Gotta love technology.

It's been several days since I've posted. Not because I didn't want to, but because I couldn't. Our DSL has been on the blink since last Wednesday. Chris and I being the techies that we are were able to narrow the problem down to the line pretty quickly. But, that means nothing when you call the phone company. It's so hard for me to sit calmly while they ask me silly questions like "Have you rebooted your computer?" 2 hours on the phone later, I was able to convince them to send someone to the house. In the end, they had to replace the phone box outside of our house.

The night before they came out, Chris decided to make some new network cables to clean up all of the wiring in our entertainment center and make it a little easier on the phone guy. Micah had his first lesson in splicing cables. Gotta tech 'em young!

On another note, Halloween was a lot of fun last night. Micah was a "motorcycle man" (that's what he calls it) and Katie was a horse. They had a blast walking the neighborhood with all their friends. We live in the best neighborhood ever.

Birth Order?

I think I've been in denial about this for sometime, but I'm finally starting to come to grips with it. My kids are different. Imagine that.

From the day he was born, Micah has always been out to please. He usually only needs to be told once not to do something. When he was 15 months old, we moved him to a big boy bed and told him not to get out of his it on his own. To this day, he won't get out of his bed in the morning unless Chris or myself comes to get him. We told him a few weeks ago that he is old enough now to get out of his bed on his own in the mornings, but he is still very hesitant to do that. He is always telling Katie, "Katie, don't do that. Mommy and daddy wouldn't like that!"

Katie.. well, she's not Micah. I was finding myself getting frustrated at times because I might have to tell her 20 times not to do something. And just when I think she has accepted the "no", I turn around and she does it again. Why? They're kids from the same parents with the same discipline. Don't get me wrong, Katie is a great kid in lots of ways. She's funny, loving, super smart. She's just a little more stubborn. Hmm.. maybe a little like me, huh?

Someone at my work today recommended a book called "Birth Order". She suggested that Micah and Katie are the way they are because of the order in which they were born. She said I should hurry up and read it so I can see what kid #3 is going to be like. I'm not sure kids can be pegged into holes like that, but I will probably pick up the book to see what it says.

In the end, I think it has more to do with the fact that God blessed these two kids with different personalities. I think I just needed to be reminded of the verse that I've spent countless nights reading as I nursed them. It's painted on the wall in the baby room: "For you created my inmost being; you knit me together in my mother's womb. I praise you because I am fearfully and wonderfully made." Psalm 139:13-14

It sure is quiet around here.

So, Micah is officially sick. He lost his voice this weekend and began complaining of a soar throat yesterday. I took him to his pediatrician today and it was determined that he has croup. He tried to talk a little yesterday, but after he realized it was a lot of work, he basically just kept to himself today. When he needed something, he whispered to me. That made for a very quiet house today. At night it's even worse - it sounds like a barking seal when he coughs. I had heard other parents talk about the croup cough, but I guess I wasn't prepared for what it would actually sound like. It's a horrible noise and to hear it come from your own kid is just heart breaking.

On the bright side, though.. this means we get good food! Tonight Chris' dad made us some chicken and dumplings. Mmmm. That's some good stuff.

Do they do that on purpose..?

How do kids know when it's Saturday? The one day of the week when mommy and daddy can sleep in a little. We're not asking a lot - just to sleep until 7am. We were optomistic that Micah and Katie might let us do it today because every day this week they have slept until 7:30 or 8. So, we were hopeful that if we didn't hint around that today would be Saturday, they might do the same this morning. But, noooo. Not today. Today Katie decided to wake up at 5:45am. And since they are sleeping in the same room now, Micah woke up even though he wasn't ready.

But, once we got past that ordeal... it was a pretty good day. We did a bunch of work around the house. Micah loves helping his Daddy when he's doing projects, especially the part where he gets to bring Chris some Gatorade. Since he's not allowed to drink it regularly, he usually sneaks a gulp or two as he's taking it to him.

We also got to visit with my childhood best friend, Steph. She was in town today helping her parents set up for a big neighborhood party they're having next weekend. Micah was not surprisingly a little scared of all the Halloween decorations. Skeletons and ghosts are over the top for him. And Katie, being Micah's complete opposite in almost every way, thought they were "cute" (her words, not mine). It's funny to watch how different their personalities are. I can't imagine where our next kid will fall in the personailty spectrum.

Whirlwind day.

Today was a workday for me, but it was a super busy day so it went by in a blink. You would think having to go from staying home with kids all day to a workplace environment would take quite a bit of effort to get my brain to shift into a different gear. Nope. In a lot of ways, I think my kids are more logical and mature than some of the silliness I experience at work. Don't get me wrong, I love what I do in my job. It's the people that present the challenges. Ever watch the show "The Office"? It's pretty much like that, but 10x funnier. You've got the Dwight's - the ones you have an Outlook rule setup to just send their e-mails straight to the Deleted Items. Fortunately, I've got several Jim's in my inner circle. We can at least laugh at the stuff that goes on together. I spent most of the day with two of my Jim's - Jennifer and Bill - solving some issues and laughing at some of the silliness that transpired today in other areas.

Oh, well.. At least tomorrow promises to be a little less silly. I'll be home with my kiddos. Although, apparently they seem to think I'm the silly one around here. Micah spent most of dinner tonight telling me "Mom, you're a silly dog." I asked him where the bananas were so I could give one to Katie. He said, "I see the banana, mom." I said, "Where???". He pointed at me and chuckled.

Where do they learn this stuff?!

Intro to a Boring Mom...

So, this is my first attempt at a blog of my own... My husband has been good enough to setup a blog that gives updates on our family happenings - http://chrisandjudy.blogspot.com/. But, I wanted to setup a blog of my own where I can share the daily antics of our household. If there is one thing my kids have taught me it's that there is never a dull day when they're around!

A brief summary of who I am: I am 28 years old and have been married to my wonderful husband for 8 years. We were literally childhood sweethearts - we started dating when we were 13. We have two kids, Micah (age 3) and Katie (18 months) a third on the way (due in mid January), and a 5 year old Golden Retreiver. I guess some people call a typical American family and others call us crazy. I suppose we're somewhere in the middle.

You could probably say I have a variety of duties throughout the week... First and foremost, I am a stay at home mom for most of the week. This is by far my favorite job! I also have a 2 day a week job in IT as a computer programmer and technical lead -- a truly awesome job! And when I'm not doing all that... I am a DONA certified Doula where I have the privilege of attending to mom's during labor and childbirth.

So, here goes... Check back soon to see the world through the eyes of a stay at home mom/computer geek/childbirth junkie.