Ian's Town of Sodor

I have been told that Ian needs another train table. I found that Brian had taken the coffee table from upstairs, paired it with a matching end table - VIOLA! Ian now has 3 train tables! Brian spent a great deal of time building this layout while Ian took his nap today. I am beginning to wonder just WHO this train set is for? HMMM?

Halloween and Christmas 2009

Well, it's been awhile since my last posting. I do keep up Face book, so look me up there too. Let's see, here are pics of Halloween. He was a fire fighter. Ian is talking up a storm, giving attitude and moving right along. This picture is of Christmas 2009 morning of what I like to refer to as the "Thomas Christmas." So may trains (75 to be exact), we need another train table. He played in this very spot all day and would n't even stop to eat. I had to make him some food and give him bites as he passed me. Normally I would not stand for that, but hey - it's Christmas right?

Ian is all about trains, trucks, BIG TRUCKS, diggers, plows, and all construction equipment. No, I mean the REAL equipment, if I let him touch one he is so happy! Silly child of mine! He is actually a very easy going boy. He wants everyone to be happy and play nice, even though he forgets how to some times. When he hurts someone he is always the one to say he is sorry. That is something we began very early on, now I am beginning to wonder if that was such a great thing to do. On the other hand he get s compiments on his politeness all the time, and everyone is amazed whent he "please" and "thank - you's" fly. Is it really that odd for a 2 year old to know when to say it in the right context?

Day care has stated that Ian needs to be in pre-school come next August 2010. But I don't know, he wont' turn 3 until 3 months later. He will be the smallest and youngest in his class. I am not sold on sending him in there at that young age. His day care program is modled after a great curriculum that begins in the Young 2's age. Brian and I are still thinking about the right thing to do for our son.

Ian has captured the heart of a one Miss Julia. She is a 13 year old gal who we met through our great friends the Roberts. Julia is so good with him and will play with him until he poops out! We hope to get to spend more time with her when Jonathan and Julie can bring her over.

Not much has happend, just Ian getting bigger, Brian and I are working harder than ever and just taking one day at a time.

Miss my family so very much during this time of the year especially. I hope they know that I love them and miss them so much.

I found a new way to use the swimming pool that Ian won't use. It's perfect for the 1-2-3 jump game he plays off our basement steps. Brian brought him down after his bath and Ian couldn't get to it fast enough! He played with it for an hour.

This was taken at New Port Aquarium sometime in July 2009. He did not have a good time at all.

Gosh, where did the time go? It been a while since I last posted. Things are gong well. Ian is growing growing growing! He is getting taller but can't seem to make it over 22 pounds. He has been talking so much and now singing is a new skill he likes to practice along with his love of shakin his booty. He likes to run around the house doing the "Hot Dog" dance with Micky Mouse and yelling "LUB ELMO!" which of course means he loves elmo.
In my last post I stated I was going to take Ian out of day care for the summer, but after 2 weeks he was bored with me. So back he went but I picked him up right after lunch 4 days aweek. That ened when he changed rooms. He loves his new room with the bigger kids so when I went after him he started saying "no, Momma, TAY!" Which meant, of course he wanted to stay. After 3 days of that I just left him there. He seems to like it there and as it turns out, I have been needed a bit more in the shop so C'est L'vest! I felt guilty about it at first, and oh yes - there were plently of people to help along with that - but I have since goten over that and now feel fine about it. After all, his care givers tell me he is really smart and get along super with all the kids, he's a helper, he's a pleaser, he's crowd entertainer! Who am I to stiffle that?
That's all for now.

7/9/2009
Ian is getting so big. He is 20 months old now and climbing on EVERYTHING! He thinks it's so funny to climb on the kitchen chairs and it's a race between us to keep him off the kitchen table! Yesterday he just decided to go and open the back door. WHERE DID THAT COME FROM?? I guess it's time for top latches on all our exterior doors,. ( he knows how to turn the locks on our latches - he's so smart!) Below are some pics of him at 18 months. he loves loves loves to be outside and would really rather be with other children. Mom and dad bore him very easliy.
Also, this past Monday he showed me he can use a big boy cup so we are going to phase out the sippy shortly.

Ian's First Dip in his Pool.

18 months old. I love to watch him sleep.

Spring Time

Ian LOVES to be outstide, he just loves it. Here we are fixing our flower beds and removing old and dead debris from the winter. I know, I am kina late; but when you have very little time like me, you do what you can.

Ian's speach is coming along nicely. He can say apple and banana and his newest words are ball and balloon. Except that everything round is a ball and a balloon! and even he seems to be a bit perplexed at times.

He is out of day care for the next two weeks for our "Spring Break" I have been saivng my allowance so that we can visit a new place everyday. I think we will go to our Church and have a play date with our new friend Karen and her son. If the weather permits we will be going to the zoo, and I think we will try the Louisville Science Center as well. I would love to plan a trip up north to see my family - but we will see.

okay.......................

....so I am having the darndest time replying to comments on my blog. So I am sorry for those that have left comments, I promise I am not ignoring you.

It seems like making the transition from working 40 hours a week to nill is taking FOREVER! We have since realized that my presence cannot not be obsolete, I must come in at lease 2 days; better than 5 I guess. Don't get me wrong, I love working with Brian and everyone else, and what we do makes me excited to be apart of it all; but the pull to keep Ian home seems to get stronger by the passing day. It only gets worse when I read friends blogs about how wonderful it is to be at home with thier children, and how awesome it is to give thier child the best part of them and not just what's left over. Face it, most of the time that's all that is available - Ian gets the left overs; gosh that made me cry just now. He deserves so much better than that. I know stay at home mom's have thier struggles too; both sides of the coin do.

Trish B. : Hi girl! Nicholas is so handsome ( as all of your boys are!) Ian and I would love to have a play date this summer, I think that would be great!

Please continue to pray for our family, it's so hard to know that my plan is not always God's plan and that maybe Ian will be our only son. But I am optimistic - all I need is prayer.

New Do.....

So, Ian is not a baby anymore. He is a full fledge Toddler decorated with what ever kind of food he is eating at the time and dedicated entirely to getting into anything and EVERYTHING! It was time to update his hair cut to match his current personality - kinda spikey on top to indicate his mischeiviousness. He looks like trouble. I will have to say, at times he is trouble! The other day he figured out that he must've grown a few inches b/c he could now reach the top of our kitchen table. So if it was with in a micrometer of the side, it ended up on the floor; where of course he tore it to SHREDS!

Ian loves, loves, loves to be outside. Which he indicates by throwing his body at the front door and yelling "SIDE!!" As if his life depended upon him getting outside - kinda funny - kinda not. Depends on my mood I guess. Here we are gong for a walk in our neighborhood, incidentally - everything I thought to bring along with us ended up on the ground, I just didn't notice until we had returned to the house. So we made 2 trips around the circle to find our missing objects.

Ian changes everyday. Everyday seems different. He is finding out that emotions can be hard to handle at times, and pretty tough to convey his wants. If his biggest struggle is fighting with a toy from time to time, we may be ok.

Brian and I have had huge prayer time dedicated to his care as of the last couple of months. I feel like I have missed out on so much and he is just getting bigger and changing so fast and he is doing it all at daycare. I feel like our daycare has been a blessing in sharing his new experiences, and I also feel like our business really needed me to be there full time. But Brian and I both feel like the time has come where I need to be at home with Ian and to try and grow our little family. God has placed the right people in our lives at the right time to allow this to happen. I am so excited about this change.

It's been a long time

It has been a while since my last post here. Ian has been battling sickness and pink eye for the last month. Of course, i got both as well. We have missed church for the last 3 weeks and I feel like this next week we will be back! Ian's pink eye came back after 1 day back in day care ARRGGG!! So frustrating. So back on the antibiotics he is and this time I will keep him on it for a week. I have had bronchitis for 2 weeks but FINALLY feel good, still coughing but at least I don't feel like death walking! Somehow Brian has managed to skip it all....why is that? Anyway that's what we have been up to.

Ice Storm

Ian likes to "brush" his teeth. It's really more like chewing on the tooth brush, but whatever will desinsitize him to it is fine by me!

Our neighbors tree behind us. 7 am this morning during our ice storm

I sure hope my Lilac Bush can with stand this kind of weather.

Ian walked a little in the snow,

then he fell and wanted to go back inside....

but not before taking a last look at the white stuff on the ground.

Here is the video of Ian brushing his teeth.

ROCK STAR!!!

Boys Best Friend

I caught this candid shot while Ian and Tater were lying on the floor. Ian sat up and just leaned in to kiss tater and said "Muah!"

Blessed and Grateful

01/10/2009
Today has been a great day. I actually finished the laundry, the dishes, managed to have Tater bathed as well as Ian! Ran Ian for a hair cut, we met dadda for lunch; picked up the dry cleaning and finally finished the 3 scarp book pages I have been working on. Yes, today was a very good day. I don't get many days where i can take it easy and relax, while completing household chores that have been on my to do list for months.

I feel so blessed and grateful for the "Momma's" and the "Peas" and "Tank - you's" that I could just well up and cry. Today I watched Ian while he slept, so innocent and peaceful. "God's grace in your face" I like to say. Before Ian was born I feel like I had a driven life but without a path. I feel that you can have a purposful and driven life without children. But for me, my life has a Different kind of purpose and is DRIVEN in such a different way that I can only thank God for this blessing.

I WIN!!!

Well, I believe the Fss-Pfier dilemma is over. Tonight he went down without a fight. No 30 minute swqauking sessions - nothing.

V-I-C-T-O-R-Y.

It's the small things in life that really matter to me!

The letting go of the Fass-Pfier..............

Well we began the tiresome and sometimes scarey endevour of "The Letting go of the Fass-Pfier". Which is of course, what we have dubbed the pacifier. The first night was a breeze. New Years Eve we left our party place with Ian in tow so he just slept the whole way home, I just didn't give it to him. He didn't seem to mind, he even slept the entire night. New Years Day the 3 of us drove to Indianpolis for a day of shopping, there were no tiraides, tantrums or even a murmur of "Mamma. Fss-Pfrr"- not on the way there, during the day or the way back.

UNTIL that night for bedtime. That was a stand off. The kind of scream seemed a bit between primal and how do I want to put this; as if he were telling me that pay back was a stinker! Just when you think you have witnessed the demons from all get out from your child and are certain that it can't get worse - WELL IT CAN. I couldn't stand to hear him cry, I even had a moment myself where I just cried for him and prayed over him and asked God to give my little guy peace and that this is a hard part of getting bigger but I believe in him that he can do it. And he did, he only carried on for a total of 45 minutes and went to sleep on his own. My big guy.

Tonight is night #3...........I'll let ya know how it goes.

1/4/2009
UPDATE:
Night #3 was about the same as the night before: 30 minutes of gut wrenching SQUALLING, there is just no other way to put it. But at least it only lasted 30 minutes. Ian soothed himself and went to sleep but did waken about midnight for another round of only 10 minutes of crying.
Lastnight the squaling lasted only 15 mintes but yesterday and today at naptime he decided he would add some screaming before he went to sleep. I do feel really bad for him, and Brian tells me that Super Nanny would be proud of me, so everynight I just pray over him and ask GOD to give him peace, tell Ian I love him and walk out - no matter the sevarity of his cries. Brian does not understand how hard it is for a mom to listen to that, "Momma, momma, MOMMA!" It just kills my soul. Well, tonight we do it again, and I have decided to stick to our plan, undivided front - me and dad.

More, Thank - you and climbing stairs...

Ian is really good climbing up the stairs and races to have the chance!

Usually Ian will only sign "More" if there is chocolate involved. I got lucky today, he loves applesauce.

"Thank- you" has been the hardest to get him to sign, but he can say it pretty good.

Ian likes to boogie. He here is doing what I call his "football" dance. It's one of my favorite moves.

While shooting this footage, I have leared that he has added a new feature to climbing into this truck....Ian, sit !

Climbing more stairs to my bath.....

Climbing down the stairs to play.

Here's one for you Mom

Now that I know how to use the video I will be posting lots of stuff. Mom, this is for you, he loves music and loves to dance. It's funny when he plays around with the Xylophone b/c he tries to play and dance at the same time. Of course Tater is right close by as if he is going to miss something. Tater has proven to be a pretty good companion for Ian, they get along and I feel like they love each other.