Spring

This is what spring time is all about...

Last night, I sat on my front porch, watching my 4 boys playing together nicely.

No joke.

Sometimes this happens. It was the sweetest mom moment I have had in a long time!!

That is what spring is about, boys playing outside, laughing and loving eachother, even if it was only for a half an hour!

A Long Cold Walk

It was yesterday - you know, 10 degrees, sun shining.... Travis needed to go to his Dad's house after school to work on a school project.

He sent me a text message at about 3:30 asking me if he was supposed to walk there. I told him I couldn't leave work at the moment so he would probably have to.

"See you Saturday then" was the response I received back.

I had forgotten that it was that day when they head back to their Dad's for a few days.

I sent him a message and told him to walk where I work and I would take him to his Dad's that way I could see him before he left.

He decides that he would do this.

About 20 minutes later, I get a message "I'm here".

I send him one back "come in"

"Where are you?"

"I am in the door, up the stairs"

My phone rings... "Mom, where are you?"

"Where are you?" I ask back - somewhat confused...

"I'm in the parking lot" he says. I tell him I will be right out.

I go outside and I look around. I yell for him a little bit... nothing...

I call him, "where are you honey?"

"Mom, I think I don't know where you work" he says to me.

I laughed... he had walked to a different shop all the way across town from me.

"I'll be right there baby, stay put".

He's such a sweet kid. He is so smart!! I bet he never forgets where I work again! :)

Worth the Memory

The other night I sat in the bathroom next to my little Kyle as he brushed his teeth before bed. I remember when we first started this process - of course, he was too little to do any part himself. Then he "graduated" to being able to reach the sink with his step-stool and could do some of the brushing...

This night, we sat in there while he brushed and then he filled his drink cup all the way to the top. He does this every time he brushes. He rinses his mouth with the water and tries to "spout" it all the way across the top of the sink - I think his uncle Jimmy taught him this! Then when he's done, he usually washes his face, his hands then dries up with the towel and heads to bed... but this time, something was different.

This time, Kyle stood up on his tip-toes just enough that he could see the top of his head in the mirror. Boy did he get excited!

"Mom! I can see!"

"I know!" I told him, "What a BIG boy you have grown to be".

Seeing him measure how much of his head he could see in the mirror reminded me that when my family first moved into our home in Mayville 31 years ago, I had only been 5 at the time. I remember going in the bathroom to brush my teeth and only being able to see the top part of my head.

I used to keep track of how tall I had gotten by how much more of my head I could see each year!! :)

It made me smile - realizing that this little monkey was doing the same thing I had done so many years ago.

How time flies, how we grow, and change - yet some things will forever stay the same.

Lazy Mama

So my little Kyle, my 4 year old little angel, has been going to a babysitter a few days a week lately. I am not sure that this is as easy of a schedule change as it should be...

Every morning when I try to wake him up, I fight with him...

He puts the covers back over his head.

He keeps his eyes closed while he tells me "I'm sweepin' mama go away".

He turns the fan (which I had just turned off) back on HIGH! then covers back up his head with the blanket!

I try to tickle him... he laughs in his "sweep" and keeps his eyes closed and tells me to "stop it mama, I'm sweepin'"

Then, I kiss him. Kyle does NOT like mama kisses, he wipes it away, the whole time with his eyes closed.

The other morning I asked him, "If you are sleeping, how can you tell it's mama kissin' you and not Daddy?"

"I just know these things mama" he says with his eyes still closed, "besides, your kisses are yucky and Daddy's aren't."

After these morning fights, I finally get him to the sitter who is a friend of mine. One night at work, she tells me, "Kyle called you lazy today."

"What?" I asked shocked, well, sort-of.

Apparently one of the other little kids told Kyle that his mama looked like another kids mama. Kyle said "You're right, only my mama is lazy".

When the babysitter asked him why he said that, he replied, "she just is. She NEVER wants to get up in the morning!!"

Daddy's Little Finger

Kyle has this...

He is wrapped around Daddy's little finger and he has Daddy wrapped around his!!

It's night time, it's bed time, it's KYLE'S bedtime. Let's keep in mind the boy is 4!

"Daddy," he comes out of the room saying with his head cocked to one side looking cute,"one more thing Daddy."

"Yes?" Daddy says.

"Um... will you talk about my Christmas presents with Mama?"

"After you go to bed" Daddy says.

"O.k" Kyle says and runs back to his room.

2 minutes later...

"Daddy?"

"Yes Kyle?"

"One more thing Daddy..."

"Yes Kyle?"

"I love you Daddy."

"I love you too Kyle."

Kyle runs back to his room.

2 minutes later...

"Daddy?"

"Yes Kyle?"

"I just want to lay by you for a whittle while" he says.

"O.k for a little while" Daddy says.

During this time, Kyle persists on asking questions, insisting that he stays a little longer, and gets his Daddy involved in quite the conversation. I wish I could tell you what time my little 4 year old goes to bed at night, but sometime around 11 each night, I fall asleep...

Time in a New Perspective

This morning, I was telling one of the girls I work with about the day that Kyle stuck a K'nex piece up his nose. I remembered that I had written about it on my blog, so I brought up the website and I printed it out.

I then found myself reading some of my old stories - mostly the ones about Jacob. It's so hard for me to remember him when he was only 4. The stories I read made me remember that little boy. My big, brown-eyed, cutie. Mommy and Daddy's precious little guy. Yet, just yesterday I was signing his planner for the 3rd grade reading a note from the teacher that he had gotten in trouble at school!!

He still is the funniest kid - just like back then. He still can bring a smile to my face in an instant with his sweetness, yet he challenges me like no other child of mine can.

I just read a story about how he crawled up on my lap to give me a "huggy" one night before bed. It was July of 2004. He still hugs me before bed sometimes, but not without me having to tackle him first.

Then there was the story when he cried and didn't want his Daddy to leave for work because he was going to miss him too much - now he goes off and spends the night with his friends.

Time.

It would sure be nice to put it on "pause" once in a while - just to remember, to take a moment to relive those special times. And then let it play again so you can create some more of those moments that, as a parent, make your heart just stop.

A Sad Kyle Day

Saturday was Jacob's first sleepover at a friends house.

Kyle cried. He just wanted Jacob to be home with him and couldn't understand why Jacob had to go.

He cried and cried and fought with his Daddy.

"When is Jacob getting home?" he would ask over and over again.

We thought we would take him to the apple orchard for something fun. He kicked and screamed getting into the truck.

He cried crocodile tears the whole way there and cried some more when we got there and crossed his arms over the seatbelt so we couldn't take him out of the truck.

We took him to the movie store and rented some Diego movies to watch with him.

When the movies were over, he cried again.

He finally fell asleep.

When he woke up the next day, he cried some more when he realized that Jacob still wasn't home and cried over and over again until Jacob walked through the door on Sunday.

When Jacob got home, tired and crabby from staying up WAY too late, Kyle told him he didn't even miss him anyway and he wished he would have just stayed at his friends house.

Kids.

2000 Flushes of Fun

Who would have ever guessed that when Mark went to the store to buy a toilet bowl cleaner that he would have purchased more laughs for the boys than any new toy they received in months!!



Mark picked up a pack of 2000 Flushes Blue for the toilet bowl and wanted to be sure after putting it in that Kyle knew that the water would be blue when he flushed it so he wasn't worried.



He called him into the bathroom to point it out and the laughs began! For the next 20 minutes he and Jacob laughed out loud discussing the color the water would be if they went pee or what if they went pee and poop!



Kyle immediately had to use the bathroom to check this out and cracked up when the water turned green after going pee!!



I guess the next time your children are bored and you are searching for something fun, pull out the 2000 Flushes and let them have the time of their lives!!

Engaging...

Today I learned what happens after you get married.

Jacob and Kyle were sitting at the kitchen table coloring. Mark had run out for gas for the lawn mower and I was cooking lunch.

After talking to Mark on the phone for a minute, and telling him "I love you too, Baby" before hanging up like I always do, Jacob says to me, "Ooo... who do you love?"

"Your Daddy" I tell him. "In fact, your Daddy is the love of my life."

Kyle said something about kissing... though I am not sure exactly what, and then Jacob says, "Mommy does kiss Daddy. They kiss all the time. That's what you do you know. First you meet, then you fall in love, then you kiss then you get married."

"Oh" Kyle adds.

"Then after you get married, you are engaging" Jacob adds.

Overhearing this, I am confused. "Engaging in what?" I ask.

"Engaging in getting the meat" he says very certain.

"WHAT?" I ask completely shocked by what he said.

"You know, you 'gotta get the meat" he says. After which he just kept coloring like it was nothing.

I sat there, confused, laughing, but then really understanding why he said what he said.

The Great K'Nex Debate

One night a month or so ago, my little Kyle comes to the kitchen in tears.

"Mama, I gotta 'necht up my nose."

He was crying so hard.

"What?" I asked him again in disbelief.

"I gotta 'necht up my nose."

"What do we do now?" his Daddy asks me in a slight state of panic.

"We take him to the emergency room" I say.

I run around the house, getting Kyle's shoes on and jacket. Jacob is also there. He finds this all quite entertaining.

"That's so cool" he says.

"No, Jacob. It's not cool and it's not funny." I tell him.

Meanwhile I finally get everything all ready and load Kyle in the car. As I am buckling him in, he looks up at me and says, "Mama, I have a 'necht up my nose and it's not cool and it's not funny."

"No, it's not is it baby? Why did you put a K'nex up your nose?" I ask him curiously.

"I not have any place to put it Mama."

"Ah, I see. And your nose? It seemed to fit there just fine?"

"Yeah" he says again, beginning to cry.

"It's o.k baby. Mama will take you to a doctor and he will get it out for you."

We went to the emergency room where the nurse and the doctor were very polite and did not seem at all surprised by the little blue K'nex that was shoved very carefully up my little baby's nose.

The doctor used an adhesive and a cotton swab to remove the lost K'nex. Kyle was such a tough guy, he didn't even cry!

As I am getting ready to leave the emergency room, the doctor pulls me aside and tells me, "You know, he is only two and he shouldn't be playing with such small toys."

I was sure glad that doctor reminded me that Kyle was only 2 because most days he ACTS like he is 14!! And as far as the K'nex? How do you take away your son's favorite toy that he has been playing with for nearly a year because they are too small and unsafe for him? Especially if they are his favorite thing to do with his older brothers?

You don't.

Just ask Santa. He will tell you how mnay of those tubs of K'nex this Romanowski family will be getting this year and how many he has brought in the past!!

Grandma Jo's

Driving Jacob to school yesterday morning, I think he gave me the perfect real estate ad for his Grandparent's home.

"I like Grandma Jo's house Mom" he said.

"I know" he tells me this all the time.

"You know what I really like?"

"No honey, what is that?"

"I really like the backyard, it's kind of big but it's got all that stuff in it. But that stuff is sort of cool because in the winter when it's, you know... snowball fight time, you can hide behind it."

And before I could get a word in he continued on.

"And then inside the house, you got the bedrooms upstairs, then the dancing room, the chill out room and the basement. The basement is like the cool room. The kitchen is a little small but you got that table room anyway so you just, you know, eat in there, or at that table stuck to the wall."

At this point I was laughing.

"What is the dancing room?" I ask him, curiously.

"You know, the place where Roland hangs out" he says.

"Roland?" I ask.

"Yeah, Roland. Sometimes I call him that. You know, mommy, Grandpa?"

"I know."

"So can we go there soon Mommy? I want to go dancing with Roland!"

Proud of Poopin'

Kyle, my sweet little two-year old, has begun that important phase in life - potty-training. We decided it was time when he would come up to us - look us in the eye and report proudly "I'm peeing".

"It's time" I would tell Mark.

The potty-training job was left to Mark - being the stay-at-home Dad and all. I don't think he was happy with the job, but he was prepared.

A few weeks into it - I would now have to say that he has done a remarkable job. Kyle will now tell you that he has to go potty - at least 5 times an hour. I think he thinks it is fun.

The latest thing for him, has been poopin' on the potty. He is so happy about this.

Just last week, Mark went to pick Jacob up from school. He walks into the school and waits by Jacob's classroom until he is finished and Kyle is always with him (of course).

One day, Jacob's teacher, Miss McConaghy, walked out of the classroom and talked to Kyle. He looked at her proudly and told her, "I can weed (read) too".

"Can you?" she smiled and asked him.

"Ah-huh" he smiled back, "and, I can go pee and poop on the potty!"

"Wow" she said, now smiling at Mark.

"Yep," he said proudly, "I did it today - two times".

"That's good" she said.

Mark said Kyle smiled all the way back to the car. In fact, he even stopped my friends, Michelle and Carrie to share the news - they gave him a high five! He thought he was so cool!

Who would ever think that anyone would be so proud to poop!

A Test of Faith

On my journey to strengthen my faith in our Savior, I have been trying so hard to remember to not be anxious and to give my troubles to the Lord and let my load be lighter. It is so difficult at times to do this, and this is one of those times.

My little Kyle has been so sick. Since January, he has gone through phases of vomitting, diarrhea, and just plain feeling lousy. Today was no different.

I was at work for an hour when the phone rang...

"Honey, I think I am going to need your help today" Mark says to me on the other end of the line.

"O.k." I say, a little confused...

"Kyle woke up with CRAP from neck down" he says... "It is horrible"

"I'm sorry" I say... this is difficult for me... being at work all the time, I miss all those little things in life with children. You know, their first steps, first words, etc.. etc.. and yes, I also miss the yucky things, like this.

"On top of it all, before I could even bring him out to the living room to get him completely cleaned up, started puking and then THREW UP ALL OVER THE LIVING!"

O.k... so this time he is shouting in the phone, I think to let me know that it's really bad. I understand that it is bad, puking is never a good thing. I think I learned this when Travis puked on me for the first time almost 11 years ago when he was 2. Ritz Crackers and Cherry Kool-Aid, right in my face - dripping off my glasses. It was the WORST! Or, so I thought, until Kyle recently added to my puking stories by throwing up on me while I was laying in bed. He sat up, puked all over me. I didn't think it seemed too bad, until I stood up and felt cold, smelly puke, running down my back and then my legs... now that, is by far, the worst feeling in the world.

So not doubting that my husband had a bad experience. I merely told him I was sorry and that I would call him again in a little bit so that he would have some time to clean everything up.

Realizing that may have seemed insensitive, I did call the doctor too... I need to get him in again they tell me.

So, I leave work (much to my bosses disliking) and drive home, grab Kyle, and drive to Hartford where the doctor that my insurance company tells me that I have to go to practices so-called medicine. I had been here before - around the 20th of January when this whole puking thing began, and here I am again - almost 2 months later. How ridiculous it seems to me that no one can tell me what is wrong with my little boy.

The nurse comes to get me right away. This is great because for anyone with a 2 year old, they know how much it SUCKS to be stuck in the waiting room any longer than they have to be. Unfortunately, my luck stopped there. She did her thing, left and almost 40 minutes later the doctor FINALLY comes in! O.k. - so I have been locked up in a tiny 10x12 room with 3 toys (all of which were not much to play with) for 40 minutes with a 2 year old that does NOT want to be there anymore. "Home now, Mama" is all I heard.

So, Doctor What's His Name, comes in and checks Kyle's ears, nose, mouth and throat, he puts him up on the table so Kyle could scream a little louder (as if he wasn't crying enough) and puts his hand on his stomach.

"It's hard for me to tell what is going on with him crying like that - make him stop"

I laugh. Make him stop. Make a 2 year old stop crying at a doctor's office? This guy has got to be on crack.

"I guess he won't stop" he says.

Who says doctor's aren't the most intelligent people on earth.

Well, everything seems good. I think he's puking because of that antibiotic I had him on (2 weeks ago!)

He explains to me all this mumbo-jumbo about bacteria and good bacteria, bad bacteria - whatever... I don't believe him. Maybe he is right, but today I don't believe him because my GUT tells me he is wrong. My son has been sick for almost 2 months - the antibiotic was for 10 days 2 weeks ago - how do you explain the rest of it?

I am so sorry Lord. I am trying to have faith today. I am trying to believe that all of this is for a reason, but why would you make a doctor so incompetent? And why my son? And if I am supposed to be able to just give this to You, why is it stuck in my gut?

I think because in addition to it all Lord, I am a Mom.

No More Doctor Mommy, Peas?

"NO! NO!"

"NO DOCTOOR"

"NO PEENCH"

"NO! NO!"

This is what Mark and I have been waking up to night after night... ever since my little Kyle has been sick. It breaks my heart....

Imagine this:

It's the middle of the night and we are sound asleep. Suddenly I feel Kyle's little feet kicking me in the legs and moving the blankets all around...

"no" he whispers quietly.

"no, no" he says a little louder as he turns sharply towards Mark's side of the bed.

Suddenly he sits up and starts wailing "No, no docor, no docor, no!"

He grabs his arms and he tries to hide them.

"NO PEENCH ME DOCOR! NO!"

Mark picks him up and holds him tight and rubs his arms gently... he whispers, "Shh... baby.... Daddy's got you".

"No! MOMMY! NO!"

"No Mommy?" Mark asks him, "Shh... Buddy it's o.k. Why 'No Mommy'?"

"Mommy No Docor" he says sadly.

This breaks my heart... my son doesn't want me in the middle of the night. Why? you might ask. Because I took him to the doctor."

The next morning Kyle wakes up as if this episode never occurred. Plays on the floor sweetly, like he does every day. Crawls up on my lap, hugs me and says, "No mo docor mommy, pwease?"

I hug him tight, kiss his head...

"No more doctor baby doll, no more doctor."

The Birthday

Kyle's second birthday... what a special time for us. We even took the time to teach him the word two so when you asked him how old he was he could tell you "two". Although sometimes he would say "fwee" and then he would giggle that silly little giggle that he has... Silly kid.

I had to work that day, but I managed to squeeze some time off early to come home for cake and ice cream. Unfortunatley, Jacob was sick that day and I had to keep him home from school so when I arrived home, he had gone down for a bit of a nap or maybe bed time... but he wasn't himself. Poor Kyle, we didn't want him to think that we had forgotten his birthday... but he was only two so I didn't think he would remember if we decided to have his cake the next day... but then Jacob woke up and decided we needed to have cake... so we did.

Everything appeared to be great..... at least until it was time for bed... then it happened.

Kyle was laying kind of "on" me. (As he still sleeps with Mark and I). I thought this was really sweet... "My baby, loving his mommy on his birthday" and it gave me a chance to just snuggle him close... so sweet.

Then

He began to cry...

and cry...

maybe he had to poop (we thought as he has been struggling with this)

but then

we got our answer....

he lifted his head, looked at me and puked - all over me - all over my face, my hair, my glasses, my pajamas... he just let it go...

I guess he didn't like being two...

The Best Thank You

As I was calming the house down for the night, it was time to get Jacob into the shower before bed. He took a "hurry-up shower" as he likes to call them... he didn't want to miss any of the Power Rangers he had been watching.

After his shower, we picked out his pajamas and he got himself dressed. After which I said to him "Thank you for taking such a great quick shower tonight buddy". After all, it is so nice to have that part of the evening go smoothly. He looked up at me and said "And thank you for being the nicest Mommy."

So sweet... melted my heart.

Time Flies and Children Grow

As I sit here tonight and review my blog, I realize how sad it is that I haven't taken the time I have needed to record every memory of my children over the last 6 months.

There are so many stories I know I shared along the way with others... i swore I record every word so I would not forget. I forgot.

I am amazed as I read back at the stories of Jacob. He is so big now. In kindegarten and growing so much every day. How I wish I would have taken 5 minutes out of each day to write down the funny things he has done. He is still my little Monkey Man.

At night, he and i lay in his bed, read bedtime stories and then say our prayers. Each night, he prays to "King God" (as he calls him) and he thanks him for the wonderful day he had, asks Him to please let him have a fun day tomorrow, asks for "wishdom" to remember the things his teacher tells him, and then tells Him how he loves his mommy and daddy. It is really a sweet thing. Some nights he says some really sweet things... I wish I could remember them all now.

Time goes by so fast and our children grow so quickly. It saddens me that I have failed to record these precious memories.

My Growing Boy

Once upon a time I had a little boy...

Today, he was "gettin' bigger, bigger, you know". This is what he tells me. And he is.

Today was his first visit to the dentist. I know, he should have gone sooner, but, nonetheless, he went today.

On the way there, we passed a gravel pit.

"Mama, when I grow bigger, I want to work there."

"Really? Why is that?"

"Because, I could play in the dirt all day. It would be so much fun Mama. And you know what else Mama? I could hunt for all my favorite rocks!"

"Wow, that does sound like fun."

"It will be. It will be so cool."

Hmmm... my little baby, already wondering about what he'll be when he grows up. I just want him to still be my baby.

Then we pull into the parking stall across the street from the dentist office. I stop the car and he hops out. Sometimes I forget that he has the whole seatbelt thing figured out, and he can even get the door open all by himself.

"Mama, just so you know, you don't even have to hold my hand until we get to the street. I am not a baby anymore you know."

"I know buddy. You remind me a lot."

"I know I do, but I have to, because I am a bigger boy."

"I know."

We got to the dentist office and I got him checked in. On the way in to get his teeth cleaned, he looked up at me and said, "Mama, you can hold my hand now, I think I would like that."

I just smiled, took his hand, and thought to myself "I think I would like that too."

Jacob the Monkey Man

So there we were - at the hospital - 5:45 a.m. Tuesday morning. Mark and I are both sleep deprived and stressed out. Kyle's surgery would take place at approximately 7:30 a.m. Jacob and Kyle were both wide awake and ready to go... It was early - especially for our family - we are the "Sleepers" - you know, the 9 a.m. get out of bed - noon get up and go kind of family... Tuesday? We saw the sunrise. I don't remember the last time I saw the sunrise. Oh wait - I do - I remember one day around Thanksgiving I had to be into work before 7 a.m. - and I actually made it - except the whole way there I kept thinking that there was something wrong when it was DARK on my way TO work...

Anyway,

So you know, I think any 4 year old child that is up way early after staying up way too late will become overtired. At our house, we refer to this as "Loopyville" - a description I believe I picked up from my sister.

Whatever it was - Jacob had it.

Picture this...

Kyle is out of surgery, out of recovery and ready to go home. The nurse comes to our room with the wheel chair and tells me to sit in it and put Kyle on my lap - hospital policy. Mark goes ahead to get the van by the door. Jacob? He decides, and even convinces the nurse, to let HIM push me out of the hospital.

Around the corners, through the cooridors, through the Lobby - this is what I hear and so does the rest of the hospital...

"Tarzan the monkey-man, swinging from a rubberband. He don't care. He don't swear. He don't wear any underwear."

Over and over and over.

Jacob is entertaining everyone who hears him....

My face is red.

The nurse's face is red.

Jacob is smiling from ear to ear.

What a monkey. I wouldn't trade him for the world.

In the Eyes of a Child

Mark called me today...

"It's summer" he says proudly.

"What?" I question him. I thought maybe this at-home-Dad stuff was too much for his head...

"It's summer" he repeated.

"O.k." I said, questioning a bit.

"Jacob decided it was summer today," he explains, "He saw a squirrel and a bird - so it's summer."

And now you know...