Conversation about Heaven

We were on our way home from MDO yesterday and we passed a church with a HUGE cross on the building. From the back seat I hear, "Nice cross." And this is the conversation that followed...

Me: Ryan, who went on the cross?
Ryan: Jesus.
Me: Why did Jesus go on the cross?
Ryan: Because they hit him.
M: Well, he went on the cross so we can go to Heaven. Anyone who believes in Jesus will go to Heaven.
R: Mommy, and Daddy, and Drewski and me?
M: Yes, all of us.
R: Mommy, how do I get to Heaven?
M: Well, I guess an angel comes and takes you there.
R: Will I get wings like the angel?
M: (not knowing the answer) Uh, I guess you might get wings.
R: I don't want wings!
(silence for a few seconds)
R: I just want to do one big....giant....boooiiiinnng! (throwing his fist in the air slowly)

So needless to say, Ryan isn't interested in getting wings and flying to Heaven (which I think sounds like a lot of fun)...he just wants to do a big giant jump to get there!

Little Blurbs by Ryan

Ryan is one of the funniest kids I know. He is always saying something that makes us laugh out loud! Here are some of our recent favorites....

~Last night we went out to eat with Noni. While trying to decide where each of us would sit, Ryan said, "Well, this side is for dudes. Mommy and Noni go over there" and pointed to the other side of the table.

~He really holds us accountable in our prayer time. If he's ever even heard us say that we will pray for someone, you'd better believe that they are getting prayed for multiple times a day. Two nights ago I was saying prayers with him before bed. Our routine prayer includes praying for "Miss Fania, the man that Daddy gave his sandwich to, the man that Mommy gave her water to, the people that don't have homes, Mr. Jerry (Caleb's grandpa), Mrs. Katrina (a friend with Leukemia), Mr. Ray (Miss Katy's grandpa), Mr. Al's finger (a guy Rob works with), and little Layla Grace (a two year old that was diagnosed with cancer and didn't have long to live)." Well, that morning Layla Grace had passed away and I was trying to explain to Ryan that we no longer needed to pray for her to be healed. I was telling him that little Layla Grace had gone home to be with Jesus and that she was playing with the angels in Heaven. Ryan asks, "Mommy, where is Heaven?" I explained that it's way up high, above the clouds, where God and Jesus live. In his oh-so-innocent voice he says, "Well, when I go up in an airplane, I'm going to look for Heaven and God." My heart melted!

~A few nights ago, again I was saying prayers with Ryan before bed. I was at the part where we pray for Mr. Al's finger and he stopped me. He said, "No Mommy, we not pray for his finger anymore." (I guess he had overhead a conversation Rob and I had about Al getting out of the hospital...and figured we didn't need to pray for him anymore.) He proceeded to make me take back my prayer for Mr. Al. Rob was in the other room trying to keep from laughing out loud as he heard me literally take back my prayer for Al's finger!

~Rob and I had a discussion in the car about how we were going to use our tax refund (how much to put into savings, how much to put towards debt, how much we need for our trip to NC this summer, etc.). We got home and got the boys bathed. I was getting Drew dressed in his pajamas and Ryan comes walking in the room. He says, "I think we should use the tax refund to buy a Wii" and then turned and walked out of the room. As he was leaving he said under his breath (while looking down and slowly shaking his head) "Man, I really want a Wii." Where does this kid get these things????

~Yesterday, we were out in the backyard enjoying the nice weather. I was pushing both boys on the swings. Ryan said "Mommy, push me REALLY high!" So I gave him a great-big shove. He looked up at the clouds and said, "I'm so high that I'm almost to Heaven. Watch out God, here I come!!!"

~Anytime that we are riding in the car, Ryan likes for Rob and I to tell him stories. It can be something made up, something that we remember from when we were kids, something about him as a baby...he doesn't care, as long as it's called a "story." On occasion, Ryan will ask us if we want to hear a story...and then he'll proceed to make up one. Here's how it ALWAYS goes. "Do you want to hear the story of the two turtles going to Target? Two turtles were sleeping. They got in the car and put on their seat belts. They went to Target and it was closed. So they went back home. And the mommy and daddy were sleeping at Target. Do you want to hear the story about two bears going to Target? Two bears were sleeping. They got in the car and put on their seat belts. They went to Target and it was closed. So they went back home. And the mommy and daddy were sleeping at Target. Do you want to hear the story about two bunnies going to Target....." and it goes on and on....the same story, different characters. I have no idea where he got this story from, but it's always the same. (Even when he goes a month or more without telling it to us.)

My boys

Ryan had his first "sleepover" last Thursday night. One of my friends from church, Sarah, has twin boys that are Ryan's age. Her husband is deployed overseas right now, and I thought it would be a nice treat for her and her kiddos (Alex and Nate). Her boys have never spent the night away from home without her there, so we decided it might be better if she stayed over, too. So, they loaded up all of their gear and headed over to our house. They all had SO much fun. We went out to dinner at Casa Ole (only a kid-friendly place would do), they played trains when we got home, watched Monsters Inc before bed (while all laying on the coffee table), and ate pancakes the next morning. Overall, the night was a success! (And hopefully a little "break" for Sarah, as we let her sleep in!)




Ryan is such a big boy. At night, we read a book to him, say prayers with him, and the leave him on his own. He brings a book (or two) to bed with him and reads to himself. When he gets tired, he turns off his lamp and goes to bed. Rob and I wait until he turns off his light and is quiet before we head to bed. Some nights we sit and wait, and wait, and wait...and after a while, we go in to check on him. These are a few pictures of what we find when we go into his room. I guess he gets so "into" his books, that he falls asleep while reading them (with the lamp still on). It cracks us up! (Not only that he falls asleep with the book still open, but that he has his "sleep mask" on too!)



Drew officially has 4 teeth...and he LOVES to show them off. One of his other favorite things to do...put your finger in his mouth and say "Bite my finger." He bites down as hard as he can...just to hear you squeal, or scream "Ouch!" Then he cracks up laughing!



Now that the weather has gotten a little nicer, the Nordlander family decided that it was time to work on the garden. (Ryan has been bugging us for a while about it!) This year, we plan on having two gardens, in two different parts of our backyard. The one that we grew tomatoes in last year will now be filled with flowers. The new one (in our side yard) will be where we grow some veggies. If you ask Ryan what he wants to grow in his garden, his response is, "Carrots, popcorn and chicken!" Without fail, those are the three things he's determined we will plant! (Sometimes he'll add in pizza or zucchini.) I don't know how we're going to explain it to him when popcorn and chicken don't grow!



Drew has FINALLY started walking. It's now his main mode of getting from Point A to Point B (although he will occasionally take a break and crawl). He decided to show off his new-found walking skills while Daddy and Ryan were working in the garden! He LOVES being outside (and eating dirt, too). And, of course, he doesn't do ANYTHING without his tongue sticking out!

What's new in our house?

First of all, before I update you on the boys, let me explain the picture. Last night in the bath, Drew discovered that there was another baby in the tub with him. He kept looking into the little metal part and squealing. Then he'd wave at the baby. It was too funny!

Okay, now for the newest news. Drew officially has 4 teeth now. For the longest time, he only had the two bottom ones. On Wednesday of last week, he woke up from his nap and the top right tooth had finally popped through. Then he woke up for church on Sunday morning with the top left one. Maybe now he'll really be able to chow down on some food!

Ryan and Drew both went to see an ENT a few weeks ago. Ryan has had persistent fluid in his right ear (the tube fell out a little over 6 months ago) for the past 4 months. His speech teacher at the elementary school recommended we see Dr. Morgan, the ENT who did Ryan's tubes the first time. She said that speech won't help him if there's fluid in his ear. (She compared it to us being under water and being told to learn Chinese...we'd never "get it right.") And since Drew has had many, many ear infections, we decided to kill two birds with one stone and get them both checked on the same day. The audiologist did some hearing tests on both of the boys. Ryan passed in his left ear (the one that still has a tube), but failed in his right ear. The did another test to test the hearing nerve (this would show any permanent hearing loss)...and he passed with a 100%. This means that if we can get the fluid out with tubes, that he will be hearing perfectly in both ears. This will help his speech tremendously. Thank God! They were unable to do a full hearing test on Drew because he's so young. But from the tests they were able to do, they noticed that he's not hearing at 100% (due to fluid). So they recommended tubes for both boys. Ryan is scheduled for March 12th...and we're still up in the air about Drew. We aren't thrilled about putting our babies to sleep...but hate to see them sick all the time and with speech problems. (And Rob and I don't want Drew to go through the same speech "issues" that Ryan's going through if we can prevent it!)

Both boys are in school...and loving it! They took school pictures last Thursday. Drew was out sick (with ear infections) on Tuesday, so they had theirs made on retake day. They did them first thing in the morning, so I got to be there to make sure they looked at the camera. Why is it that when I'm behind the camera only one will look at a time (if I'm lucky 'cause most of the time they're both goofing off!), but for this lady they were both on their best behavior?! Anyways. The picture that she took of Drew by himself will (I hope) turn out SOOO cute! He was sitting there with his tongue sticking out. She kept trying to wait for him to put it in to take the picture. She waited and waited, until I explained to her that he rarely ever puts his tongue in. I told her that we didn't mind if his tongue was out...in fact, it wouldn't be our Drewski without a tongue in the picture! I can't wait to see how they turn out. Don't know when we'll get proofs and info to order...but I'm looking forward to it!

On Thursday, I got cleared to take care of the boys after my back surgery. Praise God! This is my first week where I'm able to do it all...and boy am I having to do a lot. Rob had to take a business trip to Pittsburg...so I go from having help 24/7, to little help. (Thank goodness we hired Katy through the end of February, so she's here to help me this week! But we're sad to see her go! Hopefully she'll come by and hang out still....the boys truly love her!)

Birthday Boy!

I can't believe that over a week ago (the 19th) my little boy turned one! Where has the time gone? It seems like just yesterday that I was leaving the hospital heading home to Ryan, while Drew stayed in the NICU. So to think that was a year ago blows my mind! My little Drewski has changed so much over the last year. He's turning into such a little man! Here's what he's up to these days....

CLIMBING - This boy LOVES to climb anything (and everything) that gets him the least little bit off the ground. He can sense when Ryan has left the bathroom door open. We have a step stool that Ryan stands on to wash his hands. If Drew is "missing", that's the first place we check. And sure enough, that's right where he is. Standing on the top step, waving at himself in the mirror. We're constantly checking to make sure the door stays closed 'cause he's going to get hurt one of these days. (He's already fallen off once and busted his head pretty hard!) He also likes to hold onto the top bar and stand on the bottom bar of the oven. It's all good until the oven door starts to open and he leans WAY back trying not to fall off!

WAVING - He waves "bye bye" all the time...whether you're leaving or not. If he even hears the word "bye" he starts flapping his arm around like crazy. He also says "bye bye" (in his own baby language). While waving his arm somewhat uncontrollably, he'll babble in a VERY high-pitched voice "ba ba ba ba." It's really cute!

EATING - Several months ago, he decided he was DONE with baby food...and refused to eat it. He wants to eat whatever it is that we eat. How he chews steak and raw carrots with only two bottom teeth baffles me! But he can do it! And he's in a phase where he wants to feed himself. If the fork or spoon comes near him, he grabs it and shoves it in his mouth. He's pretty good at it...till he starts flinging it around in excitement and food goes flying all over the place! We gave him cake on his actual birthday...and he was NOT interested. He wanted to wave it in the air and throw it on the floor. He did much better with it at his party though!

WALKING??? - Nope, not walking yet. Although he did take his first two (un-forced) steps two days ago. He was holding on to the table leg and I squatted down and put my arms out. He let go of the leg, steadied himself, and took two steps before falling into my arms. Ryan was so excited for him! He's called just about everyone to tell them "Drewski took two steps!"

DOG FOOD AND WATER - Yeah, if he's not looking at himself in the bathroom mirror, he's either playing in the dog's water or chowing down on Dog Chow! This boy can find pieces of dog food ANYWHERE. He'll be on the other side of the house, and you'll notice he's chewing on something. After prying open his jaws...you'll find a nice, soggy piece of Dyson's food. Yuck!

SCHOOL - Yes, you heard me...school. Although he was "expelled" from school in January, God blessed us with an opening in his class. He started back to school this week. (It's crazy how quiet my house is on Tuesdays and Thursdays. So much to do, yet I want to sit and enjoy the silence!) He loves the friends in his class and he loves his teachers. He has so much fun that he doesn't even cry when I drop him off. My baby's growing up!!!

We DIDN't fall off the face of the planet!

Wow! Has it really been almost 3 months since I've posted anything on here? I guess one of my New Year's Resolutions needs to be "keeping up with our blog!" Anyways...I'll try to sum up the past three months.

November 3rd - I had spinal fusion surgery (ALIF to my L5/S1 disc). I am pretty restricted as to what I'm allowed to do for at least 3 months. Limited housework (darn), no bending (only I make an exception to shave my legs), and no holding my kiddos (that's the hardest) until I go back to the doctor on February 18th. It still seems SO FAR away.



We took the kids to see Santa...and it was rather uneventful (as you can tell from the picture). Ryan was excited...and wanted to know where his Spiderman bike was. I guess he hasn't figured out the part about waiting til Christmas morning! Drew didn't realize he was sitting in a stranger's lap until Santa said, "My, what big eyes this baby has!" (in his oh-so-low Santa voice)...which scared the crap out of Drew and he started screaming. That's when Rob came to the rescue (before I could take any really good pictures of him being terrified of the jolly man). Oh well...there's always next year!



December (sometime towards the beginning) - Drew figured he needed to keep up with his "baby cousin"...and decided to "sprout" his first two teeth...which you can KINDA see in the picture, if you look closely. Just like his big brother used to do, he LOVES to chew on the edges of the coffee table...to keep them nice and sharp, I guess.



December 24th - We celebrated Christmas with Noni and Bumpa (Rob's parents). We had a really good time. Drew got an airplane...and LOVES it. He and Ryan fly all over the house in it!



December 25th - We celebrated Christmas with Papa and Ghi...and the rest of the "Sendt" clan. It was quite a chaotic day, but that's when memories are made, right? The best part was the fact that Ghi and Papa's heater was broken...so it was FREEZING in their house. Thank goodness for the fire in the fireplace, otherwise we'd all be sick.

Throughout the month of December, we visited the boys' pediatrician MANY times...probably somewhere in the range of 15 times or so. They have both been fighting ear infections. They have taken amoxicillin, zythromax, augmentin, and finally (coming in at $94) clindomycin. We went back to the doctor this week...and they are CLEAR! Thank goodness. We were praying that 2010 didn't start with both boys needing tubes.January 4th - We had a nanny named Katy start, to help out with the kids (on Mondays, Wednesdays, and Fridays) until I'm cleared by my doctor. This was her first day...and she is WONDERFUL! She was exactly what my kids need....someone who has LOTS of energy to keep up with them and doesn't mind spending her day on the floor playing cars, building racetracks, stacking blocks into tall towers, wearing funny hats, etc. The kids absolutely love her! We are so blessed to have her help! (On top of keeping the kids entertained, she picks up around the house too. What else can you ask for???) When Ryan woke up from his nap this day, he walked into the kitchen and said, "I missed Katy." Awww, he's so sweet!

January 7th - We were thrown a curve-ball by the MDO program that the boys go to. I talked to the director and she said that Drew no longer has a spot in the class, so he's not allowed to return. (We joke that he's already been kicked out of school!) They were doing me a HUGE favor by allowing an "extra" child in the class for a while. But decided that they wanted to go back to only having 8 babies after Christmas. So, we were without a back-up plan for him. We were shown proof (again!) that God has a plan that's bigger than anything we could think of. Our nanny, Katy, has agreed to come on Tuesdays and Thursdays to help me take care of Drew through the end of February. Isn't God good?!? We are having to do some pretty tricky things with our finances in order to make ends meet, but we're trusting God that it'll all be okay. She will start working for us full-time this next week. We can't wait!

What else is going on???



I can't believe that it's already time to start planning Drew's first birthday party! Where has the time gone? I feel like it wasn't that long ago that we were (finally!) bringing him home from the hospital and introducing him to his big brother. So much has changed since then. And my two boys are such a blessing in our lives. They get along great. (In fact, there are many times when we're at dinner and Ryan says, "Drew's my best friend!") He's crawling and has just started to stand up by himself. (He's only done it a few times, but again, I guess he's trying to keep up with his "little" cousin. Malachi is practically walking already!) He still only has his two bottom teeth, but that doesn't stop him. He will no longer eat ANY baby food (or anything that resembles baby food, like applesauce)...he only wants whatever we're having for dinner. And he can chew like you wouldn't believe! Even without teeth! Some of his favorites are: pretzels, lasagna, pancakes (he eats 2-3 big ones at a time) and cheese enchiladas! Besides Gerber, there's nothing this boy won't eat!



In December, I took Ryan for a speech evaluation (through the school district). He is a little behind due to his numerous ear infections when he was younger. The speech therapist said that his intonation is that of a deaf child. In other words, the way he pronounces words reflects that of a child who has been unable to hear for a majority of his life. They said that he would NOT qualify for PPCD (aka preschool) because he is ahead of where he should be intellectually. But he WILL qualify for weekly speech therapy. We go back to finish the testing on January 25th. Sometime after that he will begin getting 50 minutes of help each week. As much as I absolutely LOVE to hear him talk and tell stories, I am ready for him to be understood by those outside of our family.

That's about it. We are really hoping for a healthy year for our family. (Please God, no more medical bills!) And I'll do my best to keep up with this...for a while at least. :)

Pumpkin Patch 2009

Every year my sisters and I meet at a pumpkin patch to take pictures of the kids. Well, this year there were two new additions to the group shots...Drew and Malachi. It's amazing how each additional child makes a "good" shot that much more impossible. One's always looking away...or should I say that only one's looking at the camera?! Some are talking. Others are giggling. And right when we get everyone to look...Ryan acts silly. He's quite a ham...always wanting attention on him acting goofy! So, we didn't really get a good group shot, but here's what I got. (Note: there aren't very many of Ryan because he was busy running laps around the pumpkin patch and playing soccer with the white pumpkins the entire time!)

Little brother likes to do whatever big brother does! Here are Mommy's two little pumpkins looking at all the pumpkins.

Drew is one cute little pumpkin!

Fell off of the bench and the big pumpkin steam-rolled over him! (And of course, Mommy had to grab the camera and take a picture before she could console him.)

Look Mommy...I can stand up with a pumpkin! How exciting!

Who needs pumpkins when there's grass to chew on?!?

Here's Ryan showing me one of the white pumpkins. He was calling them "soccer balls" and kicking them all around the patch! I just knew we'd have to pay for them if he kicked 'em too hard!

Here's one smile I got from Ryan...after bribing him with a bag of Spiderman fruit snacks!

Ryan and Jacob playing what looks like Pumpkin Poker. "I'll see your one pumpkin and raise you three!" Hmmm....where have they seen that?!?




Enough's enough already...it's time for my nap!

Happy Birthday to Me!

Well, it's official...I'm no longer in my twenties. Today I have been on this Earth for three decades. Man, makes me sound really old, huh? Not to mention the massive amount of heat put off by 30 candles on a cake. Ryan helped me blow them out...and it had us both sweating. (Not sure if it was the heat or the numerous breaths we had to take to get them all blown out..or a combination of the two!)



Rob made shirts for both of the boys to wear to church that said, "Today's my Mommy's birthday!" They looked so cute in them. The plan was to take a picture of the two of them in their shirts. But as we walked in to church, Drew had a massive poopy diaper and had to change clothes. His outfit didn't last long...and so much for the cute picture. I did manage to snap a quick picture of Ryan in his shirt while we were eating cake at home. Thanks Rob for the thought that went into this day....it was great!

Some Advice for Parents of Little Ones

If your baby has recently become mobile, I have some words of advice. They might seem obvious, but even as a second-time mom, I still forget the simple things!

First, don't take your eyes off of him (or her) for too long.




Second, if you do and he (or she) gets into a bag of "Blazin' Buffalo" Doritos, follow with a cup of juice...QUICKLY!

Thinking Outside of the Box

When I was in kindergarten, I brought home a paper that I didn't do so well on. When my mom looked at it, one particular question had a picture of one side of a bus. The question asked, "How many wheels does this bus have?" Well, being the genius that I am, I answered, "4." My mom proceeded to help me count the wheels, and we found that there were only 2. My response was, "Yes, but there are 2 more on the other side." Smart for a 5 year old, huh?



Well, I guess I have passed those genius genes on to Ryan. The last time we went to storytime at the library (which was a while back...it's just taken me this long to write about it), the craft was to make a bird. They gave us half of a paper plate. The kids were supposed to glue on little squares of tissue paper, two long tail-feathers, and one eye (since you're only making one side of the bird). Well, everything went fine until I told Ryan to get one eye to glue on. His response was priceless, "No Mommy. Bird no have one eye, bird have two eyes. Me need two eyes." How do you argue with that? So, Ryan's bird officially has two eyes...like all birds should!

A future in the ministry???

So...how young is too young to be called in to the ministry? We have started a Monday night tradition in our house. We have a family devotion time. Right now, since the kids are still really young, it's nothing too complicated. We're going through a Veggie Tales family devotional. It's really neat. It gives you a little story about Larry the Cucumber or Bob the Tomato. Then it tells a Bible story and gives you a fun activity to do with your kids. (It also includes some discussion questions, but those will still have to wait a while.) Last night's story was about Baby Moses. How "his mommy put him in a basket and gave him a push into the water to keep him safe from the king. A princess found him and kept him." (That's the story in Ryan's words!) The book had us put the boys into a laundry basket and act out a "shipwreck." Rob pushed them all around the living room floor, and they had a blast! Then we shipwrecked on "Ice Cream Island." We ate ice cream and talked about the Baby Moses story. (If you ever get a chance, you'll have to ask Ryan to tell you that story and the one about Jesus and the blind man. It's too cute!) After ice cream, it was time for a family prayer and bath. I don't know if Ryan got the idea while he was in the tub, or what. But he ran out of the bathroom with the toilet paper holder. He ran into the living room, turned it upside down, and set his "Bible story" (the devotional) on top of it. Then he was going to each of us (Rob, Drew and myself) and asking, "Do you want to hear a Bible story?" I guess he's using the toilet paper holder as his podium to hold his Bible, like our pastor does on Sundays. After he went to bed, we cleaned up the house and put away his podium. When he woke up this morning, he was upset that we had moved it. He found it and set it up again in the middle of the living room. So maybe now instead of wanting to be "a man" when he grows up, he'll want to be a preacher!

Who knew our house could be so quiet???

Today was Ryan's first day of "school." He is attending the MOD program at our church. We took him last week to meet his teachers. He got really sad at one point and thought we were leaving him. So I was dreading dropping him off today. I didn't want to deal with lots of tears and having to convince him that he was going to have fun. We had really been talking up the whole idea of going to school (although he REALLY wishes it included a ride on a school bus). He woke up early this morning, a little after 7:00. He came bolting out of his bedroom door and shouted, "It no dark outside, me ready for school!" (He's been getting up before the sun comes up, so we tell him all the time that he has to wait until it's not dark outside before he can get out of bed.) He had a hard time grasping the concept that there was still more than 2 hours until we needed to leave. The morning went by pretty smooth. I got him all ready to go and took him outside for our "first day of school" photo shoot. We grabbed all of the necessary things, or at least I thought we did, and were out the door with time to spare. As I got him buckled into his seat, he said, "Mommy, you forgot to make my hair spiky." So we had to get out and head back inside to spike up his hair using Daddy's gel. Well, me being the crazy-camera-mom that I am, we had to re-do the entire photo shoot...so that 40 years from now we'll remember that he had spiky hair on his first day of MDO. We got back into the car and buckled when he said, "Mommy, I need to go pee pee." So out we got (again). We ran inside just in time to make it to the potty. And out the door we went. (Thank goodness for the "time to spare" that we started the morning with!) He was SO excited to go to his class and see his teachers. He ran in so fast that he almost forgot to kiss me goodbye.

As I walked into the house from dropping him off, I realized that I had forgotten to pack a diaper for nap time (a necessity). So, I had to head back out the door. What a morning! When I finally got home, Drew fell asleep for his morning nap. And, for the first time in a LONG time, the Nordlander house was silent. I thought of all the things I should be doing...but a nap sounded much better. Ahhh....is this what it'll be like every Tuesday and Thursday? Should I feel so guilty for having someone else watch my child so I can do whatever I want? Hmmm...

I went to pick him up at 2:30 and they told me that he had a GREAT day. (In fact, he was the only one in the class to participate in the "Creative Movements" class. And let me tell you, he can move quite creatively....so I'm sure they'll really enjoy him during that time!) As soon as we got out of ear shot of his teacher, he said, "Mommy, my teacher no let me eat my cookie." Immediately I felt guilty...thinking back to the note they sent home. Had they told me not to pack a cookie? Did I pack too much junk food? When we sat down for dinner that night and Rob asked him about his day, he told him the same thing. "My teacher no let me have my cookie." Rob thought to ask the obvious question: Why? His response, "My teacher turned off the light....and nobody could see!" I guess we need to get him accustomed to eating a little quicker. He can prolong the meal process for hours, if allowed. I guess he took too long eating the "healthy" things that he ran out of time for the "goodies." Oh well, maybe he'll learn.

(Update: When I picked him up on Tuesday and asked about his day, he said, "My teacher no let me eat my brownie." Guess he hasn't learned yet!)

There's a whole new world out there....FOOD!

For the past few nights, Drew has been waking up every 2-3 hours wanting to eat. I guess this was my first sign that he's ready for some REAL food. Well, if you consider rice cereal "real food." So, tonight was the big night. Follow along as I take you through his experience....

He was so hungry that he was gnawing at his toys in anticipation of what was to come. (In fact, his shirt was soaked in drool....he could hardly wait!) I guess he could smell the boobie milk being warmed. (When I pulled it out of the freezer, Ryan said, "Baby Drew eats ice cream??" I guess he thought he was getting to eat his dessert before he ate his dinner!) Drew had a huge smile on his face as he awaited his yummy cereal.


In the midst of feeding him, the cereal was a little too soupy, so I decided to add some more cereal to the bowl. Rob, who doubled as the photographer for the occasion, brought over the container of rice cereal. I scooped some out and added it to the bowl. As I put the spoon back in, Rob obviously didn't have a good hold on the container and the weight of the spoon caused it to fall out of his hand...and all over the table, floor, my lap, etc. Drew was not too happy to wait while we cleaned up the mess. But as soon as he saw the spoon coming back towards his mouth, he was happy again.


By the time he was done eating, he was covered in cereal from ear to ear, and head to toe.


He immediately went for an "after dinner" bath. He can't wait till tomorrow night when he gets another taste of heaven! (And he hasn't even had the good stuff yet!)

Kids say the darndest things....

This chocolate-faced little boy has a way of always bringing a smile to my face. He says (and does) the funniest things.

Yesterday morning, Rob took both of the boys on a walk (so I could get a few extra minutes of sleep). Ryan found a feather and put it in his pocket. While we were eating breakfast, he wanted to show me what he had found. He reached into his pocket to pull it out, but it wasn't there. Rob told him that it must have fallen out while he was running outside. Ryan got up from the table and ran to the front door. He said, "Be back. Go get my feather." I explained to him that he can't go outside with Mommy or Daddy because a bad man might take him. As serious as a two-year-old can be, he said, "No Mommy. No bad man no get me. Me run fast!" Rob and I giggled as we told him that the bad man might run fast, too. And he might take him and not bring him home. Ryan's face got really serious and he said, "Bad man get me, me hit bad man!" At this point, Rob and I were laughing pretty hard. At least our little boy has a plan...run, and if he catches him, then hit him!

Last night, I was busy picking up the house and I asked Rob to start the bath water for the boys. (They've recently started taking a bath together...and they LOVE it.) After a few minutes, I went in to put them in and felt the water. It was too cold, so I said, "Rob this water is ice cold. I'm going to have to drain it and fill it up again." So I let out the water and began filling it with warm water. A few minutes later, Ryan came walking in the bathroom with two hands full of ice. He said, "Here Mommy. Ice for my bath." I guess he took what I said literally...he wanted his bath "ice cold."

What a weekend!

Happy Fourth of July! We bought some fireworks and Ryan loved them, of course. Drew got to "do" his first sparkler and watch his Daddy do some other fireworks. He liked looking at the bright lights in the sky, but wasn't too sure about the loud noises that followed. We had Papa Duck, Noni and Bumpa over for dinner and Wii golf. Overall, the 4th of July went by pretty smoothly. But once the 5th was here (and literally, I mean 12 midnight)...that's a whole new story!

At midnight, Drew woke up screaming. I sat up with him for a while. He ate a little, but overall was uninterested. He was more interested in screaming. (He was not your typical "fussy baby"...he was a monster!) He pretty much screamed non-stop until after 6:00 this morning. The entire time, he wouldn't eat (which is NOT like my child). When I spoke with the on-call nurse yesterday she said to call back if he stopped eating or became extremely fussy (which he was both by this point). So, I gave her a call. She told me that he needed to go to the ER...babies can get really dehydrated, and really sick, really fast. So, around 9:30 this morning we were off to Cy Fair Hospital. We got to the ER and were taken to a room pretty quickly. I explained that his big brother has been sick with Hand, Foot and Mouth Disease...and that he's started it, too. The doctor saw the blisters in his mouth and decided we should try a "Magic Mouthwash." Basically it's a mixture of Benadryl, Mylanta and a numbing medication. They had me swab it in his mouth. It was supposed to numb his mouth enough to where he would be able to nurse. Didn't work! He was still screaming at the top of his lungs anytime he tried to eat. They wanted to do an X-ray on his tummy, to make sure nothing was wrong in there. It came back clear. So they decided we should try straight Lidocaine jelly...we swabbed this around in his mouth. Still no relief...still lots of screaming! They put in an IV line and drew some blood. They also put in a catheter so they could get a urine sample. (They were only able to get about 3 drops after draining his entire bladder...since it had been so long since he'd had anything to eat.) We waited an hour for those test results to come back. All clear. The doctor came back in baffled. I had laid him down in his carseat and he seemed content. She was commenting on how he had finally been able to be calmed. I told her that anytime I pick him up, he begins screaming. By this time my dad had arrived with the breast pump (I was about to explode) and he tried to pick him up. The screaming began all over again! I could tell that the doctor had a thought...the expression on her face changed. She explained that the only thing she hadn't ruled out was Meningitis. And the only way to test for it was by doing a spinal tap. Not something I wanted to put my baby through. After a lot of thought, I felt it was best to go ahead and test, so we could rule it out (hopefully). They got him all prepped...and it went by much quicker than I had imagined. Then the waiting game began, again. In the meantime, the doctor wanted to run a bag of fluid through his IV. The IV was not put in correctly by our oh-so-lovely man nurse (that's a whole story in itself), so they were not able to give him the IV fluids. Instead, they had me make him suck on ice chips. This made for some really funny faces! He took several ice chips well, but then I think his mouth got too cold. By about 3:30, the spinal tap results were in...clear! Whew! They decided that we were safe to go home and to follow up with his pediatrician tomorrow. UPDATE: After 16+ hours without eating, Drew finally decided to give in and eat! Yippee! We're praying for a better night tonight...and for Drew's appetite (or ability to eat) to continue.

It's a Family Affair

Okay...the inevitable has happened. The entire Nordlander family has gotten a case of the "spots." Ryan is finally getting over his. The spots are going away and he's back to his normal self. On Thursday I woke up with spots on my hands, feet and in my mouth. Over the past two days, however, they have gotten worse. Now they are all blistered and extremely sore. I have them on almost all of my fingertips. So anytime I do ANYTHING, it hurts. This makes me extremely irritable. (I can now see why Ryan was such a turkey when he had his spots!) Earlier this morning, Drew was fussing. When I went to pick him up, I noticed that he has the blisters starting in his mouth, as well. I checked his hands and feet...and found more spots. Not anywhere near as bad as Ryan had it. We were praying that Drew wouldn't get it...but now we'll pray that it doesn't get too serious. When I saw Drew's spots, I told Rob to inspect his hands and feet. I explained that they start out as red dots that hurt like crazy when you touch them. He found one little spot on his hand that's red and hurts...let's hope he's not getting it, too. Ahhh...I guess we've finally taught Ryan how to share!

It's always something at the Nordlander house...

Ryan woke up Sunday morning and asked for OJ. When he took a drink, he started screaming. I thought he had bitten his cheek (which is something he's recently learned to do). I looked in his mouth and saw a HUGE ulcer on his tongue. A little while later, I noticed what looked like ant bites all over his hands. In the past we have had a problem with fire ants getting into his bed and biting him in the night. I looked down and noticed that he had them all over his feet too. That's when it clicked....hand, foot and mouth disease. He's had it before, when he was a baby. And I'm guessing he picked it up at VBS last week. I called the doctor and he said that's what it was. He started with a rash on his bottom that afternoon. Then yesterday morning, Ryan woke up and the rash had turned into blisters, too. I called the doctor again and he wanted to see him. We went in around 4:00 yesterday and got seen by Dr. Dockray. When he looked at his hands I could tell he was thinking I was crazy for bringing him in (it doesn't look that bad there)...then he looked at his feet and got a little more concerned. But it wasn't till I took off his diaper and showed him all of the blisters on his bottom that he realized how serious it was. He said (and I quote)..."It has been many, many, many...and I mean MANY, years since I have seen a case of it this bad. This is pretty serious." He said that basically the blisters form on the nerve endings...hence why they hurt so bad. (I got it too the last time he had it, so I know the pain that each blister causes.) He gave him Tylenol with codeine to help with the pain. I asked him how long he needed to stay away from other kids. He said that he needs to stay away from everyone (not just kids) for the next week and a half. He said that since the blisters just showed up on Sunday, he's still at the beginning of it and it will get worse. The spots need to be gone for 4-5 days before he gets around people. (I'm going to go crazy being stuck in the house for over a week!) Fast forward a few hours. I get a call at about 6:15 last night that his fever had shot up to over 102 and he was shaking and throwing up everywhere. By the time I got him, he was lethargic and still throwing up. I called the doctor for a third time. I finally talked to the on-call doctor about 9 last night. We had put Ryan in the bath and gotten him to stop shaking...and the throwing up had slowed down some. She said to keep him hydrated and wake him up throughout the night to make sure he would respond. Luckily, we had a smooth night. He woke up this morning...and the fever is back. It's almost 103 today. I'm doing my best to keep fluids going in.

I tell you all of that to say, please pray for my little boy. Pray for his body to fight off this virus. Pray for him to not get dehydrated. It's hard to see him just laying there with no energy...that's not like him. I'm ready for my crazy two year old monster to be back! Also, please pray that Drew won't get it. It's impossible to explain to a baby that he has to drink or else he'll end up in the hospital. Thanks!

Drew's Song

We have come up with an "official" song for Drew. Each of the lines in the song have meaning (to us, at least). Here goes....

Hey little merman
Shaped like a coke can
With hair like Papa Duck.
You're cute as a muffin
You drool like nuthin'
And you bee-bup everywhere, yuck!

Now to explain (in case you're curious)...
Hey little merman - Drew can do this crazy thing with his feet...he makes them look like a mermaid tail. But since he's a boy, he has to be a "merman" according to his Aunt Bebe (Molly).
Shaped like a coke can - Each time we go to the doctor for check-ups, Drew is in the 75th percentile for weight and less than 25th for height. So, he literally is the shape of a coke can. He's short and round!
With hair like Papa Duck - My dad (aka Papa Duck) has lost almost all of the hair on the top of his head. He pretty much just has hair around the bottom, along the back...very similar to the "do" that Drew has.
You're cute as a muffin - No real significance to this line, it just goes.
You drool like nuthin' - Man, this boy can drool! He always looks like we've just pulled his clothes straight from the washing machine...without drying them. His shirt is always SOAKED from the neck, all the way to his belly button.
And you bee-bup everywhere, yuck - Ryan tries to tell us when Drew has spit up, but he calls it "bee-bup"...and Drew is REALLY good at this, too. After eating, the first burp is always dry. (And then people think he's done and go back to playing with him...but really he has more in store.) Then comes the oh-so-lovely WET burp...which can soak you!

You could poke someone's eye out with that!

Well, here we are on vacation in North Carolina...and what a time we've had so far. On Saturday, our first REAL day of vacation (we won't count Friday since we spent 15 hours of it traveling), we woke up and decided to head to Cracker Barrel for breakfast. Pretty much the entire family went...minus my mom and grandparents. Ryan is in a "do everything myself" mode right now...and he doesn't want help with anything. Our food came to the table and Rob was helping him butter his pancakes. Ryan, with fork in hand, got upset and said "No, Daddy," as he threw back his arms. Rob's face was in the dangerous path of Ryan's fork. The next thing we know, Rob has his hand over his eye and is running from the table. Steve went to check on him (since I'd be a little out of place in the men's restroom)...and soon enough they were headed back to the table. We assumed everything was fine...until Rob sat down. He had been stabbed in his eye with Ryan's fork...and was bleeding from his eye ball. Gross! We ended up calling our doctor in Houston, and he said to get straight to the ER. So, we did what every family would do in that situation...we finished breakfast and then headed to the hospital. (As Rob put it, "You never know how long you'll be there, so we might as well eat first!") Rob spent 8 hours of the day in the Pardee Hospital in the mountains of N.C. (I bet he's glad he finished his food first!) He ended up being seen by 4 doctors because they all wanted to get another opinion. In the end, he was told that he had a "punctured cornea"...luckily only one prong of the fork got him. He had to see an ophthalmologist on Tuesday to make sure there was no permanent damage (it could've changed the shape of his eye, somehow). He got good news from his follow-up...she said everything was healing just fine. This has really taught Ryan a lesson about hitting...too bad it was at Rob's expense. (Molly took a nice close-up picture of his bleeding eye as we were heading to the ER. I'll post it once she sends it to me.)

The Birds Strike Back!!!

One of Ryan's favorite things to do outside is scare the birds. Any time he sees a bird, he asks if he can scare it away. He runs at them screaming...until they fly off. I don't know what's so amusing about it...but he could chase birds all day if I'd let him! Well, today the birds struck back (or one bird in particular). I decided to take the boys to Bear Creek Park this morning, just to get out of the house. Because of all the rain a few weeks ago, most of their animals weren't out. But, there WAS a rooster running loose. As soon as Ryan saw it, I heard those oh-so-familiar words, "Mommy, me scare bird. Peas. Peas. Peas." Not knowing much about roosters, I said it was okay. So...he took off running and screaming at the rooster. The rooster did not runaway, however. Instead, he started doing this little dance in a circle around Ryan. I thought it was so cute that I got out the camera and started snapping pictures. I looked up from behind the camera right as the rooster jumped and attacked Ryan. All I saw was a rooster in the air, feathers flying, and Ryan grabbing his arm screaming. Ryan ran to me still holding his arm. I looked...and he has battle wounds on his arm. I guess he messed with the wrong rooster! One thing I do know about birds is that they are dirty. So I ran to the car and got the Germ-X...it's all that I had handy. I cleaned it as good as I could till we could get home. (Don't worry, I called the pediatrician just to check and they told me to keep it clean with peroxide and keep an eye on the marks to make sure they don't become infected.)