Countdown to Japan!

Today is Monday. Since we are leaving early on Thursday morning for Japan, I was relieved that Ryan's passport has FINALLY arrived. Yes, I went in to apply for it on January 7th. Yes, it went through the special issuance office and should have been done more quickly. Right now I don't care that it took way longer than it should have. I am just happy to have it in my possession. Packing is underway, frequent flyer numbers and special meal requests have been added to the reservations, and things are looking pretty good. Now I am just hoping that we can be relatively healthy. Today Justin was coughing so hard that he threw up on me. A nice compliment to the boogers that he put in my hair and the sour milk smell I share with Tiny Baby. Please just let us be healthy for our flight. The main leg of the trip is already a hellish 10 hours and 45 minutes. At least we should be able to survive the trip since my dear mother is coming along to help me with the darlings.

Once we get to Japan the fun will continue. We have another child and lots more stuff to try to cram into our tiny apartment. It is going to be interesting. I have a feeling that there will be rubbermaid containers out on the balcony We do have a couple of storage rooms in our apartment. Unfortunately some genius thought it was a good idea for the doors to swing into the room, greatly reducing the amount of usable space in the small rooms.

Of late I have not been enjoying Justin. Even my mother has called him a vile, slimey creature. He truly is disgusting. He looks like he has been neglected for quite some time. It doesn't take long to go from tidy and neat to smelly and nasty. Talk about a kid only a mother can love. Love is the key word, he certainly is not very likeable.

I have been enjoying Ryan. He is such a cuddly little sleep buddy. Yes, I do hope to get him sleeping on his own once we adjust to the time change in Japan, but I am going to go with the flow. I stressed so much over Justin and didn't enjoy the cuddle period as much as I could have. Now I try to treasure holding this (not so) tiny baby in my arms. Two months old tomorrow. He is not so little. He has grown and changed so much. I haven't taken as many pictures of him as I did of Justin. I guess now I am dividing time between the two of them. I also am holding Ryan a lot to protect him from his brother's love and also his jealousy. Here is Ryan trying to sleep in the swing. Justin kept sharing balls with him and then wanting them back.

Snotty, screaming, even puking, I love my boys. They bring me joy even when they are not bringing happiness.

Highlights of a Mom's Week

(in no particular order)

--Justin dumped a bunch of water out of the bathtub. That meant his bath was OVER! As I was dressing him, I asked him how the floor got wet. He said, "I have an idea--water!" Duh. I should have known that. I was right there. :)

--"I want to hold it!" said Justin, when he wanted to hold Ryan.

--"Tiny Baby too loud!" screamed Justin, after he smacked his brother with a toy and woke him up.

--"I love you, Mommy," says Justin with a big hug. That pretty much says it all.

--Smiles and coos from Ryan. He melts my heart when he watches me so intently. He likes me best of all. Of course he is used to me from hearing my vomiting for nine months AND I am his food supply so I don't know that it is such an accomplishment to be his favorite. Everyday he grows and it amazes me to watch him change.

--Justin's fever breaking after a sick cranky morning that meant I was not going to have a happy birthday. It's terrible to admit, but if he is sick but not too miserable (thank you motrin!) he lies around and is easier than he usually is.

--"Oh no, two missing!" Justin's response after learning to count to 3 with Kai-Lan on the Nick show Ni hao Kai-Lan. He decided to count his fingers in Chinese, but ran out of knowledge before he ran out of fingers.

--And a thought that has been running through my mind: Dora the Explorer's parents really need to supervise her more closely.

Are Two Monkeys Different Than One?

Justin plays a game called the animal game with my dad. Basically, one of them names an animal and then the other one names another animal. They take turns going back and forth naming different animals. Justin could not play this game at all until a month or two ago. Now he is pretty good, though not surprisingly, he is not as good as my dad. (If he were better than my dad it would be time to put my dad into a home.) Today he wanted to play the animal game but my dad was at work. Grandma said she would play with him. Justin wasn't sure about that. How was he to know that Grandma knew how to play the game that took him so long to learn? At one point in the game Justin said monkey. Grandma said an animal and then it was Justin's turn again. He was unable to think of a new animal so he came up with TWO MONKEYS. Surely that counts, right?

A Trip to the "Zoo"

Today it was too cold to go outside and Justin really needed to get out of the house. The wonderful Grandma Pat was willing to babysit Ryan so I could take Justin somewhere--anywhere! First I dragged him to TJ Maxx. Poor kid. They were having 15% off all purchases so I had him look through the clearance clothes with me. I ended up finding him quite a few cute things at very good prices. That made me happy. Then we went to Petco. Justin was thrilled to see ferrets, hamsters, guinea pigs, mice, rats, snakes, turtles, spiders, lizards, iguanas, birds, fish, frogs, someone with a dog, and probably a few other things I no longer remember. Less crowded than a zoo and much better climate control, not that there is a zoo near where my parents live anyway. We then went to IHOP for pancakes. As we pulled into the parking lot, Justin became concerned. He had told me that he loved pancakes, but then told me that Grandma and Papa love pancakes too. He got upset that they weren't there. I think something like "Grandma, Papa love pancakes. Oh no, not here!" were his exact words. I convinced him that it was okay and we went in. When we were being seated the man asked how we were and Justin replied, "I want pancakes please!" We were told that we were in the right place. Justin and I had a good time and he ate so much. I was impressed. It was a nice afternoon out with my big boy. I truly enjoyed it and felt so grateful that my mom gave me this opportunity for some 1:1 time with my little boy who is learning to share his mom most of the time.

Yes Sir, Yes Sir, Three Bags Full

Some people might think that Justin is very polite. True, he does say please, thank you, you're welcome, and I'm sorry. Often these are even unprompted. My favorite, however, is when he says, "yes sir!"

I did not teach him to say this. He says it to men, women, children, stuffed animals, and probably to many other things. If you listen closely you will probably hear the rest of what he has to say. He continues with "three bags full. One... master. One...dame. One...boy...down the lane."

Sometimes Justin can be quite rude. He will tell me (or other people) to go away as he puts up his hand in a 'talk to the hand' fashion. If he wants to sit where I am he will tell me to move and specify a location that gives him plenty of space--sometimes even into another room! I better monitor his nursery rhymes or he might try to put me in a pumpkin shell. I might want to consider moving into a shoe if he gets too out of control. Being whipped and sent to bed without eating his favorite foods would be quite a threat.

Two Kids Almost TOO Many!

So far Ryan has been an easier baby than Justin was. I will keep my fingers crossed that he keeps it up. Of course some of it may be me. My mom agrees that Justin was harder and we can't figure out why it took two of us to care for Baby Justin and we were STILL constantly worn out and sleep deprived. Now Ryan gets held a lot, I admit. (Though Justin was held constantly or he screamed.) I am afraid Ryan will start screaming when he isn't being held. The problems with putting him down are (1) Justin is likely to hurt him intentionally or accidently. His "help" is often anything but helpful! (2) If I put Ryan down and he cries when Justin is asleep or otherwise entertaining himself it gets Justin all worked up. I do NOT want Justin getting up for the day at 3:00 AM because he hears his brother. WE will see how and if things change when we get to Japan. I am bitter that the boys will have to share a room. That is not at all ideal. Justin is an interesting sleeper. Sigh.

Ryan sleeps with me at night. I don't know if that is good or bad. I know everyone has opinions. Do you know what? I don't care! I cared when Justin was little and Justin ended up with me a lot but I felt guilty about it. Yes, at some point I want Ryan in a crib and that will likely be a pain, but for now this is working well for us. He sleeps longer at a time with me (and thus I get more sleep) and he doesn't cry so Justin doesn't wake up. I am trying to enjoy my tiny baby. He is growing up so fast and there will be no more babies for me. Pregnancy is the worst!

Justin is a jealous one and needs to take the few toys Ryan has away from him. Justin constantly insists on "tummy time" with Ryan's toys. He wants to help and tries so hard to be gentle. He will touch him so nicely with one hand while leaning on Ryan with his other hand. Yeah, 30 pounds is too much to rest on your brother. At least Ryan is a sturdy baby at over 11 pounds already. He will be 6 weeks old on Wednesday. I can't believe how fast the time has gone.

Congratulations to all of you who manage more than two. Two take up my time! I had a 20 minute stand off with Justin today while Ryan had to cry on his own. I told Justin to put back the (three) boots he had thrown from the laundry room into the kitchen. He refused. He would agree to complete the task at the end of 2 minute time outs, and then would laugh and not do it. FINALLY he did it. He kicked each boot into the laundry room so it was just barely in the room. He did it though. He is as stubborn as his mom. It is going to be a long year in the terrible twos and probably a long 16 more years.

A Title For My Brother (and other stuff)

My brother noted that I didn't have titles for this blog. Look what I did just for him!

We had over seven feet of snow in December. Ugh! Great time to be in Coeur d'Alene when they are breaking records. There were also periods of record cold. I am just glad that in early December when Ryan was born that we weren't snowed in. I saw a TV show in November that showed how a woman in labor had to be rushed by SNOWMOBILE to an ambulance because of snow issues. I think I would rather give birth at home than go by snowmobile while having contractions. I want to know why they didn't send the EMS to her.

Rob left today to go back to Japan. His five weeks here seems like only a few days. Justin is already missing Daddy. He will tell us that Daddy went on an airplane to Japan. Whatever that means to a 2 year old. He says Japan in such a cute little way. Once we get Ryan's passport and visa we will be heading back home to Japan and be together as a family again.

Ryan is basically a month old. (Rob would say that it is not January 3rd yet so Ryan is still not a month old.) He has changed so much. He doesn't sleep well on his own, but he is so much easier than Justin was as a newborn. My mom and I can't figure out why the two of us had trouble managing newborn Justin. I just remember that it wasn't fun and that neither of us ever got to rest.

Ryan is just over 11 pounds now and in the 90th percentile for weight and 95th for length (or vice versa). He has to be protected from his "helpful" older brother. Justin tries to be gentle, but doesn't really get it. Ryan gets held a lot for protection, though he is so cute that he would probably get held a lot anyway. I am still in awe of how wonderful it is NOT to be pregnant. I feel better and can actually do things.

Still haven't gotten out Christmas cards this year. Perhaps a letter for New Year's? We shall see. Whether I get it out or not, I would like to wish my family and friends a happy new year.

Check out new pics on flickr. There is a link on the side of the blog text.

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!