Say What?

Okay, so as a mom of two preschooler boys I am constantly breaking up fights, fixing toys, generally keeping the house from destruction as well as making sure Andrew and Sam don't inflict bodily harm on one another or themselves. In doing these things, I have realized recently that some of the things I find myself saying are quite funny, and taken out of context are rather hilarious. I have made a conscious effort to write down a few "one-liners" to post for your reading enjoyment.

1. I don't think the cat is enjoying that as much as you are. (As Sam was decorating Olivia with about 20 stickers)


2. Hands up! (Correcting the apparently hereditary condition of placing one's hands down the front of one's pants to make sure nothing is missing...Andrew went through the same phase, but it did end---thank goodness)


3. No jumping on the rocket! (The boys have an inflatable punching bag in the shape of a rocket that seems to be a great landing surface after a jump from the couch)


4. Stop throwing the fish! (No, not the ones for dinner, but the plastic ones from a fishing game...just sounds funny when I say it out loud)


5. Hands up, please!


6. The shovel won't fit up your nose. (Again, not what you may think, it was a small plastic spade that Sam has and really was attempting a booger extraction with)


7. Please try and walk like a human!!! (Haven't we all had moments when our children's legs seem to transform to spagetti noodles when you need them to exit the furniture store even though they had been functioning just right for the past 15 minutes as said child was running laps around the showroom floor...what were we thinking taking kids furniture shopping)


8. Hands UP! (I say this a lot...too much)


9. Don't jump off the grill (No, not that grill...its a playskool talking grill that Sam was practicing his balancing act on followed by a perfectly executed dismount)


10. I don't remember putting your dessert in your nostrils (I really think restaurants should start offering boogers on the children's menu as Andrew would rather nibble on his own snot than try a bite of ice cream, chicken nuggets, pudding, etc...)


11. The cat's ears do not come off! (A lesson Sam learned about the house cat, and the fact that she cannot be disassembled in the same manner as Mr. Potato Head)


12. For the last time, I said HANDS UP!!!! (Oh, I give up. I just hope this stops soon)

Well, I hope you all enjoy these as much as I did putting them together. I LOVE MY BOYS!!!!

Time Out!

ANDREW AND SAM--GO TO TIME OUT!!! Shouldn't this envoke emotions of guilt and unhappiness in children? Do these boys look like they feel either of those emotions? I snapped this the other week while they were in timeout. How could mommy stay mad at them as they sat next to each other so sweetly?

What a Summer!

Although it was three months long, and there were days that I thought would never end...it's over! I have to apologize for going two months without a post. I really don't have a good reason why. Allthat said, I don't know were to start because there are so many things that have happened and are in the process of happening that I could end up writing another mini-novel. So I'll take my dear friend Mandy's advice and bullet point some ongoings in the Gonzalez tribe. I'll expand on them when given the opportunity. Okay, here goes...

• Andrew's stitches are out and the scar is a doosie--thank God it's on his foot and not his hansome little face!
• Trip to Wisconsin was a blast in July--found out I will be an aunt again as Katrina is expecting in March (Aunt Christa is so much hoping for a girl)
• Lots of trips to the pool over the summer have allowed Andrew to really blossom as a legitimate swimmer!!! He amazes me at his progress since April and can now swim the width of the pool, come up for a breath or two, and can dive down 4 ft. 9 in. to get a dive stick! Sam's still quite clingy and would rather be held or just play on the steps for now.
• Went to the beach a couple times too...I think the boys would be more than happy if we just lived there!!!
• School's back in session and both boys are excited about this. Andrew has the same wonderful teacher as last year and has adjusted back to the routine beautifully...he was the star student on the third day back ;) Sam has started preschool at our church two days a week and seems to be doing very well...no crying!!! In fact, when I dropped him off this morning he wasn't phased by the other two boys in his class that were crying, he simply turned to me after putting his back pack in his basket, waved and said matter-of-factly "bye-bye mommy," as if to say you can leave now, I'm fine.
• Andrew is starting potty training- an arduous task for an autistic child, but is making steady progress. He almost always will go tinkle (or make yellow as he calls it), but brown has not happened yet. He did have an confusing potty experience at a friends house the other week. After "making yellow" in a toilet that has blue water he looked in the bowl, then at me and quite proudly announced that he had "made green!!"
• Poor little Sammy has to go under the knife soon to have a cyst on his neck removed. Doctor's are fairly confident that it is a common cyst and nothing malignant, but nevertheless, it has to come out. Surgery is scheduled for the 29th of this month, however it might be postponed until after he has fininshed an antibiotic for a pretty nasty infection on his big toe that has actually moved into a small bloodstream infection in his foot!!! What's up with these Gonzalez feet??? Demel' s feet are okay, but he does have funky looking toes.

Well, I hope this satisfied you all for a while and I really will try to get some photos up soon. It's 2:00pm so I 've got to go pick up Andrew and then it's off to speech therapy before going home. My life and my hectic schedule sure do revolve around my kiddos...but as hectic and monotonous as is sometimes seems, I know that doing what we do day in and day out and just plain being here is the most important contribution I could be making to their lives....and that makes it Soooo worth it!

It Happened SO Fast!!

Alright. I admit that there are times during the day that I do not have the boys in my sight. They are usually in their rooms playing while I cook dinner or put away laundry. Well, Friday afternoon while I was straightening up the living room before our dinner guests arrived, I had an ear on the kids while they were playing in our bedroom. Literally as I started walking towards our room to take a shower, I heard a loud CRASH! They both started crying immediately and I just had that feelin that it was bad. I ran in to check on them and found them in our bathroom. The vanity stool was on the floor and so were the boys. I picked up Sam first to comfort him, only before I realized that he was fine but Andrew's cry seemed more painful. I set Sam down the same time I glanced at Andrew and saw blood! And a lot of it!!! He was hysterical and frankly I was getting there too as I tried to locate the source of the blood. What I found on his right foot is still engrained in my memory. He had a gash on the top of his foot from his little toe about 3 inches long almost reaching his ankle. It was bad. I knew right away this was emergency room material. I quickly ran to get a towel and swooped him up trying to hold the skin together under the towel. I grabbed the phone and called my mom, who had the day off, and basically told her she needed to drop everything and get over here. Did I mention that it was really bad, yet? Anyway, I knew my wonderful neighbors were home so I rushed out the front door carring a forty pound 4-year-old in my arms and asked God to protect Sam as I left the door open with Sam in the house. I ran next door, rang the doorbell with my shoulder, and as soon as Marie opened the door, I excitedly explained that I needed to take Andrew to the hospital and asked if she could watch Sam till grandma got there. She followed me over to my driveway just as Sam was stepping out the front door. She grabbed him and went to get her hubby (who was in the middle of mowing the lawn) so that he could drive Andrew and I to the hospital. I slipped on some shoes and hopped in the backseat of Mark's car. It took moments to get to the hospital and once there were seen very quickly. Turns out, his laceration went through the fatty layer and needed 3 internal stitches before 15 external!!! He put up quite a fight while the stitches went in, and the male nurse that assisted Demel and I in holding Andrew down commented that he doesn't usually break a sweat restraining a patient until they see the drunks in the middle of the night. Well, it's three days later and if Andrew wasn't wearing a bandage on his foot, you would never know anything was wrong with him as he runs around like normal. Stitches come out Friday in Cedarburg, WI. Then he'll be cleared for swimming and baths. (No, he's not stinky- showers are okay for now.)

We, the jury...

can't seem to be able to come to a unanimous decision. After debating our viewpoints on a battery case for about 2 1/2 hours, we informed the judge of the situation and he had to rule the case to be a mistrial. This was the first jury I had ever sat on, but the third time I had ever been summoned for duty. I was excused from federal court duty when my grandma was failing and in the hospital shortly before I was married and again excused when I was pregnant with Andrew. I actually could have been excused for being a full time mom with a child under the age of 6, but for some reason, I think they might stop calling me if I just go do it. And maybe now I'll be blacklisted for being on a case that was mistried. I really did find the whole process very interesting, but feel a sense of failure that the six of us on the jury couldn't render a verdict, therefore pretty much wasting a lot of time and money! If any good came of it, I would have to say that it reaffirmed that I'm still an intelligent person as I thouroughly enjoyed arguing my points to my fellow jurors in hopes of swaying them. In fact, one of my fellow jurors commented that a sheriff that had mistook me for being a public defender earlier that morning was pretty accurate as he said I was very persuasive. I guess my mom and husband could affirm that too. Ah, so back to persuading two toddlers to be nice to one another, so they don't end up in court one day for resorting to physical force when they get upset at someone. I guess this mommy job is more encompassing than it may appear!

A Pirate's Life For Me!

Sam is Officially a Two-year-old! Somebody help me!!!!

Since we had a larger party for Andrew this year, the original plan was to have a small evening get-together at our house on Sam's birthday. I don't know how it got so "not small", but we ended up with roughly 12 adults and 7 children. So much for an informal evening, but it was really fun!

The dinner consisted of two pans of good ol' Stouffer's lasagne, salad, and breadsticks-I didn't have to do any real cooking!! The most time consuming part of the whole celebration was the preparation of the Lightning McQueen cake that I constructed the night before. (That whole process could almost have a post of it's own!) Let's just say that Sam was lucky to have a cool cake like this one, but chances are slim that it will be an annual tradition. Check it out, though...admire what 3 1/2 hours of decorating a cake till midnight will get you. Please comment that you have seen the most beautiful cake in the world and that you would have a hard time eating such a work of art!!!
The highlight of Sam's big day was a tie between two events at his party. He really enjoyed opening his cool gifts....
...but, the opportunity of getting kissed simultaneously by two girls at the cake table took the grand prize. Thank you Morgan and cousin Isabelle for making this two-year-olds day! A funny note about the kisses is that after round 1, Sammy used sign language, as well as verbalizing that he wanted "More."
So there it is folks, an updated entry from Christa. See you all in another month! No, hopefully before then.