If you would've told me...

Okay, so I'm not as good at keeping up with this as I was.  It just seems that now that I actually have time to do things, there are hundreds of other things that I want to do. 

I stopped and thought today about where my kids are in life.  I started this blog back in about 2007 or 2008.  Back then my life revolved around bottles, diapers, and praying for sleep.  I rarely sat down, the house was a disaster, and I felt like a chicken with my head cut off most times.

I'm sitting in my kitchen right now typing this as the kids play outside.  I saw the neighbor boys go by to play football behind another neighbors house, so they followed.  My boys are playing outside.  By themselves.  And I'm okay with that.  If you would've told me a few years ago this time would come, I would call you crazy.

They also go to bed by themselves at night, gladly closing their eyes after we read a book or two.  Sometimes they even tell me now that they are too tired for books, and just want to go to sleep. 

Last week I started the bath, and had them both come in, one at a time, to take a bath.  They bathed themselves entirely.  They washed their own hair, washed their bodies, and then dried themselves off.  They them, smiling, took their pajamas to the living room and got dressed themselves.  Four years ago if you would've told me that, I wouldn't have believed you.

Its so neat to see them growing up, and how they change so fast.  I also find it amazing how different my two boys are.  I'm not sure they could be much different, but that's how they had to be in order to be brothers and best friends.  One has to be in charge, and the other will gladly follow.

I wake up in the middle of the night now because I do - not because someone is crying.  They tell me when they are hungry and even what they want to eat.  They go to the bathroom by themselves, and (almost) wipe their own butt.  That's kind of a big deal around here.

Every weekend with them is so fun to see what the activity will be.  Today they have jumped between the XBox, the Wii, playing outside, and watching TV.  Never spending too much time at one thing.  Tyler will randomly ask me to make him some math problems, and Connor will want to read me a book.  It's absolutely amazing that my boys can read to me me now.

Years ago when I cried for my sanity and wondered if I would ever sleep again, I wouldn't have believed you if you told me these days would come.  I spent so much time living in that moment, that I couldn't even see something different in the future.  But, I guess that's what I'm doing now.  I don't want these boys to grow up or to change.  I am loving just the way they are. 

A sick day

Tyler is on his second day of staying home this week for a fever, and he's definitely on the mend now.  After having his fever getting up to 104 last night at 11:30 where he was delirious and crying and wasn't sure what to do, he's back down to 100.5 today, which for him is like nothing.  I feel so bad for him.  I remember those high fevers as a kid where all I wanted to do was cry. 

Sick days are so much different now for us than they used to be.  I remember as young kids, sick days meant fussiness and odd naptimes and refusing to eat or drink anything and just a very frustrating and exhausting day. 

Fast forward to today... Tyler slept until 8:30 and woke up generally happy.  Frustrated that he was missing school again, but once I told him we could go to the store later and maybe get him something for being so good, he was okay with it.  Then he sat in the chair and watched cartoons for over an hour.  After he was bored with that, he moved on to playing Wii video games. 

Its the times like these that I realize how much the kids are growing up.  Tyler doesn't need me to ask him if he needs to go to the bathroom, and tells me when he's hungry.  He can start his own video game, and read the instructions on the screen.  I have finished 4 loads of laundry, ran the dishwasher, and made some food for the rest of the week.  I'm even cheering him on in his Wii Nerf game.  So very different than it used to be. 

I often find myself reflecting on how old the boys are getting, and how much they are changing.  It helps me to cherish the moment if I remember how much the moments are evolving.  So much more independence, conversation, laughs and smiles.  Mostly, more personality in everything.

I've probably said it a million times, but it really hit me today how much these Stanfield boys are growing up.  Too fast at times, but I'm going to soak in every moment, even on this sick day. 

Wow, it's been a long time...

I had someone at work tell me that they missed my blogs.  Well, I do too.  Thank you, you know who you are, for inspiring me to start these up again.  The summer has been busy so I haven't been so good about keeping up with whats going on.  That will change.  As I look back through the posts I have written in the past, I realize I'm keeping a journal, for possibly my boys to read when they are older.  I hope they enjoy it as much as I do.

So much has been going on between my new job, Kyle's new marketing adventure, and keeping up with everything else around the house.  It feels awesome tonight though...we got our carpets cleaned today.  It looks and smells clean in here.  That makes me happy. 

So about the boys...they are just getting big.  It is so much fun to hang out with them, and since they can talk to me and tell me what they want to do, want to eat, and everything else, it never makes for a dull moment.  I was thinking about it the other night, and Tyler is to the age where I definitely have memories still.  For me, I remember snapshots of Kindergarten, and then more and more as it goes on.  That big guy started 1st grade last week.  Yes, 1st grade.  I told him in 1st grade I learned how to read and do math.  They taught him that in Kindergarten.  It's amazing how advanced kids are today.  We have a friend that has a senior in high school.  She is taking Advanced Placements classes for everything to earn college credit while in High School.  Amazing.

And Connor, his personality that is developing is amazing.  They are both such different kids, and after taking personality training classes at work, they could  not be more opposite.  Connor is sitting here next to me while I type this, as close to me as he can.  Tyler is pushing every limit he can (which is typical), because he wants to know exactly how much he can get away with before you completely lose it.  Connor just wants to make you smile. 

I find myself studying my boys more, interested in everything they are doing.  I find it hilarious that they both like to watch old Tom & Jerry cartoons, and Tyler likes to watch Disney Channel TV shows that are made for pre-teens.  "Good Luck Charlie" is his favorite.  Tyler also likes Lego projects with instructions to build things.  Connor would rather color and picture, and follow his own instructions. 

I promise not to be a stranger here.  Their lives are just getting interesting...

Tyler took this picture when we were on vacation this summer.  He took about 10 pictures of his Stitch doll.  It was cute, until we accidently left it there.  They mailed it to us, and that was the happiest reunion, ever!

Catching up

So I haven't been able to post here as often as I had wanted after school was finished, so I'm going to do a little catching up tonight. 

My favorite story from recent is of Connor.  We've had thunderstorm after thunderstorm after thunderstorm come through our area.  Even as I look out the window right now I can see the gray clouds getting bigger in the west, which means we're usually in for another one.  I think we have had a thunderstorm nearly every other night for weeks.  It's been crazy.

One night I put the kids to bed, and Connor was having one of his nights where he just didn't quite want to go to sleep.  He has those frequently just because he doesn't quite need as much sleep as Tyler.  That's okay.  He usually just sits in there and sings to himself.  It's darling.

One night during a horrible thunderstorm, I thought for sure the storm was keeping him up so I walked in there and asked if he wanted me to lay with him (which I LOVE by the way, so I will gladly give in!), and he said "sure".

I got in bed with him and just pulled the covers over me.  Connor then reached over and put his arms around me and said "It's okay Mom, I got 'cha."  I'm pretty sure he thought he was comforting ME during the storm.  In true Connor fashion, he stepped up to it and came in to provide comfort.  He then proceeded to lay there and trace his finger over my face, which just makes me melt.  I swear he was (sometimes) put on this earth to comfort me, calm me down, and just de-stress me. 

___________________________________________

And then there's my new child, Tyler.  On his medication he has done nearly a 180.  I say "nearly" because I think we still have some tweaking to do (based on my observations, and his current teacher's), but he is just, different.  I can't really explain it to people except to say that when I look in his eyes, there is something different there.  I think that "different" is him.  He's always been there, but just so distracted.  By getting him to focus it's just amazing to see how he looks so deep within your eyes, with an intensity that just pierces your soul.  I love it.  Our conversations have just been amazing, even though it's usually about ghosts or Big Foot, which seem to be on the top of his mind right now.

Big Foot and ghosts.... it kind of cracks me up.  This kid has the same quest for the supernatural that his mom does.  We're having fun with it, and he LOVES it!  There's a new show on Animal Planet called "Finding Bigfoot" where these people are actually out hunting for him in North Carolina.  He watches it just like I used to watch the X-Files.  Too funny.

We're all thoroughly enjoying me being done with school.  Especially me.  I didn't realize just how much I was missing......

Family

This weekend was a family weekend.  By family I don't only mean the 4 people that live in this house, but our extended family.  Our in-laws, our friends, and the kids that we've watched grow up over the last 8 years we've lived in this house. 

Little Dylan graduated from High School.  And by little, I don't really mean little at all.  He's taller than me and has two jobs right now.  One of them is at the daycare center where we take our kids, and he's fantastic at it.  The kids just love him, and so do the parents.  He's always smiling, and will always give you a short "brief" on what the kids did that day.  He tells me about good days, bad days, and everything in between.

It was so nice being with friends and family that know me so well.  We can just talk and laugh and laugh some more.  The graduation party on Sunday ended up lasting over 12 hours because no one really wanted to go home.  It was fun, and there was enough food and drinks for an army, and the army that we had, ate and drank it all.  The Ney's have never ran out of food and drink at their house, ever.

I ended up taking over 350 pictures that day at the party, since Vicki put me in charge of being "Wang" (the term all of my friends know me as, affectionately given to me in honor of the movie 'Caddyshack'.)  Here are some of my favorites from the day that capture the moments, the fun, and just the reason that we have friends and family so close.

Two Peas.  One Pod.  =)

Dylan (right) and his friend, Tanner.  Connor thinks Tanner is one of the coolest guys, ever.

A nasty rainstorm went through Sunday morning and created puddles everywhere.  Never fear though, the kids know just what to do with them!  (Chase is here having fun!)

Guess who else found the puddle?  Connor had two showers that night to remove grass and mud from him, and went through at least 4 outfits.  He had a blast. 

Tyler's best adult friend, Bret.  Bret has a jet ski and Tyler thinks he is the coolest guy, ever.

Connor was about floored when he noticed there were other teachers from Frog Hollow (his daycare) at the party (since they are friends with Dylan).  He was so shy to talk to them, and it was so cute.  You could tell he was trying to put it all together in his head, like his worlds were colliding.  He finally warmed up enough to them, and hung around Alex, Nick and Kinsey for the rest of the evening.

Me and my sister-in-law, Kim.  I cannot tell you how much fun we had that night, but my stomach is still sore from laughing.

This is one of my favorites of me and Kyle from the night.  Maybe because he has cash in his hand...I'm not sure. 

The girls getting crazy.  Brenda, Sam and I having a laugh. 

I will do everyone else a favor and not post the remaining pictures, because as you can see from the counter, fun was had by all! 

Families are there for you all the time.  In good, in bad, and in fun.  I'm really glad this day could be one of the fun ones.  It makes life just that much more fun when you know you have lots of people that you can count on, and that are counting on you.  

The e-mail that made my day

Last week was a crazy week.  It was work times two, packing boxes to move to my new job, and lots of stuff at home.  I was distracted, at best.

Friday afternoon I was walking back to my office and was checking my Blackberry to get caught up on e-mail.  I was thrilled when I received the following message from his kindergarten teacher:

"Just wanted you to know that Tyler has been doing much better this week. He wrote a story today that had a detailed picture with it, used spaces, great handwriting, and he used several sentences to tell the story. He was very proud of his work!!! Have a great weekend."



It was one of the best times of my life.  We're getting there.  He is a totally different kid, and I wish I could explain it so it would make sense to others, but you know what, it just means the world to me.

Sometimes, with all of the distractions in life and everything else frustrating or worrysome, there are small miracles that happen all the time.  Right in front of me. 

Sharing

It is again this time of the year.  I'm not quite sure if it's my favorite, because I have a lot of favorites in the year.  One that does stick in my mind though is the fresh green grass (when it's so new and soft) and when the sun stays out longer in the evening.  I guess that would be now.

It was such a yucky weekend, so to see the sun finally poke it's head out on Sunday afternoon was wonderful.  We were able to sit outside some, enjoy some beverages with friends, and grill some food.  This picture just says "relaxing" to me.  

We are also fans of sharing things around our house.  One of the things we like to share is pinkeye.  Tyler was home last Tuesday with it, and Connor woke up with a nasty case of it on Sunday.  This is nothing compared to what his eye looked like in the morning.  Poor guy, and he HATES the eye drops we have to give him.  He will fight with every ounce of his strength to just not have those drops put in his eyes.  By the way, I think he is stronger than I am.  (Sorry for the gross picture, but you really get the point).

As he got up this morning, I didn't think I should send him to daycare looking how he did.  Although he had been on the drops for 24 hours (their rule) his eye was still pretty blood shot so he stayed home with me.  I had a day of vacation planned anyway, so it wasn't too bad.  I got some things done, and had a buddy with me who I spoiled all day long. 

Connor knows I'm a total pushover for him when we're alone, so as I stopped at Casey's to get gas, he asked for a donut.  I didn't mind at all, and let him pick out whatever he wanted.  He picked out powdered donuts and we ate them on the deck.  He shared one with me, because he said I was his friend. 

With school being done, I'm really enjoying getting back to life.  I have about 15 pounds to lose that I gained over the 20 months of the program, and a new job to begin pretty soon too that I think will have me really challenged for a while. 

Most of all, I'm enjoying getting back to my family.  I've missed truly enjoying them.