My Son the Pyro

Today when I was making dinner, there was an unfortunate accident. Dinner was going and didn't need my complete attention for a few minutes so I thought I would fold a load of laundry. That was mistake number one. Be weary of multi-tasking when cooking.

Mistake number two. Believe that your sick husband who is laying on the couch dying, but has a really good view of your youngest child playing near stove, is watching said youngest child.

Mistake number three. Walk into bedroom to put the folded clothes away.

I was only gone maybe one minute. But that was enough. I immediately smelled something burning. I checked everything that was cooking but it was all fine. Something made me check the oven even though it wasn't on. Low and behold, Dominic left a gift in the oven.


An oven mitt!

I grabbed tongs and threw it in the sink and ran cold water on it. Then I threw it outside in the snow. Too late. The damage was already done. The house filled with smoke and I inhaled the vapors coming off the burned mitt. It burned my throat. All is well though. We just had to open windows and run fans during a snow storm.

You may ask how an oven mitt ended up on fire in an oven that was off. Well that was mistake number four. I had just washed it, and it was part of the laundry I was putting away. I didn't see Dominic sneak up and grab it. He then proceeded to the oven. The oven was off but the broiler was on (Thankfully the safety lock still works on it). So the oven wasn't hot, but the bottom of it was. Dominic yanked the oven open and Paul told him no. He immediately closed it leaving behind his gift that Paul never saw.

Don't worry though. Whenever the oven is on I do not walk away. A baby gate doen't stop him, it just draws more attention to it. We have tried several oven locks, but none of them seem to work. We have a REALLY old stove, so most of them won't even fit on it. The side one we found took Dominic about two minutes to pull off. So if anyone knows of a good side oven lock, please let me know. It has gotten to the point where I won't be able to use my oven anymore!

Valentine's Day

I know that I am way late posting anything about Valentines's Day, but I have a good excuse. I was busy playing Nancy Drew Legend of the Crystal Skull. There are not a lot of computer games I like, so when there is one I don't stop until I beat it.

Anyways, Valentines Day is not a big thing in our house. We just do small things to celebrate. The Sunday before I knew something was up. It was like 9:00 a.m. and Paul told me to go take a nap. You don't have to tell me twice, but it was a dead giveaway. I mean why would my husband be so kind as to tell me to take a nap? Either he was surprising me, or he wanted something. Either way, I went to sleep. This is what I woke up to:

The boys made me a cookie cake. They helped Daddy decorate it too. Paul swears the M&Ms were Ashton's idea. I'm not so sure . . .

On Valentines day I tried to make a red velvet cake for dessert. It. Did. Not. Go. Well. It was like something out of National Lampoon's Valentines Day. It imploded when I stuck a toothpick in it to see if it was done. This was the last straw. I give up. I can't bake. From now on, if it came out of the oven, it started from a box.

Dominic is MIA

I almost had a heart attack today. Seriously. I was on the brink. Ashton and I were happily playing on the computer and Dominic was playing close by with a couple of CDs he found. Ashton had a poopy diaper, though he insisted he had a "clean butt" as he so eloquently put it. A mild battle ensued which ended in me carrying him to the changing table. It was a massive diaper and took some time.

I put Ashton on the floor and told him I was going to check on Dominic. Ashton's door was mostly closed - a sign that Dominic is merrily playing away inside.

This was NOT the case!

I wasn't worried at first. I started making my rounds through the house (and my house isn't big). But I couldn't find him. Then it struck me. The house is quiet. Too quiet. Dominic is NEVER quite. He plays loud. He makes sound effects. He yells if he is happy, sad, or angry. He gives rasberries to everything including the air. But it was quiet.

I began to freak out. I frantically ran through the house searching everywhere for him. My heart was beating so fast. I actually thought of calling the police. He couldn't get outside. We have childproofed the doors because Ashton has on more than one occasion decided he wanted to go to the park next door by himself (I caught him immediately both times). So where could he be?



Sleeping away under the play table that I ran by like a zillion times while looking for him.

Ashton Gets HIs Dizzy On

I finally got my new camera, Yaaaaayyyyy!!!! It's a Canon and I love it. It is so much better than my old one. I guess my camera dying was a good thing. Haha.

Anyways, I promised my mom a month ago that I would post Ashton playing on Dominic's birthday present. So here it is.

I just love the look on his face when he is done. The first night we had it, Ashton spun so much he was dry heaving. We had to put the zebra away because neither of us wanted to clean up throw-up!

Dominic's First Words

I will not be able to post pictures for a while. Why? My camera is broke. Dead. Will never snap a picture again. Which really makes me mad. It is not a new camera by any means, but it is only 3 yrs old. Almost to the date. For how much it costs, it is reasonable to think it would last longer. So until we can afford otherwise, we will be living without a camera. And our new one will definately NOT be a Kodak. I have had nothing but trouble with it.

End of rant. Moving on to much better news.

Dominic said his first words! Well, besides mommom and dada. But still, yeeeaaaaa! You would never guess what they were. Most kiddos say something like ball, up, juice. Ashton's first words were tickle tickle. Always two tickles. That didn't end until after he was two. Still, it was really cute.

Then there is Dominic. That kid already fights the norm. In every way possible. He climbed up on a plastic chair, stood tall, and started screaming at me. I said Get Down. He looked me straight in the eye and yelled Get Down! Which I of course started laughing hysterically. Which of course made him yell Get Down at least ten times while laughing himself.

Yeah, I know I reinforce bad behavior. But it was too funny. Later, he climbed back up and told Daddy Get Cow. Which of course required Daddy to correct him. Which of course turned Dom into a pro at standing up on his blue plastic chair and yelling Get Down with a huge grin on his face. He is so proud! He carries his chair all over the house all day long randomly standing on it and yelling Get Down. If we even utter those words in his presence, he runs and gets his chair. Promptly climbs up, and you get the picture.

Now Ashton is repeating Dom's behavior. We just look at both boys and shake our heads. What are we gonna do? We wouldn't have it any other way!

Dominic turns 1 and the World as we know it is no more

Dominic turned one a few weeks ago. Usually a first birthday comes and goes, there is a party, and parents (I mean me) weep because their baby isn't a baby anymore! We had those milestones and a few more. There has definately been some noticeable changes is our house.

Dominic:

1. The morning of his first birthday he woke up and knew he was one. He was no longer a baby. He now has to be a "tough guy." It's almost like he stood up that fateful morning and puffed out his chest declaring "I am man, hear me roar!" He no longer takes attitude from his brother. Ashton used to knock him down and take toys from him, but not so easily anymore. Dominic will attack if he is provoked or if he just feels like it. He will slap with both hands (hard I might add speaking from personal experience), scratch out your eyes (Ashton has battle wounds on his eyelids), push you down, and take what ever he wants. All while screaming at the top of his little lungs.

2. Walking is not good enough. Must climb. Must climb EVERYTHING. The entertainment center, onto Ashton's bed (while falling in the process and getting stuck in between the bed and toy box), any stepstool or anything that remotely resembles a stepstool (such as trying to stand on the back of a little tykes chair - no standing on the chair itself is not good enough, must stand on back of chair, fall, cry, get up and repeat), any stairs that can be found anywhere we go, and the favorite dining room chairs (which he knock over, tries to climb up, often gets some sort of his body stuck, mommy rescues, knocks chair over again - you get the picture).

3. Fruits, veggies, and anything remotely gooey in my hands beware, I will feed you to the dog. Dom has always been picky, but it has gotten out of control lately. Even if he likes what his is eating, it is one bite for Dom, one bite for Monty (the dog), one bite for Dom, one bite for Monty. You get the picture.

4. Let's Mommy and Daddy hold him. This by far is my favorite change. He has never, never, NEVER wanted to be held before. I don't count holding while walking around the room consoling. I mean sitting down and cuddling. I LOVE it! I always thought the kid didn't like Paul or I becuase he wouldn't let us hold him. But now he wants to be held all the time (even if it is only for a minute!).

Ashton:

1. Has reverted back to calling me Mama instead of Mommy. I think he just imitating Dom, but it is kind of funny to hear an almost three year old calling Mama all the time.

2. Is also on a fruit and veggies strike. In fact, if I try to sneak some in and he realizes it, he spits it out. I made Chicken and Dumplings, one of his favorite dishes, and at the bottom of his bowl was every kernal of corn I had given him. This makes cooking extremely difficult.

3. Has finally mastered the concept of hide-and-go-seek. Before he always looked for us while he was counting and never understood how to hide himself. Now he wants to play all the time. He has gotten so good that it can take me a few minutes to find him. That's a pretty good feat for a two yr old!

4. Has learned to cooperate and play with Dom. This may have something to do with Dom's new attitude, but I'll take it any way I can. They used to fight constantly, and now there are periods of time where they sit and play together. The other day Ashton was playing with Dom's Barney computer and Dom wanted it. So Ashton set it up for him and went and got his own Thomas computer and set it up next to Dom. They sat there right next to each other playing so well. It melted my heart.

I have had a very bad week. I am exhausted. I have gotten frustrated with the kids too many times to count, probably because of lack of sleep. Dominic has been sick (which he woke up today acting like the happy Dominic I know and love, but wasn't sure still existed). When Dom is sick the world must cater to him at his every waking second. He cries, cries, and cries some more. Ashton is extremely jealous that Dominic is getting so much attention. It takes a toll on me. But just when I feel overwhelmed Dominic smiles and claps his hands for me, or Ashton sings Twinkle, Twinkle Little Star and kisses my forehead. They bring me back to reality and make me realize just how lucky I am. I really am lucky, I have a wonderful family.



Who wouldn't love these munchkins!

New Table

I know this is a little late, but I told the Grams that I would post a picture of our new table. We recieved money for Christmas, and this is what we used it for. We love it! It came with six chairs and a two (maybe three little ones) person bench. We keep two of the chairs in the garage and the bench under the table. We had the leaf folded in, and Ashton missed his "big" table. It already has too numerous scraches to speak of, so I am pretending that they are not there!


The picture doesn't do it justice. It's kinda hard to take a good picture of a table. Not to mention, we so need to hang something on the wall over it and get a center piece!