We Are Thankful

Weekend before last we had the pleasure of having my parents, Mamita Donna and Poppa Jeffery, come for a visit.  It should go without saying that we had a wonderful time, but I'm going to say it anyway.  We had a wonderful time!  We went to a craft show, watched a killer football game (Geaux Tigers #1!!!), ate tacos from a food truck, went to church, saw Cars 2, went for a swim at the hotel pool, and walked among the butterflies.  

But of all the fun things that we do with our family, my favorite has to be gathering around the table and enjoying a meal together.  This time around we enjoyed hamburgers with all the trimmings.  Child and grown-up alike feasted that night.  All were satisfied.  None went hungry.  

Yes, some of us eat in our underoos...

During this time of year we are encouraged to slow down and give thanks for all the things that we have.  What time of year is it, you ask?  Well, I know it can be confusing.  Halloween is right around the corner.  And while the stores already have their twinkling lights wrapped around tall fir trees with golden presents shining from under their branches, Thanksgiving, that wonderful time of year when we gather around a table with our family, is only 37 days away.  While we do have costumes and candy and cobwebs and pumpkins on our minds, we are also taking time to give thanks for the things we have.

Orry's school is currently collecting canned goods for the local food bank and we are taking this opportunity to really help the kids understand just how fortunate we are.  We talk about the privilege of having clean water and the responsibility we have not to waste it or take it for granted.  We talk about the fresh vegetables and fruits we eat everyday and how lucky we are to be able to access and afford such commodities.  We also talk about sharing what we have with others.

I confess that I am guilty of giving all of my "back of the pantry" goods away whenever I get the chance.  You know, all those cans of baked beans, cooked spinach, and mixed vegetables that seem to hide in the back behind the more desirable items.  But I got to thinking, Shouldn't I be giving things that I myself would want to receive if the shoe were on the other foot?  And so I sent Orry and Troy to the store with specific instructions.  #1: Choose $10 worth of non-perishable food items. #2: Make sure that you pick things that you enjoy and that you think a boy just like you might like to eat.  They came back with a variety of things, but I know that Orry must have remembered rule #2 because he was sure to bring back some mandarin oranges.  He really wanted to give "a boy just like you" some fresh apples, but we had to remember rule #1.  

Being thankful for the things we have is something that we can do all year round.  Giving to our local food bank is also something that we can do all year round.  Hopefully, in this coming year we will do more of both. So tell me, what are you thankful for?

Everyday Dinosaur

Like our blog title suggests, we do talk dinosaur.  Everyday in fact.  I know that my posts sometimes have nothing to do with the once plentiful animals that are now extinct (or are they?).  Rest assured though, everyday of our exciting lives is filled with dinosaurs in one way or another.

The "jet pack"

Take the mornings, for example, we wake up and eat breakfast.  Okay, nothing really dinosaur-like about that.  We get dressed and out comes the first dinosaur.  Today Isaac donned a stegosaurus tee.  He sure loves those dino tees.  I've pretty much given up trying to get him to wear non-dino tees with the exception being on Sundays.  Other dino things we do in the morning: watch The Dinosaur Train on PBS and put on our dinosaur "jet pack".

After taking Isaac to school, you would think that us two girls would put all that dinosaur stuff behind us.  Not so.  We frequent the local library and just because we love our boys so much, we make sure that we hunt down a few good books about dinosaurs.  Finding dinosaur books in the picture book section can be tricky.  Here are the last names of some authors that write books about dinosaurs: Barton, Most, Strickland, and Yolen.  The non-fiction section is also a great and easy place to find books about dinosaurs since they are typically all lumped together.

On to lunch.  We eat dinosaur shaped sandwiches!  Now, I should say that I'm really baffled by the power of the DinoBytes sandwich crust cutter.  If you give one of my kids a regular sandwich that's been cut neatly down the middle chances are they will pull it apart and leave at least one element untouched, typically the bread.  But if you cut that same sandwich with the DinoBytes cutter, the sandwich will be completely devoured.  I should also give you fair warning, this is a crust cutter.  You will have crusts left over, which, if you are like me, you will not want to go to waste.  Therefore you will end up eating crust sandwiches for your own lunch.

Our afternoons are also filled with dinosaurs.  Isaac really loves putting together dinosaur puzzles and he is quickly amassing a large collection of them.  I've found that Melissa & Doug make some nice quality wooden and cardboard dinosaur puzzles.  But the toy snob in me should tell you that they aren't very scientifically accurate.  Some of the dinos pictured together in the puzzles weren't alive at the same time.  But the mom in me will tell you that they satisfy the need to see all the famous dinosaurs together on one puzzle.

Our evenings are filled with books about dinosaurs.  And the boys' dreams (and maybe Annie's too) just might be filled with dinosaurs as well.  And I know that some of you might be thinking that a lot of the dinosaur loving is coming from Isaac.  But I assure you all that Orry is on that bandwagon as well.  He's got a class assignment due in about 5 weeks where he will have to give a small presentation about what he wants to be when he grows up.  His answer, a paleontologist.  He will dress the part and give a speech about what a paleontologist is, what kind of education he has to have, what kind of tools he uses, and what contributions he makes to the community.  This really has the potential for being a life-making lesson.  We'll see how it goes and we'll be sure to post some photos.

In the meantime, I hope your days are filled with the things that you love!  Life is too short to not be doing the things that you enjoy.

Over and Over Again

Question: Have you ever had to practice doing something over and over again?

I'm pretty sure the answer is yes, for everyone.  Personally, I've practiced all sorts of things in my lifetime.  Walking, talking (still working on this one), gymnastics, playing piano, spelling, playing the flute, dancing.  Even now I find that I practice things quite often.

Question: Do you remember what it was like to have to practice things when you were younger?

I had a love/hate relationship with practicing things in the past.  Take the piano.  I love playing the piano.  But when I was younger, I sometimes hated having to practice.  Okay, maybe hated is too strong a word.  Seriously disliked.  That's better.  I don't know exactly why I would moan and groan about it.  Possibly because I'm a complainer.  Possibly because all I really wanted to do was listen to my New Kids on the Block cassette tapes over and over again...

Question: Is it time that I started getting my kids involved in things that take diligent practice to do?

The answer is yes.  Yes, it is.

About 6 weeks ago we signed the boys up for choir practice.  They are both in the Cherub's choir.  We don't stick around to see what songs they sing because we adults have our own class to attend while the little ones sing.  We've seen a little bit of what goes on.  There's guitar playing and dancing, both fun things that make kids really love going to choir practice.  It turns out that they were working on How Great Thou Art.  A great song, if you ask me.  They performed it this past Sunday.  Here's a clip.  Orry is top row, middle.  Isaac is standing right below him.  They are a little hard to spot.  Turns out the usual spot we sit in is not so good for viewing them singing.

The kids really like going to choir practice.  They haven't complained about going one single time!  Of course, their friends are there, there is guitar and dancing, they get to play in the nursery when it's done, and they get to climb trees when we leave.  

Orry has been practicing some math lately.  He's been working on addition and multiplication tables.  He's been having a fun time filling in the boxes and finding the patterns.  Turns out that we have a set of multiplication flash cards.  Good ole' multiplication flash cards.  I remember those fondly.  My own mother would quiz me and even pay me a penny for the ones I got right.  I remember feeling really proud of myself for memorizing so many and for being able to answer so quickly.  Orry is no different.  He really beams when he gets them right.  We're not dishing out pennies yet, though.  It's funny how much practice we need to learn or memorize these things.  I don't multiply numbers in my day to day life.  When Orry quizzed me with the flash cards I was surprised at how rusty I was with some of them.  Mainly the upper 9's.  9 x 6.  9 x 7.  9 x 8.  I'm happy to say that I got them right, but it took me a while to get the answer out.  A couple of times Orry gave me the buzzer sound suggesting that I was out of time and therefore wrong.  I guess I should start practicing those again...

Today Isaac has show and tell in his class.  They were supposed to bring in a picture of their pet.  If they don't have a pet, they could bring in a stuffed animal to talk about.  The idea is they need to practice talking in front of their peers.  I agree.  I hadn't thought about it until last night, but I don't really know what Isaac's level of socialization is with kids his own age.  I drop him off at school, but I don't see the actual interactions take place.  I know he plays with other kids.  I hear about all that when he gets home.  But does he talk to them?  So today he took his stuffed T. Rex with him.  I'm not really sure what he is going to say about it.  I tried to coach him last night, but all he would say was Tyrannosaurus Rex.  I was feeding him sentence after sentence, encouraging him to repeat after me.  And all I got was Tyrannosaurus Rex.  Looks like we'll be practicing this new skill from here on out.  

So what are your kids practicing these days?  And how is it going?  Are they having a good time?  Are they feeling a good sense of accomplishment?  

My Little Funny Bones

I'm a complainer.  I'm not proud of it.  Do you remember how bad my days can sometimes tend to go?  I'm sure you remember me complaining about their bedtime.  Right?

Well, you can thank Brooke Shields for this post.  I've posted her recent interview with Hoda (yes, I love watching Kathy Lee and Hoda) so that you can see what she says.  The part I'm referring to starts at 2:30 in the clip.

I love that she mentions how funny her kids are.  This is something wonderful that is true of all kids.  Sometimes we are so wrapped up in other things that we forget to stop and appreciate it.  Sometimes it takes someone like Brooke to remind us of this simple truth.

Annie can't talk yet so her funniness comes by way of faces.  She's got her scrunch face.  I'm sure you've seen it.

She's also got a mean scowl that she won't hesitate to give to anyone that she's unfamiliar with.  Of course, as unfamiliar as she is with you, all you have to do is say goodbye and she'll smile and wave at you like you're family...  She's also got a funny shuffle that she likes to do when you're in a hurry.  Oh, she'll shuffle those feet 1/4 inch at a time.  Lastly, she's a mimic.  She'll follow behind one of the boys and if he bends down to fix his shoe, she'll bend down and fix hers.  If he turns a circle and jumps in the air, by golly, she will turn that same circle and do all in her power to get her feet off the floor.  She's funny.

Isaac is talking up a storm.  It still isn't 100% understandable, but he's made tremendous progress.  Some of his funniness comes from mixed up syllables.  Some of his funniness comes from words that aren't understood, but sure do sound like bad words.  Funnier than his speech is his personality.  Part of it is that he loves to have a good time.  He'll toot in your face and say, "That's us!".  He's just a funny kid.

Dinosaur mask and claws.  Rraahhh!

Orry is talking and I just have to use that cliché.  Kids say the darndest things.  Just the other day he dropped this gem on me: "Mommy, I think it would be better if it was just me."  And who can forget, "A bee ate my booger!"?  Not me.  And the other day, while having one of Troy's co-workers over for dinner, Orry decided to describe our guest's hair (or lack thereof).  He said, "You're blind."    

Posing with his black balloon sword and butterfly mask.  What a combo...

The other thing from the interview worth mentioning is how fast they grow up.  Too fast if you ask me.  I'd rather not dwell on it for too long.  The evidence is there, staring me in the face, day after day.  For now, I'll just put my feet up and laugh while I can because I'm pretty sure that next week they'll each want their own cellphone and smart car...

Mr. Sandman Bring Me a Dream

Oh, babies.  So wonderful.  So adorable.  So lovable.  What angels they are.

When they are sleeping...

So peaceful.

So quiet.

Angels.

But getting them to sleep.  Oh oh oh oh oh...  That's when the wings come off and the golden halos get tossed into the trash.  They can be downright monsters when it comes to bedtime (or even naptime).  

In this household, we've had our fair share of struggles with bedtime.  I'm sure every parent living and deceased has had trouble at some point with getting their sweet little angel to just close their eyes and go the *bleep* to sleep.  Our troubles with bedtime seem to come and go.  

Annie is our little angel when it comes to sleep.  It took well over a year to get to where she is now.  I did the bad thing of nursing her to get her to sleep.  And we did the co-sleeping thing for way too long.  Finally we wised up and made the transition to having her sleep in her crib.  Now, when it's bedtime, you merely lay her down on her pillow, make sure she has her blankie, cover her with a nice fuzzy blanket, place a few of her "friends" around her, then turn out the light and shut the door.  Easy as pie.  For now...

Orry has gone through many a phase.  He co-slept as well, but not for nearly as long.  He transitioned to his own bed pretty early on.  While the bed was okay for a while, he regressed.  Then there was a time where he preferred his crib.  That didn't last that long.  Then there was sleeping with his brother, which went well for a while.  Isaac also has gone through different sleeping phases.  Co-sleeping with Mommy and Daddy.  Co-sleeping with Brother.  No crib sleeping, though, since there aren't many cribs in Korea.  Isaac's phases are better defined by how he's put to sleep.  There were times where you could just put him in bed and say goodnight and he would stay and go to sleep.  Then there were those times where he wanted to rub your eyebrows until he fell asleep (or until you had no more eyebrows, whichever came first).

Currently, the boys are having a hard time falling asleep on their own.  They want the stories.  So we read the stories.  Then they want a last sip of water.  So they get their last sip of water.  You turn the lights out and leave.  Isaac comes out of the room about 5, 6, 7, 10 times before you finally just go in there and lie down with him.  When they finally get you in there, lying down with them, they ask for a story.  No story?  How about a song?  Maybe There Was an Old Lady Who Swallowed a Fly?  Or Puff the Magic Dragon?  Now tickle our backs.  Please.  Scratch our backs.  Please.  And before you know it, we are all sleeping.  

I don't know about you, but when I'm dead tired and I fall asleep back there around 9pm, I don't feel like getting back up to finish cleaning the kitchen or cleaning the living room.  Finish the laundry?  Psh, yeah right.  My night is over.  But it's starting to get out of hand.  I'm really far behind on my laundry.  I'm even further behind on talking to my husband.  Things have to change.

So tonight we put our feet down.  Stories?  Yes.  Prayers?  Double yes.  Songs?  Okay, yes, but I'm sitting up to sing them to you and then I'm outta here.  There was pleading and lots of tears, but we had a talk.  I told them that I had to do my work, but that more importantly, I had to spend time with Daddy.  They tried to  negotiate, but I held my ground.  It was a better night than most, I have to say.  Do we have a long way to go?  Quite possibly.

Hopefully we'll get this under control. Then we can work on getting them, and by them I mean Isaac, to stay in their beds all night long.  Here's to hoping.  

Megamind (title courtesy of Orry)

I'm pretty worn out this week.  I've felt like I had a million things to do.

Monday was lab work (blood and stool) day.

Tuesday was Open House night for Orry.  In case you are wondering, he's smart and delightful.  That's a very brief summary.

Wednesday was the day I was scheduled to bring snacks in for Isaac's class.  We decided to go with rice krispie treats cut with cookie cutters.  We also had children's choir practice that night.

Thursday was spent with a great friend and her beautiful baby!

Friday I pulled Orry out of school early in order to take him to the doctor.

Today is Saturday.  I would like to say that we slept in late and just hung around all day, napping and reading books, eating and watching football.  And we did do those things.  I'm so happy.  I stayed in bed until about 8:30.  Heaven.  I took a nap by 11.  Heaven.  I read Isaac some books and made a second breakfast.  Oh how wonderful.  Then in typical Becker fashion, we flew by the seat of our pants and packed the remaining  daylight hours with as much as we could.  We took our month's worth of recyclables to the recycle center (yes, we finally found it).  We visited the dinosaur museum, rolled down the big hill in Memorial Hermann Park and played at our neighborhood park.  We also managed to squeeze in a couple of new adventures.

Firstly, we visited the Beer Can House.

Yes.  Someone covered their house with various parts of beer cans and considers it art...  And secondly we ate tacos from a food truck that was parked in the grocery store parking lot.  They were surprisingly delicious and all the kids loved them!

One weekend we will rest.  It may not be next weekend or the next, but one of these weekends it will happen.  And maybe one week, in the far off distance future, we will have time to stop and catch our breath.  Right now I have time to catch up and transcribe the story of Orry's "black eye".   Now this is in his own words.  And I've gone back to add in that he read it over my shoulder and had me change things while I was writing.  Gotta love that kid.

"One day, when me and Nathan were at recess, I was walking and Nathan was running.  Nathan hit my cheek under my eye.  And I cried and I got to be the line leader.  We went inside and got a drink.  And the pattern is restroom, sanitize, drink.  When we were reading, a boy hit my head and I got an ice pack.  The ice pack is at the nurse.  Mrs. Taylor wrote my mom a note.  Then I left.  And you need to get your binder and your backpack.  And I am route 144.  The end."

Thanks for taking time out of your busy schedule to visit our blog!    

TMI

You've been warned.

Poop talk is common in our house.  I guess that's what I can say about our journey thus far with ulcerative colitis. Orry is quite familiar with the Bristol Stool Chart.  Every once in a while I'll hear a little voice shout out "2!" or "3!" from the bathroom.

At the zoo before our doctor's appointment

There are other things to say about our journey thus far, like how high and how low you can get.  Seeing solid, bloodless poops can make you feel pretty good, especially if you haven't seen them for a long while.  Seeing loose, bloody poops can make you feel really lousy, especially if you just saw them a few months ago and really thought that this time you got it right and that things were on the up and up.

Isaac is in flare mode again.  He's breaking for the bathroom a couple of times a day (not too bad) and having long bouts of diarrhea.  Unfortunately, we are coming to the end of the list of things we can try.  At the beginning of this journey we had what seemed like a long list of options and medications that we could try.  Maybe it seemed long because we were so hopeful that we would never reach the bottom of that list.

Chicken running around the house at 6am...

What's in store for Isaac?  Currently we have increased his meds since he has gained weight.  No new meds. Not yet.  No steroids because clearly they don't do what they are supposed to do.  We are trying a high-potency probiotic called VSL 3.  We are reading up on the Specific Carbohydrate Diet (SCD) and trying to pump ourselves up for such a drastic change.  And we have another colonoscopy scheduled for September 27th.  We are hoping to get a better diagnosis which will help us more effectively treat his disease.  We will also see if the flare is throughout his colon or if, fingers crossed, it is just in his lower colon, in which case we could try a medicated enema.

Don't feel too bad for Isaac, though.  He feels "great" and still has plenty of energy and is quite playful.

Now let's lighten the mood and talk a little bit about dinosaur poop.  The boys had a fun time reading, and re-reading, the book, Jurassic Poop: What Dinosaurs (and Others) Left Behind by Jacob Berkowitz.  We learned about coprolites and pretty much all things dino doo doo.  It's a really fun and informative read with some hilarious illustrations by Steve Mack.  I recommend checking it out from your local library.  It makes excellent bathroom reading.

Please keep Isaac in your thoughts and prayers as we get closer to the scope date.  Especially think about us on Monday, as we struggle with a 24 hour clear liquid diet.  No fun.  No fun at all.  We'll keep you posted!