Perspective

Paul does indeed have pneumonia. His chest x-ray was taken yesterday morning and it showed his lower right (or was it left?) lobe has infected fluid. He started his antibiotics last night and we are nebulizing him with Pulmicort twice a day and Albuterol four times a day. We are praying that this is bacterial pneumonia and the antibiotics will be effective. If not, we might have a longer struggle on our hands.
Considering all this, I have decided to create a thankful list. I find that when things are tough, if I take time to look at all the ways God is blessing us, it helps my perspective.

• I am so thankful for our new backyard. That might sound crazy to some of you, but we have a park in our own backyard. Luke is able to spend time in the beautiful weather while I stay inside caring for Paul.

• In an economy that is scary for some, we have a beautiful house and a safe mortgage. I am hugely thankful.

• Although my laundry needs doing, I have a washing machine and dryer to help me with the job.

• BSF is starting in a few weeks!!! (I just realized that and got really excited.)

There are many more that I could add to the list, but the baby is waking up and needs some nebbing. Keep praising God for that which is good in your life. It makes a huge difference in how you view that which is hard.

Back So Soon?

Yes, we left for Sunriver Sunday morning for five fun-filled days. And yes, we are back two days early. Paul got sick. We failed to take his nebulizer with us because when we left on Sunday he was fine. His cold came on quickly and went straight to his lungs. The poor guy wheezed and coughed his way through last night and we knew we needed to come home today. We actually ended up pit-stopping at the pediatrician's on the way home because he had become so much worse. Chest x-rays happen tomorrow. We are praying it isn't pneumonia because that would be a bummer.
In retrospect, it was a good trip though. Luke slept in his sleeping bag for the first time. Adorable. Paul took a bunch of steps and enjoyed sitting on the step. See pictures. Most importantly, Luke learned how to play Dominoes. Oh, Grandpa! Watch out! I cannot wait to see Luke and Dave play together. I guess I should warn him that Luke has yet to finish a game. But he's VERY enthusiastic about getting started. So cute! Here are the pics.

So happy because he sat down on this step all by himself.

You have never seen Paul look cuter. At least I haven't. He's still about three hours away from getting really sick...poor little guy.

So serious setting up his business at the beginning of the game.

It takes him awhile, but he does manage to find the match! Baby Paul isn't really helping. He wants to play too! Give it a few years, buddy.

Tucked in and ready for sleep! FYI - He's never seen the movie portrayed on the sleeping bag, but he REALLY likes that it is red and has a car on it. Fun!

The Finished Product

I am the happiest mommy on the block! Our play structure is completely assembled and in place. My in-laws worked their tails off today to make this happen and at this moment I could not be more thankful. Erik and I are sitting in Adirondack chairs in the backyard while Paul sits in the baby swing and Luke runs around. When Paul needs a push, Luke obliges. I seriously didn't realize that I could be this happy! Here is the video to prove it all.

I can't leave today's post, though, without telling the shoe shopping story. Luke only has sandals that fit and the weather here has turned wet and sixty "ish" so I decided we should take him to get new shoes today. Paul stayed home and napped while we headed to my favorite kids shoe store. As we parked Luke made this announcement. "I want red ones." This is the first time Luke has ever expressed a preference in shoe color. I was elated! We got red ones. I think they show in the video. Check it out.

New Play Structure

As the final installment in our crazy landscaping project, Grandma and Grandpa arrived this afternoon to make the play structure happen. Luke even went outside to help. They completed the framing of the area with this really cool black corrugated plastic tubing. We still await the laying of the wood play chips, but we couldn't resist the urge to put together the slide portion of the play structure. Luke was SUPER excited and spent at least a half hour outside before dinner...alone...in the backyard...playing!!! This is a mother's dream come true! I could see him the entire time and hear him most of the time. My favorite moment was when he began singing "It's raining, it's pouring, the old man is snoring." I know our neighbor to the west adores little children. Here's hoping the north and south neighbors are either hard of hearing or can tolerate the singing. :-)

Luke was a BIG help carrying the tubing into its proper place.

This is where the structure will be once we lay the wood chips on Thursday. Very exciting!

Half the structure but one happy boy!

The Fair

We actually visited the fair last week on Wednesday, but it has been such a busy life that I haven't had much opportunity to share. We had good friends showing their rabbits at the local county fair and decided to go watch. It was so fun! This was Luke's first fair experience. Not true. When he was one month old I took him to the Puyallup Fair for a few hours one morning. And then when he was fourteen months old I took him again for one hour. I don't think he remembers either experience. So, we arrived at the fair at 10am as the doors to the public were opening. We headed first to the rabbit barn to say hi to our friends. Luke was extremely excited about all of the livestock options. Cows, pigs, roosters, chickens, and turkeys were all very popular. The hard part was getting the particular animal we were looking at to make his sound. While in the rooster barn, a rooster crowed about every ten seconds, but Luke wanted the one he was looking at right then to crow. It took awhile, but we eventually found a few live performances.
We enjoyed a lunch of ice cream bars, french fries, and Mexican tacos, in that order. It's the fair. It pretty much has to be that way. Luke felt like king for a day. Paul liked it too, but was largely overwhelmed by the whole thing. Next year he will enjoy it more.

The Party!

Luke has had a great birthday and it's not over yet, folks! This morning he woke up in a chipper mood and submitted willingly to his diaper change. Then I told him that there was something special on the dining room table for him because it was his birthday. He trotted out there and before I could click my camera he was tearing into his present! Such a change from last year. No coaxing needed for the three-year-old. This is a present and he knows exactly what needs to happen.
After the first present of the day, a bowling set, we introduced Luke to the Bangsund Family Birthday Train. This is an awesome wooden animal train set that Lynne bought in Europe. It is super cool. I let Luke pick out the animals that would be in his birthday train. He chose the camel, the giraffe, the elephant and the zebra. He gets four because three of them hold candles and one of them holds the number three. Anyway, the tradition was supposed to involve putting in candles and lighting them, but Luke was a little too rough with the train, so we had to put it away. Maybe next year the candles will make it!

The party started at 11am and it was a huge success. We had a stretching and warm up time. Hilarious. I tried to imitate Coach Bob from the community center. I don't know how he does it! I explained that we were going to do some warm up running. They should run until I said stop and then run again when I said go. They all ran toward me, and I said, "Stop!" Then I said, "Go" and they all ran in different directions!! It was crazy fun.
Other party highlights included the fact that Paul was content to sit in his highchair for the bulk of the party. He was so well-behaved. Eventually our wonderful neighbors, Tim and Taryn, took over on Paul and he got to eat a bunch of cake. :-) It's okay. It was a recipe from that new cookbook where you sneak vegetables into everything...so it was good for him, right?
Luke did a great job opening his presents. He was excellent about not stopping and playing with everything. By that time in the party, I seriously just wanted him to get through them all in one sitting. Did I mention that we are having a heat wave literally? It's currently 97 degrees, but earlier it was only 89 or so. Whew!


These are the two coolest cakes I've ever seen! Lynne made the one on the left and my friend, Becky, made the one on the right. So fun. Our theme was Balls Balls Bonanza! I stole that name from a class we took at the community center. The idea came to me as I contemplated trying to have a Jonah themed party, Luke's other favorite thing this summer. We have learned a lot about God's compassion and mercy by seeing the Veggie Tales movie a few times (gross understatement). But I was not prepared to figure out games and party favors to complement the disobedient prophet. I'm lazy.

The birthday continues this afternoon. Luke awoke from his nap ready to play with his new toys. His very favorite at this moment is the family of animals that Tim and Taryn bought him. There are tigers, giraffes and elephants. They are the type that are realistically rendered and Luke adores them. He's also enamored with his "real" basketball. He really wants to learn to dribble like the bigger boys that play down the street. We are in the playroom while Daddy and Paul nap. I'll post a few pictures. I only took seventeen, but Lynne took some and so did another friend, so I'll have more tomorrow and the next day.

Birthday Eve

Daddy arrived home from his business trip to a busy home. Today was Luke's birthday eve and we are all abuzz preparing for his party tomorrow. I just cannot believe he will be three. I, like all moms, can remember that first night home from the hospital with him. He slept in the bassinet at the end of our bed, but I spent the entire night getting up and looking at him to be sure he was okay. I felt like the bassinet was too big or something, like it might swallow him. Oh, the oddities of the first time mom. :-) Tonight Luke's bedtime was quite different from that first night home. Daddy read him Richard Scarry's Cars and Trucks and Things That Go and sang him three verses of The Wheels on the Bus. Then Luke said good night and Erik left the room. It's so good to have a three year old. :-)

So close to three!

Paul was super excited to see Daddy today!

Paul also says, "Cheese" for the camera now. It is very possibly the cutest thing ever.

The Teacher in Me

My close friends who are still "in the industry" are gearing up for another school year. Yes, they work in August. That three months off thing is a complete myth. Anyway, I find myself commiserating with them via email, and a very small part of me misses prepping a classroom and anticipating the year's new crop. In honor of this annual ritual I have written a short syllabus for Luke. Paul's is still in process and will probably not be published. Here's what I have so far.

Year Three of Your Life

Course Objectives

• Potty Training - You will be willing and able to pee and poop on the potty
• Sharing - You will be willing and able to share your toys with your baby brother and other playmates
• Balanced Eating - You will be willing and able to eat more than carbs at any given meal
• Volume Control - You will be willing and able to speak in an inside voice while inside
• Obedience - You will be willing and able to obey your parental units and other adult figures

Course Materials

Please come to class each day with the following items. A lack of proper materials may result in an inability to fully participate in that days activities.

• Your smile
• A giggle or two
• Cute Little Comments That Catch Me By Surprise

Grading Scale

All progress in this course will be graded using the following scale.

• Completion = 100% resulting in high fives, big cheers, and possibly chocolate
• Lack of Completion = Cr = You almost did it! Keep trying! Mommy loves you!

(I was never much for grading when I was in the classroom. I wanted to tell everyone how much I liked the way they had incorporated some aspect of our discussion in their writing...I never wanted to put a grade on their efforts. It seemed such a cheapening of the writing process. Needless to say, I did have to grade stuff. Most parents wanted to measure their child's success by my opinion of their writing. Lame)

Well, that's it for tonight, folks. I'll add a few pictures here at the end to keep the Grandmas happy. :-)

Paul moving around the chair with his tongue sticking out...obviously concentrating.

Luke sitting on the bus he creates with the chairs while I vacuum the dining room. Pretty fun.

Nine Years Ago Today

Nine years ago today we stood before God and a congregation of loved ones. We made important lifelong promises to each other. We exchanged precious rings. I love remembering that day, but more than that I love how much our marriage has grown since that day. We are better today at loving each than we were then. We laugh more now. Maybe that has to do with the addition of the boys! :-) God is good and has grown us together. We are blessed to love and serve Him as individuals and as a married couple.

Wow. Time flies!

Quick Post

It is late, so I will just quickly post the pictures with a few short captions.

At dinner last night Luke decided to eat all of his "leaves" like a caterpillar, munching through each one. That's spinach, folks. I'm such a happy mom.

The boys playing together after dinner last night. Luke's face shows in the reflection which I think is fun and cool.

Paul makes this face all the time right now. It means, "I'm excited about something and I'm about to point and/or crawl rapidly to it. I believe there is a plastic ball that is not pictured.

Garage Sale Treasure

For weeks now Luke has been "borrowing" the clear plastic tubing from Paul's nebulizer and turning it into his boa constrictor. This has not been my favorite thing, but I allowed it because it hasn't been a battle I wanted to fight. Today my neighbor two doors down had a garage sale and won my battle for me! Three cheers for fifty cent purchases at garage sales.

A Very Happy Garage Sale Customer. Luke even handed over the money for this stunning specimen.

Yep. We are now the owners of a HUGE, blue, stuffed snake.

In other news, Paul is teething again, but what a happy teether.

Daddy's Home!

Erik was out of town last night and I always get really excited whenever he comes home. Luke was napping, but Paul got in on the action. It was super fun.

I like the Daddy-Man

In other news, the landscaping is almost done. Most of the sod has been laid and now it is time to water like crazy. The weather cooperated perfectly today with a light sprinkling this morning and more showers expected tonight. Here is a shot of the current backyard, not as endearing as Paul.