Sani Man

Sani will be 5 months old at the end of the week. The time sure is flying! He's still a pretty happy little guy. You know when he's awake because of the noise coming out of one end or the other....he is one gassy kid! He recently mastered the art of sputtering spit bubbles and squealing & yelling. He keeps a sharp eye on his sister and enjoys her antics. He's rolling all over the place now and can sometimes travel a few feet this way...I think crawling may come quickly like it did for Cadence!

I love being a boy...when I grow up I will be just like dad:
I already am practicing with push-ups:

And wrestling my pillow:

Gotta do more of those tummy exercises:

I even flex my muscles in my sleep:

Ok, now it's just time for a rest:

This is what I think of my baths:

Oops! I don't think I'm supposed to use that finger! Hee, hee, you'll be smelling that one soon!

Halloween

Check out our little veggies! It took some convincing on Eric and my part to get Cadence to even wear her costume, but she finally obliged. Eric helped his sister move some furniture that evening, so I took Cadence to some houses in her neighborhood. She was little reluctant, but once she had some candy in her bag, she got the hang of it!

Bay Trip

We took a trip up north to visit some friends and family in the beginning of October...I'm just now getting to posting some pix! We stayed in Oakland, attended a baby shower, and then visited by aunt, whom I hadn't seen in years. It was nice to get away briefly and reconnect with people.

Here's a view from our room of downtown Oakland:

This is what I saw when I woke up in the morning. Cadence has a very difficult time sleeping places other than home. Kids seem to get into the craziest positions !

Two of my best buds from college, hard to tell she's 8 months pregnant in this pic!

My aunt and her hubby have two cats. Cadence rather enjoyed their play things, including this flexible cube:

My auntie and I:

Little man snoozing on daddy:

Eric was glad I finally took a pic of him when he was awake and had combed his hair:

We got the wiggles out at a park near my aunt's before the ride home:

Tea Time

Every fall the women at our church put on a tea. People get to sponsor and decorate a table however they wish. This was my first year doing a table and it was so fun! I inherited my grandmother's Fostoria crystal and thought this would be the perfect opportunity to show it off. A friend from church and I came up with this arrangement:

Hungry Man

Sani is still only on breast milk, though we can start him on cereals now and are thinking about doing it soon. He's definitely interested in eating and drinking. He tries to snatch big sister's cups and paws at our food. One morning, while my back was turned for just a few moments, Cadence thought she would get the process going and share some of her Raisin Bran:

Fashionista

For Cadence it's all about doing things on her own these days, including picking out clothes and getting dressed. Here's a glimpse of a 2 year old's sense of stlye, complete with poses and catwalking:

The Great Outdoors

Now it's starting to cool off, but we still try to have playtime outside. The kids have a fun in our backyard as you can see:

Time to switch hats...

Today is my last day as a full-time housewife/mommy. Although, when I think about the day I've had so far, I think I might be ok with heading off to the office tomorrow:

5 AM: Baby wakes up for his first breakfast. I get up, bring him to bed and nurse him. We both fall back to sleep as Eric is leaving for work.

7:15: Baby wakes up and is cooing happily. I get up, make the bed, hold the baby while I read my bible, pray and reflect on life. I begin to get a little teary eyed as I gaze down on my content infant nestled in my arms and think about how much I will miss moments like these once back at work.

7:45: Cadence wakes up. I go to greet her. "Mommy, pee-pee!" she says pointing at the floor. Indeed there are the telltale streaks of wetness on her pant legs along with a small damp spot on the carpet near her foot.

7:50: We officially start the day by getting everyone bathed.

8:30: Everyone is bathed. Cadence is running around the house naked while I finish dressing the baby. About the time I get the last snap done on his clothes, he spits up on them. I hang my head and decide just to wipe it off for now.

8:45: I begin to strip the linens off Cadence's bed as they are also pee-stained. I also try to convince her to put on the clothes I have set out for her.

9:00: I open my closet to get a shirt for the day, Cadence attempts to close the closet door with me inside. I tell her not to do this, she continues to attempt the close the door. I give the door a shove as the shoe rack on it is jabbing my back. I hear a thud, then Cadence crying. I put on a shirt and pick her up and apologize for knocking her down. She is consoled.

9:10: Breakfast is served and the baby is crying. I feed him his second breakfast and he falls to sleep.

9:20: I have eaten, Cadence is still eating. I take this opportunity to comb out her still damp hair as she is strapped to her booster seat at the moment.

9:40: Cadence is finally done eating. I enlist her to "help" me with the dishes.

10:00: Cadence helps me do laundry that includes her soiled bedding.

10:30: Cadence scampers out of the laundry room and I hear a door shut somewhere in the house. I follow the trail of shut doors and find her standing at the toilet. "Poop," she says, still fully clothed. "Home," she continues, pointing to the toilet. I reach behind her and can feel a lump in her diaper. At this moment I can't help but feel glad we have not yet switched to panties. I strip off her pants and diaper and plop her on the potty so she can finish.

11:00: After cleaning Cadence up, I am about to diaper her again when I realize she has a terrible rash from the soaked diaper this morning. I allow her to help me apply some diaper cream. We wash our hands, then the baby wakes up.

11:10: I feed the baby after changing him. I watch Cadence as she attempts to stand on top of the rocking horse in her room, an activity she quickly ceases on her own. She then comes and joins us on the couch with books.

11:20: I put the baby on his bouncer next to us. Cadence and I run outside and get the mail. Cadence steps on a splinter right before going up the steps to our porch, I am able to pull it out. We make it back inside.

11:30: I begin reading/singing "The Little Drummer Boy" (a book illustrating the song, her choice of course). She is entertained. The baby starts to grunt with a serious expression on his face. After finishing the book, I give the baby the sniff test and confirm my suspicions of a poopy diaper. I lift him gingerly from his bouncer, as he has been known to have poop escape the back of his diaper. I see two stains on the bouncer. I then do a quick survey of the baby and see the poop has not escaped the back but has oozed out around both legs.

11:40: I attempt to grab some wet wipes to lay under the baby while setting him down on the changing pad to avoid further spreading the mess. I then begin to unbutton his outfit and discover the poop has not only oozed out around both legs, but has erupted up the front of his diaper, is smeared across half his belly and has filled his belly button. Today the poop is a sour smelling, runny, pumpkin colored poop. And it is everywhere. I quickly decide another bath for the baby is the only way to handle this. I get the bath prepared then return to the baby. As I try to slip off the messy clothes poop is smeared on the baby's arm and hand. I quickly try to wipe this down before his hand makes its way to his mouth. I then decide to actually open the diaper for the first time. What I find is an indescribable orange mess. I then attempt to grab both the baby's feet to extract him from the mess. He however gives some quick kicks of excitement now that the diaper has finally come off. These kicks land squarely in the soiled diaper. I now have no other choice but to grab slimy poop-covered feet and begin to wipe off as much of the stuff as possible before dunking him in the bath. Once in the bath, the baby then sends an aptly aimed arc of pee right at my hand, the same one previously covered in poop.

12:00: My stomach is beginning to grumble. I place the baby on the rug on the floor in the kid's room, diaper him and turn to get a new outfit for him. As I'm fishing out a onesie I hear a "slap-a-tap-slap" and turn about to see Cadence drumming on his bare chest with her hands. Inspired by "The Little Drummer Boy", no doubt. I dress the baby, and leave him on his tummy on the floor to play. I then go get a trash bag to collect the mess remaining on the changing table. I also remember tomorrow is trash day so I begin to dump the kids' trash can and bathroom trash into the bag while I'm at it. When in the bathroom, I again hear a "slap-a-tap-slap". I turn to see Cadence now drumming on the top of the baby's upright head. "No!" I cry with some force and the baby begins to cry as I make my way to him. He is quickly consoled and I tell Cadence she is not to ever hit him on the head, to which she replies, "Whyyyy?" We have a quick discussion, she receives a swat to her behind, she hugs and kissses her brother, and I finish collecting the trash.

12:30: I begin to fix lunch, Cadence pushes the baby around the house in his high chair since I have not thought to lock the wheels on it.

12:45: We sit down to eat. The baby begins crying. I feed him again and he falls asleep. I put him to bed. I eat!

1:15: We return to the kid's room to begin putting linens back on Cadence's bed. Cadence begins jumping on the mattress once I've pulled it out of the frame (this is the easiest way to make it). She asks me to jump with her. I do for a few minutes (it's a very sturdy mattress). This gives me the sudden urge to pee (funny what childbirth does to the body). Then begins the battle to put the bed back together.

2:30: The bed is fixed and Cadence is in it. The baby is now awake. I take him to relax for a few minutes on the couch. Cadence gets up and comes out of her room. She is escorted back. She cries. I go in one more time and tuck her back in, telling her I will not come back in. A few minutes later she is out of bed and crying for me again. I let her cry. I attempt to get the baby back to sleep. I cuddle him closely and rock him, he smiles at me then starts wiggling around.

3:00: Eric gets home. Cadence is still crying. He goes and tucks her in. Not another peep is heard from her. The baby is still awake. I put him down on his back to play on the freshly clean play mat. He quickly rolls himself onto his tummy and wiggles around. He spits up, not on the mat, but onto the carpet exactly next to the mat. I clean it up, put him on his back on the center of the mat again. He rolls onto his tummy, starts wiggling, and spits up again, this time all over the mat and much more than the first. I take the mat back to the laundry room, stick the baby in the high chair and begin to write this.

I should probably be cleaning something or begin dinner, or one of the other important household things, but instead I've decided to sit and write this as I reminder of some of the things I won't miss while I'm back at work tomorrow.

The Fab 40's

Eric and I attended a 1940's South Pacific themed birthday party in honor of my aunt and uncle who are both turning 50 this year. My cousins did a fantastic job! It was a surprise for my uncle and aunt, although they suspected something was up, they just didn't know exactly what. Earlier that day my uncle and aunt went on a 30 mile bike ride with a group of friends before coming to my grandpa's where they were to meet up with he and their kids to go out to dinner at Sal's (a popular Mexican restaurant). My grandpa's house has a huge lawn out front so as they got near his property and saw the lawn filled with the cars of all the party guests they remarked, "It looks like a lot of people are going to dinner with us! " Truly a good time was had by all!








Two shots of Eric's "booty" from the pinata! :)

What's up

I realize I am terribly behind in posts. I have a few in the works and hope to get to them soon. For now I thought I would give an update on things here in our life:

Eric received notice at the beginning of the month his position at work will be eliminated come October 31st. The company is doing a lot of downsizing due to sales being down at Home Depot. Eric is one of the many who is being laid off. While this has been frustrating news, we know things will work out. In the past year we have been able to really attack some of our debts, and save up some money as well. We still have much more debt to get rid of and know that even in light of this current circumstance, it will all turn out ok in the end. On the bright side of things we are in the best position of our lives financially in the way of being prepared for something like this. With a few of our debts being taking care of, that means less money going out obligated each month, and we actually have savings to help cover and deficits we may encounter in the coming months. Yes, we are bummed to have to dip into savings for this, but we are glad it is there!

So our mood is optimistic. We have never starved or even missed a meal....God has always provided for us in big ways and in small. Eric isn't sure what he will do next, right now he's just looking at available jobs to try to find something he is qualified for and that will pay enough to make it worth our while. I don't mean that in a snobby sort of way, he just can't take anything as wages have to make up for the cost of child care, gas, and then the extra needed for our other monthly expenses. Funny...it's almost cheaper for one of us not to work!

I return to work Tuesday with some mixed feelings. I am heartbroken to have to leave my kids after being at home for nearly 5 months on maternity leave, but also grateful for the provision of steady income at a job I like. I just like being a full-time mommy more! We however have an awesome nanny lined up to watch the kids while I'm away. She spent time with me and the kiddos this week to get familiar with the routine and the little idiosyncrasies of both Cadence and the baby...you know, all the things that make us unique! She's fully aware of the situation with Eric's job and is still willing to work for us this month with the hopes a decent opportunity for him will come along quickly so she can also continue.

Cadence is now in the "why?" and "mine" stage, so that makes life a little more interesting. She's a beautiful, curious and incredibly observant 2 year old. Sani is 4 months old as of this week, about 16.5 lbs. and 26". He can roll, and inches forward on his tummy just a little already. Cadence was crawling at 6 months, I think he might get there even earlier that she did! He is an extremely happy baby, smiles, laughs and "talks" to us all the time. His name means "we praise" in the African dialect, Ndebele. He truly is such a joyful child!

I think those are all of the headlines for our lives right now. The weather here is nice. Getting pretty cool at nights with sunny and comfortably warm days. Perfect! Really, we can't complain, though it has it's surprises, life is definitely good!

Camping Trip

At the end of August we headed up to camp for a night with a bunch of family. It's an huge Pisor family tradition. At first I was bummed we would only be able to stay one night (my parents were there the whole weekend) but after a very sleepless night, we were very glad to head back down the mountain to our own beds!



I can remember climbing this big rock when I was a kid...funny how each year the rock seemed to get smaller and smaller.....but to my daughter it's probably like climbing half dome!



One of the best things about camping is breakfast made on the smokey griddle. Pancakes, bacon, eggs....yum! My dad is the official campfire chef...but even a pro like him burns an occasional piece of bacon. If you didn't know it already, Eric hates the cold. You can see him trying to hide in his hoodie...funny thing was it was rather warm this year. Next time I'll have to pack him a parka, just in case.



Eric is such a great daddy. He graciously slept with the Tasmanian devil the one night we stayed up there. As I said before, we didn't get too much sleep. I think I might have slept the most, even with having to wake up to feed the baby.



Sani wasn't the only baby in camp this year. My aunt and uncle just got a puppy, affectionately called "Prince" Henry, so he joined us on the trip. As you can see, my son has also discovered one more use for his own tongue. What is it with boys never wanting to take a straight picture?



Here are some shots of Cadence poking at the dirt right before we packed things up and headed home. She stayed surprisingly clean. We have pictures of me as a child covered in dirt from these camping trips.

Finally I have to share one anecdote. Saturday about half the people from camp decided to hike to another creek known for better fishing than the creek at our camp. My mom stayed behind and decided to try her luck in the stream just about a stone's throw away from our campsite. Cadence joined her, as did I. A few moments after dropping in her line, she got some good bites, then suddenly, hooked a 12 inch trout and pulled it out of the water! Cadence was fascinated by the fish flopping all about. My mom got a good hold on it and showed it to her. My daughter poked at the fish a little, looked it straight on, smiled, and sweetly said, "Hi!". She's familiar with fish as she has a goldfish at home and we have a few others in our room as well.

My mom then discretely took the fish behind a tree to end its suffering, emerged, and began to walk towards camp.
"No!!!" shrieked a tearful Cadence, chasing after my mom.
"No, no! Home!" she continued, this time pointing to the creek behind us. A silent moment passed as my mom and I looked at each other, troubled at what to do next.
"Cadence, " I begin, "Do you want Ooma (my mom) to put the fish back in it's home in the creek."
"Yeeesss!" replied a crying Cadence. My mom looked at me, a pained expression on her face.
"Well Cadence, we are going to take the fish back to our camp and give it a new home," I continued. She quieted and looked at us.
"Would you like to see?" I asked.
"Uh-huh," she replied. Cadence followed us back to the camp site and watched my mom pull a ziplock bag out of storage, plop in the fish, seal it, then place it into an ice chest.
"See Cadence, that is the fish's new home," I instructed. She was no longer crying and seemed satisfied. My mom looked relieved and a few minutes later grabbed her pole and headed back to the stream. Cadence pensively watched her walk away, wandered over to the ice chests and storage bins, then followed after my mom. I also followed to see what she's was up to and saw her chasing after my mom with a new ziplock bag in hand. When she reached my mom she proudly handed her the bag and exclaimed, "Home!" with a smile. Disaster diverted! I'm not sure either Cadence or myself were quite ready for a talk about what death is. It's pretty neat to see how simply and easily the world of a child can be set right.



Cadence and the fish, and Cadence deciding pine needles are not so tasty!