Our Second Child

Ugh!..... Sums up Nolan in the last few months of his life. He is a handful! Scratch that....Five handfuls! He has always been an extremely independent child, completely opposite of his brother. I have always dreamed of having a child like that . One who could cater a little more to his needs, entertain himself and so on. I am sorry for this and wish I could take all those dreams back1 Nolan is SSOOOO independent it is hard to deal with on a day to day basis! If you do something for him, anything, pick up toy, put his cup down, move his shoes, drive my car, yes I said drive MY car, the child will undue or try to undue whatever it is that you did and redo it himself. This makes for some major meltdowns when you do something he cant undue, ie flush the toilet or drive the car! Its hard to deal with a 2 year old who wants to pour a gallon of milk and or drive the car, some things he just cant! Try telling him!!!!UGH!

So the latest and greatest? OK, Mr. P was potty trained at 26mnths. YEAH! Good job! OK so why does this pose a problem? Well, when we moved Nolan decided if he doesn't get what he wants, he'll just pee! And on some occasions Poop! We are in the grocery store and he wants cookies, mom says no, Nolan says, "I'm gonna pee!" and does! WT%&@* I'm driving and Nolan asks to go to the playground and we are on our way to school, mom explains that we can't, Nolan, "I'm gonna Pee!" Kyan and Nolan are in the playroom and he doesn't get Ky's toy, yes you guessed it "I'm gonna Poop" This was a daily some times twice a day routine for awhile. So you might say just put diapers back on him? NO! for one he'd just take them off and for 2 heck no! He's trained, its all about control. A woman once told me the other day, "Kids have 2 things they can control, what goes in and what comes out" Isn't that the truth! In a way I feel its our fault because of what we did to our kids routine, basically we took their world and turned it upside down.

So things have turned around a bit. Naps are happening more smoothly (they are zzzzzzz as I blog) and a routine is slowly falling back into play. Just in time to probably move again in a couple months. And most importantly the peeing and pooping has become less and less in the pants! Oh except yesterday when the boys raced to the bathroom to play "swords" with their pee (don't ask, my fault, isn't that what all brothers do? Maybe just mine?) Anyway Nolan apparently changed his mind and decided to whip it out and pee all over the bathroom floor, "just because" he said. AAAAHHHH This kid! Oh this second child!

Fall Dayz!

Some great pics down by the river at our current home! The boys love living on the river it allows for some great after dinner fishin'!!!

Hello? Blog?.....are you there?

I'd be lying if I said I knew where to begin. It saddens me greatly that all this time has gone by with only 2 posts over the summer. So much has happened, so much has changed! Our lives have changed greatly! Ill do my best to do an update without writing a novel but it's gonna be tough!
We spent the summer in our rental house with grandma Debbie in Ann Arbor. Thank God this woman retired and volunteered her precious time to watch her crazy grandchildren while Dad studied for the BAR and mom traveled across the state to work! From swings in the trees and squirt guns in the front yard I'm not sure the kids could have had a better summer (with the exception of having their parents around a little more. Summer was rolling on and our up coming move to our new house in Grand Rapids was approaching fast. July had come to an end, Mick took his BAR (results pending) and our closing date on our house was in three days. This my Friends is when all hell brakes loose! As if our summer wasn't crazy enough. So we find out our future home in a "community" has an easement in the backyard. This would prevent us from putting up a fence unless we moved in in 10ft. My husbands thought on this....."Hell NO!" And that was the end of our future home........now we are homeless! Yes, I said homeless! So what do we do? We buy a camper and go camping DUH! Right when I thought our lives were about to slow down. HA! So within a couple weeks we find a house we both agree on again! WOW the last one took us over 4 months to find and agree on. I have to say I was a bit less picky, being homeless has that effect on me. Now, we need a place to rent. A short term lease in our new school district (so Ky wont have to switch schools) and one that will allow our nice small lap dog Doctor J. Hhhmmmm not so easy to find!!! Oh did I mention that our campground has WIFI? This made home shoppin' a breeze (please sense sarcasm there.....thank you!) Low and behold the last day before I was to condemn us to an apartment complex (a rather nice one) Up pops a short term lease! A 3 bedroom home in the Forest Hills School district and dogs are allowed! All topped off with river frontage!!! wooo woooo! Do we really need to come look at it? Well Take it!!!!! So this is where we stand, renting a cute little place on the river waiting for our new home ONCE AGAIN. If I've ever had a good excuse for not blogging....I think that's it!

So things have turned and seem to be going well. Ky loves kindergarten and is planning on having a party next month inviting all the boys in his class. He gonna be 5! Wow 5! He started Soccer this year and Mick is his coach. Not sure if the kids really know whats going on but its fun to watch, with the exception of trying to keep Nolan from running after the ball! Hockey also started this past week. This season he seems a little more reserved and I'm not quite sure why. But Mick thinks its because the amount of kids on the ice has tripled and its a bit more organized than the learn to skate program, more focused on actual hockey fundamentals. I'm sure he will come out of his shell in no time. He better for the price of ice time!!!

Nolan....well I'm going to save that for a post in its self! If anybody needs birth control let me know and Ill package my Pie up and send him your way!

Welcome back Blog!!! Ive missed you dearly and have thought about you daily!!!!

Just a quick post...thats about all we have time for these days

These pics were taken at the begining of the summer.....oh the Mighty Mac!

Home Sick

If theres one thing I've done this summer, its spent A LOT of time driving. When you drive 2 hours one way to work and then spend 3days in a hotel you have a lot of silent time which leaves a lot of thinking time. I also drove to the U.P and back by myself which added an additional 13 or so hours to again...think. One always wonders what life would be like if you took a different route. I guess I cant compare my lonely days Ive been having without my trio of boys bc I already know what life is like with them. I knew it was going to be hard to be away from them but nothing could have prepared me for how I was going to feel. Every time I leave them now I get that huge lump in my throat, the kind you get when you need to cry but are doing everything at will not to. Life is plain old boring without them! I miss there voices, there smell I even miss Kyans whining and Pie misbehaving....yeah That bad! The good thing, time is flying by (not such a good thing when you live in Michigan and summers only last 4 months) Yesterday when I was driving back down south I saw what I thought was one of the most beautiful sun sets in Michigan but then I realized it was the moon rising, not the sun at all. The moom, full and red, just above the horizon of Lake Michigan, the water so calm it looked like glass,it was so peaceful. I wish the boys could have been with me ( I guess it probably wouldnt have been so peacefull then.... LOL) Ill be back home on Sat. Miss you guys!

Happy Belated Birthday America!

We all headed north AGAIN for the fourth of July. Mick, Deb, Ky, Pie, Doc, Malachi and Flower (apparently a beta wont die if you dont bring it on vacation, they can live without food for quite some time, have to remember that next time, a bowl of water doesnt travel too well!) all headed up from A2 on the second and I trailed from Grand Rapids on the 3rd. The kids had a blast at the Gladstone Parade, what kid wouldnt have fun with 4lbs of candy thrown at them for an hour! We spent the first part of the 4th with my cousin Katie, her BF and his adorable girl Kallie who is just a little older than Pie. There was a giant blowup slide that you could pay $5 and slide all day. Turned out it was a waterslide and turned into a comedy show for my mom and I watching Nolan bounce 5 or 6 times down the slide before plumeting into the pool of water at the bottom, I think he had an audience for awhile! The fire works were...well the usual fireworks. Suprisenly the kids werent all that excited about them but did enjoy them. Then Monday we visited some friends at their cottage on Lake Michigan we spent the day on the beach and then enjoyed a fire in the pit. Kyan collected some rocks and will be doing an expirment to find fossils in them by submerging them in vinegar. Stonington, where the cottage was is famous for having lots of fossilized rocks.
I think we can officially say Nolan is POTTY TRIANED!!! WOO WOO!! He is 27.5 months, not bad for a boy but not good enough to beat Ky's record of 25 months! He still has an accident if you dont remind him/force him to go! But NO MORE DIAPERS!!! (with the exception on nap and night) All I heard all weekend was how well Nolan speaks. He sure is a blabber jaw. He is speaking in 4 word+ sentences and likes to repeat everything he hears his big bro say. The mom in law brought back her cords for her camera so pics are coming soon, she has captured the entire summer for me so far and boy does have some great ones!

I have a blog? Oh yeah!

It can't be July already! Here is a quick update. Sorry if you have been wondering if we fell off the face of the earth, as usual, life is at its busiest! Im glad blogger doesnt cancel blogs with inactivity!

Jen:
The J-O-B in Grand Rapids is going well and she is excited to finally know she will be working somewhere long term. Hotel living is not for her, but somebody has to pay the bills! It finally hit her tonight that she is extremely home sick and needs some place to call home quick! On the other hand living the "single life" 3 days a week does have its pros!

Mick:
Continues to spend the whole entire day, every day locked up in the loft studying endlessly for what (with the exception of fatherhood) may be the biggest test of his life. He sat out in the sun for less than 2 hours the other day and fried like a lobster. Seriously this guy does not leave the loft, only to eat and sleep. He has also been busy planning the "family schedule" that consist of getting the lady of the house up and exercising at very early hours of the morning....hmmmm.

Kyan;
Has been a super kid lately. He's been a great big brother lately and is working on not getting put in time out. He has a chart that devides each day into halves and he can earn a star for each if hes not placed in T/O. His days include fun in the sun, sqirtgun and waterballoon fights, hangin' with grandma debbie, trips to burns park and his favoirte pass time...riding on two wheels! He's been going at it for almost a month now!!! He really enjoys going on long bike rides where mom rides her bike too!

Nolan:
Oh good ol' Mr. P! Talking like a teenaged girl in english class. Last week he talked non stop from Grand Rapids to Esky, thats 5.5 hours folks. He remains what his mom referes to him as, "non stop action packed" He insists he is old enough to not have to nap and even thinks its funny at times, ITS NOT! The other day he gave his brother (who still naps like a pro) a rude awakening by throwing hard cover books on him once he fell asleep. His potty training is going well and he has not been in diapers during the day for some time, he still has accidents but they are getting farther apart. His counting and his ABC's are at about the same level, he counts "2,5,2,5" as he points and rambles an occasional "LJK" Oh well he'll get it someday!

Gramma Debbie:
Wonders,"what was I thinking" when she offered to come stay with us for the summer and watch the boys. I think she is reliving the days of when Mick was a young boy....poor Deb!

Last but not least

DOC:
Continues to take bread and butter off the kitchen counter and hide it in random places throughout the house only to be discovered by his owners days later. Chased the mail man away and almost made his owners have to get a P.O. Box., and lets not forget about jumping up on the stove to lick the bacon grease out of a pan and igniting the stove to start a grease fire while his owners were out! Jen got home just in time to save the house! In other words, Doc hasn't changed a bit :(

Have a Happy 4th!

Only real men wear pink.....thats what I told him anyway!

Michingan unemployment at 12.9%? This woman?....Standing strong!

Low and behold this mama found a job. I guess you all were right when you said,"you'll always be able to find a job" So I got another contract just in the knick of time. I will be returning to the same NICU that I worked at last summer. I have an 8wk contract set up and will be siging up PRN staff after that! IT couldnt be more perfect.
Over memorial day I was in the U.P. with the boys and Deb. I went to a freinds wedding where Kyan was my date. Mick stayed in A2 to continue study for the BAR. We looked fashionly aswome I have to say, me in my hot pink dress rockin some heels and him in his matching pin stripped suit with pink shirt and tie. Oh and did he rock out his mohawk that night!!! I will post pics soon. We met up with Grandpa Brian and Auntie Wind AKA Anniwin LOL at the Deyounge Family Zoo and had a great time seeing all the animals. Im still not sure how that man was able to start a zoo, literally on his front porch. HHMMMMMM? Nolan really liked the reptile room, I think we were in there for a good hour. It really stunk so I kept trying to get him to come out, only to return a min later to stop him from whailing. Two words to sum up that child...Independent and Determined. His on going theme...."Self". Yes that boys must do everything him "Self". The boys ended up staying up north with Deb so she could hit up a wedding tonight. My parents will be taking the boys over this weekend. A shout out to both our parents, you guys all rock!! Thanks to you all for taking such good care of the little men so we can continue our hecktic lives!!!! XOXOX The boys have been away from me since tuesday aftenoon and mick since last friday! Mick is a bit affended that the kids are having a blast with the grandparents and not too concened with talking to him in more than 30sec blocks. All Nolan usually whips out is a "Ba Bye, Love you!" Im sure the reunion with the Ky and the Pie will be more than exciting for them on Sunday afternoon when they get back. I know Daddy is excited to see them, oh wait He bought tickets to the Stanly Cup series tomorrow knowing that the boys were comeing home....hhhhmmmmm? Hey Hey Hockey Town!! GO WINGS!!! I will be crossing my fingers for Grandma Debbie as she makes the 7hr trip back down with them in her back seat!!! Good Luck Deb, youll need it!
Well this is my last night at HFHS, I have one week off and then will be starting back up on June 8th. Unfortuanalty I will have to commute for 8wks, GR is 2 hours form A2. UHG!! Oh well, its a job! I will just be living at a cheep hotel a couple nights a week. UHG!
OH.... I CANT BELIEVE I DIDNT MENTION THIS! WE FOUND A HOUSE.....THAT WE BOTH LIKED!!!! Its beautiful, build in 2006, walk out ranch, maple floors, cherry cabinets, cathedral cielings 3bd 2.5bath just to name a few and.... I LOVE IT! Im trying not to get too attatched until its in our possession (ok, too late, I know) Anyway I love the room it has to offer 1875 finish sqarefeet and the walk out level has an additional 1875 with like 10ft cielings for a grand total of 3750 sq feet!!! This house is perfect because the walkout isnt yet finished so it will give Mick something to do, we all know how he loves endless projects when it comes to the house! LOL I will post picks once this baby is ours. Hope you all are enjoying the begining of your summers! I already know its going to cruise by for us. June Already????

Where we are at.

We are all moved out of the house and into our sublet. Well, all but the patio set and grill, which the renters have agreed to have us pick it up later. Who would have know all our stuff wouldn't have fit into the storage unit? I guess we will need to take more than one trip to Grand Rapids when it comes time for the big move. Currently we are in the rental the whole famdamily including the mother in law. Have I mentioned this woman is wonderful? Well she is, and thank goodness we have had her over the past few weeks. The kids are doing great with grandma with the exception on Pie not allowing her to do ANYTHING! "Mama do it" "Daddy do it" If we aren't there he of course lets her help with anything, thank goodness. Mr. P is still practicing mastering the art of potty training, today as I cleaned Kyans fish's water Mr. P must have gotten excited by the running water. Yeah he peed all over my foot! Ugh as if dirty fish water wasn't enough! Hopefully over the next month or two we will be diaper free. Kyan just completed a 2 week course of abx for an ear infection. We took him back to the ENT after his right ear was draining puss. Turns out the right ear was infected, hence the 2 week course of abx and the left tube, is falling out. Falling out?! Great! Glad it cost over 4k to have the stupid thing put in just to have it fall out 2 months later! Geeze, I wonder if I find it once it falls out if I can return it for a refund? Well at least the tube in the right ear did its job buy draining the fluid and not storing it in the inner ear making the kid def again! Kyan is getting ready to finish up his last days of preschool. Now that we are in Ann Arbor it is so nice driving him to school, its only 2min away!!! The location of the elementary school to our new house is a huge factor in the hunt. We still haven't found that perfect house yet. Partly because my husband and I don't agree on ANYthing! I'm sure we will someday, just hope that day is sometime in June or July of this year! Mick started his BAR review today, so he will continue to be busy with boring law stuff for the next 2 months (oh' I think that will be true for him for the rest of his working days) He takes the exam on july 31st. I on the other hand only have a few working days left. My contract ends on the 31st and I was told there will be no extension offer. Because the economy, there is no agency help needed UGH! I just hope I can get a job somewhere! Wish me luck in my search, I only have 2 weeks to find something.