Changes

Well, it's been WAY too long since I last posted.  In fact,  I have three entries sitting in draft from six months ago.  Oh well.  Perhaps now I will be more consistent and get into this blog thing.  Steve started his own blog  . . . so maybe now that I have some competition I'll post more regularly.

Lots of changes are coming for my Boys McBride and Momma McBride.  Steve has landed a promotion to purchasing manager for one of Freeport's plants in Iowa.  He leaves this weekend for the 24 hour drive to Fort Madison, Iowa.  The kids and I won't be moving until the end of July:(  I'm not looking forward to being away from him that long, but thankfully he'll get to come home at least once during July for the weekend.  Unfortunately, the timing won't work out for him to be home for the 4th of July.

We won't be closing on our new house in Iowa until late August so the family will be in limbo for a while.  Temporary housing with toddlers doesn't sound very appealing to me, so I'm planning a road trip for the kids and I to visit friends and family.  I'm just hoping we have time to get settled before Colin begins preschool and my fall classes begin. 

Another big change we'll have in the coming months is that we're expecting a new member of the McBride clan!  New baby McBride is scheduled to arrive sometime in February.  Our first OB appointment is this Friday the 26th and we're hoping to see the baby's heartbeat on ultrasound.  We're praying for an easy pregnancy and a healthy baby.  The boys are very excited.  Colin insists the baby will be a girl.  Connor announced with a grin that he wants the baby to be a "baby truck".   

Reflections on 2008

 

Ok, so I didn't do so well on the family blog in 2008 but I that's the great thing about January . . . I have set my hopes high for 2009.  I thought my first entry for 2009 should be a recap of last year. 

Connor turned one in January of 2008.  He had a party complete with family, friends, and a 3D dinosaur cake.  A couple of months later he finally learned to walk.  We were getting a bit worried but finally decided he was just practicing self preservation.  Every time he stood up on his own Colin knocked him down (not usually on purpose).  Once he took those first steps he was off and running though.  That seems to be his style.  It was the same for talking.  He took a bit longer than Colin did to start talking but boy once he did!  He still likes to skip over the unimportant words but he is very verbal.  Connor has turned out to be our little engineer.  He spends quite a bit of his time building with blocks and putting little matchbox cars into larger vehicles.  He will get them stuck and then run to us for assistance saying "stuck, stuck" until we complete the rescue. 

Colin turned three in June.  His big accomplishment this year (at least in a mom's eyes) was potty training.  Though we had been working on it for a while he finally got it down in late summer.  (One down one to go).   Of course his vocabulary has grown by leaps and bounds and he learned to write his first name.  Colin's new pastime in 2008 was learning to use the computer.  I don't really know how it happened but he is quite proficient at navigating the PBS KIDS and Playhouse Disney sites once we get him online.  That still amazes me.  I don't think I used a computer at all until I was in 7th grade! 

In January Steve got a promotion to Process Leader (basically supervisor over the buyers).  It's a nice switch of pace for him I think as he can get board doing the same thing everyday.  Late 2008 brought declines all around and copper wasn't an exception.  Unfortunately, many in Steve's department were laid off in December . . . now there's the same work load just less people.  Hopefully, things will stabilize in 2009.

Probably the biggest event in 2008 for the entire family was my treatment for hepatitis c. I began mid January and finished on July 11th.  All in all the treatment actually wasn't that bad.  Not Fun.  But not as bad as it could have been.  As of my six month checks at the end of December I am CLEAR of the virus.  The MD's consider me "cured".  In case you aren't familiar hepatitis c is a virus that is spread blood to blood.  I contracted it from a blood transfusion when I was an infant.   Since there wasn't a test for hepatitis c until 1992, anyone who received blood or blood products prior to '92 is at risk.  The disease moves VERY slowly so you can have it for decades and not even know you have it until the damage has been done. 

Another change for me was that in June I began taking prerequisites and working toward nursing school.  So far I've taken two classes and I will begin two more next week (Chemistry and Anatomy).  I have quite a few more classes to take before but I don't plan to start nursing school until around the time Connor starts kindergarten anyway. 

We had countless doctor's appointments and four ER visits.  Our first ER visit was for me (vertigo) caused by an inner ear issue . . . possibly from treatment.  Then in May Colin told us he swallowed a straight pin (he didn't) but we now have the x-rays to prove it.  In late October, Connor went to the ER because he was breathing "weird".  SIX hours and a breathing treatment later we were sent home and told he was fine.  Well, after two more trips to the pediatricians office we were told he may be developing asthma and sent home with a nebulizer.  So far this winter we've only had to use it a few times so hopefully he outgrows it. 

Our fourth ER visit coincided with our summer vacation.  We decided to brave camping with two toddlers so in July we set out for Yosemite National Park in California.  About noon the first day I started developing a headache.  By the time we stopped for the night at a hotel in Fresno my headache fairly bad.  Thinking I just needed to eat we ordered dinner and went for a swim.  Before our food arrived, I found myself huddled on the hotel bathroom floor crying in pain and vomiting.  Convinced it was a reaction from my treatment (which I had just finished a week earlier) we went to the ER.  Well, the diagnosis was migraines.  They gave me a pain shot and sent me on my way.  I did end up having a few more migraines or the next couple of weeks but none since so I am convinced it was treatment related. 

Anyway, I was fine the next morning so we continued on to Yosemite (despite Steve's inclination to turn around and go home).  Let me just say that Yosemite is unbelievably beautiful.  It is truly God's creation at it's best.  We had been concerned about finding a place to camp since all the reserved sites were taken long before we decided we were going there.  But despite getting a late start the second morning we arrived at the first serve first come area around noon and were immediately given a camp site.  We set up camp and spent the afternoon exploring Yosemite Valley.  The second day we rented bikes and a trailer for the boys and roamed the park.  That is a great way to get to see everything (especially if you aren't pulling two toddlers).  But it was fun and the boys loved it.  The weather was great.  Warm but not too hot during the day and the nights were cool but not cold.   The boys had a blast Colin's favorite thing was throwing sticks in the fire and Connor spent the week filthy from head to toe from playing in the dirt.  We plan to make Yosemite our yearly family vacation we enjoyed it so much.

In November, we moved (AGAIN).  It seems we're making it a yearly routine.  We moved just a few miles away to a rental that has a fenced back yard and grass.  We loved our previous home but not having a fenced back yard or     grass was a pain.  Our new community also has a pool and fitness center which we'll hopefully get a lot of use out of.

 

Well, that was 2008 in a thousand words or less.  I'm sure I left out a lot . . . like our new church and a billion funny things the boys did last year but I suppose that will all have to wait for another entry.

 

Short Movie of Vacation 2008

I'm experimenting with the movie program . . . let's see if this works.

Time Out, Escape, and the Cage

Before I get to the point, a little back story may be necessary.

Steve and I started attending a parenting workshop at church last week. The boys are typical toddlers . . . but our desire is that they grow out of the toddler behaviors sooner rather than later. I've seen one too many five year olds sucking pacifiers and crying hysterically in Wal-mart to think that well behaved children didn't have help with the "growing out of it" process. So, for the past week we've been cracking the whip so to speak.

Today, the Lord blessed me with more patience than I think I've ever had and more energy than I've had in months. By noon I knew why. We have been intermittently using "timeout" since Colin was about eighteen months old. I've been thinking lately that it doesn't work as well as it should because it's no sacrifice for him. A typical timeout scenario goes something like this . . . I put Colin in time out. He cries or argues and immediately moves from the place I put him in . . . not far mind you but far enough to say "I'm in charge! Not you!". He continues to whine and argue and ask when he can go back to playing. I ignore him until his time is up or I can't stand the incessant whining and tell him to get up. He hasn't learned anything and I have a headache. Well, today was the day for change.

The boys were playing on the patio and Colin was too busy playing to come inside to use the bathroom. He told me that he wet his pants right away but refused to come in to get changed. I restated my request that he come inside to get changed but he dug in his heels. I ended up physically bringing him inside (with him kicking all the way). I finally got his wet things off but during the scuffle I told him that he had earned a time out for not obeying and for fighting me.

Now, round two began. I had to get this now naked kicking three year old into time out. I was determined he would "serve his time" properly. I knew what I was in for . . . but I simply couldn't let the previous time out pattern continue. It took thirty-five minutes and I don't know how many times of putting him back in time out but in the end I won. He sat quietly for one minute where he was told to sit. (We're working up to more age appropriate time).

Fast forward to dinner. The rule is that we all sit at the table for dinner. The boys don't have to eat their food but we all sit together. Well, this time it was Connor who did the fighting. We've just started time out with him but have for some time put him in his crib when he is in a melt down. By melt down I mean inconsolable screaming that is disproportionate to whatever is going on. That was the case tonight. He was placed in his high chair for dinner and buckled up and he began to absolutely melt down. Spurred on by an earlier skirmish over a toy he began a monumental fit. Eventually, Steve put him in his crib so the rest of us could eat. Well, not thirty seconds later Connor's cries began to get louder and louder until he rounded the corner from his room. HE HAD ESCAPED!

We knew it was coming. Colin never climbed out of his crib but Connor (having an older sibling's example) learned to climb almost before he could walk. Upon seeing Connor I told Steve, "You have got to put the child locks on the doors.". Steve replied that we also needed to buy a toddler bed soon. Colin had been following the exchange while scarfing his dinner. He piped up and said, "We've got to buy a cage.".

That's all for today folks.

Introducing the McBride Family Blog

This will be the first entry of the McBride Family Blog. I've recently been introduced to blogging because of returning to school. I thought this might be a good way for friends and family to keep up with the McBride boys. Hopefully, I can continue this for some time and preserve for the boys a part of their lives that they will never remember. I've been contemplating this blog for several weeks but I wasn't sure how to get started . . . the boys gave me plenty of material today.