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!

Express Yourself

Just yesterday I jumped in the shower while the baby took a little snooze in the morning. More often that not Cadence likes to join me while I bathe, which I usually don't mind since this not only gets both of us clean but also allows me to see exactly what she's up to. Yesterday she however did not want to come in. A part of me was relieved...finally, a shower alone! But as I heard her wander out of the bathroom while I got lathered up, I couldn't help but doubt this scenario. A small but growing panic began deep in my gut, increasing with intensity the longer she stayed out of the bathroom. What could she be up to? Taking out all our DVD's, throwing things behind the couch, jumping on her napping baby brother, unlocking the front door to make a run for it....the list of possibilities zipped through my mind.

"Cadence?" I called out in a sing-song tone. No response.

"Cadence?" I again called out, with perhaps a bit more urgency. No response.

No wait! I breathed a sigh of relief as I heard the soft thuds of her return into the bathroom and saw her silhouette appear on the other side of the shower doors. I then shivered a little as a blast of cool air rushed into my otherwise cozy showering space when Cadence slid open one of the shower doors.

"Mommy?" she replied with a smile. I smiled back and quickly asked her to shut the shower door as it was letting the water out (not to mention the cold air in!). As I continued my shower I began to hear a repetitive tapping sound on the tub outside. I dismissed it, realizing on some unconscious level Cadence was doing something, but really not caring at the moment so long as it was in the bathroom where I could easily respond should something go awry. I finished my shower and with a very content feeling stepped onto the bathmat to grab a towel. You might imagine my surprise to step out and see this:

I was a little surprised and then chuckled. Apparently Cadence had decided the tub needed a makeover. The fortunate thing is she used her specially designed bath markers, that wipe right off with water. She easily and gladly cleaned it all up once I snapped a few shots of her artwork. A very small price to pay for solace in the shower.

The Kiddos

One morning I had the baby laying on my bed ( I really do try to make it...honest) and Cadence decided to jump right in with baby "bubba". That's what she calls him these days. She then decided to share a book with him. She really loves her books and has a set of Disney Princess books she rarely parts with. We read them over, and over, and over, and...well...you get it.

My little guy seems so strong already at just two months. He holds his head better than Cadence did at that age...of course she had a much bigger head. He's such a happy little guy, smiles and talks with anyone who gives him a little attention.

Daddy and son bonding with the PlayStation, even Cadence likes to watch!

Swim time

Our kids are getting their first swim lessons in the same pool I learned to swim in....there's really no better way to beat the summer heat, unless of course you follow up a swim with some ice cream! Can you tell my dad loves being a grandpa?

Been awhile...

Man the weeks get away from me sometime! We all survived daddy being away for awhile pretty well....no major meltdowns from any of us! I did get a little sick the last couple days and called for reinforcements one night (my mom!). Over all the time flew by but we were all so happy to greet daddy at the airport when it was time. That night we returned home to find a large group of suspicious looking young men in the parking lot next to our house and in the alley behind us. We noticed some fresh graffiti on the doctor's office next door and the young men were playing loud music and appeared to be enjoying some alcohol. First time we've encountered a scene like that...so we decided to call the police to check things out since it was already after 10 PM that day. I told Eric I was glad that incident happened the night he returned home rather than while he was gone. The group dispersed shortly after our call and then we got to continue our evening with a quick visit with Eric's dad. It was good to see him too. We have no pix from Venezuela to share. Eric did take our video camera, but we forgot to put a card in it to capture stills. It's the type that uses mini-cassettes and I honestly haven't figured out how to upload the videos to the computer...I'm guessing there is a way! Eric really enjoyed himself and came back from the trip with a new energy for everyday life. Maybe next time the kids and I will get to go too!

We miss you daddy!

Eric left yesterday to Venezuela on a short mission trip with our pastor and another person from our church. He'll be back next Wednesday. I got word the group arrived safe and sound with all their luggage in tact. I've been talking to Cadence about daddy getting to ride in an airplane and that the airplane will bring him back in a few days. I have a feeling I'll be repeating this very often in the next week!

I'm excited for him even though I'll be a little lonely in the evenings. In the meantime I plan to make the most of it...I ate mac and cheese for dinner tonight with Cadence and have a date planned with some local Chinese take out Eric doesn't really care for. We'll see what other things I can come up to do while he's gone...like watching some chick flicks and hanging out with friends.

Cadence

These days Cadence is quite the active little girl with an ever-expanding vocabulary. At times I am so amazed at the things a 2 year old can do....while at other times I am completely frustrated at the things a 2 year old can do! Cadence has mastered doors and locks pretty well....resulting in mommy being locked out of the house one day after taking some trash out. She enjoys coloring and drawing happy faces. I recently introduced her to the world of painting as well. She attempts to sing the A,B,C song....you can at least recognize the tune and some of the letters. She can count to three, which is as far as she will go so far, despite my coaxing to learn to say "four". She can also now change out DVD's and turn them on, turn on the radio and CD's, as well as turn on the microwave (all no-no's). On day she tried to microwave her magnetic alphabet letters...that could've been ugly!

She loves to be involved in everything we are doing and is constantly asking to "help". A toddler's help can be great at times, and not so great at others. For instance, when my phone is ringing in another room, or I need the baby's pacifier, she is usually eager to fetch those things for me. However her "help" today also resulted in her freshly prepared lunch plate getting dumped all over the kitchen floor...which she got to help clean up. But most of the time we do try to find ways to include her in our daily activities in age appropriate ways...even if this means the task will take 2-3 times longer to complete than if we had done it ourselves. This allows Cadence to learn new skills, but also increases her self esteem, and her sense of belonging. The joy she expresses at being able to be by our side and accomplish something new is so priceless.

I can't help but think this is how it is with us and God. He includes us in His work, though he really doesn't need our help, and could probably get the job done better and more quickly without us. Instead He chooses to relate with us...He allows us to learn and grow and builds our confidence and sense of worth by this inclusion in His plans and purposes (and I'm pretty sure God's patience is far more endless than my own too).

What's more is how often Cadence also recognizes some of her own limits and asks us to help her with something. Granted some of these requests for help are whiny, tearful expressions of pure frustration...sometimes after throwing a toy across the room, but then again...how often do I approach God with my problems in a similar manner? What we aspire to teach Cadence is that we will be here to help her. We are trying to teach her it's ok to be frustrated and to come to us when that happens rather than throw things and hit. Sometimes I watch her in a tantrum and can't help but chuckle to myself and think that's how I must look to God at times. I'm just so thankful for His endless patience and unconditional love towards me in those ugly moments. I'm so glad He's a God I can approach in all sorts of ugly...and I hope we can be like that as parents for our children...to give them a little glimpse of God here on earth, to help acquaint them with the ways of their Creator.

To Cousin Malorie

Cadence is excited for the day she gets to meet you and play with you!

We love you!

Butterball

Our son is fat and happy....he's now 6 weeks old but already weighing in between 13 and 14 pounds! One of my friends recently joked, "What are you eating, sticks of butter?" He really is a pretty happy baby...eats, sleeps, poops, toots, coos, smiles and of course cries when he needs to. He can bat at toys somewhat now, as well as our faces. He is often captivated by the activity of his sister as his vision is improving. He is lifting his head up off the ground briefly during tummy exercises, and has already pulled one of daddy's chin hairs out with his grasp. And joy of all joys...he sleeps from 5-7 hours at night! He's fun little guy, we are definitely enjoying him...even Cadence!

Birthday Fun

Cadence is 2! Her birthday is July 12th, which happened to be on a Saturday this year, so we planned a day of fun in her honor. Here a some of the pictures from throughout that day:

We started with a pancake breakfast, she's checking out the happy face I put on hers.

After we all got ready for the day we headed to Storyland in Fresno, a fun spot I remember going to as a kid where you get to explore some classic nursery rhymes and stories. Here's the caterpillar from Alice in Wonderland.

I was going to get a cute shot of Cadence crawling into the maze...instead I got

this:

Here she is in the maze:

The old woman's shoe:

A cool part of Storyland is getting to hear the stories. You can purchase a plastic key that when inserted into these boxes at various stations, will begin the story being read. The park has been upgraded since I was small and each story can now be heard in either English or Spanish...your choice.

Stained glass in Noah's Ark:

Captain Cadence, "Yo-ho!"

Three Bear's chairs:

A castle complete with moat monster!

Fun on the merry-go-round:

Slides are good for kids of all ages!

Lunch at the wonderfully retro Chicken Pie Shop. A vintage spot in Fresno's Tower District with old fashioned lunch counters and great food.

That night we had some family over for a yummy lasagna dinner, presents and cake and (home-made) ice cream!

Happy Birthday Cadence!