My Poor Neglected Blog... here's an update!

So, it's been 4 months since I last updated our blog! WOW! Where has the time gone? Things are great. :) The boys are growing up right before our eyes. There are some mornings when they wake up and I'm just amazed because they grew overnight! Literally. Josh is walking but still tends to be lazy at times and reverts back to crawling. It's VERY irritating to me when he does this. lol! He's just a sweet and easy going baby, and quite a 'hambone' these days. ;-) He is also able to say several little words now such as; cup, nite nite, bye bye, hello, hi, what, kitty kitty, dog, mama, dada, bubba, bottle, up, get down, bath, arms up, arms down, no no (and shakes his finger while saying it), num-eh-num (which he says when he's hungry or he likes what he's eatting) and a slured version of 'here you go'. We are so proud of our little Joshy Washy. :-)
James is such a little man already. I can't even begin to tell you what all he can do and say, but I can assure you that he is a healthy, almost 3 year old, little chatter box. LOL!!
He is so happy (most of the time), loves to be called a big boy, and will NOT accept being called a nick name. I have always called him 'Jamesiepoo' or 'Jimbo'... I know, names that only a mother would love. He absolutely HATES me calling him 'Jamesiepoo' and immediatly informs me 'NOOOOOOO, I noooooooottt POOOOOO!' (drags it way out). I still tend to call him nicknames out of habit, but am trying to stop since he hates it so much. We taught him to say his entire name, which is Robert James Boettcher, and he will tell you exactly what his name is if you ask him. ..or even if you didn't ask him. lol! ;-) If you want to see James smile, just call him by his full name, say that he is 'such a big boy', or tell him how handsome he is.
He is also really into pretending!! It's so much fun! Seriously, I never knew just how much fun it is to pretend! We pretend about all kinds of stuff.
Even though James can be quite a turkey at times, he is a very compasionate child. He understands when someone is sick or isn't feeling well. I had a headache tonight while visiting Robby at work. Robby hands James a bottle of Mortin and asks him to 'take this to Mommy because she has a headache'. James runs over to me and says 'Mommy, you have a headache? Here is some Motrin.' Then I respond back to him ' Yes, Mommy has a headache, can Mommy have a kiss to make it better? and he just cracks a huge smile and lays the biggest, sloppiest, wet kiss on me! It was too sweet.
Don't you DARE draw attention to him if he falls down or hurts himself. It's a MAJOR catastrophe and highly offensive to him, if you do this. I don't know why he is so sensitive about this, but he will surly let you know to shut up about it... usually a mother's instinct is to craddle her child or display a form of sympathy when the child is hurt... but I have had to suppress this type of behavior when dealing with James and it's so difficult. I honestly hate having to turn my head and act as though nothing happened... totally not my nature and certainly confusing in many ways.
I've been reading books about raising boys, strong-willed children, and also about understanding your child's ''love language'' (written by the same author as 'The Five Love Languages'). I'm learning A LOT... :) oh, and I'm also reading this other book about mothers. I'm beginning to understand why knitting, cleaning, cooking, basket weaving, and driving slow were never my forte'. lol!! ...and why it's okay to be this way!! I'm just a differnt kind of woman, wife, and mommy. No more self-sabatage or trying to be something that I'm not... so refreshing.
My loving man works so much, therefore doesn't get much time at home. He is holding up okay, but is hoping to take a few days off work very soon. We are finally getting ahead financially and have a goal of building a house in the next few years. YAY! We are actually saving money by me not working...that sounds odd, but it's true.
I'll post pics later... going to bed now.

Fun In The Sun!

We have had some really great weather lately, so we've gotten to play outside quite a bit! Here are some pics of the boys playing outside...well, of James more so than Josh since Josh can't walk quite yet...lol! Also, some pics of Josh enjoying some Mac 'n Cheese. Yummy!

My Boys

Sorry for being gone soooo long! I decided that I've neglected blogging for far too long...so, here's a quick update!
Josh has been crawling, pulling up, and walking along the furniture for a while now. He is actually trying to take steps without holding onto the couch. He holds on to the couch with one hand and then tries to step out away from the couch. He ends up catching himself with the other free hand, so it's not so bad when he falls. lol! He is eatting quite a bit of 'real' food these days! Eggs, meat, pancakes, mashed potatoes, cereal, mac n' cheese, and I can't thing of anything else right now. He has 4 teeth! The teeth seem to have their own pattern to their arrival. One bottom, one top, one bottom, then another on top. He just got over having a case of the Roseola (a viral infection followed by a rash over the entire body...) He is much better now.

James' vocabulary is still ever expanding. We are able to have 'conversations' about things. I started pre-school with him, but we don't do it everyday, just because I don't want to 'burn him out'. He can count to 15, knows 10 colors, can recognize 5 different shapes (and can draw them too!), he can also recognize money coins...quarter, dime, nickle, penny, we are working on pattern, and the alphebet (he can recognize to 'D')...there's more but I think you got the point...

Robby took on another full time job as a Paramedic for the local EMS service. So, now he has 2 full time jobs and a part time job. It's sucks. He is gone ALL THE TIME, but we are determined to be debt free, built our dream house (and pay cash for it), and put as much money in retirement as we can.

I am 'hanging in there' I guess you could say. I'm still trying to loose the baby weight. 8 weeks on bed rest didn't do me ANY favors, that's for sure! I've lost 7 more pounds...honestly, I don't really care about the pounds, I would rather loose the inches... We did a tremendous amount of yard work yesterday, so I'm looking kinda lobsterish today! lol!

I guess that's about all for now. OH!! P.S.. Robby is taking 5 days off and we are going to Hot Springs, Arkansas! I can't wait to get away. The kids will be staying with the Grandparents... I'm sure they will fight over who gets the kids while were gone! lol!! Here are a few pics.

Found a few spare minutes...

This time of the year is such a love/hate relationship for us. We are tired of being cooped up in the house, but then when we go outside, we become sick from all the allergies! The kids are dealing with some sinus and allergy issues, which is making us all very miserable. I am looking forward to being able to take the kids swimming and to play outside in the sunshine without the annoyance of snot, headaches, sneezing, coughing, and fever!

Anyway, so a couple of days ago I planted some Bermuda grass in the back yard, then it rained, and now the sun is out! So we are expecting a plush, green, and fun yard very soon.

Josh is crawling! He's still slow about it, but I think that's because he hasn't been feeling well. Josh is different than I remeber James being. James was never very vocal and he breezed through the different milestones and stages more quickly than most babies. He was almost always serious and didn't have time to 'play'. He studied his toys to figure out how they worked instead of just having fun and playing with them. Josh is quite different. He is VERY vocal and is such a ham! Josh is a cuddle bug and loves to play, laugh, and chill. Don't get me wrong, there are times when he knows what he wants and is diffucult to please...but for the most part, he is very content and happy. Josh really hates for his diaper to be anything else but dry. He's seven months old now and seems to be getting better with the issue. James was exactly opposite! He couldn't care less if his diaper was wet or dirty!! It's so funny yet interesting how the two could be the same but different in so many ways. James' vocabulary is still ever expanding and we are actually able to have 'conversations', instead of just having to read each other's minds! lol! I have pictures to upload, but will have to do that later.

Robby and I are doing well and enjoying watching our children grow. Our 6 year wedding anniversary is coming up in June! I'm so excited an can't wait wait to get away for a couple of days. I guess that's all for now. I'll post pictures later!

Never a Dull Moment

There is never a dull moment in this house! Tonight, I had just put Josh down to sleep for the night and then gotten James ready for bed. I needed to step outside for a few minutes to check on one of our horses. She was favoring a foot, so I need to make sure that she was okay. I was only outside for just a few short minutes. I had gotten James started playing in his room with some of his tools, so I thought it would be safe to step out. Well, when I went to open the door to come back inside, IT WAS LOCKED!!! James had locked the dead bolt! I didn't think that he was tall enough to do such a thing! I just so happened to have my cellphone in my pocket, so I called Robby to ask him which window was best for me to try and open. He said that I wouldn't be able to get any of them opened without first having to break them. The front door was locked as well, because I keep the doors locked when I'm home alone with the kids, so I couldn't go in that way either! Robby said to go ahead and break the window in the backdoor and unlock the dead bolt. We keep our shed locked, and the key to it was in the house, so I couldn't get any tools out of it. Keep in mind that it's getting dark outside, and I'm having to conversate with a 2 year old through a small window in the back door. :-) I kept trying to get him to unlock the door, but all he would do is repeat everything that I said. I would say 'open the door', and he would say 'open it', I would say 'Mommy wants James to open the door', and then he would try to turn the door knob, but since the deadbolt was locked, the door would never open. So, after many attempts to get James to open the door, I decided to just go ahead and break the window. Since I couldn't get tools out of the shed, I had to be resourceful. There just so happened to be a cinder block laying on the gound by the back porch, and I thought "that would perfect to chunk through the window!" I proceeded to break the window, but there was some kind of protective film over the glass which would not allow the glass to break!!! I was not very happy because I was chunking this stupid thing as hard as I could!!! James was getting scared from the all the VERY loud booms. I had to keep reassuring him that everything was okay, and then send him on a mission of some sort so that he wouldn't be in the 'line of fire'. The cinder block ended up not working, but thank goodness there was a shovel leaning on the outside of the shed! I was determind to break this window, even if I had to kick it down! I got the shovel and pounded on that darn window with the blade end of the shovel, until the window shattered into a million billion pieces! I unlocked the dead bolt, then scooped up my crying baby James. He was terrified and didn't understand what had just happened. He was so upset that the window was broken and that there was glass all over the floor. I called Robby back and told him that I was back inside the house. James got to talk to his daddy and finally stopped crying. Robby told James "Daddy will fix the door when he comes home", James was ok after that. Thankfully I had put Josh to bed before going outside, otherwise I might have had TWO very uphappy babies!

Our Precious Boys!

Thank the Lord for the rain! Finally, we have an end to this drought! Too bad I didn't get my veggies planted yet... I am home alone with the kids until Sunday. Robby had a mandatory Fire training to attend tonight in Fortworth. The Fire Department that he works for is 130 miles from where we live, and since his normal scheduled shift doesn't actually start until tomorrow morning at 7, he is going to just stay the night tonight at the Station. His shifts are 24 hours( 7am-7am), so he will not be home until Sunday morning. ~ sigh~ I sure miss him when he's gone. James, being the adventurous boy that he is, decided to experiment with another way to climb up on the desk. He fell, busted his lip, bumped his head, bled, cried, and then told me about how he fell down, and that he was hungry and also wanted some chocolate milk. lol. My goodness children can be so resilient! He only cried for a matter of maybe 2 minutes, and then was ready for the next challenge. Yes, the joys of Motherhood. I have a bumpersticker posted to my Myspace that says " Motherhood, the only place where you can experiene Heaven and Hell at the same time." LOL! So very true. Josh has been having kind of a hard day today as well. He is such a trooper though! He is still perfecting the art of teething, which from what I understand is quite painful and for the most part can make you feel just absolutely miserable. He is still such a happy baby boy! He does his best to always be happy, smile, laugh, jump, and gab. Tonight I once again sucessfully completed another bedtime routine all by my self. I had both kids fed, bathed, Josh in bed by 7 and James in bed by 8. I am up late tonight because I can't seem to sleep well when Robby isn't home. Anyway, I really should 'hit the hay'. Here's couple of pics for you!

Our very busy life...

Last week we lost my Memiere (Grandma) to Cancer. She was an amazing woman and we will greatly miss her..... On a more positive note, we are enjoying the lovely weather! Spring is right around the corner and I can't wait! I was looking forward to planting my veggie garden, but don't know if it will happen this year. I love taking the kids outside to play in the sunshine. I lie Josh on a blanket and James runs around all over the place. Josh is eating 3 solid meals a day now, with snacks of juice, formula, and teething biscuits in between meals.... Breakfast- 5 ounces of formula followed by Oatmeal mixed with Bannannas, and 4 ounces of juice. Lunch- 5 ounces of formula followed by 1 veggie and 1 fruit and 4 ounces of juice. I have to alternate each spoonful between the veggie and the fruit, that way Josh eats all of his food and doesn't spit out the veggies (they can be kinda yucky tasting). Dinner- 5 ounces of formula, Barley cereal mixed with pears, applesause, or prunes, and 4 ounces of juice. Then after his bath I give him a warm bottle of Chamomile tea (as much as he'll drink). Josh is now able to sit up unassisted and also can 'scootch' across the floor. I don't consider it to be crawling yet because he's still kinda on his belly when he scootches...but he's almost there!! He is a very happy baby and usually only cries when he needs something. We still don't have teeth, but I can feel about 8 of them ready to poke through at anytime. For some reason his top ' I' teeth (the one's that don't usually come in until 1 year) are coming in first. His two bottom teeth are there, ready to poke through as well, but seem to have stopped moving. I don't know.....don't ask me....it's all kinda confusing... Oh, and Josh is also able to hold his own bottle without any help! It's great! I can sit him in his highchair, the Boppy, or on the couch... give him his bottle and he will feed himself! This allows me to have a little more freedom to tend to James or anything else that needs to be done. He can also feed himself teething biscuts and such things. I still help him when he's eating with the spoon, but it's really fun to let him try it by himself. He makes such a mess!!!! LOL!! James says sooooo many words and sentences, and is saying something new everyday! When Robby is not home, James always asks me ' Is Daddy home?' and then I answer him saying that 'Daddy is at work', then he repeats after me saying 'Daddy's at work'. He gets really upset when Robby's gone, but he's beginning to understand that Daddy always comes home. James is such an independent child. He isn't shy about letting you know that he doesn't need your help, or even that he doesn't need you....PERIOD...for that matter! LOL! It's very challenging for me, as the Mommy, to let him be so independent and not to 'mommy' him I guess you could say. But, I was the same way as a child and am still that way as an adult, so that makes it a little easier for me to understand him. The potty training is still going well! I have MANY pictures to upload, but will have to do that later....kinda busy right now and need to be going! Be back later!