Justin Turns Two!

Justin had a good birthday. Pizza and chocolate cake for dinner. Yum! He had more presents than he needed. He would have been happy with one. Of course the day after his birthday he figured he should be allowed to open the other presents that he saw. Why wait for Christmas? We forced a lot of presents on him one day and deny him the next. So confusing.

My Sweet Boys!

My boys are sweet. They can be a handful when they both decide to scream at the same time though. It is hard to breastfeed Ryan while giving Justin a time out. Justin seems to know that. Luckily there are plenty of adults around to help out.

Sometimes Justin can be sweet. Here he is singing to his little brother.

Of course he is jealous of things that are for Ryan and not for him. He has just GOT to try out Tiny Baby's little seat.

LET IT SNOW! LET IT SNOW. LET IT SNOW?

Now that we have gotten past the record cold, we are experiencing record snow. We have officially gotten over 19 inches already, though the yardstick on the back deck says more. Justin was surprised when he was asked to go get the newspaper this morning and found himself faced with a wall of snow. Schools were closed and even my dad got work off! Ryan's doctor's appointment that was supposed to be today was rescheduled for Saturday morning. The snow plows didn't come by until late afternoon, but at least they came! Hopefully we can get out tomorrow so I can get to the doctor to have my stitches taken out.

After my dad ran the snow blower to clear out the driveway, Meredith, Justin, and I ventured outside. Justin liked the snow until he got too cold.

My Two Boys

The other day Justin very clearly pointed to the door and said, "Tiny Baby, go home!" I told him that Ryan was at home with Mommy, Daddy, and Justin. That wasn't the news that he wanted to hear. "Oh my, no!" was his response and then he attempted to fling his body on the bed. He missed and fell backwards onto the floor. Oops. That didn't make things any better. We try to teach him how to be a good helper since he wants to be involved. I am happiest when he helps with his baby doll, also named Ryan. What a creative boy I have.

Not a lot is happening here. Record cold is keeping us indoors whenever possible. One of our highlights (shows you how slow moving things are) was Ryan's first bath.He was not amused. He cried more for the bath than he did when Justin hit him with a plastic baseball bat. Ryan was much happier when I got him out and wrapped up in a warm towel. At least he isn't as difficult to manage in the tub as Justin. Justin is learning that Mommy can be a bit more assertive in bathing him now that he can no longer pull me off balance and into the tub with him. Ha! Non-pregnant Mommy is a lot more capable.

FINALLY, HE IS HERE!

I have been SO ready for this baby to be born. Wednesday, December 3rd at about 10:30 AM he finally decided to comply with my wishes. Ryan Matthew Weber came in at 10 pounds 2 ounces and 22 1/2 inches long. No wonder I was so uncomfortable.

I woke up just after 1 AM with some contractions and figured it was going to be the day. I sat down and worked on reading a book and dealt with the contractions every 20 or 30 minutes. Sure websites and other sources recommend trying to doze in between contractions so you are rested. Right. It takes me 20 to 30 minutes to get to sleep. What are the chances that I will then sleep through the contractions? Ha!

By 5 AM I decided it was time to get ready to go. Rob and I got ready and arrived at the hospital about 6 AM. Guess what? This pregnancy I got my epidural. What a great thing. I love epidurals. I was bitter that Justin came too quickly for an epidural. Sure I was lucky to only have a two hour labor with him, but it hurt. I didn't want to do natural childbirth. I felt I deserved easy after a long puking pregnancy.

As soon as I got my epidural I felt GREAT! I don't just mean no longer in pain, I mean better than I have felt since probably last March sometime. Go figure, the nausea was gone too. I don't know exactly when I got the epidural and all, but I know I was happy. I did get a little bored waiting for Ryan to appear. I thought that by 9 AM he should have been there and wanted to get the show on the road. I went from a 5 to an 8 so quickly, why wasn't I moving anymore?

Evidently I had a pretty tough sack and my water didn't want to break. Once it was helped, Ryan STILL wasn't cooperating. Ends up the umbilical cord was holding him in. It was wrapped over his shoulder and keeping him from being able to get out. They rotated things (I guess things mostly being Ryan) around and he slid out. I say "slid" out because even though I was technically pushing, I didn't feel the contractions or the pushing. I suddenly had a slimey, slippery thing out and placed on my chest. The umbilical cord was soooooo long. Not that I am an expert in that kind of thing, but the nurses and others there were surprised by it. It reminded me of a magician pulling scarves out of a hat. It just kept coming and coming and coming. Probably more interesting than the baby.

Why I couldn't have an epidural for the whole nine months of pregnancy is beyond me. Wow. Coolest thing ever. If I were in high school and had to do a research paper on someone or something I think it would be on the great wonderful epidural. I am most definitely a fan. I wonder if facebook has a "fan of epidurals" group. That would be me. After experiencing natural childbirth (and remember it was only 2 hours) and an epidural, as far as I am concerned the decision is a no-brainer.

Ryan and I were both doing well so we came home today (Thursday) instead of hanging out until tomorrow. Being in the hospital does have the advantage of resting without Justin around to help, but I like being out of the hospital. I get anxious and restless there. Now I can start adjusting to life with "tiny baby" and Justin.

We forgot the camera at first, so we don't have many pics. I am sure that will change. We will see how long it takes me to get more up.

First "Big Boy" Jeans

I know I am a biased mom, but I think Justin looks adorable in his very first big boy jeans. Is his bum cute in the Levi's or what? They are plenty long and have an ajustable waistband. Right now they are on the 8th notch in. Guess they should fit him for awhile. Should have gotten two pairs while they were on sale.

Hello! It has been awhile. I have been busy puking and hating life in general. I am now at 38 weeks and ready for this baby to come anytime. I would even be willing to stop typing right now and go have it. He isn't cooperating. My brother and his family are coming here on Tuesday and Rob will be here on Thanksgiving. When will the baby arrive? Probably at the most inconvenient time. Silly little thing.

We have been trying to get Justin ready for the arrival of Spare. We have the bassinet set up in the bedroom, the stroller assembled, the car seat installed, the swing ready, the little baby bath tub purchased, and even the little baby clothes washed. He is excited about the "tiny baby" right now. We will see how long that lasts once the tiny baby is here. Justin is also excited about being a big brother, not that he has a clue what that means. With the excitement of my brother's family (he LOVES my brother and likes the rest of his family) and Daddy coming, hopefully there will be plenty of attention for him. We bought him a baby doll and he seems to be a bit jealous of that sometimes. Probably not a good sign.

Since Halloween my sweet little Justin has learned that candy is something that he absolutely loves. He has trouble saying the c sound, so 'candy' often sounds like 'Daddy' instead. That can be a bit confusing. Today it is starting to sound more like tandy.

One of Justin's current favorite things to do is to watch videos on Youtube.com with his Papa. They watch all kinds of kids' songs. Justin's favorite at the moment is "The Green Anaconda Song." He just loves his shows and looks so cute cuddling up with Papa. Justin also enjoys finding letters on the keyboard and typing away.

Here is a short little clip of Justin singing his ABCs. It is so hard to get him to perform for the camera. Of course when I can get him to do something he chooses a place with poor lighting.

Justin's Second Halloween

Last year at Halloween we were in the middle of a move. We were in Ohio visiting Rob's brother and his family. Justin had a tiger costume and his cousin Missy took him trick or treating. Since she had control of him in the stroller, I was free to take lots of pictures.

This year we were at my parents' house for Halloween. Justin had an elephant costume. We went to the church for a party. Justin and I waited our turn and got up on stage to say his name and what his costume was. He was more interestd in checking out all the other costumes than being up on the stage and didn't give Grandma a good photo op.

He really liked the clowns, but he wasn't sure how he felt about getting right up next to them for a picture. In fact, my little elephant was so excited by all the costumes and everything that was going on that he hardly ever stopped moving. He ran everywhere on a constant basis. That meant someone had to be chasing after him so we wouldn't lose him in the group. The adults were really good about oohing and ahhing over the kids' costumes and Justin ate up the attention. He had fun labeling the costumes he saw too. Maybe Mommy wasn't so weird after all putting him in a funny getup. Everyone seemed to be doing it.

We were able to get him to settle down briefly to eat. Chili seemed a bit messy for a toddler in an elephant costume, so we had him stick to bread. He shared some with his costume by feeding the trunk. He just loved that trunk.

After dinner it was time for the trunk or treat. We went out to the parking lot and people were sitting in the back of their trucks or by their cars passing out candy as the kids went around. Justin quickly caught on, saying "tri or tree" (tri is with a short i sound) and enjoying the attention and getting something in his pumpkin basket. We didn't stay for the games. Justin isn't even two yet, and we were tired of chasing him around. Most of the games would have been too much for him anyway. I am sure he would have been happy to run around, but I was done chasing him.

We got back home and Grandma and I took him trick-or-treating to five or six houses. He enjoyed it, but seemed a bit put off that he was never invited in to explore. He was good about finding the houses with "lights on" that we could go to. As we walked back home he wanted to go back to the same houses, but we were able to get him past the houses without major incident. Poor Grandma was stuck with Justin for the rest of the night. I was DONE! That was way too much activity for me, even though I had rested up for it since Thursday. Will I ever have this baby? It's killing me!

Justin seems to be a candy fiend. He can tell when I am sneaking some and insists on having a taste. If only he were as anxious to try other new foods!

Do you think he looks any different with glasses? I think they make him look older and more distinguished. He has a lot of fun with them. It also took away from how desprately he needed a haircut.

Today we got that haircut. He screamed the ENTIRE time. I had to use my legs to keep him seated on my lap and my hands held his head in place. Grandma was in charge of his arms and upper body. Truly a horrible experience. I don't know what his problem was.

I also bought a stroller than I can use with him and Spare. Of course Justin insisted on helping me. He loves tools. Thanks to Papa he knows hammer, screwdriver, wrench, and a few others. It took a lot longer to get it together with his special help. At least it kept him occupied.

Pumpkins!

This is the first year we have carved pumpkins with Justin. At first he did not want anything to do with the pumpkin guts. He slowly started exploring the inside of the pumpkins with his little scoops. Eventually, he really got into the spirit of it all. In fact, some might say he got a little too involved towards the end. We had expected a mess and Justin did not disappoint.

Check out the video for a one sided food fight.

I haven't updated the blog for awhile. Nothing too exciting going on. I continue to feel miserable. Justin continues to grow and change everyday. As he is able to say and do more and more, he seems to get more demanding.



Justin gets upset when we don't understand what he is saying. A lot of times it would be easier if he would just say one or two words clearly instead of 'hiding' them in a bunch of garbled nonsense. Sometimes even when I understand all the words I still don't understand what he wants. The other day he told me, "I want Cho pumpkin." Cho is my brother's nickname, so basically he was telling me he wanted my brother's pumpkin? That doesn't make much sense. Haven't seen my brother since July. He lives in Portland and I have no idea if he has a pumpkin yet or not. I tried getting our pumpkins and that was NOT right. My screaming monster child took me into the bedroom, climbed on the bed, went over to the shelf, and pulled down a photo album. Guess what pictures were in the album? Pictures of my brother and his family at the pumpkin patch. Poor Justin! Why doesn't his silly mommy understand what he means?



Here are some fairly recent pictures of Justin.

I don't know where he thinks he is going. Seems like he is missing something. He loves that backpack.


The little artist. He likes crayons better than markers because he hates getting the marker ink on his hands.


Rough night. Better just watch some cartoons and chill with the morning milk.


Chocolate pudding is yummy! I wonder why Mommy and Grandma insist that I wear a bib?


Crossword puzzles and Sudoku help keep your mind sharp!


Justin loves to sing. He often will sing the alphabet song, just not when I want him too. He is a stubborn little guy.





Justin loves to sort things. Here he is sorting some of his Dora playing cards.

Oops! Looks like I forgot to post some pictures of Justin's trip to the beach. He LOVES Lake Coeur d'Alene. Since we had a stretch of weather in the upper 80s and lower 90s in mid September, we took advantage of the beach. It was great with school already in session. It wasn't crowded and Justin had a blast in the water and out. I feel a little guilty that we didn't go again this week. The weather has been in the 80s, but by this weekend it is supposed to be in the mid 50s. Even though poor Grandma ends up doing most of the work and we stay for just under an hour, trips to the lake wear me out. It is nice how much lighter I feel in the water though.

Hopefully Justin will enjoy Fall. Today he was lecturing one of the trees out front. He had some leaves in his hand and was waving them up at the tree. I couldn't make out most of the words, but I did get leaf, down, grass, mess, and tree. He sure let that tree know his feelings!

It's True! Seven "Eight" Nine!

Justin is only 21 months old, but he seems to think he has a sense of humor. Lately when he counts, he skips the number nine. If I don't comment, he will go back a bit and repeat, "8, 10, 11, teen..." over and over. He seems to like the teens, but doesn't know them. After 10 comes 11 and then either 13, 17, or just a mumble with teen after it. I don't know why this drives me crazy, but it just does. Probably because he repeats it over and over and I feel he must know it bugs me. I don't care when he is counting cars or other objects and double counts some of them, but this skipping nine gets to me. I suppose part of me is wondering if it will become a habit and he will eventually lose nine completely. I know, who cares. I can worry about that later.

He is also continuing his "Mommy poopies" commentary. Thank you extra iron pills that make Pregnant Mommy even gassier. He points out my gas and his, why not focus on someone else for a change? Give a poor puking woman a break.

I haven't ever taken a Lamaze class or anything. With Justin I figured that women have been giving birth for a long time and the baby would come out whether I had a class or not. Plus being away from Rob means I would need a coach. Maybe for this kid I could have Justin be my coach. He really likes the word PULL better than PUSH, but I am sure he would be more than happy to yell PULL MOMMY over and over while trying to lead me by the hand to play matchbox cars or something. If Rob doesn't make it for the birth of #2 maybe Justin could even cut his brother's cord. Wouldn't he feel so special and included?

#2 hasn't even been born yet and already my two boys are at odds with each other. Justin loves to push on my ever-growing belly. That ticks off Spare and he will push back. Justin doesn't like having his back support move, so he retaliates. I hate being in the middle of fighting siblings. I can't even tell them to knock it off. Right now Justin would be the only one I could send away. Spare goes where I go. Is it December yet? At least once I pop this puppy out my bladder won't be used as a punching bag anymore.

Justin promoted me to "Mommy" this month. I have always been his mother, and he used to call me "Mama" until we got to Idaho. Then he realized that it was hard to say "Grandma" and when he would call for her it sounded quite a bit like "Mama" and was a bit confusing. I lost my status as "Mama" and became "MeMe" instead. As best we can tell, "MeMe" developed from him always being told to come to ME or give it to ME or look at ME... Well, you get the idea. That did cause some confusion when someone other than MeMe would use the word 'me' and he would assume that 'me' was "MeMe" and not the person speaking. He has been able to say 'Mommy' for some time, so why it took until now to promote me (at least I think it is a promotion!) to "Mommy" I don't know. I suppose he figures that I will love him no matter what and it doesn't matter what he calls me.

Does This Make Me Look Fat?


I thought that it was horizontal stripes that were supposed to make a person look heavier. I don't know. These PJs sure don't seem to be very flattering. Maybe if I did my hair and make up it would help. What about a large hat? Would that pull the eye up to my head and away from my HUGE middle section?


Justin loves my belly. He calls is BIG belly and his little belly. Hopefully at some point mine will stop being a big belly. I think it is kind of cute for him to notice it at this point, but after the baby is born I might get annoyed if I am constantly reminded that I need to lose the baby weight!

T is for Duck

Evidently the wild turkeys who congregate by the mailboxes are not turkey-like. Justin does not seem to realize that these creatures are the same as the ones he sees gracing the letter T page in his ABC book. They aren't as plump and they certainly don't have their feathers up and proudly displayed. In his wisdom he has decided that they are ducks, though I don't see a lot of resemblance to ducks.

While Justin was sleeping I ran out and got a couple of pictures of these rather homely looking birds. No sooner did I come inside and put the camera memory card in the computer, than the stupid turkeys came right up to where I had been. One of them was even showing off and looked like the turkeys on the T page. Should I snatch up the memory card and try for another shot? Nope. The stupid deer chased the turkeys away.

Guess the closest shot I will be able to get of a turkey will be the one on the table at Thanksgiving. With my luck I will be in the hospital giving birth and will miss that shot as well. Here's to ducks, whatever kind of bird they may actually be.

I realize that I am more than a little biased, but I think that 90% of the time Justin is absolutely adorable! He is just like a little sponge and doesn't miss a thing that he sees or hears. He is very much into counting, ABCs, and nursery rhymes. It is fun to have him try to say or sing nursery rhymes. He doesn't have many of the words yet, but you can tell which one it is supposed to be. His little tongue and mouth work so hard to try to spit out what his brain is trying to say. Maybe that is why he is actually taking decent naps during the day. It has got to be exhausting to learn so many new words everyday.

Here he is doing "Hey Diddle, Diddle" with the emphasis on the OVER THE MOON part. He thinks that is the best for some reason. Guess there isn't a lot to act out in the rhyme.



Here he is counting dinosaurs. He has trouble saying the number one so it is always helpful to get him started. Lately he wants everything to end up being ten so he sometimes has to double count certain items to make it work out to the number HE thinks it should be.



There are a few more videos available at youtube.com under the name noodlesandrob if anyone is interested. We mostly post for family, but every once in awhile people are actually bored enough to want to watch Justin (or other random kids).

Rob and I still haven't settled on a name for Baby #2, so if you haven't already posted your suggestion there is still time. No, there is NO prize for the winner. I guess you can feel special that we liked your name best.

You gotta love kids. Today I was walking down the hallway with 20 month old Justin running all around me like an Energizer Bunny on speed. Sometimes he was in front of me, sometimes beside or behind me, always jabbering without using many real words. Then gassy pregnant mommy let out a faint toot and Justin runs behind me. He points to my rear, laughs, and starts saying poopie. I can hardly wait to hear that sometime in public. I wish I could get him to say words like please, but I suppose that right now he will continue to focus on the "fun" words like poopie. He is learning to say more and more each day. I wonder what will be next?

Hmm... I wonder why I never posted this. Guess I was going to add some text to the pictures and forgot. Oh well. Here I am with Justin on Sept 2nd. The bump on my belly is Spare (we don't have a name for him yet).