Someone's Still Watching

Remember the Someone Must Be Watching blog? Well I think that "someone" is still looking down on me. Although I no long feel like they are looking for humor, but rather they are testing me. Yes testing me. This has been an awful month (Matt's workman's comp case and lack of money) and last week it all came pouring down in one great big tidal wave of emotional ups and downs, sleepless nights, and even more stress.

Everyone keeps telling us things can only go up from here, but apparently we hadn't hit rock bottom yet. Early Monday morning around 2:00am I get a phone call from my little brother saying I need to get on the computer so I can talk to my sister over messenger because she was without a phone. It was a bad evening for both her and my niece, being involved in domestic violence (Kim) and witnessing it (Jayd). Matt and I had offered to let them come out and start a new life many times before, but last weekend Kim finally took us up on it. They rolled into town super late Monday night. Tuesday and Wednesday were a bit crazy with trying to get them settled into the house and all the different individual emotional roller coasters.

Thursday afternoon Matt decided to go test drive a zooped up scooter that was modified to go 60/65 mph. It doesn't have the vibrations like a motorcycle does so it was easy on his arms. On his way home the back tired blew (57 mph) and he began to fishtail. Somehow he managed to get it off the road before wrecking (38 mph). Luckily he was wearing his helmet. I received a call from Matt's brother not long after I got home from work. Getting a phone call like that was the worst. I have never been so scared in my life. My stomach dropped and my brain went blank for a split second before all the worst case scenarios started flashing in my head. We were at the hospital form about 6:30 to 11:30. After an x-ray, CT scan and MRI they finally determined that Matt had bruised ribs and a broken collar bone. He goes in Monday to the orthopedic surgeon to determine if he needs surgery. For now he is on lots of pain meds, has a butterfly brace, and tries not to move much. He needs help dressing, showering, opening pill bottles, etc. On a positive note, at least he can pee on his own :)

With about 2 hours of sleep each night during the week and maybe an hour Thursday night, I headed to work Friday to find out Q woke up puking. He had a few more puking sessions throughout the day. I hate to see him sick like that knowing there is nothing we can do to stop it. The day before he was so excited to have a lemonade stand Friday during the garage sale his parents were having. I'm sure you could imagine his disappointment. Friday felt like the longest day ever due to all the sleepless nights and stress I had been under for the week.

So whom ever is watching I would like to know if I am passing your test? Are you testing my patience, my strength, love for my family and friends? Are you trying to determine just how much you can throw at me and I can handle? I feel like I am doing well with all things considered. Have I passed your test yet, or do you have more to throw at me? At least I feel like I am some what prepared now, after the week I had, but then again you never know. . .

Camp Out

Last week Quinton and I were talking about the next time I spent the night, what we would do. He can be random at times and apparently he was thinking about me sleeping over from earlier in the year. We finalized our plan to have a "Camp Out" themed evening. This included setting up his fold out Incredibles tent in the living room, lying out his bug sleeping bag (thanks Aunt Jodi) while watching a movie, and of course making s'mores. I figured this is what we would do in September while his parents were on a trip, but a last minute one night trip to Chicago made this all come true this weekend!

Q was so excited, from the time I arrived Sunday morning. He was such a good boy and was on his best behavior all day, not wanting to risk having his special night taken away (he knows I stick to my guns). We went all out that evening. First we roasted hot dogs over the open flame of the gas stove. Yes, we actually did this. Kind of crazy, but lots of fun. You may be wondering what we used for sticks . . . well I found some 16" skewers under the sink that I soaked in water for 30-45 minutes before using them. It was perfect. Q wasn't too close to the fire, but was able to reach and cook not only his own hot dog, but mine as well. Along with our hot dogs we had strawberries, green beans and the ever so easy camp side dish of chips! The only thing missing was the smell of burning wood and the bugs. Pretty sure I actually enjoyed not having to contend with either of those things.


After dinner, we ventured to the park a couple blocks from the house so the kids could get some fresh air (perfect temp) and run off some energy. I hate to report that Sloan ended up getting her first bloody nose. She lost her footing on the mulch and as she tried to regain her footing she tripped over my shoe. She did a face plant right on the sidewalk. It sounded and looked worse than it was. Her nose didn't start to bleed until after she stopped crying (maybe lasted a minute). You could hardly see the red mark on her forehead as I put her to bed and by morning no evidence of a fall was visible. Although I wouldn't be surprised if her nose was still sore. Poor baby.

Once we got home, I put Sloan to bed, so Q and I could start the fun. Q brought his tent up form down stairs while I grabbed his pillow and sleeping bag. We got it all set up in the living room before we made s'mores. Q had even more fun roasting the marshmallows than the hot dogs earlier in the night. Maybe it was a anticipation of the sweet gooey fluff in his mouth. Who knows?! Q made my marshmallows as well as him own (2 each, one for the s'more and the other to eat). We ate at the table to keep the carpet and furniture from getting sticky. For a child who hate to have his hands sticky and stuff all over his face he managed to keep his discomfort under control. I had warned him before hand he was going to get extremely messy and sticky and that it wouldn't do any good to wash up until he was finished eating.


To end the evening we watched the movie Lion King while Q laid in his tent. It was probably not the best move for me to bring considering he gets emotional when bad/sad things happen in movies. He was so tired that when Mufasa died at the beginning of the movie, he could not let it go. Q cried off and on throughout the whole movie. Don't get me wrong he'd laugh at the funny parts, but would ultimately end up crying again. Needless to say, we did not finish the movie. He crashed upstairs in his room almost as soon as his head hit the pillow. Quinton and I had a great night. We just might have to do this again next time mom and dad are gone :)

Learning, Growing, Developing and Enjoying

I considered myself extremely blessed to have the opportunity to be part of the Quinton and Sloan's lives. Not to mention the rest of the family! I guess this post is going to be some of my favorite recent developmental achievements and characteristics of Sloan's.

She has quite the personality. First and foremost her sense of humor is just like her big brother's. She finds humor in almost anything, whether it is something she does or something she sees. She is such a happy baby. . . unless the girl is hungry, if that is the case give her food and give it to her quickly or else you will hear it!! No joke. But she is almost always smiling, laughing and having fun. Now back to those vocals. She is starting to pick up on more words and tries to repeat them when you ask her to. Her newest words are brother and up (which sometimes sounds like bup or pup). She communicates quite well when she wants something. Yes, a lot of it is signing or pointing followed by uh-uh, but the communication is there. Besides, if you ask her to repeat you she always give it her best effort to say the word whether it comes out close or not. lol :)

Did I mention she was a HAPPY baby?!

Sloan enjoys playing "I'm Gonna Get You" with Quinton and myself during the day. Q and I love playing it just as much. She has already learned to reverse directions if she sees/hears us coming from the other direction. When caught, Sloan always enjoys the tickles that follow. She has also began trying to climb everything. She gets jealous when Q is on the couch and she is not. Yesterday, while is was just her and I, I showed her how to climb up on my leg as I sat next to the couch and then on up the couch. You could see the excitement in her eyes when she achieved this much desired goal. This became a game as she would slide off the couch almost as soon as she got up, just to do it all over again. Other things Sloan loves to do it put hat, head bands, glasses, masks, etc. on her head. She absolutely loves it. I foresee many dress up moments and a lot of jewelry is her future! Pictured is a series from when she got a hold of Q's construction goggles. She was having a blast . . . can ya tell?!

Since the Tooth #7 blog, she is now up to eleven teeth! I'm glad to see some molars, because now she can actually chew her food. Sloan enjoys trying to feed herself with a spoon as well these days. Although she gets frustrated when she is unable to scoop her food up into the spoon, her coordination while bringing the spoon to her mouth is quite good. A little more practice and she'll have it in no time. Besides all the things mentioned above, the one thing that stands out the most to me is her cognitive development. She understands what we say to her the majority of the time. She'll answer yes or no questions and when asked which book at nap time she wants to read first she'll choose (no it in not always the same hand). Just today while giving Sloan a bath she stood up. I asked her "Sit down please. We don't want to get hurt." She immediately sat down, without any help I might add, and did not try to stand again until all the water had drained out of the tub. For a little one who is constantly trying to stand in the tub, it was a big deal (at least in my mind).

Last but not least, it is breath taking to see how Sloan and Quinton interact. Quinton loves teaching Sloan how to say new words and how to play a game he has made up. He helped her learn to sit down to get into the great room instead of walking off the ledge. The kids have so much love for one another you can see it in their eyes. Sometimes Q will be the one who initiates a hug or kiss (a.k.a lovin's) and other times it is Sloan. It is cute regardless of who initiates the lovin's, but when Sloan does she gets this look in her eye and she just leans in arms spread wide and she lips puckered. It's so sweet! Sloan is the luckiest girl ever to have such a great big brother!!


It is wonderful being part of this important time in the kids' lives. I enjoy watching both kids concentrate on a task, using their problem solving skills at such young ages, or even exploring the world around them. How fascinating?! :)

Photo Shoot

Friday morning we headed out to Delavan about a half hour drive south. At Lake Park there is a cute little bridge surrounded by flowers which we thought would be a perfect setting to take some pictures of the kids. It was overcast which made it ideal for a photo shoot outdoors! The kids were well behaved and did most of what we asked them to. However, Logan really needs to work on his smile (looks like he is in pain too often) and Hailey the tilt of her head (didn't matter how many times we asked her to adjust it this way or that). It started to sprinkle just as we were getting ready to call it quits. I have quickly looked through my photos but not taken any time to edit or play around. Neither has Matt. But I'll post an album once we get them complete. May wait until we get family photos with their dad in the next couple weeks before posting anything. Until then, enjoy the snap shot of Matt working his magic with his camera. . . he's a wonderful photographer and understands so much more than me :)

Dragon Land

It is our weekend, well Lonnie's weekend, to have the kids. Since by chance I had today off I asked if we could get the kids early. We have promised the kids all summer, as well as the last, that we'd take them to Dragon Land; a water park with slides, a sand pit, free use of life jackets and zero entry into the water. Not wanting time to get away from us again this year I decided Thursday evening would be the day. FYI: Tuesday and Thursday evenings from 7-8:30 pm is Family Night; $7.50/family. That's a lot better that $5 each during the day especially when us 3 adults didn't get into the water.

The Kids Had a Blast!!

Logan surprised us all by going down the kiddie slide multiple times without any adults there to catch him. Although his second time he got scared and it looked as though he was scaling down a rock wall. ha ha :) He enjoyed floating around in the water with the provided life jackets and even got his face wet on purpose a couple times. Toward the end of the evening, he braved the "Mushroom Waterfall". He managed to get under it a couple different times without freaking out. Needless to say, Logan still has issues with water getting on his face. His bravery and willingness to try new things in the water, made me so proud of him!!!
Hailey surprised me too. For someone who has never had swim lessons she did quite well in the water. Holding her breath underwater, practicing her back float, and venturing into deeper water that went up to her neck (yes it scared me to death, but she promised to stay closer to the blue line for my sanity) were all things I didn't expect from her. She helped to encourage Logan down the slide and go under the Mushroom Waterfall. Toward the end of the night she started getting frustrated that her bottom kept sinking while doing the back float, so she put on a life jacket herself to help her get the feel of the back float.

We all had such a great time, I hope we will have the chance to do it again!!

Surprise!!!

Friday I was lucky enough to surprise Quinton, by bringing Jayden to work with me. And boy was he surprised. A little shy at first, or maybe it was more embarrassment because he needed to get some undies on (he jetted upstairs and got dressed quicker than I have ever seen). Regardless, once he was dressed he was ready to play. They played tag, Boom Blox on the Wii, ran around & played at Detweiller Park, raced on Q's Smart Cycle, and Jayden read him a couple books before nap. They hadn't seen each other since last fall, but they picked up right where they left off. Q thought everything Jayd said was hilarious, and she enjoyed the fact that Q could now play and do things physically similar to herself than a year ago. They showed each other their gymnastic moves, only to find out they did quite a few of the same ones.

First time Jayden and Q met; summer 2007

Let's not forget Sloan in all of this. She was curious at first who this new person was, but by the time we left for the park, she couldn't take her eyes off of Jayd. Every time Jayden would look at her, Sloan would laugh. She was always touching Jayden's arm or leg, trying to figure out everything about her. Jayden enjoyed helping to keep an eye on little Miss Sloan. I believe she would have held her all day, if I had allowed it. All three kids played on the playground equipment together. Jayden would catch Sloan at the bottom of the small slide as I helped her up top.

All in all we had a great day. Q informed Jayd that she could ". . . come play anytime. I would love it!" It is good to know that I'm not the only one who wishes Jayden lived closer. And yes, I forgot my camera on Friday!! :(

"Shane Sandwich"

What is a Shane Sandwich? Well it is quite simple . . .

2 Slices of Bread
Peanut Butter (creamy or crunchy)

Yes my friends, a Shane Sandwich is just an ordinary peanut butter sandwich. Nothing complicated.

Why the post? Well, Matt was telling me what he had for lunch today and he told me "Two Shane Sandwiches". If you knew my college buddy you would understand the humor in this immediately. Basically he eats nothing but PB sandwiches, cereal (sugary ones only no doubt), cookies, cake, etc. No meat, no vegetables and I'm not quite sure about fruit. Odd I realize, but what ever works!! Maybe seeing him last weekend rubbed off on Matt just a wee bit :)

So next time you get the urge for a peanut butter sandwich, maybe, just maybe you will think of this short and very telling story as you munch in your delicious Shane Sandwich!!