Lions, and Tigers, and Bears oh my!

We made a trip to the County Zoo on Saturday and had a blast!  Right now there is an exhibit where you can go in with free flying birds (mostly parakeets but still cool) and feed them.  

Gabe, my Mom and I went in.  Mike hung out and waited for us outside.  He does NOT like birds. So we got out stick with food stuck onto it and went in.  It was so neat.  I ended up with several birds at one time on my arm all fighting for the food.  Gabe got to pet several and he thought feeding them was a blast.

At the end of the day we HAD to ride the train.  Gabe had been calling for the Choo Choo all day.  Every time we crossed the tracks he puts his hand on his forehead like a salute and looks both ways and hollers for it.    The line was looooong though so we had to wait through 2 trains before we got on.  He was definitely a tired kid by then.  So he doesn't really look like he is enjoying himself but he's been talking about it since so he must have had fun.

Next year I think we'll buy a pass so we can go a couple of times.  We didn't actually get to see everything in one day because it's just too long of a day still.  I think we were there about 3 hours.  Gabe napped a little in the car on the way there but didn't nap at all after we left and I really thought he would.    

We stopped at the humane society on the way home too.  The one was stopped at is so nice I don't feel guilty just visiting.  We were checking out dogs.  It will probably be a year or more before we seriously consider a dog and NOT a puppy but it was fun to look.   I think 4 cats will be enough to keep us busy for awhile.  Until we have the house settled and a fence a dog isn't something we'll really talk about.  

Another summer weekend gone so fast.  I can't believe that June is almost over.  Where does the time go?!  I want more weekends with the family where the weather is nice. 

Blarg!

So it's hot hot hot, and HUMID too.  90 degrees out still and it's almost 7:30pm here.   

Mike is home from work for the whole week.  He's doing steroids again.  At least they're doing oral again instead of having to go in and get stuck with needles (no one needs more needles).   We have the AC running and we're just hanging out inside now.  

Hopefully the steroids will help, and Mike won't be too cranky on them.  Steroids always make ya cranky.  I did get orange juice which helps with the potassium loss during it.  Now if I can just convince Gabe to not drink all of it will be in good shape. 

Just figured I better update since I mentioned Mike hadn't been feeling great.   This too shall pass. 

Half Birthday

Holy cow I forgot to post yesterday.  Gabe was officially 2 1/2 yesterday.  Where the HECK did half the year go? 

He's such a great kid.  He's stubborn as can be but he is so sweet.  He loves to give hugs and kissed to Mike and me and loves when Grandma comes over.   He loves to "ride" bikes and play outside.  He can run around for hours, I can't wait til we have a fenced yard.   

He was laying with his head on my lap yesterday evening while we watched Jeopardy and I just couldn't believe how big he is.  He's definitely not a baby anymore but a wonderful, smart, precocious little boy.   

In other news Mike has been home from work Monday night and last night. He's feeling like crap and waiting for the doctor to call him back.  It's fabulous when the doctor doesn't call back by end of business like you were promised.   Hopefully they'll call back early today so we know what's going on. 

Good Night Moon, Good Night Stars

This is probably a pretty common book in many of our lives. Who doesn't know Good Night Moon?

We don't actually read this book, a slew of others yes but I'm not sure we even own that one.

What we do get each and every night before bed is Gabe going "night kiki (kitty), night truck, night cars, night dog, night cards" And he has to go around the living room and wave at each of them and if the cat lets him he kisses her before bed too. It's so freaking adorable I had to make sure I wrote it down.

I love that kid.

Job offers

Mike came home and told me there is an opening at his current employer, for his job on first shift (he's on third shift now). He wanted to talk to me before posting for it because there would be a pay cut right off the top. He'd lose his shift premium which would be 15% of his total pay. That's a BIG pay cut ($4000+ a year).

I told him I didn't care, we'll figure it out somehow. He's GOT to get off of 3rd shift it's horrible for his health. I mean no one should work third shift but a guy with MS really shouldn't be working 3rd shift. It's impossible for him to get enough sleep, impossible for him to go to school etc.

I'm actually hoping we'll be poor enough to really qualify for some things at least. We were JUST over the $$ cut off before so cutting that much off of our income probably will "help". I'll just have to figure out if I'm going to keep working or if I'll quit my job and be the one to go to school or if DH will go to school on the weekends/nights. My mom says she can watch Gabe some to help out too.

I'll probably look into state funded health care if he does get it since then we could save the money we pay in premiums now ($400/month) which would be better too but I worry about Mike being able to see his regular neurologist that way, getting the RIGHT meds and not whatever they tell him he needs etc.

I know I'm REALLY putting the horse before the cart but it's better for me to think things out before it happens just in case so I can have a plan in place IF it does. The way things go at his employer though I won't be holding my breath but extra prayers and positive thoughts would be nice.

He ate it!

Before I could get to him Gabe ate a cat treat.  You know one of those squishy ones that comes out of a bag.   He had it because he likes to give the treats to the cats when they don't run away from him.  Suddenly though I turned around and he's chewing.  

I asked him to show me what was in his mouth and when he stuck out his tongue there is was, Oh well.  He did say YUM and lick his lips when he was done.  I better hide the rest or he'll be eating them all.  

I think that's the strangest thing he's eaten so far so I thought it deserved note.

Sometimes I wonder about that boy.

Please return to your regularly scheduled day. 

Cars, Cars, Cars

Gabe loves cars, big cars, little cars, trucks, trains, you name it.  He especially loves the move Cars though and I think Lighting Mcqueen might just be his hero.   

Now Gabe doesn't talk nearly as much as the other kids his age so when he gets something down it's worth celebrating.   Yesterday evening we were watching Cars, AGAIN, and at the end suddenly I hear "bah cow"  (Ca Chow).  It's Lighting's signature sound.  I just about died laughing.  When Mike got up I asked Gabe "what does lighting Mcqueen say?"  And he says "Bah cow" again.  Mike and I both busted up laughing.  

Now you do Ta-Da, Ba Cow, and You make a dinosaur sound when you get asked what Grimlock (Transformer who's a dino) says too.  I love this stage where you do things on cue.  It makes it really easy to impress the Grandparents with cuteness. 

PS.  I went to preview this post before publishing and Gabe saw Lighting at the top and started saying "car, Bah Cow" and pointing.  I love that kid.  

Who Knew?

Wow I have to say I'm shocked at how over protective some parents are.

I got into a heated argument about.... Ready for it?!... Lemonade stands. Yes you read that right. I mean I live in a small town so it's really not that big of a deal but even moms in big cities said their kids could do it in the front yard of their house. We heard all about how horrible we are and how our kids are going to be abducted by strangers, yeah right.

Really stranger abductions account for a TINY portion of all abductions and even abductions are a miscule worry in the grand scheme of things. (approx 58,000 kids are abducted each year, which sounds like a lot but not when you think about the fact that there are THREE HUNDRED MILLION people in the USA.).

I've been there done that. When I was 6 I was almost abducted on my way home from the school bus stop. We (another girl and I) had to get off the bus and walk two blocks home, and one of those blocks was a huge park. Well a guy stopped his car and came up to us and offered us candy. We dropped our bags, screamed bloody murder and ran home. My dad was a cop at the time and I remember the officers coming to the house.

You know why it wasn't that traumatizing to me? Because I knew what to do in the situation. I completely believe in teaching Gabe to be cautious but I do not want him afraid of his own shadow. I don't want him to think that all strangers are bad. I mean how can I grocery shop if I can't talk to a stranger, or approach someone in BRU in the carseat aisle if I can't talk to a stranger.

Long story short, Yes I will let my son have a lemonade stand when I'm home, yes I will let him walk to school without an adult at some point, heck I'll even let him drive a car.

I can not and will not protect my child from EVERYTHING. There is a fine line between being a cautious contentious parent and being overprotective. I'm pretty laid back and I suppose for some people I'm probably too laid back. I don't let Gabe play with the stove but I do let him poke bugs with a stick. I hold his hand crossing the street but I'll let him jump on a trampoline. Heck I'll probably let him get his ears pierced or dye his hair too (shocking I know!). There are just WAY bigger things to deal with than whether the 1 in a zillion chance that someone might abduct Gabe from my front yard is a possibility.

In the very wise words of Dory the fish-

Marlin: I promised I'd never let anything happen to him.
Dory: Hmm. That's a funny thing to promise.
Marlin: What?
Dory: Well, you can't never let anything happen to him. Then nothing would ever happen to him. Not much fun for little Harpo.

So pick your battles. Know what's REALLY a danger and what is something you project on to your kids to be a danger and choose wisely. No one wants to go through life scared. I hope someday Gabe will try things that are a little bit scary and find out that a lot of them will be fun too, otherwise we'd never climb on the monkey bars.

Exhausted

Geez we've been so busy lately.  I feel like I can't even take a breath.

It was kind of over cast and rainy all weekend but we did run to see Mike's parents and then his sister. 

Then yesterday our friend Dave brought his daughter Maddy over to play.  She's about 9 months younger than Gabe and they got along wonderfully!   They were so cute following each other around and they did hold hands but I missed the picture. :(   

It was just all kinds of little things.  Today I have a zillion errands to run and we're broke.  So broke I think I have to bounce the check book for meds :(  I hate that.  We just can't ever catch up.  It's always something...

I will have a couple pictures of the house up soon.  We went for a walk through this weekend too and GEEZ do we have work to do.  I mean we knew we did but when you go through again you really get a feel for how much work there is.   I'm going to have to take up a collection for paint and the oven since we need that pretty quick.     My mom and I did check out some furniture this weekend too since I know she said she'd buy new living room furniture not matter where she was going so as long as we're all moving in together we might as well find something we can all enjoy.  

Does a little dance

Did you hear?  We have a house.   They accepted our offer.  It's a HUD house (VA loan foreclosed on) and it needs some love.  It's a 3 bed 1.5 bath currently but we'll be adding a full bath/bedroom in the basement which is 10 feet tall and a poured basement.  

Now we need a home inspection and a bunch of other misc crap to do but I am excited.  Now I REALLY need to get packing.   

Hopefully we'll close somewhere about the middle of July.  We need a fence right away (corner lot right across from the school) and we need an oven, a fridge, washer/dryer and the bathroom needs work right away.  Oh and paint, but I'm weird and I like to paint, especially if we can do it before we move in.  

Of course now I start worrying about money.  Yes my mom will have the mortgage officially but we are going to pull our weight (or try) and eventually own half the house anyhow.  So I'm going to need extra pennies I think.    This is the part where I wish I got paid more even though I like my job, or there was a baby store near that I could work and get paid for my carseat stuff, THAT would be fun!  

Ok I'm going to ramble because I'm excited so I'm heading to bed to TRY and sleep. 

Whirlwind weekend

Wow we were busy this weekend.

We celebrated my Grandpa's 81st birthday on Saturday (He's actual B-day is June 2). So we all went to my Grandparents house and had Mexican food made by my Grandma, best authentic Mexican I can get!! Then we played outside because it was a BEAUTIFUL day.

When I was a kid my Grandpa used to take my brother and I around in his "tractor" which is a riding lawnmower in the bucket that attaches to the back. We always had a grand time and FINALLY Saturday Gabe wasn't afraid of it anymore.

First my brother took me in the bucket without Gabe to try and get him excited that someone else was doing it. My Grandparents have an acre and a half huge yard and the neighbors were out in their backyard laughing at my brother and I giggling up a storm as two adults alone in this thing.

Then I convinced Gabe to go in it with me in the bucket with him and my brother driving. Mostly he wanted to drive it by himself though. We told him he can't drive til he can reach the peddles (lol). So here he is pretending to drive. There were lots of tractor sounds involved too.



Or chase my brother and I in it (I'm driving my 6'4" brother is in the bucket a little squished). Mike got some really cute pictures of Gabe.



And I just really love this one:



I have to say that Saturday was the first time I REALLY REALLY had fun playing with Gabe. I mean I enjoy hanging out with him and learning new things but this was something that *I* really enjoyed from being a kid and getting to share it with Gabe was fun and exciting because it was nostalgic for me and brand new for him.









BUT that was only Saturday!

Yesterday we went to Chicago to visit one of our dearest friends (who I wish lived closer). He lives in Nebraska but was in Chicago on business. So of course we decided to visit Skip. So usually when we go to Chicago we drive (2 1/2 hours if we don't hit traffic). But this time we thought, what the heck lets take the train. TOTALLY WORTH IT!! It probably cost us about 10 bucks more that way but no hassle and no traffic. The train ride is only 1 1/2 hours, even with the 25 min it takes us to get to the train station it's faster. Plus Mike and I got to spend time together on the train doing crossword puzzles.

We did get lost getting off the train though and walked about a mile out of our way. We ended up catching a cab (note to self just catch the cab right away next time). We had lunch at Giordano's Home of world famous stuffed pizza. We did have two stuffed pizzas (there were 5 adults so we weren't TOO piggy). Anyone that knows anything about pizza knows Chicago is the best place for pizza ;)

So all in all a wonderful weekend with both family time and adult time which is really the best of both worlds.