had lunch at Wendy's where Evan was very good and had his nuggets and then he got a Frosty afterwards.

When we got home, we received some bad news. Everyone assumed that Mottel's weight loss was due to hyperthyroidism. Even the Vet said she would be shocked if it was anything else. He had lost 3 pounds in a year which was 30% of his body weight. He went from 10 pounds to 7. Anyway, the Vet had left a message that the blood test came back and it was not hyperthyroidism. Now, we are not sure what it is. Some blood levels suggest maybe liver problems, some suggest maybe kidney problems, and some suggest perhaps small intestine problems. I have to bring Mottel back in this week for more tests. We just can't believe that Mottel is sick. He's not acting sick in the least. In fact, he's probably more active and more friendly than he's been in awhile. For those of you who don't know, Mottel has been with me for 11 years. He moved down with me from Pittsburgh. Hopefully we can get this figured out and it's nothing too serious.

The boys took naps after we got home. I did some work (I'm very very busy at work now) and Rachel made some calls for Cha Cha.

For dinner we went to Texadelphia and ate outside. It's been a long time since we went there, and we thought it was something different. Plus Rachel found a buy one get one free coupon.

When we got home, we gave the boys baths and now they are in bed. Noah has been crying. He is really into doing what he wants when he wants and he obviously did not want to go to bed.

Until next time...

late night

Today we finally got the rain. It was pouring in the morning.

Morry took Mottel to the vet today for a check up. Mottel is very healthy and looked good, but he does have hyperthyroidism. We’ll have to give him medicine twice a day now for that.

Morry worked from home today after taking Mottel to the vet.

It was our turn to host playgroup this morning. It was a small playgroup today, maybe because of the rain. Two other kids (Marissa and Kate) came over. I made blueberry muffins and Noah and Evan ate more than half of them. Same with the fruit. I think my boys ate most of the fruit on their own.

After playgroup the boys were supposed to nap. Evan did not fall asleep and just played in his room. Noah took a good nap.

For dinner we went to Fish City Grill. Evan and Noah were very well behaved and ate well. Before we left for dinner we asked Evan what he wanted to eat for dinner and he said shrimp. That’s why we went to Fish City. Evan ate most of his shrimp.

We came home and put the boys to bed.

Then, I went over to Alissa’s. We were supposed to have a garage sale tomorrow, but with the rain we decided to wait another week or so.

Alissa and I spent all night cleaning out her garage. When I got there, there was hardly space to walk. We got a lot done tonight. Now, all we need to do is organize and price things for the garage sale.

It’s 1:30am and I just got home. I’m exhausted.

School, Doctor, Clean

I ran/walked Evan to school this morning. It has been cloudy all day and I was a little worried it would rain on us, but we were ok. It still hasn’t rained yet.

Noah and I went to my ENT doctor for a check up. He said I’m all healed. One side is still not 100% so we talked about a few options. Because of the way the scar healed, the opening is a little smaller on one side. I need to figure out if I’m ok how it is, or if I want to go through a minor surgery to get it better. We’ll see.

Noah was really cranky on the way home and during lunch. He didn’t eat much lunch and fell asleep in his high chair. While he was taking a short nap I quickly cleaned the house.

We picked up Evan, came home, and I put the boys down for naps. Then, I cleaned some more. We had a ton of laundry. I feel like I was folding clothes all afternoon.

Blanca came at 4:00 and I went to tutor. When I got to the student’s house, she wasn’t feeling well, so we cancelled the tutoring and I came home.

We had crock pot brisket, salad, and biscuits for dinner.

Evan and Noah were really cranky tonight too. We put them to bed somewhat early. Both are sleeping now.

Oh, I got an email from a TV reporter in Oklahoma. He’s doing a story about free stuff and wanted to talk to me about my Cha Ching Queen blog. I wrote him back. We’ll see what happens.

Big Boy Underwear

This morning when Evan woke up, he sat on the potty and peed. Of course, we did the potty dance and he got a sticker. He put on his big boy underwear and actually kept them on.

Once I got everyone dressed and fed we went to mail our tax stuff. I was worried it would be really busy. I went to a mail center, not an actual post office. There were only 2 other people there.

On the way home we stopped at the Circle C Park and played for a little while. I brought Evan’s Velcro baseball and glove. He had a good time playing with it. Noah enjoyed crawling around. Both boys just love being outside. They had a great time.

At home, as I was getting lunch ready, Evan came up to me and said his pants were wet. I had tried to get him to sit on the potty earlier, but he didn’t want to. Anyway, we changed his underwear and shorts and then ate lunch outside.

During lunch both Evan and Noah were pretty cranky. While I was cleaning up from lunch Evan dumped all the food from his plate on the patio floor outside. Noah was crying. I put them both down for early naps.

Noah went to sleep right away.

Before I put Evan down I asked him to sit on the potty. He didn’t want to sit on the potty, so I told him we’d have to put a diaper back on him for nap. He didn’t seem to mind. That was the end of his underwear wearing for today. He wore diapers the rest of the day.

Evan did not nap. I heard him talking, and playing, and saying Noah’s name (I don’t know why).

I let Evan come out of his room and play in the gameroom while I got ready for tutoring.

Blanca came at 3:00.

I tutored 3 students and came home at 7:00.

We ate pizza for dinner.

We put the boys to bed early tonight since they were both pretty cranky tonight.

Taxes

After dropping Evan off at school Noah and I went to HEB. Noah was really good at HEB. They had some samples out. He ate some kind of scone like thing and I let him have a small chocolate chip cookie. He got chocolate all over his face.

We came home, I put the groceries away, and then we had lunch. Before getting Evan, I got a call from Bubbe on Skype. It was fun. Noah and I sat at the computer and talked to Grandma/Bubbe.

It was a nice day so I decided to walk to pick Evan up. I actually ran on the way there and walked on the way back. Sometimes Evan wants to walk too, but he must have been tired today. He just wanted to sit in the stroller.

We played for a little bit and then I put the boys down for naps. Evan and Noah both napped.

Blanca came at 4:00. I was supposed to tutor 2 kids tonight, but one was sick. I only tutored from 4:30-5:30.

I got home around 6:00 and we had already cooked HEB rotisserie chicken and mashed potatoes.

After dinner, we needed to send out our taxes so we drove over to the post office. The plan was to use the machine to pay for postage and get it sent out. Morry and Evan went inside and the machine was broken. We drove around to two other postage places, but both were closed for the night. I guess I’ll have to stand in line tomorrow to send our taxes. We were hoping to avoid that.

Evan and Noah are in bed now. Let’s hope for a good night.

Getting in Shape

This morning the boys slept until about 9:00am. Noah woke up once during the night.

I thought I’d try to start running again. I went for a 2 mile run with the boys and Lizzy. It was tough, but I managed.

Before lunch we went to Target. At one point Evan pointed out that Noah was missing a shoe. We had to go back through the store to find it. I did end up finding it. Noah’s always taking his shoes and socks off.

For lunch I made mac and cheese for Evan. Noah didn’t want any.

We played for a little bit after lunch and the I put the boys down for naps. Evan did not nap, but he played in his room for a little bit.

Blanca came at 3:45 so I could tutor.

I got home around 5:45 and we had tacos and rice for dinner.

After dinner, we took a walk. Evan rode his smaller bike most of the way. He chose to ride that one tonight.

When we got home we gave the boys baths. Evan sat on the potty for about 30 minutes. He did not pee or poop. He was upset when we told him he had to get off and get ready for bed.

Evan and Noah are in bed now. I still hear Noah’s singing bear.

Easter Sunday

Hello everyone, this is Morry. Rachel is doing stuff around the house so she asked me to write the blog tonight.

At 7:10 this morning, Rachel woke me up to tell me that Evan was crying. I went in to see Evan and he said he needed a diaper change. I don't know why he was crying. I put him down and told him to go back to sleep, but I don't think he went back to sleep. He sat at his gate quietly for awhile. At 8:30 I got up and got the boys dressed and we came downstairs, allowing Rachel to sleep.

When we came downstairs, Evan asked for applesauce for breakfast. I made a waffle for Noah who ate his up quickly. Evan also ate grapes. In case you didn't know, Evan likes fruit. I put the movie Robots on for the boys and they both watched very well.

Grandmom/Marilyn came down between 9:30 and 10am and played with the boys some before Rachel got up.

When everyone was up and ready, we went over to Barnes & Noble - just to get out of the house. I was surprised that they were open. When we got to the shopping center, Old Navy and Mighty Fine Burgers were also open. Also, HEB and Walgreens were open. I thought it was Easter. But hey, I'd rather everything be open.

At Barnes & Noble, the boys played with the trains for a bit. Evan got really cranky and stopped allowing Noah to play with the trains. We warned him that if he continued to act like that, we were going to go home. Well, he continued to act like that and we went home.

We had leftovers for lunch and put the boys down for naps.

Noah did not sleep for very long. He kept waking up crying. Finally, we brought him downstairs. Evan got up a little while later. We went outside and played with chalk. We put Noah in the walker and he walked a bit in that.

For dinner we went to the Mongolian Barbecue in downtown Austin. It's a tradition we started with Grandmom/Marilyn back in 2002. We've gone almost every Easter there. We did miss it last year because Noah was born. We let Evan make his own. We walked through all the veggies and he told me what he wanted in his plate. Then we added some noodles and some sauce and I gave Evan the bowl to give to the guy to cook it. Evan enjoyed watching the guy cook the food. He ate very well. I think "making" the food made it more appealing to Evan. Also, there was a mirror behind the booth where Evan was sitting. He'd put food in his mouth and stand up and look at himself in the mirror and make faces, looking at the food in his mouth. All in all, both boys were very well behaved.

We came home and played in the game room some, but Evan started to cranky about sharing toys so we put the boys to bed. After some whining/crying, Evan is now quiet. Hopefully it stays that way and he doesn't get up early.

Until next time...

The Mall

Hello everyone, this is Morry. Saturday seems to be my day to write the blog. Rachel, Grandmom/Marilyn and the boys are playing right now.

The boys woke up early this morning - both before 8am. Rachel got up with them in an effort to let me sleep in some. Unfortunately I couldn't fall back asleep. I did lay in bed for awhile.

When I got up we decided we'd go sign Evan up for a soccer class and then go to the mall. There is an indoor soccer place in Austin called Soccer Zone. They have soccer classes for kids as young as 18 months old. We didn't know about it when Evan was 18 months or we would have definitely signed him up for it. The class is Grandmom/Marilyn's gift to Evan for his birthday. When we got there the place was very neat. They have adult leagues there and kids leagues. Evan really wanted to actually play soccer, but an adult game was going on. He was upset that he couldn't play.

We then drove to the mall. Evan and Noah both need some sort of sandal/water shoe. We went to Nordstrom's first. It was very crowded at Nordstrom's and the saleswoman, while cordial, wasn't very friendly. It was kind of a disaster there. We left without getting anything.

Then we went up to the food court to eat lunch. They had someone dressed as a cow in front of Chick-Fil-A. Evan was a bit shy with the cow but Noah just loved him. I was looking at Noah and he suddenly started to giggle. As I looked up, I realized he was giggling at the cow. The cow came over and touched Noah's head and Noah loved it. The cow entertained Noah for a while.

Rachel got a turkey panini and a smoothie from Frullati. Evan had chicken nuggets and a smoothie as well. I had a meal from Chick-Fil-A and lemonade. Grandmom/Marilyn had a chicken sandwich and also a smoothie. She asked and was told that the smoothies were dairy-free so she was very excited to be able to have a smoothie.

Evan's mood improved after lunch and we went to Stride Rite. We got these Nike water shoes for both boys and a pair of sneakers (not tennis shoes) for Evan. The saleslady at Stride Rite was very good. She talked to the boys and got their attention so they were not fighting trying on shoes.

Then we went and got cookies on the way out. On the way in, we told Evan if he was good, he could have a cookie. Of course he remembered and he was pretty good.

The boys took good naps and then we ordered pizza from Mangieri's. They messed up our order and had to go back and get my pizza and Rachel's salad. I wasn't very happy about the mess up. When my pizza was delivered, it was disappointing. It seemed fairly flavorless.

On a random note, Evan has been calling Noah, "Noah James" several times today. We have no idea why he started doing that. Evan often gives Noah nicknames. He's been Noah James, Noah B, Gra-Noah Bar, Noah Woah, Noah Bear and Noey. Mottel has been Mottel-Nose and Mutts. He now calls me Gallo (pronounced Guy-yo). He used to say that in a generic term but somehow it is now specific to me.

We're now going to put the boys to bed.

Until next time...

Potty

This morning we went to playgroup at Marissa’s house. It was a small playgroup today. I guess maybe people already left town for the weekend?

We had a nice time at playgroup. Marissa had one of those fish games where the fish open and close their mouths and you try to use the fishing pole to catch one. Evan really liked that. He got good at catching fish and was really proud each time he got one.

After playgroup, Grandmom/Marilyn, Noah, Evan, and I went to lunch at Panera. On the way there Yenis called and I invited them to join us. We all sat outside. Both boys ate well. Noah ate the whole time we were there. In fact, he was still eating stuff off the plate as we were leaving.

When we got home I put the boys down for nap. They slept really well.

For dinner we met Matt at Joe’s Crab Shack. We ate outside on picnic tables overlooking the lake. The waiters danced and the boys enjoyed all the music playing. Evan ate a ton of my crab. I spent most of my dinner cracking crab for him. Evan and Noah were so well behaved at dinner. They had a lot to entertain them.

After dinner, we came home and gave the boys baths. When Evan got out of the bath he sat on the potty. I read to him while he sat on the potty. At one point Morry walked by and Evan told Morry he was going to poop. We sort of thought, “oh, ok, yeah right.” Well, just a few minutes later Evan had pooped in the potty. The first time ever! We cheered and danced. Evan got a sticker.

When I went to put Evan in his pajamas he said he wanted to put on underwear. He was upset when we said no. We didn’t want him in bed without a diaper. I let him pick out underwear that he could wear tomorrow and that seemed to make him happy.

The boys are in bed and it seems quiet.

Little annoying things

Lots of little annoying things happened today.

I forgot to mention what happened yesterday. I went in Noah’s room in the morning to get him out of bed. I opened the blinds, picked out clothes for him, walked over to his crib. Then, Evan says something like “Ew, what’s that.” There was poop everywhere on the carpet. I looked and one of the animals had pooped on the carped by the window. I had stepped in it without knowing and got it all over the carpet. I spent a lot of time cleaning it up and we were a few minutes late to the doctor’s appointment yesterday. Not fun.

The bank recently changed the ATM so that you cannot deposit all your checks at once. You have to enter them one at a time and then verify the amount. It takes a really long time. I was on my second check and then it said something about the check was not able to be read. It locked up, somehow spit out my card, but I never got the check back. I had to park the car, get Noah out, and go in the bank. The teller deposited the rest of my checks, but now I have to call some 800 number and deal with claims. They should take care of that for me. There was no way for them to get my check back.

After the bank we went to HEB. While we were there I bought a Kashi frozen meal (I had a coupon) to eat for lunch when we got home. I knew I’d have a lot of cleaning and not much time to deal with lunch. I saved $12 at HEB in coupons, by the way.

So, when we got home I went to make my lunch and when I went to open the package and the meal was opened. It wasn’t sealed all the way so I didn’t want to eat. Luckily I had something else I could eat.

Evan was at school today, so after lunch we went to pick him up. The kids were outside playing. They had some Easter egg game and the kids were all wound up so they took them outside.

When we go home, Blanca came over for a little bit so that I could finish cleaning. She left at 2:00 and I put the boys down for a nap. We had plans to meet the Moms club at the park for an Easter Egg Hunt at 4:00 so I wanted to make sure they napped.

Luckily, they napped. I had to wake them up at 3:45.

The Mom’s club asked everyone to bring 12 filled eggs. I didn’t think Noah would get many eggs, but I still decided to bring 24 eggs anyway. I wanted to get rid of the candy in the house.

We got to the park about 4:00 and hid our eggs. The hunt was supposed to start at 4:15, but it started a little later. It was hot out and I was having a hard time holding Noah that whole time.

When the hunt started I walked around with Evan and Noah. I had Evan find a few for Noah. Noah had maybe 3 eggs, and Evan had about 4 or 5. I looked around and there weren’t any eggs left. I said something to the president. I asked if everyone was supposed to bring 12, and that we brought 24. I couldn’t figure out where all the eggs went. She made an announcement to people to share their eggs if they had more than 12, but only one woman came up and offered us some. It makes me kind of mad. Obviously people were lying. They either lied about how many eggs they brought or they lied about how many they found. We didn’t need to the eggs or candy, but still.

After the park we came home. Morry and Grandmom/Marilyn were home. Grandmom got in this afternoon and is staying for the weekend.

For dinner we went to Kerbey Lane. We had a nice dinner. Evan and Noah were well behaved. There was a fish tank there that they both enjoyed.

The boys are playing and we’ll put them to bed soon.

Check ups for Evan and Noah

Today we had check up appointments for Evan and Noah. Noah is 29 ½ inches (50%) and 24 lbs (50% surprisingly). Evan is 39 ¼ inches (75%) and 36 lbs (75%-90%). Both boys have colds and it turns out Noah has an ear infection. We had no idea. He’s been acting fine. Besides the colds and ear infections, everything else looked good. Noah was a pain though. He screamed and cried the whole time we were in the exam room. He obviously didn’t want to be there. He was fine in the waiting room, but did not want to be in that other room. We could barely hear what the doctor had to say. We asked her about Evan’s lack of potty training/interest. She said not to worry and not to push until he shows interest. Morry asked at what point is the kid too old to be in diapers. She said by age 4 a kid should be potty trained.

After the appointment I took the boys to the Circle C park for a little bit. Evan spent a lot of time on the basketball court. We didn’t have any balls with us, but he still had a good time. He pretended to throw basketballs.

After the park, we went to HEB to pick up Noah’s medicine, but it wasn’t ready yet.

When we got home we ate lunch outside. Noah was very cranky. The only time he didn’t cry was when he was eating puffs. He probably ate ½ of the container. I just wanted to keep him quiet so Evan and I could eat.

After lunch I put them down for naps.

Blanca came at 3:00pm and before I left I heard Evan talking in his room.

I tutored and got home at 8:00.

Morry made pasta for dinner for him and the boys.

Evan and Noah are in bed now. I think they are asleep.

Tuesday – Can’t think of a better title

Evan and Noah must have been exhausted. They slept until about 9:30 this morning. School starts at 9am, but I wanted to let them sleep. I went in Noah’s room a little before 9:30. He was awake and talking. I got him dressed and then went into Evan’s room to wake him up. Evan was in bed, but awake. I’m not sure if he woke up when he heard us come in the room.

I dropped Evan off at school and then ran some errands with Noah. We went to Target and Party City to return some party things we ended up not using. Then, we went to the library to return the Star Wars movies we checked out a couple of weeks ago.

At home, I just straightened up the house (though you can’t tell now – it’s a mess again). I took Noah outside in the backyard for a little while. We came in, ate lunch, and then picked up Evan.

Evan seemed to have a good day at school. He’s usually in a good mood when I picked him up.

When we got home I let the boys play a little and then I put them down for naps.

Evan did not nap. He just sat in his room and played for a while.

Blanca came at 4:00.

I tutored and got home about 7:00. We had leftover pizza and salad for dinner.

Evan and Noah were both a little cranky so we just gave them baths and put them to bed on the early side. I still hear Noah talking, but Evan sounds quiet.

The Day After

Today the boys slept late. Well, Noah actually woke up around 7:20am, but I was able to get him back to sleep.

I invited Yenis and Kevin over for lunch. We have a lot of leftovers from the party. Lunch was easy. I just heated food up from Evan’s birthday party. We had pizza, breadsticks, and salad. Evan, Noah, and Kevin enjoyed playing together.

After they left I put the boys down for naps. They both slept for about 2 hours.

For dinner we had grilled chicken and salad.

After dinner we took a walk. We asked Evan if he wanted to walk, ride his old bike, or ride his new bike. He chose to ride the new bike. In the store and at home he has had a hard time figuring out how to petal. Morry walked along side the bike and showed Evan how to petal and brake by pedaling backwards. Evan was doing really well. He still needs to practice, but he was pedaling on his own. About the last ¼ of the walk Evan got of his bike and decided he wanted to walk. Morry pushed the bike while Evan ran ahead. Evan would stop multiple times in front of us, put his hand out, and say, “stop.” He’s make us stop until he said go again.

Both boys are kind of cranky. I think they need to go to bed soon. We’ll head upstairs in a minute and put them to bed.

Evan’s Actual Birthday

Today is Evan’s actual birthday. We have been celebrating his birthday for the last few days now.

This morning Morry brought Evan’s bike (his present from us) in the house at the bottom of the stairs. We thought we’d surprise Evan when he came downstairs. He was somewhat cranky and tired this morning and therefore, was not very excited about his bike. He was more interested in his unwrapped birthday presents from yesterday’s party that were sitting on the dining room table.

For breakfast Aunt Susan, and Aaron and Shelly came over. Papa/Lenny made French toast with the leftover challah. It was yummy. Aaron and Shelly gave Evan Geo Trax for his birthday so he and Morry went upstairs to play Geo Trax.

Before Grandma/Lynn, Papa/Lenny, and Bubbe went home they gave Evan their present to him. Evan got a scooter so we all went out in the front yard for him to try it out. He understood how to push it with his leg, but he still needs to work on steering. He didn’t understand that you have to lean to get it to turn.

Once everyone left we put the boys down for naps. The both slept well.

Once they woke up we asked Evan what he wanted to do. He said he wanted to go to Chuck E Cheese. Of course, I had coupons. We got 20 free tokens for Evan’s birthday, 20 free tokens for Noah’s birthday, and I had a few tokens leftover from the last time we were there. The whole experience was free. We were there for about an hour and a half and didn’t have to spend a dime. Evan really enjoyed playing the games. The ones he liked most were air hockey and ski ball.

After dinner we went to McDonalds (Evan’s request). Evan and Noah were very well behaved and ate well. After Evan finished eating Morry took him to play on the playground. I stayed at the table with Noah while he cleaned out (ate) a lot of the contents of the diaper bag. The last few days Noah has started saying, “Uh-Oh” a lot. I think he was dropping food on purpose just so he could say it.

So, I have been working with Evan on our phone number. I’ll repeat it a lot and leave off the last number or two and he’ll finish the rest of the phone number. Tonight we were saying it over and over again and he actually said the whole thing by himself.

Well, the boys are in bed now. They are both pretty exhausted. I hope they sleep well tonight.