All the Fingers on Your Hand

It is astonishing yet, at the same time, totally believable that I am the mother of a FIVE year old.  Wowza!  And let me tell you, this kid has been rocking my socks off lately.  He is just so full of life.  He is such a delight to be around and leaves no stone left unturned.

 

Here’s the yearly birthday interview to highlight a few of his favs:

 

 It’s always fun to see how he’s going to answer the questions.  The “three words that describe” me answer made me giggle.  Clearly he didn’t quite understand what I was asking…which is why his answer “crime” doesn’t concern me too much.  Ha!

 

Anyway, some of MY favorite things about five-year-old Easton:

·         He’s been totally into telling jokes for the last few months.  But just recently he’s figured out how to make up his own.  Some of my favs…

Where does a car like to play? The park!
What do Smurfs like to do at the beach? Ride their Smurf boards.

What does the mail learn about at school? Letters.

What’s a toilet’s favorite day? Potty day.  (Clearly he had his birthday in mind here…potty day/party day.)

·         He never lets me leave without a hug and a kiss.  If I head out the door at preschool or day care he’ll stop me in my tracks and say, “Wait Mom!  I need a hug and a kiss!”  I’m sure these days are numbered, so I’m soaking it all in.

·         His passion for trucks, tractors, and big machines continues to grow.  He’s really gotten into Legos the past few months and is constantly creating and inventing new vehicles that are capable of performing any number of tasks.  So cool to see his imagination at work.

·         He is the best snuggler EVER.  He loves it when I wear “comfy clothes” and will ask me multiple times throughout the week (sometimes multiple times in one day!) if I will snuggle with him.  I realize this, too, is probably something that won’t last forever so I rarely turn down a snuggle invite!

·         When he woke up the morning of his birthday I told him something was different about him.  After deliberating for a few minutes I told him the difference must be that he was now five instead of four.  He looked at me with the biggest, brightest smile and said, “Yeah, that must be it!  And I think my voice sounds a little different.  And look at my hands!”  Just LOVE that kid.

 

The past five years of being Easton’s mommy has been an absolute joy.  His smile comes easy and often, and his beaming personality is warming and contagious to everyone.  People ask, “Is he always in a good mood?” “You can just tell he loves life!” “He’s such a fun kid!”  And he really, truly, is.

F-O-U-R

What comes after three?  Before five?  FOUR!  And we are there.  Easton turned four on November 21^st and we partied in style; a monster truck birthday bash it was!  Daddy pulled out his best artistic skillz to create this bad boy:

And we had ourselves a spectacular time, just as you should at a birthday party for a four-year-old boy, right?

First of all, on his birthday wish list?

1)      A grape harvester

2)      A feller buncher

3)      A telehandler

I don’t make this stuff up (And either does he…go ahead, google it.  That stuff really exists!).  I’m also not making it up when I tell you he got all of those wishes granted.  Every. Stinking. One.  He’s put many miles (or hours?) on each one.  He spends hours playing in his room and his imagination cannot be harnessed.  He is so, so full of life and I love him all the more for it.

Now onto the yearly birthday interview!  Remember back to last year when I did the same interview?  SO fun to look back and compare.  I also added a few questions this year that a) he didn’t have a clue how to answer last year or b) just plain didn’t apply.  I so look forward to doing these every year and watching, on paper and with my own eyes, this little guy continue to grow and turn into the amazing person I just know God is planning for him to be.

 

Also, too funny not to mention: At the end of what must have seemed like a million interview questions Easton says, “Mom, I don’t want to do so many words.”

Nine Months

A post from Dana!

NINE MONTHS

Ember Lee turned 9 months old last week.  Crazy?  I know.  And it sure gets a Mama to thinking!

In nine short months you experience the transformation from looking like this…

 to looking at this...

That’s where we’re at.  We have a beautiful, smiley, crawling, standing-up-by-everything little girl.  I’ve done this before, but it’s still just incredibly amazing to me how life changes so quickly.

Perhaps equally as amazing is the transition from a cute toddler to a little boy SO ready for preschool.

+ 9 months =

I can’t wait to see what the next 9 months will bring (think birthdays, walking, preschool, and more!) for my kids and my family.  I’m planning to just hang on and enjoy the ride. J

Easton Turns 3!

Start your Tractor and Put it in Gear,

Easton’s Third Birthday is Already Here!

I have a three year old.  Holy buckets!  A tractor lovin’, potential preschool goin’, three year old.  How did that happen?  I’ve checked the calendar and done the math several times and it comes out the same over and over again.  He really is three.  But don’t get me wrong, he does three really well. 

So here he is…the new three year old at his finest. (Thank you, Pinterest for sucking productivity out of my day and filling it with projects I mostly only dream about doing…with the exception of this one!)

I’m vowing to do this every year from here on out.  How fun!  I think I’ll laminate them and throw them in his “to keep forever” box and maybe at his graduation I’ll figure out a clever way to display them.

Anyway, we did things up right by granting his two birthday wishes.

Wish #1 – What kind of party do you want?  A TRACTOR party!  (Like we haven’t done that before.  Twice before, actually.)

Wish #2 – What do you want for your birthday?  A purple truck like Grandpa’s.  (Purple, easily  confused with the more manly color maroon.)

Done and done.

Happy Birthday, Buddy!  We love you!

Pregnancy, Potty Training, and a Princess

Here I am, on maternity leave.  I promised Kim my creative juices would flow during my 10 weeks at home, so I best follow through.  And what a better way to start than detailing my journey in to maternity leave?

I can’t just jump right to Ember’s birth day, because the story holds much more than that.  So we’ll back up a few days before Ember’s arrival.  As most of you know, I have a 2 ½ year old little man at home.  I had made up my mind many, many months ago to push off potty training until after the arrival of Baby Neu 2.  It just made sense.  I mean really, who wants to deal with potty training when you’re trying to figure out your life with a newborn baby in the house.  Not this mom.  So what lit the fire?  Another mom.  Let’s face it, they always have the best ideas and advice.  Working as a children’s librarian gives me unlimited access to moms that are really awesome (and some that are not, but that’s another post in and of itself).  In chatting with one of these awesome moms, I was introduced to the “Three Day Potty Training” method.  Yes, that’s right, I said three days.  So with my mushy, 38-week pregnant mind I decided this was a fabulous idea.  After all, I had two weeks to get this done.  Let’s do it—now!  I had a long weekend home from work due to the fourth of July holiday and decided to take advantage of it.  (Notice the previous sentence says “I” and not “we.”  David had to work…lucky him, right?)  I stocked the closet with cool underwear, a package of Pull-Ups, candy, stickers, and cheap presents.  Ready, set, go!  In an effort to make this short(er), day one (Saturday) was a disaster.  Day two (Sunday) proved to be some better, and by the morning of day three (Monday) I really thought we were getting somewhere.  And day four (Tuesday--I know, it’s supposed to be three days but just bear with me) brought great excitement when Easton actually told us he had to go potty rather than us telling him he needed to go.  This led to a $40 quad-track tractor and an excited phone call from Daddy to Mommy.  A bit dramatic are we?  Probably.  But I was really sick of doing laundry and hauling my kid to the bathroom.

And then I went in to labor. J

I had an appointment Tuesday afternoon and things were as they should be when you’re 38 weeks pregnant.  The doctor had me schedule my next appointment and said to come with an induction date in mind (she’s not much for surprises).  I wasn’t really keen on picking my child’s birthday and planned to pick the very last day she’d allow.  I wasn’t uncomfortable or in any hurry to rush things along.  My husband and I spent the rest of the afternoon running errands and going out for supper.  I was having contractions, but didn’t feel the need to rush to the hospital.  I’m fairly certain David was aware of this, but I’m not sure he agrees.  We left town and headed to the farm to pick up Easton and made our way home. 

After being home for about an hour and a half my brother called and needed rescuing.  His pickup had stalled at the gas station in front of the pump.  He asked David to come and pull him away from the pump and give him a ride home.  It was about 9:30pm and Easton was just getting out of the tub.  I told David I wasn’t comfortable with him leaving for an hour and a half because my contractions were coming every 15-20 minutes.  His response, “Ride along then.”  So we did.  We threw Easton’s pajamas on and hopped in the car.  This is when David becomes totally oblivious to what’s going on.  He doesn’t see me throw the rest of Easton’s “hospital/overnight” bag together and throw it in the back seat.  He doesn’t see me keeping track of contractions on my cell phone.  In fact, I’m not entirely certain he saw me get in the front seat of the car beside him.  Okay, it wasn’t that bad…but (he claims) I hadn’t clued him to how serious I was about the fact that I may very well be going in to labor.  

The rest of the night/next morning goes something like this:

9:30pm - We leave the house to rescue my brother from the gas station.

10:30pm - We drop my brother and his finance off and I pose David with the “What should we do now”? question.  He is still clueless and responds with “Go home?”  I tell him I’d rather not drive all the way back home because I’m still having contractions and I think I want to go to the hospital.  David asks if we can at least go back and get his glasses.  Really David?!?

10:45pm - We arrive at my mom and dad’s farm (this is the half-way point between our house and the hospital) to decide what to do.  David asks if he can leave Easton and I there and go back home to get his glasses.

11:00pm - I make the final call – to the hospital we go. 

11:45pm - We arrive at the Emergency Room and I tell them I need to check in to labor and delivery.  They look at me as if I’m one of “those” people.  You know, the ones who aren’t really in labor but think they are.

12:00am - Still in the Emergency Room.  David has found the latest issue of the AARP magazine to read.  Eventually somebody comes and retrieves us from the ER and wonders if we’ve been waiting long.

 12:15am - 4-5cm dilated.  We’re not going home.  We’re having a baby.  And David is still really bummed he doesn’t have his glasses.

1:15am - 6cm dilated.  I have an epidural, just for safety purposes. J

1:40am - 6cm dilated.  My doctor arrives and breaks my water.  We’re really having a baby…and David is wondering if my mom and dad can bring his glasses when they come to see said baby.

2:45am - 8cm dilated.

3:16am - Push…

3:28am - WELCOME TO THE WORLD EMBER LEE NEU!
7lbs. 15oz.  21 in. long

 Really that’s it.  That’s how it all went down.   So here we are…3 weeks later-- I’m not pregnant anymore, we have a (mostly) potty trained 2 ½ year old, and a beautiful (really, really beautiful) princess.  Life is amazing, isn’t it?

Our Life in Songs and Storybooks

Hopefully I'll figure out a cooler way to let you know who's writing what but I have always been more of a talker (some would say) so for now, I'll warn you when it isn't me. This one belongs to Dana. :)

I am a children’s librarian, so it comes as no surprise that my son loves books. What does surprise me is how frequently he communicates using lines directly from a book we’ve recently read. Example 1: We’re reading bedtime books and Easton yawns. He looks at me and says, “That was not a yawn. I was stretching.” (If you’re confused, read Don’t Let the Pigeon Stay Up Late by Mo Willems.) Example 2: Easton has a semi-large closet. The light is rarely on in his closet, but there are a number of toys in there. He’ll frequently go in there and say, “In the dark. In the dark. Could you, would you, in the dark?” (Please read Green Eggs and Ham by Dr. Seuss if you don’t recognize this line.) Example 3: The three of us were lounging in the living room and Easton randomly says, “I love my whole family!” (Thank you, We Love You Little Critter by Mercer Mayer.)

To date, Easton can spell his name, recite his address, and rattle off the seven days of the week…in song. When he’s not reciting lines from storybooks, he’s singing. He busts out in song randomly throughout the day--at the kitchen table, in the car, when he’s playing. Sometimes it’s a made up song, other times it’s one he’s learned at day care of that David or I have taught him. I wonder how far I can get him through his academic career by turning essential (and nonessential) information into a song?

If Glee or High School Musical ever does a casting call for a toddler, we’re there. (I’ve never actually seen either show, but that’s pretty much my life on a daily basis, isn’t it?)