Three Thought Thursday: Episode 18

1. I finally succeeded completed making my very first garment. Thus far in my sewing adventures I've just done baby stuff and straight line type things such as curtains or aprons. A while back my mom picked up a pattern that I saw online for a knit dress. I probably shouldn't have selected my first garment-sewing project to be an item made of knit. It's definitely not the easiest to sew with. But hey, it's comfortable. And I like comfortable! It took me roughly three nap times to complete the dress and I was actually quite proud of the finished product. Mine came out looking pretty much just like the sketch on the front of the pattern! The only problem is that being both knit and designed with lots of gathers, it easily looks like something I could wear into my final months of pregnancy. Well fitted with an empire waist, but just so flowy and gathery that I could easily be hiding a baby bump under there. Which I'm not. When I'm pregnant, I love looking pregnant, but when I'm not, I'd like to look as close to my non-pregnant self as possible! Hey, at least I have something to look forward to wearing the next time around...

2. I thought I'd change things up and write about my something-I-love second instead of third. (Watch out! She's getting a little rebellious over here!) Back on Valentine's Day, Mark surprised me with a new bottle of perfume. I guess he noticed that my old bottle had all but run dry. Or maybe he was just tired of the scents of spit-up, dried snot, spoiled milk, or urine that usually followed me around. Either way, he hit the Dillard's perfume counter with a limited budget and decided on "Fancy Love," a perfume by Jessica Simpson after trying out several alternatives. Random, I know. Lord knows I'm the farthest thing from "fancy." Or from Jessica Simpson, for that matter. But I'm certainly glad he chose that one, because I've gotten nothing but rave reviews on it. I love the scent. It's quite heavenly. Not too florally, not too sweet. Honestly, it has a soft sort of baby smell to it. Like what you'd imagine the scent to be in one of those Anne Geddes photos. But also packs a good womanly punch. The funny thing is, I put it on in the mornings and it makes me feel kind of pretty and girly even though I'm usually looking rough. But then I usually can't smell it within an hour or so. Until someone comes up to me and says, "What's the perfume you're wearing?" And for some reason, that always makes me feel so good! It's like when someone says, "Aw, you look great!" I'm about 93% sure that they're lying. But when they say I smell good, I know they're sincere! My favorite was when one of my friends was kind enough to let me come over and love on her new baby. A little while after I left she sent a text asking me about the perfume 'cause she kept smelling it on her little boy. Too funny! Maybe I should just wear it when loving on little girls! Thanks again, love, for the awesome confidence-boosting gift!

3. On Sunday/Monday/Tuesday of this coming week we will be hitting some big milestones at the Asmussen House. On Sunday, Kolbe will be turning two-and-a-half. Craziness. It still seems like yesterday. And then on Monday, Reagan will be turning fifteen months old. Not as big of a milestone for most babies, but big in my mind because if Reagan was Kolbe, he'd be welcoming a new baby brother on Tuesday. That fact totally blows my mind. Reagan was born the day after Kolbe turned fifteen months. Reagan still seems like such a baby to me right now. And for some reason, Kolbe, at that point didn't. Maybe it was that he had already been through so much. Three surgeries, tons of eating difficulties, countless doctor appointments. Heck, at fifteen months, he had already been on five round-trip flights! And maybe it was that since I went back to work after Kolbe was born, I missed so much of his first year of life. So I couldn't fully see how much of a baby he still was. Then again, maybe it was that I knew I was about to have another baby to care for, so Kolbe didn't need to be the baby any more. He needed to be a big brother. Even though he really was just a baby himself. Every now and then I still get a little emotional about Kolbe's first year. Man, was it a far cry from what I expected when I dreamed of being a mother. He had to "grow up" so fast and for so many different reasons. While I know God most definitely has His reasons, my heart still sometimes breaks for the little guy. I just want the absolute best for him. He deserves it. But man, oh man, am I so happy for the gift of Reagan. God absolutely knew what He was doing when He gave him to us. After all, if it wasn't for Reagan coming along, I'd probably still be working full time and Kolbe would probably still be at his sitter's day in and day out. So while Reagan's birth may have thrown off Kolbe's world quite a bit, it ultimately gave him two huge blessings: a stay-at-home mama and a baby brother who will be his lifelong best friend. I can't even begin to fathom having another baby just five days from now. Heck, I've barely begun to get my head above the water from the first two! But if and when God decides to bless us with another little one, I look forward to the many trials and adventures that will be sure to follow. This is, after all, what I've always dreamed of. And over the past two-and-a-half years, the God who made my dreams come true has done a miraculous job at showing me just how strong I am. Way to go, self. And happy mother's day to all you mama's, mama's of mamas, soon-to-be mamas, and later-to-be mamas out there. The work you do changes the world!

Kolbe "Kwotes"

Back to the firecracker!

Kolbe Kolb is just a few days away from being two-and-a-half. I can't believe it! We've made it half way through his third year of life! And my, have things changed in these past six months. The most notable, of course, is Kolbe's new found ability to express himself in actual words. He went from saying roughly eight to ten words at age two to pretty much endless talking all the time at two-and-a-half. It has made life much, much simpler for me, now that I can understand what he wants. On the contrary, there have been multiple times where I've found myself thinking Now, now, self...I know you'd give anything right now for him to stop talking, but try to remember the time when you were desperate just for him to say anything at all!

Mark says that when I type "Kolbe Kwotes" on here spelled all incorrectly 'cause I'm trying to document the way his precious little dialect sounds, people aren't going to understand what I'm trying to say and therefore won't read it. If such is the case, too bad! After all, in 2026 when my little guy leaves for college, it will be me who will be reading back through all these posts and hearing that little voice in my head like it was yesterday. I know these posts seem small now, but gosh, they are going to be invaluable to me some day! So here we go with some of my recent faves:

Kolbe: Mama, Pa's boots bown wif spots. (yes, they're brown ostrich skin boots)
Me: Oh, really! You're right. They are brown with spots.
Kolbe: And me's boots are back wif bumps. (black fake alligator skin boots)

Me: (upon hearing Reagan crying) Uh oh. We better go, Kolbe.
Kolbe: Betta go? RuRu eepies? (sleepy)

Kolbe: Mama, me coobies nacks?
Me: You want some Scooby snacks?
Kolbe: Yeah. But no dib dat to RuRu. RuRu go *insert gagging sound*. No eat dat, RuRu! Tay?
Me: Okay, I'll just give them to you. I'll make sure RuRu doesn't eat that.
Kolbe: Otay. Dood job.

And now for the cringe worthy ones...
Kolbe: (upon watching me sprinkle a little powder in Reagan's diaper) Dat, Mama?
Me: It's powder for Reagan's diapie.
Kolbe: Me have dat?
Me: No, you don't need any powder. You don't wear a diaper. You wear undies. I just put powder in RuRu's diapie to keep his bottom fresh.
Kolbe: Me puts powda in me's undies keeps me's winger fesh.
(Dear Lord, please don't let him say that one in public!!!)

And last but not least....
Typically Kolbe does not watch me get dressed. Door knob cover, mind you. But a week or so ago he somehow wandered in to my room while I was dressing and caught me in my bra....
Me: Kolb, let Mama finish getting dressed. I'll be out in a minute.
Kolbe: Mama, RuRu eat dose boobies?
Me: (with what I'd imagine to be a terrified look on my face) Excuse me!?!
Kolbe: (wide-eyed and fearful) RuRu...dink...Mama's....moke....dose boobies?
How do you recover from/respond to that one!?! I was hysterical! (yes, laughing. Not crying...though I probably should have been!!!) I guess that comment was par for the course after watching Reagan nurse for so long. Now if he says that one in public, people are going to think I'm letting my child watch sick college humor movies. Eek! That's my Kolbe, for ya!

Three Thought Thursday: Episode 17

1. This week promises to probably be the shortest Three Thought Thursday yet. I don't have much to say. In fact, I feel kind of silly writing at all. Like what do my basically irrelevant thoughts matter when there are much more important things going on in peoples' lives. I guess I'm sort of feeling that way today because two friends of mine are both going through hugely difficult things that make my world of fussing and pouting babies seem pretty trivial. I'm constantly reminded of how blessed Mark and I are. Really, truly, blessed. For everything- literally everything- we have.

2. Speaking of blessings, it seems like every time I write, it's about the firecracker in our family, Kolbe. Reagan rarely makes the headlines unless it's to discuss his lovely skin outbreaks. But let it be known that Reagan is precious, amazing, and just so stinkin' cute. It blows my mind that he is nearly the age now that Kolbe was when Reagan was born. Yep. He'll be fifteen months in a few weeks. He still seems like such a baby but is developing a little personality of his own. Still not much talking. Lots of grunting and growling and he's even starting to use more signing. For the longest time he'd just stare at me and smile when I'd sign to him. Like Wow, Mom! You're weird! ...Entertaining, but weird! I guess he finally put two and two together. He cut two bottom teeth this weekend and they've been giving him a heck of a time. He woke up crying in the middle of the night around 2am two nights ago and I snuck in there and sat on the edge of Kolbe's bed and just held little Ru for a good half hour. He's so big now. But I still love cuddling my baby.

3. We finally put some top soil and mulch down in our front garden yesterday. Seriously, I've owned this house for almost six year now and we're just getting around to putting down some soil and mulch. Pretty sad, huh? Not because we didn't want to, it's just that landscaping stuff is so expensive! Sheesh! But once again, I'm terrified that we're going to have to sell our house on the spur of the moment and I don't want to have to do all these things all at once. Throwing out some mulch and potted plants is far less costly than actually landscaping the whole thing. Kind of like a fake Louis Vuitton purse. Gets the point across that you're trying to be stylish and trendy, but without the ridiculous cost. And no, I don't have one of those. I wouldn't be kidding anyone. You all know I'm broke.

Three Thought Thursday: Episode 16

1. Time to take a visit to the mommyhood confessional. Up until this week my nearly two-and-a-half year old has been using a passie while sleeping. I know. I'm cringing too. The thing is, Kolbe didn't even learn how to suck until after his palate surgery when he was one. For bottles and his beloved passie, he always just chewed on the nipple. So when he moved from his bottle to his sippie cup, we let him keep the passie but only at night or during his nap. It was such a comfort item to him that we felt bad trying to get him to learn all these new skills while taking away something so constant to him. But another year or so has passed and the obsession with passie has just continued on and on. Passie is not supposed to leave his bed but as of late it has been emerging all the time. Any time he doesn't get his way. Any time he gets hurt. Any time he's bored. I'm all about allowing Kolbe to have things that comfort him. Heck, I could never imagine taking away blankie from him. But passie had turned in to this crazy game of I'm-not-supposed-to-so-I-want-to-even-more. With the birth of my first nephew a few weeks ago, I came up with the idea to give Kolbe the "opportunity" to send baby Jackson his passies. He totally agreed to this exciting idea and was completely cool with it. Until bed time, of course. He knew where they were but was having such a hard time accepting it! The conversations went a little something like this:

Kolbe: Mama, Mama.

Me: What, Kolbe?
Kolbe: Idunno.

Me: Ok.

Kolbe: Mama, Mama.

Me: Yes, Kolbe?
Kolbe: Help me.
Me: Help you do what?
Kolbe: Idunno.

He just wasn't sure what to do without passie. I lay with him and we cuddled close and he was asleep within minutes. Same with naptime. He's done better and better and his worries about passie being gone have seemed to subside. Plus, he just beams when we sing his praises for being so generous to his new cousin. We make sure to tell everyone we know so that they can tell him they're proud too! Mark and I took him to bed last night and we all cuddled. After quickly falling asleep, Mark said, "Gosh, he's not a baby anymore." I think he might be right.

2. Things have been a little harried in our neck of the woods lately. Especially with Kolbe, as always. He is an absolute dream with babies but the whole brother-who-steals-my-thunder thing has not been vibing well with him lately. And I hate it. 'Cause it feels like I'm always on to him. And I don't want our relationship to be that way. A few nights ago, Mark decided to hit the sack a little early and I found myself not tired enough to sleep. So I picked up a parenting book I had started once upon a time and it was like God was throwing me a lifeline. I immersed myself in thirty pages or so and came across things like:

-"Stopping bad behavior is parenting at its most basic and least rewarding." (Amen.)

-"It is nine billion times more important to teach a child what to do in the first place than it is to teach them what to stop doing."

-"Effective discipline...seeks to command obedience by strengthening relationship."

-"Parents must constantly fight the temptation to practice what we call "Ex Post Facto Parenting." This is a parent's temptation to leave our children to their own devices until there is a problem, at which point we go in to crisis/punishment mode trying to solve a now-intractable problem that could have been prevented had we only been paying attention in the first place."

A lot of ideas I came across while reading were things I think I've been subconsciously aware of all along, just too "busy" to connect with. Reading it all typed out on paper made so much sense. And while it's easy to want to slap my own wrist and say Come on, self. Look how you've messed up already! The truth is, I have two children who are fifteen months apart. I'm the first to admit that for a good chunk of time there, I was in total survival mode. And poor Kolbe never had the opportunity to learn the right way to do certain things. Like interact appropriately with someone fifteen months younger than him. Someone he has to share everything with. Someone who gets some of mom's attention some of the time. Now that the insanity level has dropped a bit, it's time for me to set aside the "me" stuff (you know, the stuff that's already been put aside for the past few years...) and focus on helping Kolbe understand the way this world works. We had a fabulous day together yesterday. And I'm hoping, praying, and working for the best for today. (by the way, all the quotes are from Parenting With Grace: A Catholic Parent's Guide to Raising Almost Perfect Kids)

3. We now how one of these lovely gems in our kitchen. Yep, we went through with getting the new dishwasher with our Christmas money and couldn't be happier so far. Mark and I even installed it ourselves! We were quite proud considering that neither one of us has much experience in the handy-man department. It's so nice and amazingly quiet. But the best part is that what retails for $549 only cost us $215 after all the sales and rebates. Can't beat that kind of a steal! Our only fear is that my cousin got an identical one (except for color) and hers is making a strange sound. Plus some of the people who reviewed it online said theirs made a strange sound too. Eek. I'll keep my ears pealed, but for now, I'll give it the benefit of the doubt. I love it!

Three Thought Thursday: Episode 15

This hasn't been a good week in Mommyland, so sorry if this post comes across as a giant complaint!

1. We'll start with something slightly on the good/cool side. Kolbe is becoming more and more autonomous. Little things that used to require Mama's help are now simple for him to do on his own. In fact, he has just recently started going to the bathroom without even telling me. He'll disappear and I'll go to track him down. Upon arriving at the bathroom door, I call out, "Kolbe?" "Me's going poops, Mama." Too funny.

This morning's happenings went a little like this:

Me: Let's get dressed so we can go eat breakfast, Kolbe.
Kolbe: Eats. Yogurts. for Breakfast? Mama? (yes, he does pause between each word...)
Me: Yes, we can eat some yogurt for breakfast. Do you want to get dressed first or Reagan?
Kolbe: Me. Den Rudy.
(I dress Kolbe, put him down and move on to Reagan. Kolbe disappears. Kolbe returns to the room by the time Reagan is dressed.)
Me: Ok, let's go eat, guys.
Kolbe: Mama. Me. Rudy. Eats. Yogurt!

Upon arriving in the kitchen, I'm astonished to find two cartons of yogurt set out on the table. One at Reagan's seat and one at Kolbe's. And each had a spoon beside it! Sheesh. My little guy is growing up before my eyes! A tiny little part of me did make a mental note: Self, you do realize that now that he is starting to do lots of tasks for himself, he's going to be getting in to more and more that may not run as smoothly as this episode. And then another part of me is saying: Self, this guy can get his own breakfast! Convince him that he shouldn't come in and wake you up until he's done with breakfast! Heck, what else can you train him to do on his own!?! Ha ha! I'm proud of my little guy!

2. On to the not so pleasant topics:

My poor little Reagan has developed an icky case of nummular eczema. I'm not exactly sure what makes it "nummular"...that's just what Mark calls it. Something to do with the little circles it makes all over his legs, arms, back.... He's had this eczema for a long time. It's just really gotten worse in the past few months. I'm not sure if it's due to us being outside in the dry, Lubbock weather a lot more than in the winter or what. And it doesn't seem to itch. He's never scratching it. It just looks horribly painful and has moved from just his legs to pretty much his whole body except his face. Eczema runs in Mark's family so we aren't surprised that he has it, and his pediatrician has basically said that we've just got to do the basics to treat it. There's no real way to get rid of it. I don't want him to be stuck inside all summer. He loves to play outside! We've tried everything: hydrocortisone (1/2% and 1%), Cetaphil, udder cream, Pond's dry skin cream, Vaseline, A&D ointment, colloidal oatmeal baths. The list goes on and on. This is the point where I wish I had one of those blogs that like a thousand people read so I could request advice and get tons of feedback with all kinds of ideas I haven't thought of. But maybe, just maybe, one or more of my four and half readers might have a tip or two for treating really, really dry skin. Have you had any luck with anything else? I'm desperate for my poor little guy!

3. So like I mentioned at the beginning of this post, this has not been a good week thus far. Things have been super tough in the discipline department. Monday was a nightmare filled with Kolbe attacking Reagan left and right. The jealousy issue has gotten huge with Kolbe! If Reagan has a toy, Kolbe wants it. If Reagan sits on a chair, Kolbe knocks him off. If Reagan has my attention, Kolbe throws a fit to steal it. So after a rough Monday, I decided that I was going to give Kolbe every bit of attention he needed. So I could cut him off before he started his attacks. Tuesday actually went well. I got absolutely nothing done in the house and was completely exhausted by the end of the day, but Kolbe was so much better than he was on Monday. I stuck to his side the entire day. Literally. Other than nap and when we were in the car, he was at my side the whole day. (even when I went to the restroom!) I was able to redirect him before things went wrong and it seemed to be working well. So I thought I'd stick with the plan yesterday too. And I think it backfired a bit. Kolbe quickly caught on to the fact that he was getting a lot of attention and decided that he should revert to acting like a baby. Yesterday morning was total fussy/whiney overload. He somehow confused getting a lot of attention to correct his behavior with getting a lot of attention so he could always have his way. Things were going better after he woke up from nap yesterday afternoon and then this happened:

Yep, that's the inside of my dryer. Around 4pm, right before I was about to start making dinner, the buzzer rang on the dryer. Upon opening the dryer, I was greeted by this lovely site. And everything in the dryer looked exactly like the walls. Virtually a total loss thanks to an ink pen left in Mark's dress pants. Here's an outline to express my sentiments toward this event: (unfortunately not in proper outline format 'cause I can't figure out how to make it line up in right in blogger...)

I. Event: Pen explodes in Asmussen Dryer

II. Casualties

A. my favorite pair of khakis

B. two brand new shirts of the boys'

1. brand new: I just cut the tags off before placing them in the wash

C. a baby gift that I spent the entire nap time making for a friend

2. said baby gift was the purpose of the load of laundry. The only reason I did the load was because I needed to wash the gift. The other items were thrown in just to make a full load.

D. Several other items: a cute purple hoodie of mine, a baby blue cardigan...

III. Benefits

A. Could there possibly be a benefit to this event?

B. Yes. Shopping for a new favorite pair of khakis.

IV. Aftermath

A. Spent 30 minutes scrubbing out the dryer

B. Attempted to re-wash the ink splattered clothing by adding detergent, OxyClean, and color safe bleach

1. while this did work for a few spots, none of the items returned to their former glory. The majority of them had 50+ spots.

C. Since this all took place during the time I'd normally be making dinner, dinner never got made.

D. Packed boys in the car and headed to McDonalds- This was an event only french fries could remedy

E. Dear Husband brought home roses. Possibly trying to brighten my day. Possibly trying to save his life.

Why do the most ridiculous things happen on the toughest days? Dear Lord....mercy!!!

Three Thought Thursday: Episode 14

1. Another Lenten season has come to an end. I wish I could say this Lent was a little more sacrificial for me, but I'd be lying if I did. Instead of giving up something major this year, I decided to focus on a few specific goals instead, namely losing ten pounds and getting from 10mg of prednisone per day to 5mg per day. Mark told me from the beginning that losing ten pounds in six weeks was a little bit too lofty of a goal considering I only had ten pounds to lose and didn't plan to pick up a rigorous exercise routine or diet. I guess he was right. I lost six of the ten pounds. But I'm not disappointed. That's still about a pound a week! And I definitely feel better about myself. Honestly, that was the goal: to focus on taking better care of the body that God gave me. So much focus has been on being a mommy that I had given up on myself to an extent. For people who see me regularly, I doubt the change is noticable. But my brother Pat, who last saw me at Christmas-time, was in town this past weekend and said, "Hey Dog! You look like you circa 2004!" Compliment? I'll take it. As for the prednisone goal, I'm proud to say that it is in the bag! I've officially been on just 5mg of prednisone for two weeks now. I had to gradually work down and spend a while on 7.5mg before making the final move. But so far I have been happy to see no flares since moving to 5 and that includes making it through another visit from Aunt Flo, where I was anticipating a flare to pop up. Yea! Praise God! Overall, while not extremely sacrificial, this Lenten season has done wonders for how I feel physically and how I feel about myself mentally. Which I'd like to think is how God would want it. And the best little Lenten gift of all was the birth of my very first nephew (I'm finally an aunt!), Jackson Patrick, to my brother Mike and his amazing wife, Casey. I'm so excited!

2. I got this little funny in the mail this week from my mom:

Toally brightened my day! Especially the little note from my mom at the bottom.

I can honestly say I am ALL of these things, usually on a daily basis. I considered omitting "veterinarian" since we're not currently owners of a quadraped, but after seeing my boys at Uncle Andy and Aunt Abby's house this past week, I better keep it on there...

3. A few weeks back I wrote about trying out new non-meat recipes for Lend this year instead of relying on take-out fried fish. I'm happy to announce that we didn't get take-out at all during Lent this year! Instead, we tried a variety of yummy new recipes and ate at our friends' house a few times. My favorites that I attempted were Lamu-style Mahi Mahi and Eggplant Parmesan. The fish was phenomenal. We actually had it twice--first filleted and then shredded up for fish tacos. And it's super easy to make, to boot! Since we don't have the best fresh fish around here, I used frozen fillets and it was still delish. The eggplant parmesan was quite the process to make but was so worth it. Definitely not as healthy as the fish but a very yummy comfort food style meal! I'll definitely be adding both to my year-round recipe collection!

Three Thought Thursday: Episode 13

1. I think spring is finally arriving here in Lubbock! (The boys have loved getting to wear shorts!) I've never been much of a gardener. Mainly because I can't afford to be one. But I grew up getting to watch my grandmother and mother wiggle their green thumbs in their yards and always hoped that someday I'd be able to have a somewhat respectable garden too. Since Mark and I have absolutely no idea where we'll be living come August (so scary!), we kind of feel like we need to get our yard in decent shape just in case we have to sell the house. So in an effort to save money, I decided to attempt to grow flowers from seeds instead of buying the pre-grown flowers. After a few weeks of watering, some of them are finally sprouting! I'm so excited! I was starting to wonder if it was a lost cause. Lord willing they'll survive the transplant here in a few weeks!

2. Kolbe has started singing. It is seriously one of the cutest things I've ever heard! I decided to sign him up for a little music class that they offer through The City of Lubbock for kids under the age of 5. We started going a few weeks ago and he loves it! While he doesn't sing very loudly in class, he loves to perform his newly learned tunes at home. His favorite is the "Good morning to you" song and I just get so tickled when it gets to the "hello, hello" part and he belts out "heno, heno" with such excitement! It's so precious! I absolutely have to get him recorded so in years to come when he has left the coop, I'll be able to hear that sweet little voice again.

3. As much as I've complained about my kitchen before, I have to say that I'm so grateful for the awesome laundry room that I have. "Rearrange laundry room" has been perched above the top of my weekly to-do list for about four solid weeks. I finally managed to cross it off yesterday. I'm not sure why I was avoiding it so much; it really wasn't that bad. Spending an hour or so in there made me realize how much I love all the storage space. My kitchen has literally spilled over in to there! Since there's no discernible pantry in the kitchen, I've set up a little shelving unit in the laundry room where a good amount of our groceries go. Beyond that, it has pretty much become a catch-all for many other things: laundry stuff (of course), art supplies, coloring books, cleaning supplies, hostess-type stuff...even a few power tools! Maybe one day I'll have a china cabinet or hutch to store extra house wares, but for now, the good ol' laundry room does the trick! It's definitely a highlight of our little casa!