Bye-Bye Teddy (sniff, sniff)

Today is a sad, sad day in the Maynard house. Today as we drove home I had the boys' windows down and as we approached Americus, Teddy was dropped out the window. After many times of telling them not to put anything out the window, my eyes were not very quick today and I missed that Teddy had been thrown out the window. Drew told me shortly after it happened, but I have no idea where Teddy was exactly thrown out. I have to admit, I think I am much more upset about this than I thought I would ever be. I think for me it is a realization that my baby is not a baby anymore. Sniff...sniff.


(Tyler holding Teddy at Christmas 2008)

I remember when I first laid eyes on Teddy, August 10, 2007. Aunt Tami and Uncle Adam had him attached to a couple of balloons for Tyler the day he was born. Teddy wasn't an attachment for Tyler at first, but shortly after Tyler lost his pacifier in the Wal-Mart parking lot, I guess he started to cling to him. He brought Teddy everywhere and when he was missing before bed or naptime, it was known, he wouldn't go to sleep without him. Teddy sort of became a part of the family.

When he goes to bed every night Teddy would be tucked in under his blankets and Tyler would pat the top of his head as he slowly drifted to sleep. First thing when he would wake up, he had Teddy in his hands to greet me in the morning. Even though Teddy stunk (didn't matter how many times I washed that bear, he still stunk), he was Tyler's best friend.

Bill even tried to drive real slow along 25 on the way home to see if he could find Teddy, but he did not find him. Tyler won't even talk about it he is so upset. It might be a long night. Poor little guy! Teddy, we love you and you will be greatly missed!

Diaper Free, Could It Be?!!!

After a few months of debating whether or not to start potty-training, I just tried it a few weeks ago. I was at the point where I was done changing diapers! I thought to myself, he is almost three and he has no interest in it. It really is hard to not take it personally as the mother. I thought I was doing something wrong. Is he going to be in diapers forever? The weekend came and gone with no success. I wanted to totally give up. Tyler completely showed no interest. I was in total frustration! During my utter despair, Bill encouraged me to continue. Thanks babe! I don't give you enough credit, but you do deserve it this time. By the next week, I was on vacation, so I tried it again the last two days. To my surprise he peed twice on the potty!! I was in debate over to keep him in a diaper or just put him in underwear. I decided to just dump the diapers and put him in underwear. He had no accidents the first day back to daycare. By the second day he was telling Stacie when he had to go potty! Now we are completely diaper free, except for pooping. I try to have a pull-up on me when I know he might have to go poop. I learned this from being at the Frozen Custard for lunch with my dad and Kathy and he pooped and I had nothing on me!! Napkins just make it worse!! The joys of parenting right there!! I am very excited that my little boy is almost potty-trained. Such a relief! I must say, it is easier once they are actually ready!

In just typing this this morning we had our first pooping on the potty experience!! Yay Tyler! I am so excited to be diaper free! Of course, the savings in diapers will probably go to our food budget to feed these growing boys! HA!

Mommy........

That is the word I have heard a lot lately. Taking care of two sick boys is not what I would say as fun, but to hear the words "Mommy, hold me.", is something I realize I take for granted. I have to admit sometimes I get frustrated and just want to get away from it all. Coming up on mother's day this weekend, I have realized how blessed I really am. Of course, at 1am when I was cleaning up a trail of throw-up all the way to the bathroom, I was not thinking this way. Thanks mom for holding my hair back when I was throwing up and taking care of me when I was sick! Being a mom is definitely not a glamorous job and we get overlooked a lot for all that we do, but I wouldn't trade it for anything! It is the best to be able to raise Drew and Tyler. They always have something cute to say that keeps a smile on my face! I love it!! Drew said to me last night when he was in bed with me. "Mommy my belly hurts." I said, "You probably have gas pains, just let it out." He said, "But mommy, I'm not supposed to fart in front of girls." It was so sweet how serious he was. :) I love him!! :)

Being a mother is such a blessing and for some it doesn't come as easily. I know that my sister, Tami, will be celebrating her first Mother's day this weekend and I could not be happier for her! All that she has been through, what a day to celebrate the three little miracles and one awesome mom that endured almost seven months on bed-rest. What a sacrifice to make! Love you Tami!

Happy Mother's Day!!

Finally a New Blog!

I can't believe it has been 3 months since I have last blogged. Here I am blogging at 7pm, the boys need a bath, laundry needs folded and the kitchen cleaned...who says I have to have a perfect house right?!! On top of that Bill is gone this week. Let's just say I am in survival mode already and it is day two of Bill being gone. Peeling Tyler off the cement porch this morning to get him into daycare was not the best part of my day! It never fails though, when I come and pick them up, Tyler is the first to run to me and scream "MOMMEEEEEE!!" I love it!

Tonight I just sold the boys' baby bedding to a lady at work. A part of me is sad, but another part is excited to start a new chapter in life! We are thinking we are done at two, but who knows we go back and forth all the time!! LOL! After seeing little Chase it almost makes me want to have a third, but then I wake up to reality when my 2 1/2 year old isn't even showing signs of wanting to be potty trained! I thought Drew was strong willed, but now I know what a strong willed child is after having Tyler. I really need to buy that book "Raising a Strong Willed Child" by Dobson. Anyone have any words of wisdom on raising boys...my ears are open!!

Ending on a great note,I have a brand new nephew, Chase Robert Axline! He is sooo adorable! Congratulations Carrie and Sam! Can't wait to see him again!

Don't forget to wear green tomorrow! Happy St. Patrick's Day!!

I Pledge Allegiance...

Last week driving the boys into daycare Drew surprised me one morning. He saw an American Flag on top of one of the building's downtown and said, "Mommy look it's Amewica!!" He was so excited and I said, "Yes that is the American Flag. Drew do you know the Pledge of Allegiance?" And to my great surprise he said, "Yes, mommy." I then asked him to say it. He then starts out, "I pwedge awegiance to the fwag of the United States of Amewica." He says the entire thing as I am crying! I was shocked to find out he knew that. It is amazing how much he is learning in preschool, just two days a week and even his first semester! Time sure is flying raising him. Yesterday it seems I was holding him in my arms. Sniff...sniff...

I just had to share that my almost 4 year old knows the Pledge of Allegiance!!! The next great President...the possibilities are endless!!

He Is Jealous For Me!

I am so excited for Thanksgiving this year! We have a lot to be thankful for this year. It seems this year has really been a character building and defining year for me and for Bill and for our marriage. When Bill lost his job I thought, "God what did we do wrong, or why are you punishing us?" But it wasn't that at all. In the 7 months Bill was laid off, it was like the Lord was stripping us of all our trust in man and showing us that He is the one to trust in. Trust in man can only take us so far, it is Faith and Trust in the Lord that makes us strong. The Lord took care of us the 7 months Bill was laid off! We didn't have health insurance and our boys were not sick once in 7 months that he was laid off. For two kids, that is a complete miracle! The Lord provided a roof over our head and food for us to eat! I am so thankful for Richard and Patsy for opening their home to us for 5 months. The Lord even opened the door for my old job back! Even though, I would rather stay home, I am so thankful that He has provided this job for me! I am thankful Bill has found a job with American Family Insurance! We thought the door was shut on this job and the Lord opened it back up again for him. I am rejoicing this year that I have learned more and more about the Lord's love and faithfulness and I am so "THANKFUL" for His many blessings upon our life!

I love this song from the "David Crowder Band"


He is jealous for me, Loves like a hurricane, I am a tree,
Bending beneath the weight of his wind and mercy.
When all of a sudden, I am unaware of these afflictions eclipsed by glory,
And I realize just how beautiful You are,
And how great Your affections are for me.

And oh, how He loves us oh
Oh how He loves us,
How He loves us all

He is jealous for me, Loves like a hurricane, I am a tree,
Bending beneath the weight of his wind and mercy.
When all of a sudden, I am unaware of these afflictions eclipsed by glory,
And I realize just how beautiful You are,
And how great Your affections are for me.

And oh, how He loves us oh,
Oh how He loves us,
How He loves us all

He loves us,
Oh how He loves us,
Oh how He loves us,
Oh how He loves.

And we are His portion and He is our prize,
Drawn to redemption by the grace in His eyes,
If his grace is an ocean, we’re all sinking.
And heaven meets earth like an unforeseen kiss,
And my heart turns violently inside of my chest,
I don’t have time to maintain these regrets,
When I think about, the way…

That He loves us,
Oh how He loves us,
Oh how He loves us,
Oh how He loves.
Yeah, He loves us,
Oh how He loves us,
Oh how He loves us,
Oh how He loves.

Yeah, He loves us,
Oh how He loves us,
Oh how He loves us,
Oh how He loves.

I'm Surviving!

It is day 4 and I am still alive! The week Bill leaves for training Tyler, of course, gets sick with a fever on Monday. I used all my sick time on Monday, and I had my wonderful mom and mom-n-law watch Tyler for me on Tuesday. When I took him to the Dr. on Monday, they had to swab him to check for strep. That was horrible trying to hold him down while he was saying "No, mommy, I'm scared!" It broke my heart to hear him say that. I didn't even think he knew that word yet. Luckily it is just a viral cold and he doesn't have strep or H1N1! YAY!

On a brighter note, we now have awesome water pressure! This lady that lives down the street had someone put a new gauge on the water tank. I guess they barely had any water pressure and with a quick fix like that, we should have done this years ago!! It is great to be able to fill up a bathtub in less than 5 minutes now!

Last week we took Tyler to Riley Hospital to get an x-ray on his hip and we are so excited that the Dr. said he is completely fine! PTL! That was a huge sigh of relief. We should of had the x-ray done at the beginning of this year, but then Bill got laid off and without insurance we decided to wait. I realized how blessed we are to have two healthy boys. It was so hard sitting in the waiting room and seeing all of these little children in wheelchairs. What some of these parents go through day after day after day for their children just breaks my heart. Oh, and what really made me upset for these families, you have to pay to park!!! I could not believe that at a children's hospital we had to pay to park. Realizing that some of these parents have to go there multiple times a month, it just stunned me! I thought Riley Hospital was to be one of the greatest hospitals and to ask the patients to pay to park is just horrible I think.

To end on a good note, I got my drapery rod that I ordered from Target this week! I can now hang up my drapes in the living room! YAY!! This is something I will not attempt on my own, I will wait for Bill. I am not Mrs. Fixit that's for sure!

Home...What a Sweet Sound!

I never did think we would be back in our old home once we moved almost two years ago! It feels great to be at home again! I haven't blogged forever, and now I finally have a moment to do so!! I am still sifting through some boxes of decor and TOYS! It is nuts, I think my boys now own more things than Bill and I combined!! For some reason that just doesn't sound right! I am not wanting to get rid of some old baby toys just yet, just in case we might have another one a couple years down the road. Storage is a big issue, I am thinking we need to get Drew a bed frame now so I can put things under his bed!! We might just get bunk beds for the boys. Tyler will be ready for a big boy bed in about 6 months or so. I am not sure I am ready for it yet. He wakes up about 6 to 6:30 am still, and just thinking of him being able to get out of bed on his own, freaks me out!! He is so funny though, his new thing to do now, is stick his fingers in his ears and scream!! He is so much fun! :)

Drew started preschool a few weeks ago. He really likes it a lot! He is still crying, but the minutes are getting less as the weeks go on. He is already starting to trace letters! I am so glad we have him at a Christian preschool, he comes home and when he is just playing on his own, I hear him start singing songs he has learned at school. It really is a sweet sound! He has such a sweet and tender spirit about him.

The boys will start daycare at the end of this month. I think it is harder on me more than anyone. Tyler will be just fine, he is very social, but I am more concerned with Drew. There has been so much transition in his life, that one more thing might be too much for him. I am praying that he adjusts quickly and smoothly. :)

The next month to month and a half will also be tough for Bill and I. He starts his training in Columbus, Ohio, in October. He will be training through the week and home on the weekends. If you think of us, please be praying for our family during the 5-7 weeks he is in training. It will be tough, but I know the Lord will give us His grace and strength to get through it.

On a side note, I have just downloaded all of this summer's photos to Picasa and you can see all the fun things we did this summer! Now that we have internet to our computer it is easier to download all my pictures on Picasa! :)

Hi-Ho, Hi-Ho It's Off to Work I Go...

The time has come where I must hang up my apron, my favorite pair of pj's, and lose my nice tan I have acquired this summer and go back to work. It has been a great almost 2 years of staying home with my boys. I have enjoyed every moment of seeing them grow. Some accomplishments that have happened since staying home with the boys. I have potty-trained Drew (that was a major YIPPEE!!) I have finished Drew's first year of his baby scrapbook. I haven't started Ty's yet, but I am hoping to get back into my old group soon! Let's see, oh, I think I have mastered the Chocolate Chip cookie recipe. LOL! Atleast when I was in Iowa, I made the best chocolate chip cookies! Bill has even said my baking has gotten better. I will miss my baking time with the boys when it rains outside. Sniff...sniff...

Moving from this chapter in my life will not be an easy one, but I am looking forward to what the Lord has in store for us next. Tyler will be going to daycare for the first time since he was born. He did go to Sherry's house for 4 weeks before we moved to Iowa, but that wasn't nearly a daycare. I called it his baby spa! She pampered all day long, he smelt like baby oil when I picked him up. :) For some reason I am having an issue about leaving Tyler. I thought I would be more upset about Drew starting preschool, but leaving Tyler at daycare seems like it will be harder. I know Tyler will be just fine, he is my social boy anyway, he will fit right in. I will miss them like crazy, but I will enjoy every moment of our time together on the weekends.

I start back to work August 3rd. I have taken my old job back at the good ol' Courthouse. Believe it or not, they took me back after I turned down their offer in April. It was definitely a timing thing. I was able to enjoy this summer with the boys and Bill was able to get his insurance license done! The exciting thing is we will be moving back into our old house sometime in August. The way things have started to unfold is just a part of His plan and makes me realize how much He is in control!

One Bad Haircut!

Bill got his regular haircut at Christina and Company "TRAINING" Center yesterday. I tell him he is crazy to keep going there, well now he will not be going back. It was bound to happen, he got a terrible haircut! I think the girl was going for a military cut and need I say more. The pictures speak for themselves. So Bill ended up having to shave his whole head! I actually think he looks pretty handsome! :) Enjoy the picts!

Summer and Homemade Ice Cream!

I never really liked summer all that much until I was able to actually stay at home and enjoy it. I guess working full time I never really could enjoy it the way it was meant to be enjoyed! Playing outside, taking walks, watering plants (Patsy's plants), and even eating outside! Now don't get me wrong, I still like the pleasant feeling of air conditioning, but summers are meant to be enjoyed outside! This summer is much more enjoyable since Tyler is able to walk and they play somewhat well together. I think the tough part right now is just trying to pin Tyler down to put sunscreen on him!

Tonight I think we are going to have fun making homemade strawberry ice cream! I have waited a long time for this night. We were going to make it for mother's day, but it was too cold, so I think I can make this my birthday gift! A nice big bowl of Strawberry Ice Cream! YUMMY! Enjoy summer everyone!

Private Blog!

I am getting on board setting my Picasa and blog to private also! It is pretty freaky knowing that someone is tracking all of our Picasa accounts. Basically, someone we don't know from halfway around the world tracking the growing up of my children and knowing about our lives is pretty scary to me. So, I am now a private person!!!

My Boys!

Drew and Tyler are quite the pair! They keep me laughing that is for sure! One night last week I went in to tell the boys one last time to be quiet and go to bed since it was after 9pm, well I must say I was in there laughing with them for about 5 minutes. Drew as making farting sounds with his mouth and Tyler was doing the same! They were both rolling laughing until they both had the hiccups!! It was sooo hilarious! The boys are joint at the hip. They have a love/hate relationship. Tyler just wants to be just like Drew, is that good or bad?! Tyler is starting to repeat everything Drew says and they both say, "It's fuuuunnnny!", after they do something wrong. I have no idea where they got that, but then it is sometimes hard to keep such a serious face and discipline them. Never a dull moment in our house!!



I tried to get a recent picture on here of the boys, then I found this old picture on Patsy's computer. It about made me cry remembering how young they used to be!!

I Want More of the Holy Spirit!

This weekend I went to a women's retreat in Washington, Indiana. It was incredible! We stayed at the southern district AG campground, which was a beautiful place! Very clean and nice facilities!!

Anyway, I really didn't know what to expect from the weekend. I was so glad to finally be able to get away! This was the first time since I have been a stay at home mom that I have been away by myself for two days, that's 18 months!!! Way to long without a retreat!! I have to tell you I was blown away. It was so nice, because it was a smaller gathering and it was great to really connect with people.

I will give you the short version because I am expecting the boys to come home any time, and I thought I better blog about it now before I forget and I won't get a minute to reflect!

I guess this weekend I had an agenda for the Lord to speak directly to me in a certain area, but this is where the Lord just blew me away, HE had a different plan!! The special speaker was a lady named Sheri (I don't remember her last name). She was just a wonderful and mighty woman of God! She actually is from Winter Haven, FL, where my dad and Kathy live. I need to call him and tell them about their church. She and her husband are the senior pastors at a church in Florida. She shared about how much we need the Holy Spirit in our lives. Which is a message I have heard over and over again, but it really got a hold of me this weekend. It made me look at my own life and realize that I need to be more in tune to the Holy Spirit. It is so easy to just go about life and forget that the Spirit of the Lord is wanting us to take Him wherever we go. The Lord gave us the Holy Spirit to give us power and it enables us to do the things that he has called us to do. Since I came home (back to Indiana) the Lord has been bringing up past friends in my life and really laying them on my heart to pray for their salvation. Not knowing how or what the Lord wanted me to do, I got a more clear picture this weekend on how to reach one in particular. I am still processing it all, but without the Holy Spirit I wouldn't have realized how to do that on my own. The Holy Spirit wants to show me and teach me things, but He can't if I don't INCLUDE him in it! I can't do it on my own!!! I NEED the Holy Spirit EVERYDAY!!!

The weekend also was so wonderful and relaxing for me. On Friday afternoon I was able to take a walk BY MYSELF!!! I emphasize that since it is rare for me to ever go anywhere alone. I needed some alone time with the Lord. It was great to be outside in the fresh air! Though, I got off the main road and went on a little trail and then all these bugs attacked me, it was quite hilarious! I was glad I was alone so no one could see me freak out!

Another great thing about this weekend was that I was able to spend some time with Tami. It blessed me to see her worship and see her go after the Lord. I am so thankful to have a family that serves the Lord, it really is such a blessing!

"Now the Lord is the Spirit, and where the Spirit of the Lord is, there is Freedom." (2 Corinthians 3:17)

Bad Economy...Bad Diapers?!!!

Today I am sad to say that I am going to have to switch brands of diapers. I switched to LUVS with Tyler after he started crawling because they seemed to hold together better, even better than Pampers, I know I was shocked myself. Just this last time I went a size bigger thinking it would help at night time. It actually made it worse!!! Both the boys the last 3 nights have wet through their diapers. Just because everyone is downsizing because of the economy, do they really have to make the quality of the diaper less too. Maybe they can save on the way they package their diapers, but don't cheat the customer on the actual diaper! So all you mothers out there what kind of diapers do you use? I am a mother in desperate need of help!!! I am thinking about buying those plastic pants to put over them at night. LOL! I'm not sure Drew would be up for that!!

Moving Furniture to Vacuum?!!!

Okay, I really should be packing, but this is on my brain. I try to clean my entire house once a week. Since we have been packing and moving things around, Bill asked me yesterday, "Do you ever vacuum upstairs?" I said yes!! Come to find out he was referring to behind our file cabinet. I said, well I don't move all our furniture just to vacuum. I usually move all the furniture that is easy to move, the couch, coffee tables and occasionally the recliner (heavy). So I want to know who moves all of their furniture to vacuum?

Exciting News!!

I am happy to announce that Drew is finally potty trained!!!! Okay, I know that lately all I have been blogging about is his potty habits, but this means one less poopy diaper I have to change!!!! He did it all week long and then yesterday we went to the store and he picked out a new train. We are happy to add Henry to the Thomas family. It was such an exciting week. Now he is telling us when he has to go #2!!! He said to me today, "I'm so proud I went poo-poo in the potty mommy!"

The Turkey Outcome!

I am happy to announce the turkey tasted wonderful! The whole process was new to me since I had never cooked one before. It really was rather simple, well, after I called my mom and asked her why the heck the neck was still in the turkey!!!! YUCK! That wasn't in my recipe. When I pulled it out I freaked out!! It was totally disgusting! Then once I found where the gizzards, heart and all the innards were, thanks to Jenny, I was on to the easy part. I lathered it in extra virgin olive oil and then covered it with sage butter outside and inside of the skin. Then I made my stuffing and put it in the turkey and put it in the oven. I must say I am very excited about the finish!! We had homemade yeast rolls, mashed potatoes, homemade stuffing and corn. What a day!!! The boys didn't eat to much of it, they wanted to eat hotdogs instead. Here are a few pictures of my turkey!

A Beautiful Day and a Thanksgiving Feast!

Today is just gorgeous! The windows are open, just a small breeze blowing, and the birds are singing!!! It has been a while since I have heard a birdie chirp, you almost forget what a wonderful sound it is until you hear it again! :)

Believe it or not, I am making a Thanksgiving meal today. I am making a turkey (in the oven right now), stuffing (in the turkey), and mashed potatoes, gravy and homemade yeast rolls! Talk about exciting! I will take a picture and post it later. Hopefully it will turn out great! If not, it was a great first attempt!

In other news, Drew has now pooped on the potty 3 days in a row! Thanks for the tip Patsy, of telling him to do it all week and then get another train! He is putting a sticker on his sticker chart everyday. Today, it was so cute, we put Tyler down for a nap and he said to Tyler, "Okay, Ty I have to go poo-poo now, good night." So priceless. He is getting so funny! And Tyler is so funny too. He is saying "Owww", if we try to touch him or change his diaper he screams it out like we are hurting him! So hilarious! But, he is a smart little guy. He can now count to 10!! We were going through it today in the kitchen! A genius! Or it maybe it is normal at 18 months, not sure!!

Well, I will post a picture of my Thanksgiving meal when it is all done and let you know how it turned out!!

Welcome Emily to the Thomas and Friend Family!

Yesterday it happened! Drew went up to Bill around 2pm and said, "Daddy, I have to go poo-poo." So excited, Bill took Drew to the potty and he sat on the potty and wanted the door closed to do his business and it happened...he pooped in the potty!! I never thought talking about my son's potty activity would ever be so exciting, but today I was so excited!! Drew then said, "I get my new Emily!" So off we went to Walmart and praise the Lord there was one Emily left!!! He was so excited and proud that he even told the lady at the checkout counter, "I went poo-poo, I get my new Emily." Tyler was so jealous, we had to break down and buy him a new Hot Wheel at the checkout counter, it was well worth the 97 cents!! I am praying that now he will continue to do this everyday!!