Finally!

For the last 2 weeks or so, I have slept on the couch because I wasn't getting ANY sleep with the baby sleeping in our room. The reason the baby was in our room is that the Utah Foster Care foundation says that you are allowed a little one under the age of 2 in your room. Since we have a 2 bedroom duplex, Hunter was in the other room as we got settled in to a routine, and the baby sleeping in our room became part of that routine.

There was just one problem... the baby wasn't sleeping through the night, and is a VERY restless sleeper. He was waking up once or twice a night for sometimes no reason at all, and would make just enough noise in his sleep that would keep me awake or wake me up in the night. This was NOT my idea of an ideal situation. So I was reading through the foundation's rules that said that two siblings of the same gender could be in the same room together. I thought this was wonderful except for the fact that the baby not sleeping through the night would not be a good combination to waking up a 2 year old. So I decided that sleeping on the couch was the best answer to this until I was for sure the baby was used to sleeping through the night. It wasn't easy to not go pick him up when he cried at night, but I was far enough away that with some earplugs, I could stay asleep if he woke up crying.

Last night after I bathed the boys, I decided to move the baby's bed in to the other room, and get everything set up and rearranged so his bed would fit. I ended up putting the baby down first for bed and then 1/2 an hour later I put Hunter in his. Let's just say that my first night back in my own bed was GLORIOUS! I slept really well for the first night in weeks! Hallelujah!

Is this a sign?

The other day Hunter was playing in our family room and came upon an empty Diet Dr Pepper bottle on one of our end tables. He picked it up, looks at me and says "Mommy"! Thus indicating that he knows that it's my favorite drink and I drink at least one every day. Maybe that's a sign to cut back a little.......? Ummmmm then again, maybe not! ;)

Holy Crap! 4 out of 5!

At the end of last November I took Utah's Level 2 Certification test. I went in feeling very inadequate and with little or no expectations. I just has the frame of mind that I would see what results came back and I could focus on the parts I failed, which after my test I felt like I had failed all but one. It turns out I got my results today and I passed 4 out of 5! I didn't pass the voicing from ASL to English component, but what a freakin relief! I am thrilled with this! Now I only have to pay the money to test again for the voicing part instead of the other parts! HOLY FREAKIN COW! I am utterly speechless!

Another Funny One

So anyone that knows me incredibly well knows that I grew up in a house where belching was a competitive sport. The ironic thing about this was there were all girls in our family. So needless to say our dad taught us well. So maybe I am outing myself on this one and I know that you have to be extremely privileged (or not) to ever hear me express myself in this fashion. I myself have to get to an extreme level of comfort with you before you EVER hear me do this.

So now you are asking why I would write all this on a blog that a mere handful of people actually read? Because that is just it, I know not that many people read this (or maybe I am blissfully unaware that people actually DO read this). Here's the point of this blog entry:

Today was a day spent mostly at home. When it came time for the boys to wake up from their afternoon naps, I decided I was going to throw them and myself into the car and go to Albertson's to restock my supply of Diet Dr Pepper, and Hunter's fruit snacks. The underlying reason for this was that I also simply needed to get out of the house for my sanity, or what's left of it anyway....

We get in and out of the store and then go for a little drive around our neighborhood looking for any new houses on the market. On the way home, I was drinking a Diet DP when I let out this awesome burp. Hunter used to laugh when I burped, but now all I heard from the back seat stated very matter of factly was:

"Mommy burp!"

I thought about this for a moment and couldn't help but laugh at this! I must do it more than I realize (well for heaven's sake, Diet Dr Pepper has become a staple at our house) because it doesn't even phase him anymore.

So now all the 2 of you that actually read this probably think I am horrible and crass for this, but hey what can I say?

Big Bad Wolf

The other night Brandon had Hunter on his lap with the book The Three Little Pigs. Brandon has been teaching Hunter different animal signs and he now understands Brandon when Brandon asks him where an animal is on the page, Hunter will point. Here's what happened:

Brandon signed "where's the wolf?"

Hunter's response: He points at me.

Just thought I would share.

Random Ramblings...

The boys will be awake soon, so I am typing this without much organized thought! (what else is new??)

As of late our lives have been pretty uneventful. I am one of those people that reads other people's blogs and thinks their lives are sure a lot more exciting than mine!

It has been cool to see the boys make some progress when it comes to their development since they have come in to our home! The baby is getting ready to crawl because he just can't stand having something just out of his reach. He gets up on all fours and rocks back and forth several times. He is as smiley as ever. He has toned down the high pitched squealing, for which I and my strained eardrums are so very grateful! He really enjoys being in the exer-saucer that my sister lent us. With our help in putting him in the sitting up position, he is sitting up much longer on his own now, hopefully enjoying that new perspective of the world. Being our little roly-poly is still his main method for exploring and getting around the house. He is a lot more vocal than he was when he first came to us as well. He is a delight to have around!

Hunter is doing really well too! He is signing SO much and is learning to understand when Brandon only signs and doesn't speak to him at all. I am starting to sign to him more as well. Hunter is pretty darn obedient for a 2 year old. He helps clean up his toys with out being asked, he gets things that I need if I ask him, and he knows when to throw his wrappers from snacks away, and puts his dishes in the sink when he is done eating as well without being asked! Hopefully this isn't just a phase! He is talking a lot more, and has started both signing to himself and singing to himself in the car. Most of the time it's just gibberish, but it's adorable too! He loves to sing songs with me in the car or just whenever.

Brandon and I are doing great as well. I haven't worked for a while because of not wanting to work during the holidays, and waiting for Brandon to figure out his schedule as a Deaf Mentor that will take up a couple of nights a week. I am still working out a few nights a week, so if I have to in order to keep up this habit, I will hire a babysitter to take care of the kids during the day while I go jog at the gym. Brandon's basketball team for the Deaf that he has been involved with since before we were even married started practices this week. They are all the way down in Salt Lake City, but it's an outlet for him which is great. He loves basketball and the association with others it brings him. He goes and plays when he can with my ward's men's basketball team, which means there are people that know him better than they know me.

I miss working full-time as an interpreter. What I miss most is the wonderful people that I worked for and with. I don't miss the commuting though. And I LOVE wearing jeans everyday instead of work clothes! It's a definite plus. Being a mom in any form or fashion is never boring or mundane. Even if this is just a temporary situation, or if it turns out to be a long term one I am grateful for these little boys. This is definitely one of the hardest things I have ever done, but also one of the most rewarding. I have just loved hearing Hunter call me "mommy" and see him learn and grow in just a short time. I enjoy hearing the baby laugh and coo. I can't stand the dirty diapers, the drooling, the tantrums, etc. But being a mother in any way is never easy or glamorous. (I would just love to see Hollywood moms do it full time without their nannies and servants to see how unglamorous it really is to them) I am thankful to have a wonderful and supportive husband that allows me to have the outlet of going out to the gym for not only my physical health but my mental health as well! He comes home from long days at work eats with the family, then helps get the boys ready for bed and supports me going to work out for a couple hours. Not every husband does that. I couldn't do this all by myself, and he is just my rock in so many respects!

Enough of the schmoozing on about the husband, but I am also grateful for comments received when looking for advice! Love to all y'all!

Any Advice?

For about the last 2 weeks, baby Riddick has developed a new hobby. He has decided that he likes to exercise his lungs. Whether he is perfectly content, frustrated, fighting a nap, or hungry he likes to listen to himself scream in the higher octaves for as long as his little lungs with let him. At first he only did this when he was frustrated, but now he does it while playing on the floor with toys, rolling around, or playing right side up in his exer-saucer. There have been times where it even startles Hunter. I wonder if the screaming gets so high the neighborhood dogs' ears are hurting. I already have to wear ear plugs at night to get ANY sleep with this little guy because he is such a restless little sleeper, but now do I have to during the day? Yesterday while I was cooking dinner in the kitchen, I lefft him in his exer-saucer and would check on him periodically, but my goodness his screams were terrible! I popped in the Ipod earphones and turned the Beyonce on as high as my ears could stand it, and enough to barely hear the screams. I don't know how much more I can take! Does anyone have any suggestions? It's so bad that even Brandon has to turn his hearing aid off completely, or it barely registers the high pitches of the screams! I am not exaggerating! Any help is greatly appreciated! If there is nothing I can do, hopefully this is just a phase!

Holiday Recap

It amazes me how fast time goes by when the holidays are passing and the focus of taking care of two boys is on the forefront of my mind (what's left of it anyway).

The holidays at our house were pretty laid back, even taking into consideration there were two little extra people with our family this year. Our original plans were to drive up to Cambridge, Idaho where Brandon is from, but since we got the boys so last minute our plans had to change. Luckily things worked out for my in-laws to drive down and spend Christmas with us. And what an incredibly white Christmas it was for us! We couldn't believe all the snow we got!

Preparing for Christmas was especially fun this year. Brandon and I got a night away from the kids to go spend some extra money that was sent by my parents and grandparents in order to buy some toys for the boys. It was fun opening gifts with Hunter our 2 year old because he loved the toys he got. He wanted to open them all completely before moving on to the next toy. The baby could have cared less what was going on of course!

The Friday after Christmas my in-laws, my bro in-law, Brandon and Hunter rode the Front Runner down to Salt Lake to go to Temple Square to see the lights. I stayed home with the baby since he had been fighting a cold, and I knew that the weather was going to be freezing. It gave me the opportunity to write a talk for church, and to just spend some time and energy on the baby! It was a relaxing evening for me, but a little eventful for everyone else. They went to a restaurant down in Salt Lake City where Hunter wasn't acting like himself during dinner. I am kind of glad I wasn't there because he threw up in the restaurant several times. I would have wanted to die. The finger painting scenario was enough for me (see below entry).

New Years came and went without much excitement. We stayed up late enough to watch Robbie Maddison and Rhys Millen do their death defying stunts to ring in the New Year, and then we went straight to bed!

On a side note, it was December 31 when a member of the Deaf Branch sent an email out offering a free TV and cabinet to go with it. Brandon drove over to take a look at it and decided it could be ours. He was so excited to bring it home and get it set up because it's much larger than the rinky dink TV we have. Not to mention he was really looking forward to having it set up for the Utah vs Alabama game everyone has been talking about. Well we got the TV in with some difficulty (it weighs a ton!) and got everything plugged in and much to Brandon's chagrin, the satelite service quit on us. He even called their customer service to see if they could help, but it didn't. The funny thing about this whole situation is that right after the game ended, the service started working again. So at least we got to see the highlights! But we were both pretty bummed because I wanted to watch it as much as I could with the boys needing attention. But we are really excited about this new TV! It's 13 inches bigger than our older one! After the boys were in bed, we watched Black Sheep (good old Chris Farley!) and laughed until our sides hurt.

I hope that everyone had a fantastic and safe holiday season! Love y'all!