September Flew!

Man, September has gone by like a flash.  So much has happened, and we have sure kept busy!

Blazer is now 3, and POTTY TRAINED!  We had Blazer's birthday at Chuck E. Cheese, which was absolutely wonderful.  It was pricey but worth it.  We haven't really done a birthday like that before.  It's amazing to experience a birthday for our children and actually enjoy it instead of running around cooking, baking, serving, cleaning, etc.  A few days before Blazer's birthday, Aaron made a deal with Blazer to buy him some "big boy" Toy Story underwear if he didn't pee in a PullUp for a full day.  Blazer succeeded and the incentive of the big boy underwear has been enough to keep him dry for over a week.  We use the PullUps at night and during nap, but he rarely needs them even then.  Yay for Blazer!

I have been teaching Faith sign language, and she is catching on quickly.  She also started talking!  In addition to Mama, Dada, Bah-bah, and Nigh-Nigh, she can now say, "Thank you."  I've been working on, "I love you," and she's close!  The sign language has been helping her communicate even more, and Blazer likes the sign language too - like it's a game.  Watching her grow up in warp speed has me catching my breath, but I am so excited to see her learning!  Oh...and Faith went from walking to running around the house - she is way too fast!

After Blazer's birthday, I asked my Mother-in-Law to stay with us for the week.  It was such a blessing.  She helped around the house, nurtured the kids, and gave me such a nice break from the everyday craziness of being an evening single parent.  She went home today, and when I came home I realized how much she did before she left.  My laundry is ALL DONE AND FOLDED.  Like, seriously, that's just amazing.  She cleaned the kitchen, MY BATHROOMS, and so much more.  Sheesh!  I didn't expect her to do anything except for help with the kids, and she went far and beyond that.  I feel extremely grateful and appreciative of all she has done.  (I hope you are reading this, Karen!)  We love her and we are so glad she came to be with us.  My mommy gets to come in November, and I am super excited.  I love having family close enough for visits!

In September, I not only began teaching at a new school, but also the children started at a new daycare.  It has been just a few days, but I already know we are going to love it.  It's an in-home daycare, which we prefer until pre-school comes, and I'm glad we could find someone we feel comfortable with.  Sharon Cole was our in-home care provider for almost two years and we sure miss her.  We really wanted to find a situation similar, and I think we did.  What a relief!

Today, Aaron started at the UO.  This means that in the morning we both wake up, take showers, get the kids ready for daycare, and leave at the same time to drop them off.  Mornings are crazy!  We'll get the hang of this...we will...we have to.  :)

As a final note, I just want to say that we are incredibly blessed.  We feel so complete here and we thank the Lord for our blessings.  Our lives are full of love, family, and friendship that help us survive and thrive.  Thank you to all who have been with us along the way and have followed our journey.

Until next time...

Time to be thankful...(LONG)

5 Years and WOW

The past 5 years has been a bundle of experiences.  I remember when I graduated with my master's degree. It was 2008.  I was a newly certified teacher who was fortunate to find a temporary, part-time job at the high school I graduated from.  Aaron and I were married and living in Eugene at the time, so we trekked back to our hometown.  It was such a blessing to have a job opportunity at my old high school.  We prayed about it, and we were truly thankful.  After the move, Aaron got a job at a tire company and things were up and down that year with our finances, living situation, etc.  It was the best teaching year I could have possibly experienced for year one - but Aaron was unhappy.

They couldn't renew my contract in the spring, which meant I had to job hunt again.  I found myself interviewing for, and later accepting, a job in Tillamook at the junior high.  I was born there, spent quite a bit of time there, and it was odd to find myself on a journey back to where I came into the world.  Aaron, on the other hand, finally saw an opening at a local cabinet shop in Bend.  We had to decide what was best for us, so we moved to Tillamook.  We didn't know if we were going to survive financially, where we would live, or whether we could even find a home with our two large dogs (kids were a future thought at the time).  But, I had the largest income.  Rather quickly, things fell into place.  I accepted a job in May, found a house in June, moved in August.  Aaron stayed in Bend to work a little longer, but he quickly found a job (in a jobless market no less) within the first week after he moved over.

After a miscarriage/false pregnancy in the summer of 2009, Aaron and I were weary about trying for children.  We also had to think about the maternity leave at a new job, whether it was best for our situation.  After months, we were blessed with Blazer in September 2010.  He was a miracle, a light of life, and a wonderful addition to our family.  When Blazer was 9 months old, Aaron was laid off from his job.  Unemployment kept us just under the surface, and ultimately we filed bankruptcy later in the year.  We moved into Tillamook from Rockaway Beach to save on gas and rent.  Then, that fall, we made two hard choices.  The bankruptcy was the first, but Aaron and I agreed the next best decision was for him to go back to school.

Aaron started college in the fall of 2011 after being a stay-at-home dad with Blazer.  He hadn't attended school since his 10th grade year in high school.  There were so many unkowns with his financial aid, scheduling daycare, and surviving.  BUT, he is amazing.  His financial aid came through, he realized just how incredibly intelligent he is, and we began to truly thrive in the Tillamook area.  We had prayed so much in the three years that lead up to Aaron's return to his schooling - and we were not short on our blessings.  Our family was thankful and blessed.  And the blessings kept coming...

I found out I was pregnant with our daughter, Faith, in October 2011.  Blazer gave us so much light, and we knew Faith would just add another wonderful piece to our family.  In January 2012 Aaron applied for scholarships to pay for his next year at Tillamook Bay.  To our surprise and excitement, he was selected as a finalist for the Ford Family Foundation Restart Scholarship, meant for students who met adversity and returned to education with a purpose.  Aaron succeeded through the interview process (42 scholarships were given out of 565 applicants) and was awarded up to a $90,000 scholarship - paying for 90% of tuition and daycare expenses through his first year of graduate school.  We both couldn't believe it -- and we were cautiously awaiting a point when our blessings would eventually be balanced with adversity.

After Aaron's scholarship success, we again had to think about our options.  He had the ability to continue in higher education, become a teacher, and start making the difference he has dreamed about for a long time.  I was part of a staff at the Junior High whom I adored, and I loved my job.  We had a wonderful daycare.  Aaron didn't want to take our family away from a place where we were finally finding our way.  But I couldn't make him give up what he ultimately had dreamed about, that redeeming point in his life when he was proud of himself and his accomplishments.  This was something we had to do, and we both felt it.  We decided I would resign and take our family to Eugene, where Aaron would attend the UO as and undergrad and eventually earn his M.Ed and teaching certificate in English and History.

And this brings us to this summer.  A summer of uncertainty and trials of self-doubt.  Did we make the right choice?  Did we follow the right path?  Are we going to regret our decisions that have brought us here?  When in doubt, we prayed.  The odds of me finding a teaching job in the Eugene area were slim.  The job market for teachers just isn't what it was even five years ago, budgets and all.  We had a plan for me to sub whenever I could.  I applied to every job I was qualified for, part-time, full-time, temporary, etc.  Things were looking bleak.  Aaron and I came to the realization that this year was probably going to be struggle, but we had to reassure ourselves that we made the right choice.  And then, out of nowhere, a job opened up in Elmira at the high school.

An English teacher had resigned after finding a job in administration late in August.  Full-time, permanent, high school, MY DREAM JOB.  When I became a teacher, high school was my choice.  I fell in love with my junior high colleagues and the students, but I always had a craving for high school.  I applied.  The connections that were made before my interview on my behalf, unknown to me before my interview, were just too coincidental.  The pieces that had to fall into place for this to all work out carried even worse odds than the Beavers winning the Civil War in football this year.  I interviewed and felt wonderful, like a sweetness in my chest and heart that was reassuring and exciting.  A few hours after my interview, on a Thursday before a Monday start, I was offered the job.

THIS. IS. UNBELIEVABLE.  I'm not sure what constitutes miracles in your lives, but this is a miracle.  I cried.  Aaron and I both did.  This just doesn't happen.  Good things, like what has come to be in the last 5 years, just don't happen to people consistently.  We are thankful for all the blessings we have received.  Aaron and I are in such awe of all of the things that had to fall into place.  The house we found to rent, we were approved in minutes and moved in two weeks later (we feared our bankruptcy would get in the way).  We found an amazing in-home daycare just down the street.  I have a job.  I. HAVE. A. JOB.  I can continue doing what I LOVE, and our family is going to be just fine.  We're going to survive.

I know not everyone believes in something bigger than all of us.  That sometimes you have to make your own destiny, and fate is just a result of that.  But too many times, too many things, too many situations have shown us that something bigger is at work here.  The choices we have made have been carefully selected, and guided with instinct that holds power beyond our own choosing.  We are thanking each and every day for what we have. Aaron and I look at one another, together for 11 years (married for 6 on Sept. 8, 2013), incredibly and completely in love and happy...and all we can muster is "Wow."

WOW.

Night folks.

    

Yep, we're winners!

Okay...maybe not the lottery, slot machines, etc...

We're winners in this house because Blazer is doing the potty thang - and really well I might add.

My last post, "Success!", provided details on our potty-going adventure, and I may have mentioned that I was waiting for a successful numba-two try in the potty on his own.  We've reached that goal, ten-four!  AND SO MUCH MORE!

I really cannot contain my excitement.  I know potty chatter really isn't everyone's cup-o-pee, but as a parent I'm floating on the potty training cloud right now.  It's has been four days of no diapers...yes, I said FOUR.  FOUR AMAZING DAYS WITHOUT HAVING TO CHANGE A DIAPER!!

I know, I know...maybe my excitement is a little premature, but heck yes!  Pull-ups are working so well!  He uses about 2, sometimes 3 a day, and it's not really because they are dirty but because they just get worn out with all his playing around.  We found that leaving his pants or shorts off while at home helped with his ease of going on his own.  He's a weird little dude too, because he wants to use his little potty downstairs but uses the big potty upstairs just fine.  Hmm.. Whatevs.  Did I mention we have gone FOUR DAYS without diapers?  (No, I'm not going to admit a pull-up is a diaper.)

In addition to the pull-ups, today we tried regular underwear.  He did so great with those too.  It's like, he gets it now.  A lightbulb has been turned on.

Chug-a-chug-choo-choo.  Potty train, we're going to keep chuggin'. 

Post-blog notes:  I forgot to mention that Blazer took his potty training success to a public restroom today.  Actually, he begged to go into a store, just to use the potty.  Umm, win!  

Success!

It's really important to celebrate each success, no matter how small.  For the last week, Aaron and I have been working harder than ever before on the potty training with Blazer.  He's resisting, but we're persistent.  Couple of things we are trying:

1) Place him on the potty every hour - celebrating even if he goes or not..
2) Setting a two-minute timer with a cool alert at the end, making sure he has enough time to do his business.
3) Praise, praise, praise.  If he went, we throw one heck of a verbal party.
4) Purchased cool "Cars" and "Monster's Inc." pull-ups. (Yikes, I know what they say about pull-ups, but damn it, we have to try everything.)
5) Brought the little potty in the living room, so he doesn't feel rushed to go watch a favorite show.  (This has actually worked great! ...and if you are judging about Netflix cartoon watching for a toddler, just don't go there.  Ha.)

Finally, I wanted to share today's success.  I put Blazer in his bed for a nap.  15 minutes later I hear him in the bathroom.  I figured he was in the tub playing with his bath toys, which is odd because he NEVER leaves his room during sleep times.  I walk upstairs and his diaper is on the floor and he's on the toilet - GOING POTTY.  Praise all that is holy in toilet world.  This is a major leap for him, and I'm so excited.

I'll be even more excited when he does the #2 deed on his own...  Yes folks, poop is very exciting when you have a toddler...VERY.

Have a great Sunday!

Discipline

This is the hardest part of parenting for me. Child psychology experts, who must have conducted outrageous studies on infants and toddlers, have varying opinions of what discipline should look like in any given family. 

Well, that's all fine and dandy...for the experts.  As a teacher and a mother I have the blessing/curse of seeing the fruits (or lumps of coal) that parenting has created in today's adolescents.  The one thing I can be certain about is that the type of parenting we use and the way we raise children from the womb to adulthood has a significant impact on everything those tiny human beings become. Well, duh I guess. 

Unlike trying a new recipe and seeing the results minutes later, we have to wait to see how our efforts have panned out as our children grow up. I can't say I do everything right. I can't say I know what I'm doing all the time. But, I can say that I'm present, I hold my children accountable for their actions, and I hold myself accountable. Yes. Me. Because when my children are partaking in society, a classroom, or anywhere, no one will be able to say, "He/she didn't have a good upbringing."

I know my children have free will and make choices, but Im going to make sure they go on in life knowing good morals and right from wrong. I'm not afraid to discipline my children, and I'm not afraid because I know it will make them better people. I'm the person I am today because my parents held a firm stand in our home - from that I learned to respect them, myself, and others.

One of the biggest mistakes I think we can make is to expect our children to know something we won't teach them because we think they will learn it from somewhere else.  It's our job to help them learn.

And to be frank - it has been an evening of tough lessons in this house.   I don't regret teaching my children...and learning from them too.  

Potty training woes

The potty. The toilet. The bathroom. Cars padded seat, baby Bjorn potty chair, potty dance, pee-pee treats...nothing works. 

Blazer likes diapers. Actually he might just like the leisure of going potty at any time he pleases. He'll be 3 in September and I keep thinking of Blazer's first year of preschool in diapers.   This kid just doesn't care. I've tried what the books and so-called experts say. I've tried letting him wear big boy underwear. I've tried potty chairs in multiple places. I've tried potty songs and dances (which were more traumatizing to him than the act of peeing on the toilet). 

The last couple of days he has pooped in his diaper and it has found its way out. What. Do. I. Do. Now?

Poop, screen doors, and ants

Last night was a hard night with the kids. Blazer refuses to potty train. He's used the potty many times in the past, but I think the addition of Faith made him take leaps back. He sees her get attention during diaper changes and he wants that too, I assume. Anyways, here's how my night progressed...

First, Blazer kept trying to abuse Faith with one of those giant basketballs you can win at the fair.  I hid the ball - problem solved. 

Next, Blazer thought it was hilarious to stand on the patio in the backyard and attempt to smash Faith's legs in the sliding screen door. I brought Blaze inside and locked the sliding glass door. 

Then...oh man my blood boils at the thought of this one.  Blazer is sitting on the floor next to his recliner with something like chocolate on his legs and on the recliner. Faith had decided to play in the chocolate colored mess on the recliner. OMG. POOP! Some poop had fallen out of Blazer's diaper. I yelled. I grabbed Faith and put her in the kitchen sink to wash off her hands. I cried. I put Blazer in the toilet while I cleaned up the mess. I cried. And then they both had baths. 

And if that wasn't bad enough...I went to warm up my dinner in the microwave, and it was infested with ants. We have ants with superpowers in our house. They. Just. Won't. Die. I blasted their asses in he microwave for a few minutes, and then warmed up my food.  After all, sometimes you just have to take a deep breath and go one step at a time. 

Today will be better, and if it's not...

No, it has to be better. Have a great day!

Defensive Phrases

As a parent, I have to choose my battles with my toddler wisely, and that's saying a lot when I have a two year old who constantly wants to battle.  Along the way, I've used some phrases I had believed to be great defensive and non-aggressive ways to deter Blazer.  Now, he kindly uses them on me - I guess I start battles sometimes too...

Here are few:

"You need to be nice to me."
"You mad?  You be happy!"
"You say sorry to me!"
"You no talk to me!"
"Not fair."
"I can't, I too small."  (He apparently is too small every time we ask him to do a chore he dislikes.  Currently, he's too small to use the toilet.)

I think one of my favorites is from a situation when we were telling Blazer we were going to play outside.  We lived in Tillamook and the sun didn't come out often, so when it did we took advantage.  We told him, "It's sunny! We can go out and play!"  Outside is always fun with Blazer, and he really loves to play.  He associates sunshine with playtime now, inside or out.  So, his response when he needs a nap during the daytime is...

"But Mom, it's Sunny!  Look!  It's sunny!  I don't sleep.  It's sunny!"  - In Tillamook, I would have cut the kid some slack when the sun came out. But, in Springfield during the summer...he'd never get a nap.  He's clever though...touche Blaze.

1 Year Later

On July 16, 2012, I said hello to our baby girl, Faith.

It's fitting and completely unoriginal to share her birth story now that she is 1, but I can't help but reminisce.

Sunday, we had a baby shower for Faith at our church in Tillamook.  A few very wonderful ladies showed up to show their love for an angel yet to be born...and I was extremely pregnant.  Her due day was the 26th and it was the 15th.  Like all women in their last weeks of pregnancy, I was ready.  After the baby shower, a few of us made plans to go to the Oregon Zoo in Portland (an hour away) the next day.

I woke up on Monday feeling weird.  I woke up with back pain when I went into the labor with Blazer, and then my water broke at home shortly after I awoke.  This was different.  I just felt...icky.  I called my friends and told them I had better take it easy.  That was 8:30am.  Aaron was in class at TBCC, and I was home with Blazer for the day.  I felt pain but I was in denial.  At 9:30 I called my mom and told her I thought I might be in labor.  While on the phone with her, she laughed because I was breathing heavily.  "You're in labor," she told me.

Crap...I can do this.

My doctor had told me to stay at home and labor as long as possible because I wouldn't be admitted until I was a few centimeters dilated.  Well, I'm a wimp and that sounded horrible.  But...I did.  I walked around my house whaling like I was dying during contractions.  I would sit, stand, lean over, etc.  Blazer came to me during one of my contractions and said, "Mommy, you ok?" Sure bud...just dandy.

I texted Aaron that I was in labor but to just come home after class, not to rush.  I knew I probably had a few hours.  Cheyenne, a very good friend of mine, came over at 11:30 to keep an eye on Blazer while I labored.  Aaron read my text during class, freaked out, and came home as soon as he could.  At about 12, I had enough and went to my doctor to get checked.  Luckily my doctor office and the hospital were only a block away.  Almost 5 centimeters she had told me when I got there.  Hospital time.

Thank. Goodness.

I went home, picked up Aaron, and then went to the hospital.  I'm a big baby.  I admit it.  When they made me sit in a wheelchair to go a few stories up in the elevator, I wanted to scream - sitting during contractions hurt like hell.  I got to my room, stood up, and grabbed the closest nurse to hold on for dear life while I suffered through another contraction.  A few minutes later, the anesthesiologist came in for my epidural.  I had an amazing doctor who called in my drugs right after I left her office.  It was about 1:15 when I had my epidural.

Ah. I can breathe.

I relaxed.  Chatted with Aaron and Cheyenne (who had taken Blazer to our daycare).  And I slept a little.  About 4 hours later it was time.  Six pushes and she was out.  I don't even think it took 10 minutes.  Amazing. Beautiful. Perfect.  She weighed 7 lbs 2 oz.

Faith Ann Brumbach

Now, a year later, we all adore her.  Blazer loves her, even with his jealous spells.  She's a happy baby with the best personality.  Her giggle is contagious and she's a fast learner.  Our life was wonderful when we had Blazer, but now it's everything we could have ever hoped for...and more.

   

Yep, the absent blogger.

I never wanted to be one of the probably millions who start a blog and then leave it in the black hole of the internet.  ...it happened anyway.

It amazes me what takes up my time on any given day.  Diaper changes, runny noses, tantrums, food, snacks...tantrums, more food...did I say tantrums yet?  Oh yeah, and then there's snuggles, kisses, hugs, "I love you mommy," and lots of other wonderfulness that outweighs all the aforementioned.

All of that can seem like a lot, but I do have enough downtime to blog - really I do.  I read a post yesterday about blogging - that someone who starts a blog with the only intention to lay it out there is not someone who will blog successfully.  It's the community building that makes success.  I never even thought about what type of community I wanted to reach out to.  Maybe moms like me, or women, or just anyone who might find humor in my seemingly normal yet crazy-to-me life.

When I started my purpose was to share our lives with my family.  It's hard to live far away and still provide the opportunity for my children and our relatives to know one another.

And then there's Facebook, which for many people can be a great alternative to blogging.  Lately, though, it's just a little bit unnerving to sift through all the game posts, advertisements, sponsored profiles, and whatever else may show up on my "newsfeed" in order to get to the good stuff about all my relatives, friends, etc.

Blogging is simple, it's all in one place, and it's all about what you went there for.  That's why I'm going to attempt this again - for like the umpteenth time.  Maybe this time I'll be a little better than the last.  Besides, with the way life is going these days for our family...I may have a little more down time than I want.

Be back...soon.