Toddler Conversations

It is amazing how much Ty's imagination is going a mile per minute. It is amazing how much he is putting things together and making sense of the world around him.  He constantly comes up with funny things to say, witty things to say and his own perspective shines through.  If I could record every second of the day I would.  Unfortunately I don't have time to do that nor the capabilities to keep such extensive recordings.  I just smile and engage in the conversation.


Sometimes the conversation is plagued by ums, or word searching and sometimes they even make sense.  There are so many words coming out of his mouth it is amazing.  He recites movie lines, and books while reading now and he enjoys communicating.  There are times (oddly enough) when I need to remind Ty of his ability to use his words instead of screaming and pointing and really that happens only when he is tired and cranky.  


Overall I love the conversations we have.  I love his curiosity. I love when he tells me he and his daddy will fix something and that he is surprised I can do the same things. I smile when he talks seriously, when he shares his worries and when he tries to crack a knock, knock jokes.   What I especially love is the honesty with his statements.  Kids say the dangest things. They tell the truth though they try to lie. They blurt things out as they see them and have no filter.  I especially love that.  It is funny though as we grow older the social norms require us to use filters within our conversations, to be polite, politically correct and to know your audience.  Toddlers have no worries when it comes to these rules of engagement.  We get the priveledge of smiling and teaching those norms. What a wonderful experience.


Can't wait for the next conversation with my son!

Much needed girls night...

It was a rare occasion last night to enjoy a "girls night" out.  I was able to go shopping, do dinner and have adult conversation that did not revolve around kid interruptions. So glad to have that time.  Though shopping did consist of going to Pottery Barn Kids (for kid bedroom ideas), and the Container Store for organizing ideas for the house the time was really about ME. 

I was able to shop with as much time as I needed, be undecided and go to another store while thinking about the item that I was undecided about and return to pick it up and I was able to think about items on the list and for upcoming events such as Christmas. Once a mom always a mom I guess but nothing brings me greater joy than to provide for my family!

Dinner was enjoyable and seemed to drag on like neither my friend and I wanted it to end. That was relaxing. We chatted about work, family, life and the sale of homes with all the frustrations and excitements.  Needless to say I was stuffed.  PF Changs you can't really go wrong there.  I got home late and was welcomed home by my husband putting Ty to bed while I relaxed a bit.  It is always nice to know that when you are away from home and your kid and your husband that you are missed and wanted.  I relished in listening to the stories of the evening and enjoyed the fact that I was needed as well as having the support to have my own time. 

Girls night out... LOVE IT!  Here's to more on the horizon. 

Needed Vacation

It is not often that we've been able to pull together a large vacation and very rare to be vacationing with my Sister and her husband.  What I know about this is that this upcoming vacation is very needed for a variety of reasons.  This will be our first family vacation with Ty that requires a flight that is more that a puddle jumper to Seattle.  Though he is super excited there I am sure is some nervous energy around getting on the plane again.  I am so thrilled to be taking Ty to a destination where we can play on the beach or in the swimming pools all day long if needed.  I am elated to be able to relax and enjoy new things and just get out of the very mundane days that all flow together.  But truly I am happy to document this final milestone for Byron, Ty and Myself as a threesome.  Soon we will become four.  This is special time for Ty.

This upcoming Sunday Byron and I will be celebrating our 7th wedding anniversary.  Can't believe that 7  years of marriage is here already! WOW is all I can say.  It certainly is not easy work but truly work to communicate, to plan, to constantly check with each other and be on the same page, to parent and to listen to each other.  This will be the second of 7 anniversary's that we are spending in Hawaii.  I am not sure if this is a trend we will continue but it just so happens that we will be on an island. I am not sure what the traditional "gift" for seven years is so I guess I had better get to looking.  I truly have been caught up in getting things together for this trip.  It will be nice to celebrate soon. 

Finally, the vacation comes at a nice time for myself as a mom, though I won't be able to go on a zip line or enjoy certain hikes, I am aiming to relax.  Not fold laundry (too much), not transport to play dates, or juggle day care needs, but to just RELAX.  Knowing that in a short few months our second son will arrive, I want to spend a tremendous amount of time with Ty making special memories and documenting our whole experience.  I don't want to have a care in the world.  Ever had that need?  Ever fulfilled it?  Maybe I will hit a spa one day, or have a fabulous dinner (with a virgin drink at this time).  Maybe I will just sit by the beach listening to the waves roll in and out.  Or maybe I will play in the pool.  Either way my main mission is to relax.  Life is too short to schedule yourself and pin yourself to dates and times.  I will be on island time...

I am sure that I will not be ready to come back, or needless to say ready to begin work two days after we arrive home.  That is okay though nothing is going to beat this time away.  I hope to be refreshed and ready to go for August weeks and weekends are already packed with other mini vacations, chores around the house, and other events to attend.  Then the preparation for Ty to begin preschool.  (That is a whole other blog posting coming soon to a blog near you!) 

With that being said, I will leave you all with a picture of relaxation!

Parenting of two same or different?

I was out and about today running a few errands before our family vacation this upcoming Friday, when I noticed mom's with more than one child.  I watched intently and thought about how this new child will add another level to our lives.  I wondered how these women juggled it, wondered how their first borns handled it, and wondered how Byron and I will do both juggle it all and how Ty will handle it.  I was certainly in awe at how these women maneuvered shopping, the day to day activities, dealt with melt downs and moved right along.  What will I be like? 

I have an idea but of course I have lots of ideas of what things might be like and in reality they come close or not so close to those pictures I have in my head.  Only time will tell.  Will parenting become easier, more difficult or somewhere in between?  Will time feel shorter with more on our plate to juggle or will it be the same?  What will shift for us?  Though I have a million questions and continue to paint the picture of what it will be like I am smiling. I am excited about this change, our new addition to our family! I am blessed to have been a mom once but twice, I am twice blessed!  Life is only getting better. 
So it really won't matter what will change or if it will be the same or different having two children.  They are loved both tremendously already and we are so blessed to have them in our lives to be able to nurture and provide for them that we will embrace any changes, differences or similarities that may  come.

What to name your child.

With our first born Byron and I were meticulous about what to name our child.  We both came to the table with differing ideas and rationale for what NOT to name our son.  Byron came to the table with a list of names that would have horrible nick names for others to call him and we crossed those off the list.  I came to the table with names of students I previously had experience teaching and those names were stricken from the list.  We then looked through books and created a list of potential names for our first born son and had serious discussion crossing those off the list that we liked but that friends or families had already named their children with.  WHEW what an arduous process.  We decided very easily on a girls name, (unfortunately at that time we were not having a girl) we thought we'd save for later.  Little did we know we would be having a second boy and so the girl name will be archived until further notice. 

We are faced with the same process again but I must say this time it feels a bit easier and a bit faster. I wonder why that is? Well I have a few theories.  We know what we like, what sounds good with our family name, and have already completed the arduous process of naming our first.  We want a good solid name, a name that brings character, and a name that our little guy will identify with creating his own personality.  I am sure you are all wondering what or if we have decided.  Well, that will be shared soon enough!:-)

Until then my friends.  Here is a sneak peak of our little guy!  This was from our first ultrasound.

Summer 2011 or bust!

I am super excited to enter into the summer months... one because of the crazy winter/spring that we recentely had, and two because I am on vacation.  I only get one month off but my vacation began with  a conference at Seaside, Oregon with Byron and Ty tagging along.  We had incredible weather that is rare for the Oregon Coast. We were greeted with summer like warm weather, little to no wind, and minor sprinkles in the morning.   I was able to work and play in the evenings with my boys. 

One day of work later and then officially summer break started! I only have two weeks of time to spend with Ty prior to our family departure to Kaua'i.  During this time we have play dates set up for Ty, and a  to do list for me.  This consists of cleaning, unpacking, playing, packing for the trip, shopping and decorating rooms. 

The Fourth of July was super fun! Ty attended his first Rodeo with Jeff (a friend of ours), Byron and I.  He stayed awake for the 7 pm to 11 pm showing which also included fire works.  He was able to use his phrase... come on bullseye, and yehaw cowboy! .. This was also a milestone for him in that during the fireworks display he loved each one saying, "mom I love that one!" This was a much different reaction than in the past several celebrations where he hid, didn't like and wanted to go home to go to bed.  So we are certainly growing up.

While in Kaua'i we are planning to enjoy many relaxing activities! Mostly swimming at the pools in the resort, and sight seeing many beaches.  Ty is excited to ride on an airplane for 5 hours. We are excited to get away.  During this time Byron and I will be celebrating our 7th wedding anniversary. It is amazing to me how time flies. We are blessed to be welcoming our second son in Novemeber.

The rest of the summer is packed with each weekend booked in August and September.  We intentionally did this because Byron and I work and we want to spend as much time as a family engaging in family summer activities as well as completing chores and attending a few weddings. It seems like this summer will fly by quickly.  But we are excited to enjoy it!