Huge strides

Marcus is amazing me. I know I've been constantly talking about this but Marcus is making huge huge strides in talking. Today there was a loud crash in my bedroom and I called to him asking if he was ok and he said "Yeah. I'm fine." He's never responded to that question. The first time he responds, he responds correctly. That's on top of a few other sentences he's said today that are all brand new (and of course now that I'm sitting here I can't remember any of them). We've not gone to speech therapy yet (I'm waiting on other people to do their jobs.. really frustrating) but now I'm not sure if he'll actually need it. Obviously we'll see where he stands when he actually gets evaluated and all that, but I'm hopeful he'll pull through this all on his own.

Jamesen's doing really well getting rid of his binkie. He doesn't really complain when I take the ones he's stashed away from him. He still needs them when he sleeps (I'll work on that in a bit), but he's doing great during the day. We purposely didn't bring a binkie with us to church on Sunday and while it probably would have helped towards the end... it wasn't until the last like 20 minutes he was crying and once I picked him up he was fine.

The pregnancy is going great too. I've gotten on zofran and it's helped a ton. I'm finally feeling ok and I'm not having break downs thinking of being sick for 40 weeks straight (yes it was THAT brutal!) We had an ultrasound and heard/saw the heartbeat. We're pretty excited :)

On other news, I've been having a lot of drama with people lately. I'm really annoyed with all of this. It's all been coming from family and people who should be supporting me, not annoying me. I'm really frustrated with all of this. I've gotten very uneasy when it comes to my relationships with a few people. I'm afraid their listening to lies from others and forming their opinions from that or a few other things that would paint me in a bad light. I'm honestly so annoyed and I've decided to just to let everybody go. I've deleted a lot of people off my facebook because that seems to be the area that everyone attacks me through. So honestly, if you've noticed you're not on my friendslist, there's your reason. I'm soooo done with drama. I'll probably regret writing this but oh well. I need an outlet!

Ahhh that was nice :)

I've been stressing a little bit about how today was going to go. Sundays are always hard. They go a lot smoother when Sabe's here since there's one parent to each kid. Well Sabe is in the field so he wasn't able to go with me today. I've been really sick too the last little bit as well so I was fully planning on just not going. Then a friend suggested that I eat some crackers first thing in the morning, before even getting out of bed. I've been doing it and all the sudden my morning sickness is a lot less intense and crippling. While I still don't feel well at least half the day, I'm at least able to do more than just lay in my bed and wish I would just puke already because it might make me feel better.

Anyway, back to today... We get to church before sacrament meeting (which in itself is a miracle and just tells me just how much Sabe take forever to get ready!) and they did so great! They really love the puzzles I bring. I leave them in my church bag so they only play with them at church and they're almost brand new toys to them again after the week is over.

I had one of the other ladies with a nursery goer take Jamesen to nursery because I knew if I took Marcus near the nursery room, he'd never stay in his own class. That sort of backfired at first because Jamesen was like "NOOOOOOOOO DON'T TAKE ME FROM MY MOTHER!!!!" at the top of his lungs. I pretty much ran Marcus to his class and thankfully his teacher was already there and took him with her to get copies made while I ran into nursery and calmed Jamesen down. He was pretty fast to calm down though. He loves nursery. I was able to slip out just in time to see Marcus wrestling his teacher who was trying to get him to go into the classroom and sit with her. I stayed in there with him for a little bit, but I started not feeling well and he was being a pain in the butt so I left. He cried "no mommy come back!" which near about broke my heart. Luckily he only cried it for like 3 minutes and then was done.

I sat for the rest of the hour in the primary room getting to know the primary presidency better. They threatened to put me over singing time and I flat out told them not to depend on me for the next few months because of how sick I've been lately. They're some pretty funny ladies and I actually wouldn't mind being in the primary.

Once the class was over and it was time for primary, I went and hid so Marcus wouldn't see me. I came back a few times to check on Marcus and he was doing great! At one point, he was called up to do something and wouldn't sit back down. They let him draw with chalk on the board for a bit and he wrote his name perfectly in front of everyone, lol! I had a pretty proud mommy moment there!

Jamesen did really good in nursery too. I'm so proud of him, and so relieved too! It's nice to not have to stay with him every second of every day without him screaming bloody murder.

oh and by the way... does anybody even read my blog anymore? Seems like I'm talking to myself, lol

One of those moments

Today while I was laying on the floor of the toy room trying not to be sick, Marcus was drawing me pictures. We've been watching Blue's Clues a lot lately and there's one point where Doodle (a drawing board) draws a letter and then draws a picture around it. Marcus did the 4 that were in the video but then started making up his own and then would try to spell the word. He failed at spelling any of the words correctly, but I was so amazed at how close he actually got it for a kid who doesn't know how to read or write. Maybe my working on it with him is actually sinking in a bit! It hasn't seemed like it up until this point. I've been so sick lately that I've taken a break in his homeschooling and maybe that's what he needed, just a tiny break.

He's talking mostly in sentences now as well, which I'm really excited about! They're mostly small (2-4 words) but that's better than nothing! He's enunciating a lot better now and actually says his name right! He use to say Martus but for the last few days has said Marcus. He's such a sweet boy :) He's a little stinker too! I just confirmed that he can indeed unlock the fridge. I've suspected it for a few weeks now, but could never catch him in the act and haven't been sure if I hadn't forgotten to lock it or not. He's really helpful with Jamesen though so I can't complain. He's really is such a great kid and I'm so blessed to have him!

Jamesen is growing like a weed. That kid is huge! He fits perfectly in his 3T clothes, right along with Marcus who has been wearing half 3T half 4T. Jamesen has become quite the monkey. Our pantry is taller than our fridge and has 4 doors, two on top and two on bottom. Jamesen has taken to opening on the doors and then scaling the shelves to get to the top where I keep all the good stuff. I've not seen him do it (he's fast!) but Sabe has.

He's talking so well too. He's saying small sentences, though not nearly like Marcus is. He'll repeat some words after we say them too. I think his constant need for the binkie is hindering his speech a tad. I've been working on breaking him of it, but sometimes... like when you're really sick to your stomach and have been alllll day, you just want a happy kid so you give in. He's not really potty training either, but he's started telling me right after he goes, so that's a good sign he'll be ready soon. I hope to have him mostly trained by the time this baby comes along.

Despite being pretty sick lately, this pregnancy is going well. I'm only 6 weeks so the fact that I'm still pregnant is a great thing! only 6 more weeks until it's a lot less likely that I'll have a miscarriage! Always a great milestone to hit. I'm just trying to make it through each day since morning sickness has really hit me hard this time around. If I keep my stomach full, I can usually at least function through the day, but I have to be really careful because if I over fill my stomach, I get pretty sick too. The boys have been great for the most part though. They've been really good for me when I'm home a lone lately which I'm so thankful for.

We've not really been doing much lately. Just hanging out and waiting for the heat and humidity of summer to fade. The boys are not fans of humidity at all and they prefer to stay inside rather than play outside until the sun starts to set. It should be getting cooler here in a few weeks though, so hopefully we'll be playing outside a lot more soon. Can't wait for the ants to leave! They're pretty ruthless in our backyard. I have to keep a very close eye on the boys so they don't stop in a mound.

Anyways, that's it for now. :)

It's been confirmed...

I must change my name to Fertile Myrtle.



Sabe and I decided to try for a baby and that same cycle we got the two lines. This is the first time we've actually tried for a baby and that "2 week wait" was pretty grueling!

I'm due around April 1. Not quite sure yet though since I've been ovulating every 2 weeks for the last few months and it threw off my cycle. I've not even called for a first Dr's appointment. I'm really not that worried about it right now. Just coasting through.

We were going to keep it a secret for a while but then I just decided I didn't care and posted something on FB without even telling anyone, lol! I called my mom like 20 times, left her a text and a voicemail and she just happened to check her facebook before her phone so even she found out on there, lol! I'm not really caring about people being upset that we didn't tell them before facebook as I don't really talk to anybody anyways. I told 3 close friends but only because I needed a few more pairs of eyes to see if the line I was seeing was imaginary or not. I figured anybody who cared would be on facebook except for my oldest brother who got a quick text and that was that.

I get huge fast an already have a small bump. It's kinda weird to me just how fast I get a belly when pregnant. I was very noticeably pregnant with Jamesen at 9 weeks and here I am about 4 weeks and have one.

The "morning" sickness is starting a bit. So far it really only shows it's ugly head if I let my stomach get too empty. It's hard not to. I don't really feel like eating anything and have to force food down my throat so I don't get sick to my stomach. I've been eating a lot of ramen lately, just because it's fast and is one of the only things that sounds good almost 100% of the time.

I'm getting some strong girl vibes. Even though I've only just started, this pregnancy is already starting out differently than the boys' did. Biggest thing is that I craved salad a few times. I've never in my life craved a salad. It was just meat (usually burgers) with the boys. The sweets cravings are through the roof too. I'm going through the boys' otter pops like there's no tomorrow!

Anyways, enough pregnancy rambling. I'll try to keep it at a minimum :)

My name is Adrienne

and I've become terrible at blogging.

I need to remember that my mother doesn't see my kids everyday anymore. One of her only connections to them is through my blog. I've been meaning to skype with her but keep forgetting. So mom, when you read this, if it's not too late my time, pick up the phone and call me and we'll get on skype.

A little update on Marcus. I think he might be dyslexic. He's got quite a few signs and we've got a slight history in our family as well as a history of ADHD which also contributes. I've gotten into contact with the school system here because we don't live on base and can't utilize any of their school programs. They say it's too early to test him for dyslexia, that we have to wait until 5 to do so, but I had a good long chat with the lady over stuff like this in the district and she set us up with an appointment to get his hearing and eyes checked. It was today and I totally spaced it. I'll have to fill you in when I'm able to get another appointment! Ack!

Anyways, Marcus has given me no indication whatsoever that he can't see or hear. He can hear me perfectly fine when I whisper to him. We whisper daily during Jamesen's nap and have full conversations in whispers. He usually speaks so quietly I can barely hear him. I'm sure he can hear himself so I'm not worried there at all. He'll be going into speech therapy though which I'm thankful for! As long as we show them a copy of our lease and a utility bill, they'll give it to us for free! How amazing is that? I'm so excited to be able to speak to Marcus and have him answer questions and have full conversations.

I've been avoiding calling the dr about Jamesen's bump because it's gone way down in the lasts few months. You can barely feel it and you can't see it unless you're looking for it. Before it was prominent enough that you could see it because of the bump in his hair but now you can't see it at all. If I can get away without having him have to go through surgery, you can bet your eyeballs I will! I'm worried that if I go see this other Dr., he'll be surgery happy and guilt me into it just so he can make money. The original guy we talked to said that it should go down by the time he hits two and if it hasn't he needs to be reevaluated. Seems to me like it's going away on it's own though.

Anyways, enough about that. We're having a lot more fun in Georgia than I was expecting we would. We've been mostly staying inside though. The boys are very much hating humidity so we only go out in the evening if we even make it out now days. It's just way too hot and humid for any of us! The fun we've been having is the toy room! it's really amazing to me how much mess that room contains. They take toys out sometimes, but usually they just play with them in there so I don't have a trail of toys throughout the entire house I need to clean up at the end of the day. There are a ton of toys in there, but I've got a good organizing system that makes clean up relatively fast. We spend most of our day in there. The boys are loving the train table and are constantly handing me trains and track pieces to put together. They're so cute with it!

Jamesen has started repeating movie lines. It's so funny to me. I wonder if he would have started that on his own if Marcus didn't do it so much. Jamesen just has to do anything Marcus does. But hey, if it gets him talking, I'm ALL for it! I think I'm doomed to make kids who are super busy yet slow in speech. But boy when those boys talk, I hang on their every word!

Marcus is such a smart little guy. He's doing so well in the homeschool preschool we've been doing together. We hit a snag recently though. We've started the "early reading" section and he's just not putting the words together. He'll sound it out and when it comes time to tell me the word, he says a random other word. Case in point: the word was bug. He would say buh. ug. guh. buh..... uh.... guh.... buh-uh-guh, buh-uh-guh, CAT! I think his speech is impeding his reading. Hopefully we can rectify this with speech therapy. I know he could do it if he just understood what the heck I was wanting of him. Once he catches on though, he'll be reading in no time. that's always how it is. It takes awhile for him to really understand what I'm trying to get him to do but once he does, he doesn't need any prompting me from whatsoever.

More on Marcus. He is officially 100% potty trained! We finally got him to click with the not wetting the bed at night thing. He's been in underwear and accident free for almost a week so far! So proud of my big guy! I desperately want to potty train Jamesen too, but he's proving difficult. I ask him many times during the day if he wants to go potty and he promptly replies with "No!" Oh well, I'm sure it'll happen sooner or later right??

So yeah, we're doing good. Just hanging out :) Thinking about getting a dog :)

Jamesen is 2!!

I don't even know where the time has gone. Jamesen turned two on the 7th and both Sabe and I were blown away. I swear it was just yesterday that I had Marcus, let alone Jamesen! It's so funny to me too because when Marcus was this age, I already had a 2 month old Jamesen. That would not have worked this time around, let me tell you! Jamesen is not ready to be a big brother. He gets jealous when Sabe takes any of my attention, let alone Marcus or heaven forbid a BABY take my attention away!! When we have another baby, we will have to really work at preparing him for it.

We're going to be starting potty training once we get the house all unpacked and I can devote all my efforts to it. We've started having him sit on the potty before bath time. He use to cry and scream if I even acted like I was putting him on there but now that I've pulled out the gumball machine, he's a lot happier to sit because he knows he gets rewards. I'm doing the same thing that I did for Marcus. He gets rewards just for sitting on the potty in the beginning. Once he gets use to sitting on the potty, I'll try to keep him on there for longer periods of time in hopes of him accidentally going where we'll make a huge deal out of it and he'll get huge rewards. Hopefully he'll catch on as fast as Marcus. Once I got the gumball machine, he was potty trained in 2 weeks flat. Minus over night...

I'm not buying anymore training pants though. I should have enough to get me through until the house unpacked and then it's underwear 100% of the time for Marcus man. I'm debating whether or not to just go underwear the entire time with Jamesen as well and see how that goes. We'll see. We hope to have both boys in underwear 100% of the time by the end of the year. I don't know if that's an unrealistic goal or not. I guess we'll see.

The boys are doing great. We've been making Marcus speak full sentences to us lately to encourage him to talk and it's really helping out a lot. He's been so late with talking it's made is really lax in making him talk. We're so happy he can actually communicate with us that we let the bare minimum slide. For example, he would say, "Drink?" for a drink, but I've been coaching him to say "Can I have a drink please?" I swear I would give that kid anything (within reason of course) if he properly asked me for it. Like today... He clear as day said, "Can I have some car cake please?" talking about Jamesen's Lightning McQueen birthday cake I made. I was so happy! I've also been trying to coach him to answer questions with something other than no or silence. He will now answer "Martus!" (we're working on it) when asked what his name is and "Fweem" when asked how old he is.

Before I forget, I have to rave about what a great husband I have. I wasn't feeling very well this morning. My allergies have really been acting up. I think I'm allergic to something in our carpets (like always it seems). Anyways, so I was in a really bad mood today and we got into a fight and I was just not feeling well and I was cranky, so I went to bed. I didn't even say a word, I just went to bed. He let me sleep for almost 4 hours this afternoon. He got the boys lunch, put Jamesen down for a nap, switched out the laundry, loaded the dishwasher and then went back to sorting through boxes. I woke up to a messy living room (he was going through a box of paper work) but I was well rested and MY chores had been done. Even after I got upset at him and was fighting with him he still went and did all of that. Sweet huh! :)

I need to take some pics of the toy room. The boys spend a lot of their time in there while unpacking goes on. I've sorted through it all and organized it so it's easier for me to think when I go in there. We've got a ton of toys so it would just be a huge mess if I let it go unorganized. They are LOVING the train table. Jamesen was like 10 months when it went into storage so it's nice that he's older now. He doesn't wreck the track like he use to. The move damaged the table though (and my washer too!!) I don't know how they'll compensate us for it as it's still usable, but I guess we'll see. At least it's the place they go to if we can't find them! It'll randomly go silent so I'll go searching thinking the worst and they'll be playing in there nicely, totally absorbed in what they're doing :)

Anyways, I'll keep you updated on the preschool and potty training front and once we get unpacked and decorated I'll take more pics of the house. Until then, the current album of pics on Facebook as that's faster to upload pics and everything.

Tidbits on jamesen...

Anybody who personally knows Jamesen knows that he's very stuck to me. He rarely goes to anybody else and all Hell breaks loose if I so much as leave the room!

I made it to my breaking point. I was so done. I had had it with the clinginess and the never going to Sabe and the always crying behind the bathroom door if I shut it, etc. I posted a giant rant online to some online friends of mine, but nobody had any suggestions but to wait it out. I was frustrated and over it so I went to bed.

That's when the miracle happened...

I swear it was over night like right when we got into the new house that he all the sudden didn't need me as much. Maybe it's Sabin coming home coupled with us moving into the house so we're STABLE, but he's changed. He's going to Sabe a lot more often and crying a lot less often. About a week and a half ago we were all walking through a parking lot towards the PX and Jamesen let go of my hand to grab onto Sabe's and didn't even look back at me.

The biggest thing though... and if you really know Jamesen you'll know how bit this is... is that he stays in nursery on Sunday by himself. He doesn't last the entire time, but the two Sundays we've been going to this new ward, he stayed in there for at least half the time without me or Sabe! Seriously that's amazing because I'm not use to being able to just leave him and not have a meltdown on my hands. We were in Vegas for 2 and a half months and the longest he lasted in nursery was 5 minutes. Literally. Once he realized I was gone, he would start the water works like the world was ending.

I don't know what happened, but I'm very happy about it. 2 years straight of barely being able to leave his side has really worn me down. I think I've paid my dues with clingy kids! Hopefully our next one is the most laid back lazy baby ever!