Sam’s Bedroom

Sam, finally, got his birthday present.  It was only a few months late.

Sam came home to 4 white walls and the only crib set I could stomach.  I never knew how hard it was to decorate for a boy, especially, when I hadn’t met him, yet.  I remember standing in front of that wall of crib bedding at Babies R Us.  Did I like the dinosaurs?  Nah.  Did I like the cars?  Meh, Did I like the baseball theme?  UH, NO!  SoHubby was going to go for the flower one, so I, finally,  settled on the baby jungle theme.  Everyone loves baby jungle animals, right?  So that was Sam’s room for 5 yrs: white walls, a couple of shelves, a dresser, and a crib/toddler bed.  It took the third kid to figure out I didn’t need a whole bedding set.  They just cause trouble, anyway.

It was the perfect time to decorate Sam’s room: 1. He was 5 yrs old and needed to get out of his crib/toddler bed.  and 2. I had gotten to know him, so I knew what he wanted.  His room is a superhero/Star Wars theme.  I have been corrected many times when I mentioned his room is a Superhero room only to be told that Star Wars is not superhero.  Yeah, whatever.

The easy part was telling Sam all about his room.  The hard part was actually doing the room.  I have a fear of painting.  Throughout the months I gathered posters, frames, bedding, curtains, and paint samples.  Oh Lord, the paint samples!  While I have a fear of painting, which includes picking out the color, SoHubby, on the other hand, has no fear of paint samples.  When we were deciding on a color for our living room he would bring home handfuls of paint samples everyday.  After awhile, all the colors blended together.  I still don’t know what you call the color of our living room, but I know we can call it finished.

Then at the end of summer I had got the courage to buy 2 paint samples.  It would take me another few weeks to get the courage to actually put them on the wall.  Once you put that sample on the wall that’s it, you must commit to painting the whole thing.

It seems fitting that one massive storm inhibited us from preparing for Sam like we did with Amber, but another (not so massive) storm would get our butts in gear.  Since we were all stuck home because of tropical storm Lee, I decided to bite the bullet and paint the room.  There were many trips to Home Depot.  Me letting go and trusting people, who you know do this kind of thing all the time.  And SoHubby actually being trapped at home to help me.  I was shocked that it took only a couple of hours to paint the room.  Once that was done, we were off and running.  There was some mishaps with those Command Strip things, which just forced us to go old school and use nails.  Here is Sam’s room pretty much done.  If anyone can suggest where I can find a slightly more big boy lamp shade, I can call the room officially done.

The entrance.
These are pictures from the movie How to Train a Dragon.
Seem fitting that dragons would protect his room.

Sam’s new bed, curtains, Yoda clock (on the shelf), superhero posters nicely framed
And, of course, a Clone Trooper helmet to round things out.
The Clone Trooper helmet is actually from one of the many Halloween
costumes I got on sale.

A closer look at the posters.  He got Spiderman and Transformer bedding.
As you can see my son doesn’t sleep under the comforter, but ontop with his
fleece blanket.
I really do like the paint color.  I think it highlights the posters well.

The other side of the room and my favorite Spiderman poster.
That is Bumblebee’s helmet.
We have a Bobo Fett helmet, but for some reason it scares Sam at night, or so he says.  I have to say I never thought, I would call to my son and demand that he takes his Bobo Fett helmet to his room, because “it doesn’t belong in the playroom”. Yeah, life is kind of surreal with kids.

You can see the offending lamp shade.  Such a small detail that gives me fits.
I think I made up for it with the reusable wall stickers of Ben 10 Ultimate Alien Force. Don’t ask me anymore about Ben 10, because I have told you all I know and I get yelled at, because “I have told you a million times, mom.  Why can’t you remember?”  These stickers are a source of entertainment for Sam and SoHubby.
And when I say entertainment, I mean war of how the stickers should be applied.
Amber, Sam and SoHubby put the stickers on the wall.  There was much disagreement where certain ones should go.  Now, SoHubby will move a sticker only to have Sam come behind him and move it back.

And my favorite, the giant Anakin Skywalker wall sticker. It took a bit to put up, but I did it.  The best part, his lightsaber glows in the dark.  That alone should win me the Coolest Mom award.
These wall stickers are so cool and I love them. I can’t wait to use these when I redo the girls’ room, which won’t be until Evie is in a twin bed.  If history as taught us anything that won’t be for another 3 years.

And as a bonus we got these smaller stickers.  Sadly, the little lightsabers don’t glow, but I think that would be asking too much.

I am so happy we, finally, got Sam’s room done. It feels like it is truly his room, now.

Read Full Post »

A 3 year old, a 20 dollar bill and all of Target at his Mercy

Sam will be turning 3 in a few days and as is customary in a grandparent kind of way, my dad and stepmother sent him a $20 slipped in a birthday card.  I should say that the card, also, had my littlest sister’s name, but I doubt she had much thought in it.  You know those 13 year olds, all obsessed with romantic vampires, text messaging and being left alone.  However, I will give credit where credit is due.   When Sam got his card he fell in line with the rest of us when we get a birthday card that might have money in it, he squealed like a stuck pig and danced around the kitchen for a bit.  I put it back in the card and, again like a regular 3 year old, quickly forgot about what wasn’t currently in front of his face and probably screamed for food.  You know, because only feeding him every 30 seconds is basically starving him. 

I informed Sam that he would get to take his crisp new 20 dollar bill to Target and get whatever he wanted on our regular shopping day.  Now, if this was Amber, she would already be contemplating exactly what she wanted and then asking for something 3 times the price of the money she had available.  Sam, on the other hand, was overjoyed for the few seconds I let him hold his money and then promptly forgot about it, again.  At this point, I considered tucking the $20 into my wallet and putting it toward Mommy’s Getaway Tour.  And if you think about it, that is sort of a gift to him, because I won’t be here to tell him to stop asking me for food, ALREADY!   Okay, are you getting the boy never stops eating or, at least, asking for food?  Then I thought that would be wrong and karma will come to bite me on the ass, like having Helga the German Prisoner Guard available for my next massage. 

Once in the store, the only thing that was on Sam’s mind was “playing with the toys”.  I asked him several times what he wanted to buy and he said, “I don’t want anything” added with a wave of the hand to leave him alone to “play with the toys”.  After a few times of this line of questioning he would scream his answer at me and I really started to consider my Getaway fund.  I mean he passed up the Handy Mandy Tool box with the dancing and singing tools.  The one toy he has asked for since he saw it in the beginning of January.  Everytime we go to the store, he has to hear this toy about 50 times before I drag him away kicking and screaming, but NOPE he didn’t want to take the bilingual tool box home.  I am sure this was God’s way of thanking me for not stealing my son’s birthday money, because Spanish singing tools bouncing around in a toolbox would probably drive me to accidentally “lose” it after only a few moments of possession.  Just when we hit the end of the toys that interested him, I suggested, like an idiot, to look at Thomas.  I bent down, looked him in the eye, and said “Surely, you can find something you like on the Thomas aisle.”  Huge mistake.  See, even us moms that have been around the block or two make dumb mistakes.  Only difference is that we know it is a dumb mistake before the last syllable leaves our mouth, but it is too late to stop it.  Once all of the possibilities of Thomas were opened up to him, he wanted needed everything.  That Thomas stuff ain’t cheap and worse, yet, it needs adult participation to put all the crap together.  Not that I don’t love playing with my son, but have you ever sat there scratching your head trying to figure out how to put all these little train parts together with a screaming toddler smacking you on the butt telling you to hurry up, already?  No fun.  So that is when I made the call to SoHubby.  After figuring out that he wasn’t his assistant, I explained that it seems all Sam wants is Thomas the Train items and what does he think about that?  Dumbfounded as to why he was brought in on such an issue, I was left with silence.  Then I say, “If I get this stuff you are going to have to put it together, because I don’t know if I can take another few hours jamming train tracks together.”  There was laughter and an assurance that yes he would “play” with Sam.  So we ended up with the engine wash, the Great Race and extension tracks, made possible by PawPaw and Nana.  Why do I see me sitting hunched over the train table cursing under my breath, because I can’t get the damn tracks to fit together right and it looks nothing like the picture?

After wanting to beat my head with the engine wash toy if Sam asked me one more time what the long pieces of rubber are that hang down at the end of the car wash, we made it to the cashier.  I thought it was only fitting that Sam pay for HIS toy with HIS money.  I don’t think the cashier felt the same as I in this being a perfect time to teach my 3 year old basic economics.  Sam put his toy on the belt and his money, too.  When the helpful customer behind us tried to hand him his money he showed her whose boss by screaming that, “HE WANT TO DO IT!”  She dropped the money and strongly considered never having children.  Sam tried to reach the $20 bill, but was having trouble since he couldn’t see the 5 inches above his head.  The cashier wanting to just hurry this little lesson along grabbed the money and handed him his changed.  She folded it nicely as to keep the change from falling everywhere, but that was just a lesson in trying to be logical when dealing with a 3 year old.  Of course, the change went flying everywhere, as soon as, Sam had his grubby little hands on the money.  Although, he thought it was a hoot to chase down a wayward nickel, I was ready to leave and get on with the our grocery store adventure.  I put his change in his cargo pocket and we went on our way.  I would then hear the saga over and over again all the way to the grocery store and there after everytime the change jingled in his pocket.  Later, after his nap, he would cry and cry to put his money in his alligator bank.  So I sat there watching the minutes tick by wondering if we would be able to pick up Amber before dusk  as he pushed each little coin into the alligator’s belly.  And true to 3 year old form, Sam has forgotten all about the toys he just had to have hours earlier and will be totally surprised when he unwraps them on Sunday.  This stage of the game does has it’s advantages.

 

Read Full Post »

Cow Racing, Target Practice, Rabbids and that Damn February Baby

We started off the New Year with a date night.  As our date nights are always on Tuesdays, it wasn’t a big stretch.  It was supposed to be like every other date night: dinner and a movie.  However, we met up with friends for dinner and then they dragged us to their house to wait for the movie to start.  I thought what the heck, we had an hour and half to kill why not?  I didn’t realize that I would be opening myself up to a new additiction in my life.  One thing you must know, these so-called friends have opened the door to many things that I didn’t know we needed until they came into our lives, like, TiVo (oh, how I love thee and never, NEVER, want to live without you) and Netflix (keeping blockbuster employees safe from my rantings).

Before all that, we are in the process of planning the big 2 for Sam.  The problem, his birthday is on the 2nd and Mardi Gras is on the 5th.  Some may say, NO big deal, but let me tell you a little story.  This is a story told to me by our friend who, also, has a February birthday.  It seems that babies born in late January, February and early March in New Orleans may fall to the similar fate.  A young CS planned a disco party (hold your laughter it is not polite)where all of his friends agreed to come.  When the day came, which was the same day as the Endymion parade, no one showed up.  He was left alone, while the whole city partied.  He did make it to the movies with a friend, thanks to his dad, but nothing could take the sting away from being stood up for one of the biggest parades in the city.  It appears that this is a scar that runs deep and I wonder how we can avoid this for little Sam. 

Sam’s REAL birthday is on the Saturday before Mardi Gras, which will be the day of Endymion.  We are facing a big dilemma here.  Our solution will be to celebrate Sam’s birthday on the last Saturday in January.  The poor boy will be forever confused as to which day is his actually birthday.  No matter, if I didn’t scar him in one way it would be another, so I shall push that thought aside and get on with a much bigger decision:  Thomas or Mardi Gras party.  Our friend warns that February babies are not fond of the Mardi Gras theme party.  If we are going to do it, we might as well do it while the boy has no say in it.  On the upside, I know I can get him a cheap birthday cake with minimal effort.

Now, on with my newest addiction that leaves me scratching and wondering the halls:  the Wii.  I had shunned the Wii, because I am not one of those video gamers.  GEEK!  I played Atari and the Nintendo as a young girl, but I was never that into it.  It was just a way to pass the time on long hot summer days.  Then we were opened to the wide world of hilarity of watching your friends and siginficant other look funny while trying to hit a tennis ball, shoot a balloon or maneuver a drugged out bunny through it’s world with no clear goal in mind.  We had only planned to stay for an hour, but once that Wii controller was placed in our hands we held on tight.  I enjoyed the pounding I gave my friend, in the virtual world, playing tennis with a litte Asian chick and Mayor Ray Nagin, sitting atop my brown and white cow knocking down scarecrows and blocking the sensor bar while trying to shoot at moving objects on the screen.  Who says you can’t cheat at video games? 

I have visions of justifing a big purchase of a hard to find gaming system as excercise and ignoring my family even more than I do, now.  How could anyone complain that I am not fulfilling my family obligations when I am doing something good for my body by beating the tar out of my loved ones, in the virtual world?  It is in the name of health, people.

Read Full Post »

We partied like it was Sam’s birthday.

Sammy had his birthday party, yesterday. It was great: kids running around like they were on a day pass from the asylum, adults comparing notes on said crazy kids, men huddled in corners talking about guns, contractors and new offices and me just trying to keep up.

I like get together, especially with family and friends. However, I always feel as if someone is being left out. My dad had come early and it was great to get to talk to him without the chaos of other people chattering in the background. However, once that doorbell rang and everyone started to arrive all bets were off. Who was I going to talk to? Did I talk to them over there? Wait what did I forget to put out? This isn’t going to be enough food. Oh shit, I have disappointed again. I think we need to start serving alcohol, because sometimes people just need to forget.

Children are easy to please. They ate chips, even the tiny broken ones at the bottom of the bag. They loved the pizza rolls so much that they actually took time from their busy schedules of tearing apart Amber’s room to sit down and eat them. They suck all my juice boxes dry. And when the knife hit the cake, there they were ready for the first piece. Although, it is hard to satisfy all the wants of the corner piece or the piece with the most icing. After all that they scattered to the living room and bedroom to play with all the new to them toys.

Sam, on the other hand, didn’t know what to make of all this. Here it was a normal Sunday, or so he thought, and then all of a sudden there were people grabbing at him and wanting to know how it felt to be a year old. ” Hmmmm….seems the same as when I was 11 months 3 weeks and 6 days old, but what do I know I cant talk, yet.”

Sam is not my social child. That area is best served by Amber. She will sing, dance and tell you stories. Sam is happy to be left alone, as long as one or both of his parents are within his eyeline. He didn’t know what to do with himself at his own party. Many times he was left in the middle of the crowd crying and wondering why mom had just plopped him down and left. He was really perplexed when we set a whole cake in front of him. “Was it safe to eat it? Is this a test? Is something going to jump out at me? Maybe mom put some in here to make me sleep.”

We had fun, even though the food didn’t last, a good time was had by all. And if it wasn’t, not my fault, I just work here.

Now, it is time to get ready for Amber’s party. I am thinking of placing a cake in the middle of the playroom, that is not even started yet, and locking the door. As kids arrive we shove them in and the adults can have awkward conversation in the other room. After 2 hours, the parents can retrieve their children and take them home. Don’t forget the annoying and useless toy filled favor bag on the way out. And if you wanted a pony ride then you should have went to little Susie’s party instead.

Read Full Post »

Happy Birthday to Ya. (Sam)

A year ago today, Sam was taken from my womb. He entered the world by force and just had to deal with it. His revenge was not breastfeeding for a couple of days and causing worry for me and the nurses. He decided to sleep much of his time in the hospital and wasn’t interested in feeding. After a refresher course in how babies are suppose to breastfeed, we got it and things got better. Not great, but better.

Sam was/is a small baby. He was born weighing 7lbs 4 ozs and 20 inches long. Only one pound less than his sister. There was concern around month 9 when Sam would be in the less than 3% on the growth chart. This will be when I throw in the towel and wean the Sam man from the breast. Sam doesn’t miss a beat and takes to the bottle no problems. “Boob, boob…what boob? Milk comes in bottles, right?” At his year appointment, Sam weighed in at a whooping 17.14lbs and is 28 inches long. Still in the lower 3%, but doctor seems fine with it. So we will go with it.

Sam has hit all his milestones, even if we didn’t have a party at each turn. Second child syndrome, anyone? Not walking or talking, yet, but there is still time. One thing Sam can brag about, to his sister, is that there is more video of him than her. Since I have started this little blog, I am obsessed with getting funny video of Sam. He has his fair share of pictures, too.

The thing about Sam is his laugh. It has got to be the best baby laugh I have ever heard. It is hearty and he really means it. It isn’t very hard to get a laugh, so I get them as many times a day I can.

Sam is a big flirt. He loves to play shy and give the ladies a little smile. It doesn’t matter if there is a binky in the mouth or not, if you give him a little attention he will reward you with a smile. Don’t mistake this for him wanting you to touch him or pick him up. He would much rather observe you from afar.

A few favorite Samisms, that are cute but can annoy at the same time:

An obsession with putting things in and out of the oddest places. The item is usually the binky.
Many a time I have found a binky in the bin under the train table, dog dish, garbage, crockpot in lower cabinet, and toilet.

Yelling at the worst time, like when it is absolute calm in the car. This has caused me to swerved and curse. I believe he finds it very amusing.

Pulling all the books off the bookcase in bedroom. Sitting in the middle of bookpile flipping through his favorite book (Colorful butterflies or 10 Ladybugs).

Letting the water run from the cooler.

Laughing when Mom says NO. I know you know what it means, you just don’t care.

Kicking legs violently when trying to change diaper or clothes. Also, turning over while in the dressing process. I understand you may not like it, but CPS may have problems with me letting you go out naked.

Drop and pick up game. Sam grabs things with the sole purpose of throwing it to the floor. This occurs in stores, bedroom, public restrooms, outside, car, etc. I have learned to take the item away. This really pisses him off.

Sam has, finally, decided that he will eat real food. No more baby food is needed, but I still have some in the pantry. I guess I will sneak it in when I can. I don’t think I can take another look from the customer service agent at Target when I return baby food. This has caused a dilemma, because you don’t eat much of the food. So for now we will stick with the formula. You seem to like the whole milk, but we will reserve that for mealtimes.

It has been a long journey for both of us. You finding your way in the world, me trying to figure out this life with 2 kids. It was rough in the beginning, but as time passes things get better. Here is to your second year of life. I hope it brings more laughter than tears and more sleep.

Read Full Post »