More Pictures, cause that's what I do

Okay, well- I'll throw a couple in, but honestly I have more pictures of other peoples children than I do my own these days. I'm not complaining- I really do enjoy it and I am always up for more.


Nooshie has been an absolute handful for me lately. Talking back, shouting out demands and downright naughty. Walks past KD and shoves her head to the ground. For no reason at all. Where is my sweet little boy and when can I expect his return?

He has had a coughing spell the last few days and will cough until he throws up. He woke up this morning having slept through the night without being sick.
We were excited to think that today would be a better day.
Instead, he hasn't stopped throwing up since he woke up. Poor little guy can't keep anything down. I just finished feeding him some Chicken noodle soup and instantly it made it's return- yuck. Beans happened to be standing next to me and suddenly I became very aware that she is a copy cat puker. She just stood there, gagging.
Bathroom! Bathroom!! is all I could say as I was still busy trying to catch all of Nooshies noodles.

What I am getting at is not a story about sick kids, but actually how today has been a much nicer day and a lot less of me having to get after a child since he's sick. I would never wish for a child to be sick, but seriously in a weird way, it is a blessing today. We all needed a break from the little hellion that was roaming our halls.

On another note, Chan is still Rocking at school!!
Who is this kid? They have removed him off the BD charts and he follows all the rules and procedures with his general education teacher.
This nice change appears to be staying at least for a little while- can I hear a Hallelujah?

He has finally found a friend that is a perfect match. He begs me DAILY to go to his friends house or tells me how absolutely necessary it is that his friend comes to our house.

It used to be us bribing him to do something, now the table has turned and it is him, bribing us in order to go play with his friend. He goes to church willingly all because he knows his friend will be there.


This last Sunday they both needed to be reminded that church is no place for toy hand cuffs. Yeah, that's not really anything I thought I'd ever have to say, but life continues to surprise me. I am grateful Chan has found someone that he really likes and that he feels comfortable with.

I have decided on the name for my picture taking hobby/ hoping to turn into something more someday photography.
Thanks to my friend UCMama- Paparazzo Mama will now be the label I stick on my photo's.
I have asked C to create a logo and all that good stuff for me. He will get to it once he has time. So that may take awhile :)
Here is the link to the site for now.
It is not finished, and I will be making changes when I have time, but this is a start. Also, I will be closing it to invited readers only as to avoid any pervs or anything since these are primarily of children. So if you would like to have access, please let me know. You will automatically receive an invite if you have photos on there.

In search of

Without sounding too excited or un-lovingly mother like, I regretfully announce that after tomorrow, the kids will be returning to school.
Spring break is over.

Yeah, it's all sad and stuff. What ever will I do?
Besides, quietly cheer when I close the door behind them on Monday morning. :)

Okay, really though. It is technically Spring and technically we have a Winter storm warning tonight. Are you as confused as I am? There is wonderful white snow on the ground and yet, I am having a hard time finding anyone happy about it. Don't get me wrong, this time last year we still had snow, but this time last year, we had not been teased with MANY days of almost 70 degree weather! I believe that I actually have a post last March where I bundled the kids in 30ish degree weather and let them play at the park until the tips of their noses were to cold to continue going down the slide. Good times.

Now that we have gotten all the formal blogish stuff out of the way, I need your help.

I have been having a lot of fun with photography lately and I have been sort of taking it seriously. Just sort of though. :)

I have decided to officially give it a name. I can't call it my name photography, cause, well- it just doesn't flow. It's not very artistic and frankly it's hard to say without sounding like you have food in your mouth.
So I thought I would turn on my creative side and come up with something catchy. Turns out so did everybody else that ever thought of giving their photography a name. So nothing like Picture This, or I've been Framed Photography will work either.
So then I thought well what if I do something a little more personal like the kids names. But then which one? It's not like I can put ChanBeansNooshieKD Photography and have it be something someone will actually remember. They would be like: whats that N word in the middle again? and am I spelling it write dot com?

So, then I had a stroke of genius and thought- I'll just use the kids first initials.
C. A. S. K. Photography. So I googled it to make sure it was original and that I wasn't going to be copying anyone- and turns out, it is original, no copying to worry about. But if you are looking for one of these- (among many other similar choices) then this is the perfect name! not to mention, it is only two letters away from spelling the word casket- and who wouldn't want someone to think of something like that when they are thinking of having pictures taken of their preshies?

Also, if you happen to search for Goodle- instead of Google don't worry, they'll still take you to Google. Apparently they are expecting you to type like an Id*ot. :)

So with that said- HELP..... What should I name this?

True Story

Every morning, C stops at the mini mart to pick up a muffin and a juice.
This morning was not different.
As he was standing there, he noticed a woman with all of her kids. They were going to the Y this morning and were getting donuts to eat on the way there.

One of the kids was perusing the candy isle and wanted some gobstoppers. His mom instantly said no, we don't eat candy for breakfast. The kid then replied, this is different than any other morning, why?
Mom's face was mortified. Couldn't believe someone else heard this.
C, being the very nice guy that he is says, It's okay, I have five kids and they had cake for breakfast.

Ouch, I've been outed!


In my defense, cake at least has eggs, flour and milk.
The same ingredients in pancakes.
Frosting is no less sugary than the syrup we pour all over them.
So cake for breakfast it was.

The relish

I asked the kids to pick up the toy room.

This is Chan's contribution of "helping"

he wrote down as many numbers as he could in the time it took the room to get cleaned by the other kids, while he did not clean. Just counted.
Thanks for all your hard work buddy! :)

I must be the nicest mommy ever for letting you get away with that.


in other fun things, Beans drew this picture of Daddy. what do ya think?


but the thing that makes this picture even better, is the next one. I was making a cake and I dropped the eggs in the bowl. They landed in this exact position and this is what I got.
Anybody else think this is similar to Beans drawing of her daddy?

Chan's documentary about blocks

Chan loves to make videos. Yesterday they were playing blocks in the play room and Chan decided to make a little documentary. Beans is the amazing camera man. Gotta love it!

ramblings

Pretend play, ahhhh, the joy I have of listening to the minds of my sweet kids playing nicely together.
Today Chan is pretending his name is Michael um, how about Michael Retark. I can't make this stuff up, so hilarious, but the best part is when Beans is cheering for Michael Retark and is exclaiming "Go Michael Retarrrrrrrrrrrrrk, Retarrrrrrrrrk!"
I grabbed the camera, but they stopped playing. Like I had just taken away their cookies or something. Within exactly one minute, they stopped playing Michael Retark and were up stairs playing something less funny. Oh well, at least they are getting a long longer than 2 minutes without tattling.
Tattling by the way is my least favorite thing EVER!! I do not like it and yet I think it is a part of Beans anatomy, it is something she just cannot live with out. We have told her more than a dozen times that no one likes a tattle tale, and apparently her teacher takes away a sticker or something if she tattles. Oh that must be fun to be a kindergarten teacher and have to deal with 18 tattlers. Teacher's do not get paid enough. Seriously.

I have been going back and forth with nursing KD. I want to nurse cause it's better for her, but she has teeth. And she uses them.
So lately when she bites me, I just flick her in the nose. she releases her grip of death on well, my treasured pieces and nursing is done. Just this morning as I went to go nurse her, she went to latch on and in stead grabbed me with her teeth and pulled like a teething toy. I flicked in her in the nose and told her no biting. She smiled and then starting clicking her teeth together as if to show me, watch out lady, I know how to use these. Nursing was finished before we even started. Maybe we'll start skipping everything except for bed time feedings. She is usually very nice then.

Noosh has been showing his true colors as a two year old. The official Terrible part has hit and he's just down right mean. He has no ability to control who his victims are, they start out small, usually with KD and then he works his way up the ladder with pulling Beans hair for no reason, hitting Chan in the back and slapping me in the face. I try to remember that you do not teach a child to not hit by hitting, but it's slowly catching on, my impulse takes over and he has been swat on the butt a few times. I keep telling him he is being naughty, but he confuses that with the little pre-school cartoon Noddy. Why would they name a cartoon Noddy?- I may just ban it from my house for a while.
He still has his cute moments, like when he wants a snack and asks for Yogo's. He pronounces it Hogo's. I love it! His smile is still infectious and he actually stays in time out when you put him there. I am not sure if this totally outweighs the mean streak has been sporting, but it is a fine line.

KD is crawling all over the place. She has been attempting the stairs lately. I'm not ready for her to be climbing the stairs yet, there are so many reasons why I do not want her to do this. She has become very wiggly with diaper changes and wriggles and crawls away before I can get a new one on her. She made it to the stairs today, and I let her so I could dispose of the soiled one. It was so cute, her naked little butt crawling up the stairs. I swear the stairs are like a magnet for her. Ugh- now I have to get a baby gate. A good one.

At dinner time, I have just been letting her feed herself. She creates quite the mess and is in need of a wash down every time. I have learned to not give her a full bath every time, I just make a little bath for her in the kitchen sink and wash her down. She LOVES it and honestly, I do too.

C is feeling a little better today, back at work like a true man. Why would he listen to his doctor or his wife, what do we know anyway?

Only 4 1/2 more days until we gain our routine back.
No, I am not counting.
Well, maybe a little.
I love my kids - I do, and I want to be the mom that always wants her kids with her, but there is just something genetic about me that desires alone time, I can't fix it and I am in serious deprivation mode right now. I got a whole 2 minutes to myself last night with no interruptions, I am taking the long drawn out way home from the grocery store just so I can enjoy a minute longer of peace and quite. Have I said too much? Or am I just sounding like a broken record? I'm not really a selfish person, just an overworked person that has needs. Needs to be alone. :)

A day spent in prayer

It's 6 am and the children are still sleeping. He gently kisses their foreheads and says good bye. He quietly takes their little bum bums and sticks them in his pockets. He has to come home if he has taken their bum bums- a great little game they play. He wakes me and he's off.

To the hospital this morning. The doctor has been performing a lot of tests. Not sure what it is, but something is just not right. He hasn't been feeling good for a while and it seems to be more than a cold or the flu, but secretly we wish that it is nothing more.
He arrives at the hospital and sends me a text. He is letting me know where to go once I arrive. I await for a very generous friend to come and watch our children today and she does so even while her's are home sick. What a blessing she is. A peace of mind knowing the children are in good hands.

He is set up in a room that he is sharing with another heart patient. The EKG tech is in the room wrapping up the last minute details before they will begin. Nothing was eaten since the night before and breakfast is beginning to sound really good.
A lot of cooing and gawking over the baby, she really is cute and yes that is an adorable smile, but if you keep talking to her like she's in a cartoon she just might spit up on you. On purpose.
The nurses are all so very nice, either they are not tired of him yet, or they are very dedicated and really do LOVE their jobs.
He is so much younger than most of their other patients, they call him a Cath Lab virgin. He's just a baby. Everyone wishes him luck.

He's first in line, but gets pushed back an hour for an inpatient. We visit awhile and then it's time. We gently squeeze hands and say our see ya laters.
I head to the cafeteria for something to eat. Yum, donuts and a banana. Why is it that hospitals sell food that ends you right up in their care? You know they don't offer this to patients, and yet I still purchase it. No debit cards accepted so I go to the ATM. It is out of our network, so this simple withdraw costs me $4 more than I was asking for. Breakfast was $2.24. I should have waited, I should have just eaten the granola bar I packed in the diaper bag.

I head back to the waiting rooms, there are two to choose from, both are pretty full. I pick the one with another kid in there. There are a lot of older people, probably okay with babies, but probably did not want to hear one today. Today they also wait, but most of them are here for loved ones in more serious heart surgeries.

It's not long and they call me out of the waiting room and into a consultation room. The doctor will be right in.
The surgery went well, his heart is clear. no blockages, very clean in fact. We are pleased with what we see.
What could be causing his pressure he is feeling then? Probably some digestive issues, we now are scheduled to have an endoscopy done to get a better view.

The drugs are awesome. He is being very sarcastic and funny. I now know why the nurses love their job so much, it is hilarious to work with them. He asks them how it went about 20 times, his eyes still shut, he responds to every question they ask.
The nurses tell him what a beautiful baby he has, and he proceeds to tell them that he knows, he made her himself. He's funny and he's not even trying.
The baby is tired. It is past her morning nap now. We are going to leave. He ushers me close to him. He reaches out both of his hands and gives me something invisible. He oh so lovingly says, that one is our sons, and this one is our daughters. I smile in complete love and kiss his hand. Sleep babe, I'll be back for you later.

This is our Tuesday, a day we had been praying a lot about. Please let it go well. Be with the doctors hands and guide them. Let our family be blessed today and let thy will be done, and please be generous with thy will.

breathtaking updates

There are moments in life that just take our breath away. Today was another moment as we held our breath waiting for results of some tests that C had done at the hospital today. We are pleased that the results are fantastic and that C's heart is in great clean shape.
As a cancer survivor C has joined the Board of Directors for the local American Cancer Society here in our part of the Cities. It is pretty cool to see his name in the list of Directors in their handout. It is sort of bittersweet and really what a great honor.

This year at the ballpark, C has been working on many promotions. One in particular, has us extremely excited for Autism Awareness. The ball players will wear specially designed jerseys and then auction them off after the game and the proceeds will go to the local Autism center here in the cities. Yay for Awareness!

Chan has finally been referred for Occupational Therapy for his scensory issues and he will also begin seeing someone for his anger management. He has been doing amazing in school lately and we talked about the seasonal affect on his moods with his psychologist. We both agree that we are not interested in any medications that will chemically assist his body with these struggles at least until he is a little older.

I have decided to start a campaign. " A new Camera for Me" is what I'll call it. It is not that the one I have doesn't work, it is that, the one I want does more- it has more stuff and options and of course- yep, costs more.
I don't have a spare $900 lying around for a camera, a couple of lenses and a couple of tri-pods, (and that's on ebay) so if you do, you can totally send it my way, no questions asked :) or feel free to surprise me, Nikon D90. * wink, wink *

Okay, seriously though- I am willing to hear any ideas on how I can earn the money to get one. I am also looking into taking a couple of photography classes specifically for digital cameras so I can learn to take better pictures and be able to charge people for them. I have been practicing with different lighting, angles and objects, but I think kids are my favorite thing to photograph, especially in natural settings.
Here are some photo's of some very awesome and willing people that I have recently taken. Hoping to find more guinea pigs for my new little hobby / obsession..... any takers?

Spring Break!!

Now, I have no idea what my plan is this week. Probably should have planned something, but instead- I'm going to wing it.
This could be dangerous. Or a lot of fun. Either way, my kids knew that last Friday meant that they had 9 days off. Scary.

Today we begin spring cleaning. I am positive they don't like this, but it must be done. I have the 3 best window washers in the world. I just have to remember to not go over what they just washed while they are still home. This will take a lot of will power, I assure you of that.

Baseball is only 22 days away! Spring is officially here!! Makes me want to do some yard work. Just a little.

Desitin and its many uses

A good indication that something may not be right in your world, could be something as subtle as white foot prints on the carpet.

It could be your side table and it's new temporary paint job.

However, my favorite indication that not all is well, is when your favorite two year old is walking through the house, complaining that he needs the wipes and yet is still lathering himself with his....... um..... yeah, Desitin

And if this was not the best reason ever for a bath and some bubble play time, then maybe a new ritual with your feet where you smash every cookie into the carpet. Yeah, that should do the trick. By the way, you'll want to use Dawn or your other de-greasing dish soap to wash this off with, cause the other stuff just won't work as well.

Where was mom you ask?

Well, I was doing the laundry in the basement in between loading the dishwasher, while talking on the phone with a friend and holding a sick baby.

I know they say terrible two's but I have to admit, the closer to three we get, the more nervous I get.

This fun little moment was brought to you by a quick thinking mommy, a good digital camera and the ability to stay home with my little mess makers.

Baseball Season, here we come!!

Gearing up for Baseball in our house is a special event. It tells us that Winter is over and Summer is coming. We see less of Daddy, but the ballpark becomes our second home.

Yesterday, the kids had a chance to try on a bunch of the T-shirts and hats from the team store, I think we will be spending a lot of money in there this year! C's schedule has turned into 6 days a week and about 70 hours at work. It only gets longer now until September. We will look forward to the times when the team is on the road, but for now, we are just looking forward to Opening Day!! Hot dogs, peanuts, soda and popcorn- YAY!!

Who's ready for Baseball?!!

Beautiful sun shiney days

These last couple of days have been AWESOME. The weather just kept getting better, so we haven't spent hardly anytime in the house. I've neglected the laundry, the dishes and toy room for days. I'm tired of outside now and would like a nap- but the kids have had a blast!

Could Spring actually be here? We have had some great teasers for this wonderful season. Always a welcome site after the winters we get. Yahoo!

Beans and her amazing moves. Look at me mom!

I love the way the wind is blowing through her cute little piggies.

Celebrating a birthday with a friend, KD was enjoying the cake.
Uh, you have something right there.... no, right there. :)

Nooshie and his friend looking at a little waterfall from the bridge

What a great big brother.

Such good little friends :)

Nooshie and his friend at the park

Nooshie and his friend Will, just chilling

Beans and Nooshie at the playground.

KD enjoying a cheeseburger at the park

KD folded her legs up in the swing all by herself, she seemed comfortable so I let her be.

This is her first time in a swing. She could hardly contain her giggles. It was so adorable.

Nooshie sitting all alone on the park bench eating his picnic lunch.

what it must be like

I did well at school today, it seems to be getting better. I don't know why? Maybe because the sun is shining. I'm not very good at reading or writing, but I'm the smartest kid at math. My teacher loves me and is nice to me. I hope she'll still like me when I make a mistake.
I like it when school is over, no more stress and worrying about trying to be so good. I don't know what the big deal is, I do my best, but they keep looking at me and whispering. I know it's about me, everybody talks about me.

Today is nice out and mom says we can go play at the playground.
I like playing outside. There is my friend Jonathon.
Hi Jonathon!
Well, I guess he doesn't want to be my friend anymore.
I don't understand why people don't get it. Why is it so hard to know how I feel inside. They must be stupid or something.
I'm not a retard you know? One kid said I was, but I don't really know what that means anyway.
I can tell you that 12 minus 3 is 9 without even counting or using paper. I'm a smart kid.
My parents love me a lot too. I like to play games with my dad and wrestle with him. He likes to play soccer with me and I beat him a lot. I'm really good. My mom is nice, but she's busy with the baby and cleaning the house. Sometimes I can play with her, but not as much as dad. She's a good cook. I like it when she makes me brownies.

I don't like my sister. she makes everything seem so easy. I'm smarter than her you know? I should be, cause I'm older.
I have a little brother too. He still likes to get in to my stuff and I don't like that.

Why is it so hard having Autism? I don't like the way it makes me feel. I like having friends and being a normal kid. You can't see my Autism, so a lot of people don't understand. It makes me angry and sad. I just wish it would go away.

Dad always tells me he understands. I believe him too.
He has Autism, just like me. One day when I grow up I'm going to be a police man and catch all the bad guys.
signed,
a 7 year old with Aspergers

I wrote this today after I talked with him about his feelings and I wondered what it must really be like in his world. It makes me hurt to know he struggles so much with the things that come so easy to the rest of us. I don't fully understand how he feels, but I do know that it's not easy.
At the playground today, he was happy to be playing with a friend and then that friend ran to go play with someone else. Everyone is Chan's friend, but he doesn't see it that way. He sadly walked away and sat at the fence. I went over and talked with him briefly. He had decided to just sit down because no one wanted to be his friend. I tried to encourage him to go back and play, but I don't understand.
A few minutes later he had a girl from his class come and invite him to play. she got down on his level and she convinced him to go for a walk.
This really melts my heart. I have no idea what it must be like on a daily basis for him, but I wish I did.

Seeing Green

Saturday was our local St. Patty's day parade. C was walking in it with the baseball team, so the rest of us went to show our support. I didn't get any pictures of him cause I was too busy trying to get his attention.
We arranged to go with some friends ahead of time and ended up running into half our ward there. It was a nice day, but we kept to the cold side of the street in the shade because it wasn't as crowded as the warm side.

The Cutest part of the Day:








Now, for the weird stuff. Green dogs, funky hair, big sunglasses but overall a lot of fun!

I found that it is not necessarily the picture I took that was funny, but the people in the background and their expressions to what they were looking at was the best!

The crowd kept moving into the street and the parade only had about 2 car widths to squeeze through - it was nuts!

The hair. Something worth noting, but the expression of the lady in the black is the best :)

This is just for my friend ucmama. This little midget Mexican leprechaun was her favorite. She wanted to take him home, I am almost sure of it :)

The statue is peeing green. which was funny to watch the kids expressions, just like the kid in this picture, but even the dad with the sunglasses enjoyed it- totally made me laugh!

Beans didn't get why her glasses had to be so big. Probably to make her smile look small. What? I'm just sayin..

No words needed.

Happy St. Patricks Day!