Husband shopping

I just wanted to share this joke I was sent by a friend.

Recently a "Husband Shopping Centre" opened, where women could choose a husband from a large number of men. It was laid out in five floors, with the men increasing in positive attributes with each ascending floor . The only rule was that once you opened the door to any floor, you HAD to take a man from that floor. If you went up a floor, you couldn't go back down except to leave the place, never to return. A couple of girlfriends went to the shopping centre to find some husbands ...

First floor
The door had a sign saying: These men have jobs and love kids. The women read the sign and said, "Well, that's better than not having a job, or not loving kids, but I wonder what's on the next floor?" So up they went.

Second floor
The sign read: These men have high paying jobs, love kids, and are extremely good looking. "Hmmm", said the ladies. "But I wonder what's further up?"

Third floor
This sign read: These men have high paying jobs, are extremely good looking, love kids and help with the housework. "Wow!" said the women. "Very tempting, BUT, there's more further up!" And up they went.

Fourth floor
This door had a sign saying: These men have high paying jobs, love kids, are extremely good looking, help with the housework, and have a strong romantic streak. "Oh, mercy me!" cried the women. "But just think what must be awaiting us further up!" So up to the fifth floor they went.

Fifth floor
The sign on that door said: This floor is empty and exists only to prove that women are impossible to please.

To cut or not to cut?

When should Tyler get his first haircut?
	Never! I love those long red curls.
	Wait as long as you possibly can.
	Better do it soon before people ask if he is a girl.
	He is long overdue for a haircut!
Free polls from Pollhost.com

Here's the rationale behind this little poll.
Tyler has lovely red curls and his hair is still beautifully soft and silky. It is getting to the stage now where it curls up at the back of his neck. I love it. It feels wrong to think about cutting it.
But people are silly. They think that if a toddler has long(ish) hair, then it must be a girl. Even if the toddler in question is wearing cargo pants, Thomas the Tank Engine shoes, a blue & red T-shirt with Bob the Builder on it, and is wielding a toy car in each hand.
Let me tell you a story:
Ethan has always looked like a boy. He had his first haircut at 4 months!! I was walking around the shops with him one day when he was about 9 months old. On this particularly day he was wearing boyish clothes. Come to think of it, he has always worn boyish clothes. He's never had any other type of clothes! Anyway, somebody asked me "How old is your baby?" so I said "He's 9 months old." Then the person said "What's the baby's name?" and I said "His name is Ethan." Then they said "Is it a girl or a boy?"
Helloooooo??? Anybody at home up there??
If this could happen with my boyish-looking short-haired boy, then it could easily happen with my angelic-looking long-haired boy. Hence this post.

By the way, I have to clarify that although it sounds like I am getting myself into a frenzy over this, I'm not. I really couldn't care less if other (strange) people think Tyler is a girl. I'm not really worried about when to cut his hair. But all the same, I'm really keen to see what everybody thinks :) So get voting!

Pictures from our weekend away

Some photos of the boys from our weekend away

A weekend away

We went up to Whangarei for the weekend to visit Rob's family.
Ethan had so much fun at Gran's house, she lives next to a farm and he loved visiting the cows and giving them cabbage leaves to eat. Gran took Ethan on a big tour around their property, looking at all the trees and plants. Ethan picked a mulberry from the tree and carried it around with him all weekend! He loved the apple & mulberry crumble we had for pudding, so I will try to make a pudding for him this week with the mulberries I picked before we left.
The first night was a bit rocky, as Tyler woke 3 or 4 times. But the second night he slept right through - thank goodness, because Rob and I are now very used to having unbroken sleep at night! Ethan was a perfect angel the whole time. We only did time-out once and the rest of the time he was sooo good.
On Sunday we had beautiful weather so we went out to the beach. Ethan went for a swim! Rob couldn't get past his waist because the water was so cold, but Ethan loved it. Pretty impressive, as it is only Spring and the water is not warm! Tyler enjoyed paddling, eating lots of sand and munching on sticks. It still seems funny to me that we go on holiday and then drive for 20 minutes to go to the beach when we live only 5 min walk from our own beach! But it is nice to go somewhere different :)
Both boys loved spending time with their grandparents and their aunties & uncles. Aunty Liv's best friend Stacey came for dinner on Saturday night, and Ethan had lots of fun hanging out with the two of them. Liv and Jo (my sisters-in-law) are both pregnant, so there was a lot of "baby talk". Liv changed Tyler's dirty nappy (she volunteered!!) but Uncle Paul flatly refused. He reckons he isn't going to change any nappies when his baby arrives.
The trip home was terrible. It took 3 1/2 hours instead of the usual 1 3/4 hours. Tyler was awake for the entire trip, and quite understandably he was not a happy camper. Ethan was as good as gold. He had a brief sleep, then tried his best to entertain his little brother during the stand-still traffic jams. I put a nappy on him for the trip "just in case" and when we got to McDonalds 3 hours later it was completely dry. I was so proud of him :)
All in all, it was a lovely weekend.

Teeth!

Tyler got 2 more teeth this week, bringing the grand total to 10.
He got 2 of his one-year molars. Although I think one of them probably came through about 2 weeks ago, because it looks like it has been there for a while. The other one has just broken the skin. He was pretty grumpy yesterday and didn't eat much (which is NOT like him at all), so I think the bottom molars are on their way too.
Finally, something to explain all that drooling he's been doing over the past few weeks!
Another milestone. Sigh. He is growing up so fast.

From the mouth of a 3-year old

Ethan has been coming out with the funniest lines lately.

After taking himself to the toilet and struggling to put his pants back on: "My willy is going crazy!"
[I guess he noticed something wasn't quite right.]

Telling me about his day at Nana's house: "I watched lots and lots of videos. I watched one, two, three, four, five, six, seven, eight, nine, ten, eleven! That's too many videos! Silly Nana."
[By the way, he didn't watch 11 videos. I checked.]

At the dinner table last night: "Mummy, can we share being the boss?"
[Um, sorry. I don't think so, kid.]

Sabotage!

You always hear stories from people trying to lose weight about how their family & friends seem to sabotage their efforts. Well, I don't have that problem with my family & friends. Last night Rob offered to do my Winsor Pilates DVD with me. Ethan offered me some of his popsicle, but "just a tiny little bit, okay Mummy?" - the boy obviously knows about portion size! No problems in this area at all.

But today it seems total strangers are trying to stop me from being healthy.
First sabotage attempt. I'm at the petrol station, paying for my gas. The lady asks the usual questions: "Pump 5, is it?", "Got a FlyBuys card?" and - wait for it - "Have you seen our chocolate bars? Only $1.50 each", while pointing to a large box of peanut slabs on the counter. I almost choke on my sugar-free gum. I say something like "No thanks, I have to be good today. Making up for the weekend." It takes all the strength I have not to give in and buy one.
Second attempt. I arrive at work and open the fridge to put something in. Sitting on the middle rack is a HUGE chocolate cake. This is so hard. It is 7am, there are no other people here yet. It would be so easy to have a piece. I know I'm allowed some, it is left over from last Friday's drinks that I wasn't here for. Deep breath, close the door, walk away. Eat soggy cereal at my desk.
Third attempt. I leave work at 12 noon and decide to get a burger from BK on the way home. I remember reading in a magazine last week that if you swap regular mayo for lite mayo, you halve the calories. So I order a chicken burger with lite mayo. No fries. No drink. It is a big deal for me to skip the fries, but I'm proud of myself for staying strong. I unwrap my burger. Oops, they forgot to ask me if I wanted a burger with my mayo. Seriously, the thing is literally swimming in the stuff. I don't understand this. I mean, surely it doesn't take a rocket scientist to realise that if somebody has specifically requested lite mayo on their burger (not to mention skipping the fries), they probably don't want 3 times the usual amount! I would have been better off - calorie-wise and taste-wise - getting a normal burger with 2/3 less (regular) mayo. It annoys me that in order to eat the healthiest part of the burger ie. the lettuce, I need to spend at least 5 minutes wiping the mayonnaise off using my paper napkin. I could have driven home and made my own lunch in the time it took to get my burger to the "edible" stage.
Come on people! I'm trying to make good choices and you are making it so hard!

It's the little things ...

It’s the little things that bring me so much joy.
Over the weekend there were so many, I just had to share a few:

*Tyler and I spent Saturday afternoon together, just the two of us. Since Rob and Ethan were at church having a lovely spit roast dinner, I decided that Tyler and I would go out for dinner too! I got Chinese from the food court. We sat together and shared a plate of food. He ate forkfuls of fried rice, and I put a selection of fish, chicken, pork and egg fu yong on his highchair tray. He was so happy.
I could never do that with Ethan – he always expects to get a Happy Meal if we go to the food court for dinner.

*At the shops, I was putting Tyler back in his car seat when he spotted a dog in the car next to us. He started jumping up and down in his seat with excitement, and trying to make “woof” sounds. We just sat in the car and watched the dog for about 5 minutes. Tyler was completely fascinated!

*We all went out yesterday to buy Ethan some new summer sandals. On the way to the shops Ethan was making Tyler laugh and then he said “I love you, Tyler. I love my brother so much”. I hope my boys will always love each other, even if they do fight sometimes!!

*Last night it was so warm and sunny, we walked down to the park after dinner. Ethan and I walked together, eating our popsicles. Daddy pushed Tyler in the buggy. We played at the park until the sun disappeared behind the houses.
It was the first glimpse of summer, and it was perfect.

First steps (and a goose egg)

Tyler took his first solo steps yesterday!
He has been walking around furniture for months, and for the past few weeks has been very good at walking while holding somebody's hand (or trouser leg, or anything else worth grabbing). But he just didn't have the confidence to "step out" alone until yesterday afternoon.
He walked about 7 or 8 steps the first time, and had the biggest grin from ear to ear. He was so proud of himself! Rob said it actually brought a tear to his eye ... the big softie :)

As for the goose egg, that can be located on Ethan's forehead.
His best friend Lochie hit him with a hammer at preschool yesterday. When the teachers told me I was incredulous: "You let children play with hammers?" But it turns out it was only a wooden hammer. Even so, the bump on Ethan's head is like a purple mini volcano. It must have been one hard whack!! He happily let the teacher hold an ice pack on his head for 10 minutes, and was more than happy to have the magic arnica cream applied. We gave him Pamol before bed, in case he got a headache.

Hmm, you know you are slightly insane when you take pictures of your children's injuries. I must admit, he did look at me rather strangely when I asked him to "sit still for the photo, but please don't look at the camera."
Hey, the bump is on the side of his head, so I needed a good profile shot!!

20 things

20 things about Ethan Jakob Blair:

He was 10 days overdue.
He was born under water.
His middle name is a tribute to my family, Jacobsen.
He had gastro-oesophageal reflux until 8 months of age.
He slept through the night at 10 weeks.
He has been a fussy eater since 13 months, especially at dinner time.
He is oh so contrary!
He can sing in tune.
He is obsessed with Shrek, Buzz Lightyear and Spiderman.
He is a wonderful and caring big brother.
He snores sometimes.
He is very strong-willed.
His favourite foods are tiny teddy biscuits and sausages.
He can count to 18.
He can recognize a few letters, including the letter E.
He has a double crown which makes his hair grow funny.
He hates having his fingernails cut.
He has an awesome memory.
He loves books and would happily read books all day.
He says “I love you” about 20 times a day.

20 things about Tyler Robson Blair:

He was born 5 days early
He has red hair like his daddy.
His middle name means “son of Rob”.
He has a fiery temper (sometimes).
He didn’t sleep through the night until 9 months of age.
He eats absolutely anything.
He had 4 urinary tract infections in his first 3 months so had to be circumcised at 4 months.
He is a cheeky monkey.
He is a Daddy’s boy.
His favourite person at the moment is Grandad.
He loves music.
He can walk holding somebody’s hand but won’t try it on his own.
He is very good at “posting” and stacking toys.
He doesn’t take very long naps.
He loves to swing.
He is very social and loves being around people.
His eyes seem to change colour every now and then.
He adores his big brother.
He tries to copy other people, especially Ethan!
He makes me happy when he smiles.

What's worse than being sick?

Having to clean up your child's vomit when you are sick.
Ethan's lingering cough really peaked last night. He hadn't been coughing much at all during the day, but as soon as he got into bed it all started. He coughed so much that he vomited 3 times, which meant 3 baths, 3 changes of pyjamas, 3 changes of bed sheets and 3 loads of washing.
And through it all he didn't shed a single tear. He would just watch us clean up, then hop back into bed and say "that sicky-sicky wasn't very nice, was it Mummy?"
Finally I decided to sit in the bathroom with him while the shower was running, in the hope that the steam would loosen up his cough. It seemed to work ... he fell asleep within 5 minutes of being put back to bed. He slept late this morning and seems fine today.
We must have tried every brand of cough medicine on the market, and none of them work. Its just a conspiracy by the drug companies to make you spend lots of money. $20 a bottle!
Okay, finished my moan for the day. Over and out.

Sick of being sick!

We've had so much sickness in our household over the last 2 months. You name it, we've had it. Flu, colds, croup, tummy bugs, ear infections, conjunctivitis ....
Right now Ethan is on antibiotics for his 3rd ear infection of the year, both boys have lingering coughs and runny noses, Rob has just recovered from a cold, and I have sinusitis. I had been feeling unwell for 2 weeks, and finally went to the doctor yesterday. She prescribed antibiotics and told me not to go back to work until Monday.
I'm sooooo sick of being sick! This winter/spring has been the worst I can remember for sickness in our family. But it's not just us, it seems everybody we know has been going through the same things. All I can say is thank goodness GP visits are free for under-5s and my company provides medical insurance for everything else.

I am Cinderella

Thanks to Jes :)
Well this is me, supposedly. I'm not sure about the patience bit. Some days I feel that I have no patience whatsoever! But I guess I am pretty hard-working. Now I just need to figure out what my dream is ... the one I am holding on to!

You Are Cinderella!

Dignified and hard working. With a gentle and soft-spoken manner you have something many people don't. Patience. Even through the moments of heartbreak you're still able to hold onto all of your hopes and dreams. Bide your time; your dream will come true.

Which Disney Princess Are You?

Tyler survived his first day (and so did I!)

It was Tyler's first day at preschool yesterday. I couldn't concentrate at work, I kept wondering if he was happy, if he was getting enough sleep, if he was missing me & Rob. But Ethan has been going to preschool there for 2 1/2 years so it was comforting to know that Tyler had his big brother there to look after him.
When I arrived to pick them up yesterday afternoon I could see Tyler was having a great time. The teachers said that apart from some serious crying in the morning when he realised Daddy had gone, he had been happy all day. He ate all his lunch, had two 1-hour naps, and didn't cry for the rest of the day. Marianne said it was as if he suddenly realised "hey, this place isn't too bad after all, I'll stop crying now and just enjoy myself". I think he might do the same thing again on Thursday, but at least I know the crying doesn't last long and after that he is really happy. Marianne said he did extremely well for his first day.
We had to bring one of the sandpit toys home because there was no way he was going to let go of it when we left. He held on to for another hour after we got home as well! And it was just a plastic laundry powder scoop - go figure!

Dare I say it?

Ethan is toilet trained!
He is 3 years and 4 months old. I've waited for this for a very long time. It has been soooo expensive (not to mention annoying) having 2 kids in nappies, but I was adamant that I wouldn't push Ethan into anything, that he would train himself when he was ready.
It has now been 10 days with no nappies. The first 4 days he had one accident each day, usually early in the day before he "realised" he was wearing underpants, or late in the day when he was getting tired. The next 5 days were accident-free. Yesterday he had 2 accidents but both times it happened right outside the toilet door when he had taken himself without telling us first, and couldn't get his pants down in time. I don't think it was any sort of setback.
We started the whole toilet training process very casually about a year ago. He was happy to use the toilet every now and then, but it was according to his schedule. He never took to the potty, but preferred to sit on the "big toilet" from the start. I realise now that is a huge advantage because he will use any toilet - at preschool, at the shops, at church, at Nana's house. And he will happily wee in a garden or drain if there is no toilet in close proximity. Fabulous. And no, I don't care what people think when they walk past and see him doing it.
Yesterday I was hanging the washing out and I almost shed a tear as I was pegging up those little size 3 underpants. It felt so good! I'm looking forward to the time when Tyler is toilet trained as well. It will save us a lot of money! And I think the guys who collect our rubbish will be happier, too. LOL :)

Back to double income!

Well, sort of double. More like one-and-a half.
Rob starts his new job today. He has been a SAHD (stay-at-home-dad) for the past couple of months, since I finished maternity leave and came back to work full time. We had hoped to survive on one income for a couple of months so that Tyler wouldn't have to start daycare until after his first birthday. Well now he is one, and he starts daycare tomorrow! Sob, sob.
It all started a few weeks ago when I came home and said to Rob: "We have no money. You need to get a job."
So Rob phoned up a guy he was keen to work for, asked him if he could have a job, and the guy said "yeah sure, you can start tomorrow if you like". He let Rob choose how many days he wanted to work (Mon, Tues & Thurs), his hours (8 til 4.30) and his hourly rate (don't be so nosey!) .... it was so easy.
God has blessed us so much.