Define: Reboot

My last post was in 2013, which seems weird, but also sounds about right.  Life has gotten much busier since then, but oh so much fuller and wonderful.

Beckett, who hadn't even been born yet, is almost three!  I was thinking about that today, and I don't know if that seems like a really short time, or a really long time.  Three years doesn't sound that long, but I can't imagine life without him, either.
Beckett, at almost three, is a busy boy.  He has so. much. energy.  He was sick a few weeks ago, and I kept saying I was worried about how lethargic he was, until my mother-in-law mentioned that what I was calling extreme lethargy was just normal sick kid.
Being a big brother has really suited Beckett.  We never had any problems with him being jealous, or acting out after Jericho was born.  He says, "Aww!" or "Sweet!" in this super high pitched voice, and gives her a hug about 20 times a day.  We did worry at the beginning that he'd accidentally smother her when trying to cover her with a blanket, but she did survive.  The worry now is just being gentle in general, which he's still working on.
His words have made leaps and bounds in the last couple months, but sometimes I like it more when he doesn't quite know how to say what he means.  Whenever I say, "I love you, Beckett," he says right back, "Love you, Beckett."  I just say I'm glad he has so much self-esteem at this age.
Particular is a good word for describing Beckett.  He likes things to be done just so, and will have a nice almost-three-years-old meltdown if they aren't.  Some of the things we have done horribly wrong include: the wrong person buckling him into the car, the wrong person unbuckling him from the car, opening the fruit snacks, not opening the fruit snacks, and so on.  I don't know how we managed to get anything done without him, since everything we have ever done is wrong.

Jericho, who is almost one, is such a mama's girl.  I have always been so upset whenever Beckett wants Jamin instead of me, and this is my punishment reward.  Today while Jamin was in the shower, Beckett told me he needed to use the potty.  I set Jericho down to help him, and she screamed so loud and for so long that Jamin asked what had happened to her when he got out of the shower.  I had to reassure him that she had not been hurt.  He tried to take her from me, at which point she began to sob hysterically (she didn't even leave my arms, she just lost it when he reached for her).  It's a real love/hate relationship with the attachment.  I do enjoy feeling needed, and I love all the snuggles and spending time with her, but I really struggle to get things done.
Jericho loves Beckett.  She's been watching him for as long as she could see him, and her face lights up when she sees him.  She does, however, screech like a banshee when Beckett takes something away from her now.  For a while she just let it happen, but now she lets him (and everyone in the neighborhood) know that she's not happy.
She already says something that sounds like "bye bye" and waves when prompted, and loves to say "uh oh."  She's been pulling herself up for a while now, and is able to take steps holding onto hands (even though she looks a little drunk).  She wants to do what Beckett does so badly that I wouldn't be surprised if she gets walking down before her birthday.

Recently I've really gotten back into knitting.  As a result, I now have a yarn addiction.  My sister sent me a picture of her "huge stash" and I just laughed.  A co-worker got her daughter a loom-type thing for Christmas and I told her not to buy yarn, but to just take some of mine.  I gave her 3 plastic bags full, and I am ashamed to say it didn't really even make a dent.  Some of the yarn I pick up I'm too scared to use.  It's so pretty, and I'm afraid I'll waste it by making something terrible, so it just sits and waits while I buy more.  I vaguely remember saying I wouldn't buy any more until I used up some of my stash about a year ago.  I think Jamin knew it wouldn't happen, but he pretended to believe in me (while also letting me buy more yarn).
Between work and the kids, I don't get as much time to do it as I'd like, but I usually get in at least a couple rows a day.  It's something I've really grown to love doing, and it's a good way to wind down at the end of the day.

And that brings me to why I'm writing.  I need to take some time for myself, time to be by myself, to gather my thoughts, to remember what's going on at this busy stage of our lives, and to write it down because heaven knows that between the potty accidents, the food on the floor, the screeching, the tears, the skinned knees, the diaper changes, and the bumped heads, I need to take the time to savor the hugs, the giggles, the story times, the kisses, the snuggles, the new words, the walks, the games, the tickles, the "Love you, Beckett"s.

So...here we go.
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Define: Little Things

This morning started out awesome. I woke up feeling pretty awake, the sun was out, I listened to some good music while I got ready...it was nice. Then the little things started to pile up.

On the way to babysit, I called my doctor's office to try to get an appointment. I asked for one with Lou-Ann, only to have the receptionist tell me that she hasn't been there since August (can you tell how often I go to the doctor?). I did get an appointment with Dr. Conant, but it's going to be weird. I like having a girl doctor. Ergh.

Babysitting was overall alright, though there were a few moments where I felt overwhelmed. One was when Jack came up to me and said, "I got pee pee on the carpet." Thank goodness he just meant the rug in the bathroom, because I was picturing a big wet spot in the middle of the living room or something. Another was just the amount of spit-up from Ben today. It was incredible. I think he saved some from the bottle before the one I gave him to get on me. Overall though, it really wasn't a bad day.

I drove out to Spring Arbor to see friends, but when I got there, everyone was in class. I decided to go across the street to McDonald's to get a fruit and yogurt parfait (sooooo good). As I started to pull out onto M-60, my car sputtered and died. I turned it back on, only to have the same thing happen. I put it in neutral and fortunately it rolled back a few feet out of the intersection. But I still freaked out. I called everyone, but everyone was in class. Jamin (my hero) came out of his class to help me, and as he was walking up his friend Andy was pulling up behind me, so he helped too. (strike)We(/strike) They pushed the car into the church parking lot.
Oh, did I mention that RIGHT before this happened I filled up my gas tank? Not. Happy.

I told my brother I'd probably need to borrow his car, and he was cool with that. My dad came out and took a look at my car (I missed seeing him, which was the last little thing that I could handle), and he couldn't get it started, so it got towed.

I had a small cry on the way home, but I took a shower and made some macaroni and cheese, and I'm feeling better. Tomorrow will be better. If only because I am driving a much nicer car. :)

Define: Men's Haircut

Before (okay, about a month before, but you get the idea):




After:

Jamin's Birthday

Jamin's birthday was yesterday. I made him a Jodo Bird (He calls me bird, because he accidentally called me Jodo once, which sounds like dodo, dodo bird, etc.). This is the test...



It sort of has a tumor. The real one wasn't much better...



It reminds me of the Tasmanian Devil. Huge shoulders, tiny rest of the body... I've decided I actually like the first one much better.

There was also a comic to go with the bird, which I'll put in the comic blog eventually. Since I haven't updated that since...October?

I also made what was originally going to be a fruit bouquet. For several,various reasons, they didn't end up looking much like flowers. They were pretty much fruit shishkabobs. But he liked it. :)

Define: Awesome

I decided to make a stenciled t-shirt for Jamin for Valentine's Day in addition to what I already got him, but after I finished it last night, I was too excited to wait a week to give it to him, so he got it this afternoon. :)

Here and here are the original photos.

Define: Shameless Plug

This is what I did this morning.  :)

I am still excited about Greek, not so excited about the grammar part of it.  It's brought me to tears more than once, but today's class helped a lot.

I am surviving another Monday, probably not as gracefully as one might hope, but I am surviving.