It's been too long...

This was Joshua talking on the phone on Wednesday during our snow day. He told me he had to call Aunt Libby because he had to tell her something. Who can argue with that?

Sorry I've been absent lately......it's not for a lack of things to write about, but more about my lack of time to put my fingers to the keyboard. I'm awake, dressed and about half packed to head to Lewistown for a quick one-night visit, so I thought I'd check in on everyone and say hello. Mostly, I'm thinking about Emily and her VERY long work shift today, so I MUST give her some reading material to pass the time.

I still have to do my tagged post from Libby, but I'll work on 25 Things About Joshua for all of your reading enjoyment (and my reminiscing)...

1. Joshua came into the world in a bit of a complex way. If left up to him, I would still be pregnant. I'm convinced of it.

2. He LOVES cheese....best source of protein he's got. Might have something to do with the 40 pounds of cheese he made me want to eat while we were travelling around together in 2006.

3. Favorite snack these days: Nilla Wafers (the mini ones that are colored). Oh....and fruit snacks.

4. Adores lawn mowers. We got one at Toys R Us that I wish had an odometer. He walked that thing around last spring/summer until I thought the wheels would fall off. $12 well spent. If he hears one anywhere in our development, he's on it.

5. He gets quite a kick out of playing with his Daddy and laughs the hardest when Daddy tickles him. He begs you to stop, but then smiles and begs you to "do it again please".

6. He doesn't, at least at this point, have the best singing voice. It's pretty monotone and everyhing is sung in whole notes. I have no idea when the vocal talent might be "supposed to" emerge, but we're still waiting.

7. He loves his Aunt Libby so much it's almost scary. And it's been that way since he was brand new. Warms my heart.

8. He loves Lucky Charms, but it takes some convincing and trickery to get him to eat the brown ones. He'll pick marshmallows out all day long and leave the rest.

9. He still falls asleep in my arms in the rocking chair every single night. And while I know it's a habit we need to work on breaking, I love it too much to push too hard.

10. His Bear is never far from his sight. He goes along with us EVERYWHERE, although we have made a new rule that Bear has to stay in the car when we're in malls or big stores where he could get........uh........left behind.

11. He gets so excited each morning when he sees Grandma's car pull into the driveway.

12. His favorite show on TV is Imagination Movers...particularly Mover Scott. It's the only 30 minute period of time you can really count on getting anything done around the house when you're here with him.

13. His middle name is Robert....after his Pap.

14. Speaking of names, deciding on his was a major event. We couldn't agree on anything. In the delivery room, Dr. Miller knew the two names we were considering and said, "He looks like a Joshua." (We were pretty set on that anyway, but as long as everyone was in agreement...) By the way, the other choice was Nicholas....which I still love.

15. He LOVES to eat vegetables. I know.....it's weird. I never worry about this child and his fruits and veggies. Last night he sat down and ate an entire (pretty big) bowl of blueberries. And then asked for more. Who IS this child?

16. He has enormous feet. Seriously.

17. He loves to do crafts and make things for people. Paints, stickers, markers, you name it.

18. He is quickly developing an obsession for Legos (the bigger ones).

19. He has attended 3 Key Club conventions (sick, I know)....one in my tummy right after we found out about him, one in the Snugli (and I'm not kidding) while I was walking around, and one last year on his own two feet. This March will be 4....and probably the last.

20. We are bribing him with a trip to Disney World in order to generate some interest in potty training. Shameful, I know...but you do what you must. He's still not on board, but we keep talking it up.

21. He shakes when he pees. It's a dead giveaway. Too bad it's after the fact and doesn't do anything to help with #20.

22. He loves watching videos of himself on the computer. He giggles at the silly things he did when he was a baby.

23. He gives the best "squeeze tight" hugs you could ask for.

24. He loves steak from Byerlys. They're thrilled with this and know that we're good for at least two steak dinners a month from there. They smile when they see me come in the door, and I don't think it's because they're so happy for the chance to talk to me. It's the big list I walk in with that entices them.

25. He makes me laugh at least a thousand times every single day. How'd I get so lucky?

Snow Day...And 5 out of 6!

This was AFTER we cleaned the house. Can we possibly get anything else out?

Playing "drums"......that would be a tamborine and maracas in case anyone wonders.

As expected, Joshua and I find ourselves in our sweats at home today because of the winter weather. I don't actually think it's as bad out as the weather people predicted...but their forecasts scared us enough to make the call to stay home yesterday.

It's now 2:30, and Joshua is dreaming away upstairs. I can't remember when the last time was that he fell asleep before 2:00. Usually it's because he's sick, in trouble, or so grumpy that he can't stand himself for even one minute longer. None of those are the case today. He has been an angel all day and I'm really loving being home with him.


We have managed to cross officially 14 things off of my to-do list so far today. 8 to go. Our house is cleaned for the week (a few days early), which may just allow us some time to do some visiting with Nana and Pap, Libby, Zig and Brooke this weekend. And if we get out of the house for a night, Daddy just might be able to knock out a whole bunch of studying since we won't be around to disturb him. Sounds like a plan, huh?

I wanted to pass along the results of Joshua's allergy testing. I got a message from the nurse at the allergist's office yesterday that went like this, "Uh, Megan.....I just got the results from Joshua's blood work back and I, uh....I need to talk to you." I panicked for a second, and then called them back. She explained to me that the results for these tests go from Class 0 (not allergic at all) to Class 6 (Holy Smokes you're allergic!). Joshua came back at Class 5. In some ways, seeing the results and seeing how severe his sensitivity is to peanuts and tree nuts, I somehow feel better....like there's no possible way we were imagining the reaction he had, or embellishing it at all. She also said, though, that it's unbelievably serious that we keep him away from everything that could possibly have any slight trace of nuts or nut oils in them. Birthday cakes from grocery stores or Walmart......no way. Cookies from a bakery....never. Nothing into his mouth that we haven't seen a label on. And suddenly I'm feeling very stressed. But at least we know. She said we all need to know how to use the Epi-Pens and that anyone who would be watching him even for a short time has to know how to use them. Lovely. And, it'll be really important for us to teach him what he can and can't have, and what questions to ask before anything goes into his mouth. By the grace of God, we'll figure out how to do that, although I haven't a clue at this point how we'll do it. So that's the update.....ugly as it is. But, like I've said before, we are so lucky that this isn't worse than it is. He's shown no other allergic tendencies, so we're counting our blessings about that. So many kids have it so much worse. We can live without peanuts.....all of us.....birthday cake, now that might be tougher. Just kidding.

In other news, Emily has issued a reading challenge, and I'M 100% IN. I'll order the book now. Darn it....that's 9 more things on my list. Better get cracking.

Music Class Breakthroughs...

It's going to be a wild day in State Farm land today. I have 5 client appointments today (might be a record)....maybe I'm trying to prove that I can still keep the pace I did as a trainee agent...with one other sales appointment that I expect that didn't commit to a time despite my warnings about "the calendar looking a little full". Sounds like a good day to pack lunch, because going out to get something isn't going to happen. But anyway, that's the reason I find myself at 6:50 listening to Joshua snore over the monitor while I give a quick update from music class last night.

You'd have thought it was Christmas, honestly, when I told Joshua yesterday morning that we were going to music class that evening. "Really Mommy? Music Class.......for MEEEEEEEEEE?" I couldn't help but chuckle at his sheer joy. So I raced home (truly) to get my little singing buddy and get him bundled up for class. We were almost late...but we made it to our carpet square just in time. Our breakthrough came early on in the class. One of the first things they always do is to go around the room and ask what we can sing about each child in the circle. We use their names and use an adjective of their choice to describe them that day. (Sometimes we get "silly girl", "sleepy boy", "sneezy girl"...you get the idea.) Almost every single time, Joshua tells me on the way to class that he wants to be the tractor boy. And when the teacher asks him, "Joshua, what can we sing about you today?" he just looks back at her blankly and clutches on to me tightly. Well last night, he said, proud as can be, "I'll be the TRACTOR BOY!" with this big grin on his face. So evidently, it takes us two years to adjust to a new situation and get a routine down. That means by 2nd grade, he ought to be going to school like a champ and not screaming his head off at my departure. At least we know what we're dealing with, right?

He particularly loved "No Bears Out Tonight" (as he always has) and actually led the charge to hide under the tent. For the first year we took classes, he wouldn't even consider going in the tent with the other kids. Last fall, he went with a little coaxing. And now, he's right in there with the others.

I'll work on some pictures for you soon. We spent last evening in total meltdown...and I mean TOTAL meltdown. After supper, everything went straight downhill, so it wasn't great picture material. If we end up with a snow day tomorrow, you can bet I'll snap some. Happy Tuesday everyone!

Children's Discovery Workshop

It was so nice to play hooky with Emily and the kids on Friday to go and check out the Discovery Workshop in Williamsport. I have to tell you, Joshua had a blast and is STILL talking about it. He's getting to the age where these hands on activities are really appealing to him, and I can generally take him places without the fear of him killing himself, having a total meltdown, sleeping through the whole thing, or puking all over everyone. (Those of you with little kids know what I'm saying...) So we're starting to round the corner on going out into the world to explore, and I have to tell you...I'm loving it.

Emily and I didn't get to spend as much time catching up as I would have liked, although we had some great conversations in small chunks. Something tells me that this is just like our moms used to talk to each other when we were little...in pieces, between boo-boos and snacks, whenever you can manage. What fun it's been to reconnect with Emily---- in case anyone doesn't know, we were 18 Edgewood Place and she was 16 Edgewood Place when we were very little. She was my very first friend and has a part of just about every memory I have prior to age 6 when they moved to Lewisburg. We were big wheel riding fools when we were little. She's a fantastic mom who I really look up to, someone who knows full well the struggles of work-home balance and who helps me keep it all in perspective, and someone I'm really blessed to have as a friend. We don't see each other as often as we'd like, but go back and read that work-home part again and it's pretty clear why. Thank goodness for email and blogs, though. And we're working on seeing each other's real faces more frequently.

So, on Friday, we spent most of our time watching and following our respective small people, but would manage to talk a bit when they were in one spot (or in the tunnel). Speaking of the tunnel, they have this big long tunnel that goes from one side of the place to the other, which all of the kids really seemed to enjoy. It was helpful to have 2 Mommies on hand---- one of us would put them in the tunnel, knowing that we didn't have to sprint to the other side to catch them when they came through. There was a wickedly slippery slide that Joshua nearly bit it on a couple of times, but as long as one of us was close, he was OK.

We ended our fun morning with a parking ticket (darn it) and a trip to Daddy's office. All of his co-workers said they didn't think Joshua was real...since they hadn't seen him in person. But we had a quick visit there to say hello to everyone and eat about 8 million pretzels out of Yondy's stash, and then back home we went. It was way past lunch time, and far too close to naptime for any great nutritious lunch, so I figured that the boat load of snacks Josh ate on the way home counted. He rounded it out with some cheese and crackers when we got home, and then crashed into a wonderful nap in the afternoon while I cleaned the house and started about 8 loads of laundry. I believe "played out" would be the appropriate description for Joshua since I had to wake him up from his nap.

Next on our list of adventures......Super Jump. I'm sure it's as fun as it sounds. The next time we feel a hooky day coming on, maybe Emily and I can coordinate again.

Aaaaaaah! And Not Me Monday...

So much to post...and so behind! We had a computer disaster at the house this weekend. It's dead. Really dead. The computer geniuses assure us that our videos and photos are recoverable (for a fee, of course), but it left me a bit unconnected for the weekend. We're hopeful that they can fix the computer for us as opposed to buying a new one, but that remains to be seen. On a side note, with no computer access this weekend, I was struck by the amount of sit-down-and-rest time I found during the quiet times of the day. Chores got done faster, laundry got done more efficiently and I found myself actually relaxing for a while yesterday. Maybe the computer is more of a distraction than I give it credit for.

So...there will be multiple posts coming your way today if I can get things under control from a business perspective. I have gazillions of pictures (not joking) from our adventure on Friday with Emily and the kids to the Children's Discovery Workshop. I owe about 20 pictures to Emily with her adorable kids in them, and I'll get some good ones posted here as well. But first, in hopes that this might get buried underneath less embarrassing material, I'll share Not Me Monday with you. Just when I was thinking I'd have NOTHING to share, this one hit me like a brick wall. I'm not proud of myself, but in the vain of full disclosure, here we go...

I absolutely did not hear this coming from the backseat of our car on Saturday while driving out of the parking lot at Wal-Mart. "Mommy, I can't get this." (The "this" that my adorable, precious son was referring to was his car seat straps. He couldn't get them buckled. Because I DID NOT forget to do it.) What kind of a mother would do something like that? I'm sure glad it wasn't me because I couldn't live with myself if it had been. The "car seat Nazi".....forgetting something like that? Can you imagine? I mean, I am the kind of car seat freak who panics if the thing wiggles even a fraction of a millimeter at the belt path. Surely I couldn't have done a thing like this.

Let me explain......and, by the way, put down the phone. Do not call Children and Youth until I can tell you what happened. Joshua has taken a great interest in buckling his own straps, and I'm teaching him the importance of being safe in the car. He'll get himself buckled and then we'll talk about how those straps keep him safe and that he can never ever unbuckle himself. Only Mommy or Daddy can do that. So on Saturday, I let him work on it while I was unloading the cart into the back of the Highlander, with my eye on him the whole time. Then the blasted cell phone rang and Jason was telling me about our DEAD AS DOORNAILS computer, which made me forget to buckle our little buddy in. I didn't get very far- maybe 10 feet- before having a panic attack and stopping the car and running about like a madwoman. But good grief. Again, please don't think less of me. And please don't call the Child Services folks. I'm embarrassed to write it down, but know that you all are my friends, and we can all bask in the crazy things that do not happen to us each Monday while we write it down to share amongst ourselves. Really, you don't think I'm a bad Mom, do you?

My Valentine's Day, Mother's Day & Birthday Present

You're curious, aren't you? This must be good, right? Maybe some diamonds or a big vacation?

WRONG! It's way better than that!!!

My wonderful husband brought me a brand new camera last night thanks to the liquidators at Circuit City. This economy situation is tough on both of our businesses, but this is one situation that worked out in our favor. I've been thinking for some time about how I'd like to upgrade our digital camera. Since Joshua has been born, I've really gotten into snapping photos of him (what new parents don't love that?) but I've really enjoyed learning how to do some things. And I want to learn more. I want to learn about Photoshop (anyone know of a good class I could take?) and learn to do a good job of capturing those precious moments to look back on in 20 years. This might be getting a bit deep, but I feel like I live life through the pictures we've taken. I can look at one and remember exactly what happened that day and what we were doing and how I felt about it. So even though this has been on my mind, I've pushed it off thinking that we really shouldn't spend the money on a new camera. Quite frankly, there's nothing wrong with our old one.

Anyway, when word hit that Circuit City was bringing in the liquidators, we talked about looking into it to see if we could get a good deal on the camera I had my eye on. Evidently, Jason saw a good deal and snatched it up for us. I'm so excited.

Last night I played around a bit with the camera and loved what pictures I got, but I didn't have much to work with. Joshua has a cold and wasn't too chipper last night, so the subject wasn't overly interesting, but I'll keep practicing. Maybe tomorrow, if we're lucky, I'll have some good luck. Emily and I have plans to try out this Children's Discovery Workshop in Williamsport as long as Josh is feeling OK. (And yes, that does mean I'm playing hooky....I'm feeling slightly guilty about it, but not guilty enough not to take advantage of an opportunity to do something fun with Emily, McKenna, Cooper and Joshua. In case you were wondering.)

More to come on all of that. And pictures......lots of pictures.

Allergist Update

I thought I'd post a quick update about Joshua's trip to see the allergist today. I went with about a million questions and came back with at answers (and sometimes just support) for almost all.

Ever since this little "incident" in December, we've been in a state of confusion about whether it was definitely the peanut butter in the cookie that those two pesky M&M's touched that did Joshua in. According to the doctor, he says it's a "compelling story" and that he'd be "shocked" if it wasn't peanuts. Good. That's what I thought. I was a bit nervous that he was going to say, "Well, it could have been the peanut butter, or it could have been something else too." And then all of a sudden we'd be living in this tailspin of anxiety about everything that went through Joshua's lips.

Evidently skin testing can not be performed on a child as small as Joshua, which quite frankly I'm happy about. I've been through that, and it's about 100 shots up and down your arms and sometimes your back. I really hate the thought of putting him through that if it's not really necessary. According to Dr. Sutton, he can test for peanut allergy through a simple blood test (simple to the person who is NOT Joshua's mother and will have to help her little soldier be brave through a major stick). He also said that it would show the level of sensitivity to peanuts, which may (in a year or two) help us to know whether or not we should try very calculated reintroduction of peanuts and peanut products (ie. peanut oil) into his diet. He did warn me, however, that 90% of children who have peanut allergies go on to suffer with this for their entire lifetimes. I pray that Josh will be one of the lucky 10% who outgrows it. But the doctor reminded me of the "compelling story" of our trip to the ER....and then said he sounds more like the 90 than the 10. Rats.

So after our time with the doctor, which by the way thoroughly screwed up my day at the office (our 11 am appt didn't start until around 12 making it nearly impossible to get to my 1:00 appointment, so we had to reschedule that one), we decided to get the dreaded blood test over with. What a heartbreaker that was for this mommy. Joshua was a champ...I had explained what they were going to do, which he repeated to the nice nurse who swore up and down to me that he had done this many times on even smaller kids than Joshua (but I warned him that he had one chance...get it on the first stick or we were GONERS) that he would put some cold stuff on his arm, tie a band around his arm and then pinch him. He was fine until the pinch actually happened....and then he was TICKED off. Like, "Geesh, I knew you said pinch, but wasn't that a bit HARSH?" He cried all the way home, but I later learned that it wasn't because his arm hurt, but rather because they had put a Band Aid on him, which is a cardinal sin in the land of Joshua. How dare they? Once the dreaded Band Aid (which was "hurting me Mommy!") came off, he was all smiles.

In the midst of all this excitement, we realized that we forgot Bear at the allergist, so back we went to resuce him. Can we get any more drama?

As it stands now, everyone is safe and sound at home recovering....Joshua from his pinch and Bear from his abandonment. What a rough day. I'll end with a few pictures (hidden treasures) from two weeks ago before church. Joshua was reading to himself. Thought you'd like them.

I'll know the blood test results in a few days, so I'll let you all know what we find out.

"Not Me" Monday...

So, for today's "Not Me..." Monday, I have an update in pieces for you. We had a relatively low-key weekend...busy, but not overly bloggable. However, I do have a few things that I do not want to tell you about because they most certainly did not happen on my watch.

First of all, Jason and I most certainly did not allow Joshua to scream like a banchee while taking pictures of him because his face made us laugh so hard we couldn't chew. This was not what he looked like at our dinner table on Friday.

Neither was this.

We most certainly did not bring some special new toys home for Joshua and Daddy's two days together. While I was at a board meeting all day Saturday and while I'm working today, Joshua is getting to spend some special one-on-one time with Daddy...and I'm sure he's loving it. However, I must say (although not from personal experience) that bribing with a few new toys, one of which was definitely not a firetruck tent, can be effective in provoking good behavior. But I wouldn't know because we definitely did not stoop to that level.

On Saturday night, I most definitely did not make our very kind waitress, Linda, go back into the kitchen 4 times to figure out what would keep us out of the emergency room with Joshua while eating at Damons. Note to all with peanut allergies or who don't want their kids introduced to peanuts before they decide to, Damons is not a good choice of restaurant. (Big bummer here.) They use peanut oil in their fryers and on their grill, so a bowl of lettuce is just about your only option there. I absolutely did not just about have a nervous breakdown in the middle of the restaurant while we realized that the entire kids menu was off limits. I most certainly wasn't sick to my stomach the whole time we ate being worried about my little buddy.

And in this one...Pap most certainly was not stuck in the fire truck tent needing the jaws of life to get him out. Good thing Firefighter Joshua was on hand for assistance.

And finally, this child IS the sweetest boy I know. Even on "Not Me..." Monday, I can't deny that. I'm blessed beyond what I deserve...and thankful beyond words.

New Bucknell Fan...

Last night, amid very cold temperatures and flying flurries, Jason and I decided to make the second "Feed the Fans" night at the Bucknell basketball game a family affair. I really wasn't too sure how it would go, but as usual, Joshua surprised us with his cooperation and relatively good behavior. You can see me in action above---- the one talking (surprise surprise), but doing business, so that was good. While we were handing out pizza to all of the attendees, Jason and Joshua were doing the really important stuff...checking out Bucky Bison (who Joshua referred to as "that animal") and sitting by the band to see the instruments. I got quite a chuckle out of Joshua cheering along with the students in the stands. If you've never heard a 2 year old chant, "defense" and "shoot the ball" and "Go Bucknell!", it's pretty funny. I'm 100% sure he had no idea what he was saying, but he seemed to be having fun. It was actually difficult to get him to go home when the pizza pushing was over and he's asked when we can go back to another game soon. Looks like we may have a fan on our hands. Daddy said he'd prefer to go to a men's game the next time, so we'll work on that.

So the child who has had me believing in the "terrible twos" for the past few days was as sweet as he could have been this morning before I left for work. He ate his breakfast without a fight (almost unheard of) and then asked nicely if we could "please get the Play-Doh out and make some snakes and spiders?" Who can say no to that. So we played at least 45 minutes worth of Play-Doh with no tantrums and lots of silly pretending about what we were making and what their names were. At one point when I told Josh I was afraid of spiders he said, "Don't worry Mommy. He's friendly." That helped.

I shouldn't laugh this hard at work...

Guilty as charged. I came in to the office this morning to work on finances (this happens on or around the 15th and 30th of each month) and tends to be the most stressful and anxious we can mark on the calendar. It's just not the part I enjoy. So I thought I'd procrastinate for a quick moment and check in on all of the kiddos---- some I know, and some I don't. Great revelations this morning...

• Emily and I (third cousins twice removed or whatever the relation...I've never gotten a handle on it) evidently are more closely related than we think. Both of our homes smelled like lasagna over the weekend. Now, if only we had TALKED about this, perhaps I wouldn't still have lasagna for 13 in my refrigerator, after two meals had been eaten out of it for the Dugan Three. But funny nonetheless.

• And I'm literally just about peeing myself giggling (actually out loud) at Angie Smith's blog recounting her experience rushing to the hospital to be present for her best friend Audra's labor and birth of her new baby girl. Now, I do not know these people, but goodness did she make me laugh. Go read it (http://www.audreycaroline.blogspot.com/). You deserve to giggle too. This made me feel a bit like I did the day Libby was laboring to coerce Brooke to come and meet her fan club and I was sitting.....anxious....sitting and just feeling like I should DO something to help her. I should at least go there. Sitting and looking at my cell phone willing it to ring wasn't doing one single lick of good. And how I laid awake the night Lindsay was in labor with beautiful Lila just feeling like I should get in the car and go. Like I could have been helpful, which I'm sure I could not have. But if you've ever been on the "waiting" end of things, which I'm sure we all have, you should read it. It's really funny. And definitely better than finances.

Speaking of which, I must go and emerge myself into the dreaded middle of the month chore.