Four days of goodness!

After a month of pumpkin patching it, it's sure nice to have a weekend to catch up. Luckily, with a section cross-country meet on Thursday and Veteran's Day on Friday, it's been a nice long weekend with the kiddos. I'd like to interject here with a short snippet of:

"Sh** my kid says, Vol. 2" - in celebration of Veteran's Day.

"Bi-yah, was a solider?"

"Yes, bi-yah was a solider, that is why we celebrate Veteran's Day for him."

"Oh, I call Biyah?"

"Hi Biyah! You were a solider?. . . And nee-nee was a beautiful princess?"

The above mentioned comment made my mother's month!

As the weekend progressed, I decided that it would be a good idea to replace the baby swing with a baby jumper. Miles was beginning to squirm in his swing, it won't keep him asleep, and quite honestly I think he's past the weight limit. Carter helped (read severely hindered the process) of setting up the jumper. It isn't a "johnny jump-up", but rather a stationary device that the kids just "jump" in. Miles LLLOOOVVEED his new jumper. I am not exaggerating when I state that he jumped for a solid 20 minutes. He just laughed and jumped, and laughed some more. He is full-on crawling all over, pulling himself up on things, and earning many bruises in the process.

Speaking of bruises, Carter decided to replace his old bruise with a new goose-egg this weekend. Just a few weeks ago, Carter managed to meet our low windowsill with a brute amount of force, which resulted in a nice horizontal bruise for about three weeks. No sooner had the remains of this bruise disappeared, when Bradley brings a sobbing Carter into the house. He turned him around to show me his face. Some moms may have been upset, but I have recently learned that there is no need to panic unless the bruise/goose egg remains indented into the forehead. Since this new boo-boo/ping-pong ball was promptly sticking out, I really didn't even worry and in fact had to be prompted by Bradley to get some ice. As our friend Brent put it, "that thing is big enough for a calf to suck on". (They say things like this in the south).

Anywho, taking our bruised children out in public is also really interesting. I just hope people look at us and realize that we are not capable of child beating, but also question if our kids are really that uncoordinated.

I'll end with a third volume of "Sh** my kids says":

"Be nice you two!".

Yes, in the midst of a brief argument (which I will contextualize for you), our son came up between us, smiled, and said these words. I must say I was a bit embarrassed and proud at the same time. I really have a phobia of arguing in front of our kids, and we rarely let words pass between us, but I was so proud of Carter, in the midst of being humiliated that our two year old had to get us to shape up.

To our defense, my right breast was about as bloated as Roseanne Barr on steroids, due to the fact that our youngest's nursing is a bit off-kilter. Seeing as how he was acting hungry I decided to let the little one try to relieve my pain, when the floodwaters were let loose. I'm not kidding, it's as if several small holes were put into a water-balloon with about 380 PSI. Poor Miles is getting drenched in milk, I am soaked as well, and I start yelling for a towel. Bradley clearly does not sense the urgency in my voice and doesn't respond with the velocity I am wanting, and therefore some words were exchanged. Sorry to gross you all out, just really wanted to put our two-year old's words into context.

In other news, we are really trying to enforce going pee ONLY in the potty (or the lawn). He (carter) has gone number two for forever on the potty, but we are trying to save up for college instead of funding the shareholders of Pampers. Anyways, any thoughts/prayers/meditations towards this would be greatly appreciated.

Thank GOD for four-day weekends!

One Big Happy "Toy Story" Family

My attempts to blog once a month have failed. I'm sure super-mom can maintain a full-time job, keep two kids half-bathed, stock local stores with fresh produce, market a pumpkin patch, help coach cross-country, train for a half marathon, be supportive to my husband, aannnd keep up a blog, but that's super-mom. I am just mom. That is unless you talk to Carter lately.

The kid is into role-playing. At first I thought it was just because he was super-excited about Halloween coming up, but no, I'm pretty sure he really does think that he is in fact Woody from Toy Story. The other night I was tucking him into bed and I said "Good night Carter", to which he replied, "I not Carter, I Woody". "Okay, Good night Woody!". His response? "Good night Jesse".

The role-playing continued the next morning when he told me that "we have to get out of the backpack Jesse". I swear, he has only seen Toy Story 3 a few times. He has decided that Miles is Buzz Lightyear and that his dad is Andy. His Nene and Biyah are Mr. and Mrs. Potatohead, but is quite perplexed as to who should be Bullsye the horse, so he switches characters between Woody and Bullsye. Things get quite interesting when Woody has to ride a horse.

It's amazing how our entire dinner conversation and evening activities revolve around the needs of Carter and his imagination. Some nights we have "cowboy pie", while others we "blast" each other in between bites. Miles is very calm and just goes along for the ride, but I often wonder what kind of spin dinner will take in another year when Miles has a different imagination track than his brother.

In other news, Miles is SOOOO close to crawling. He gets up on all fours, rocks, then scootches forward or just falls. We all cheer him on, but he just smiles and stares at us. We try to bribe him with toys to come to, but he just looks at us. I personally think he is more intrinsically motivated.

The pumpkin patch is doing extremely well. We have been busy every weekend and have finally broken even on our investment. It has been a lot of fun to see and meet many different people. Carter seems to get a kick out of going on and getting in the wagon, or showing his friends around the patch. I think he may have set a record for the most pumpkins picked by any one child in a season.

Last weekend I went and ran the Nike Women's San Francisco 1/2 marathon. I had a great time with all girls. Right before I fell asleep on Saturday night, I realized that I was about to experience my first full night of sleep in six months. I wanted to run faster than I did, but my alter-ego super-mom kicked in and I was running sub 7 minute miles for the first six miles, when I hit the first hill my legs were toast. I still finished 336th/16,000 runners, and 57th/2,979 in my age group, but I think "Jesse" could have done even better.

Sh*t my kid says - Vol. 1

Everyone always says, "Oh, I should write what my kids say down!" I am going to start folks. Here we go. . .

"Momma, I like your boobies" - while sitting in the jogging stroller enjoying a run.

"Daddy, you probably want to play cowboys with me?" - in response to being told it's time for bed.

"The Doctor told me I have to watch a new movie with you" - after his surgery he has seemed to remember a lot of what the doctor has advised him to do.

"Doctor, where are you?" - this happened in the waiting room of the doctor's office of the immediate care place (small fish allergy incident) after he told my dad he wanted to get down off of the table. He proceeded to open the door and then yell this out into the office.

"Mason has the flu" - he successfully passed this rumor about his older cousin around at daycare. There was some mild concern as some of the children had played with Mason close to the time this rumor was circulated. Bottom line - NEVER believe what a two year old has to say.

I'm sure I'll remember more of what he has to share, but just stayed tuned for volume 2.

Dear Summer: Thanks for the memories!

Really the purpose of this post is to showcase some photos taken by our relative. With summer coming to a close, I have a bit of a heavy heart. Not only do I have to go back to work and leave my kiddos, but it means a change of routine. This summer I have probably spent more time in the garden than in the house, or on the road running. Bradley has a real passion for gardening and I am sheepishly ready to admit that perhaps I may have caught the bug. It wasn't until I saw her pictures and got rather weepy eyed that I realized how much I may have a passion for all of this too. As an individual I can get too caught up in the "process" of life, to sit back and look into what I have accomplished. As I look at these photos I have a sense of pride not only in the fruits of our labor, but in the life that Bradley and I have created for our family. Our kids are happy and healthy, our garden is abundant, and our lives are blessed. As another summer vacation closes and a new school year begins, for the first time in my life I think I am a little reluctant to welcome in fall, but rather surprised at my newfound passion for summer.

On a sidenote, in addition to our six family CSA, selling at the local Farmers' Market, and selling to local restaurants, we also have our own stand at Ray's Food Place in Fort Jones. "Fresh. Local. Sustainably Grown."

Brothers, Botched Circs, and Bad Docs

Yesterday, out of the blue, Carter told me, "Momma, Baby Paul and Baby Miles are the best brothers in the whole whorold". I really couldn't believe that this comment came out of his mouth seeing as how just five minutes prior, he was trying to squeeze his brother's head off. Some minutes Carter dotes on Miles, and then within a few moments he will try another malicious act. Meanwhile, Miles will track Carter around the room, easily navigating any path Carter sets out on, which trust me, is rarely ever a straight line.

Carter recently had to have a minor corrective surgery up in Portland, Oregon. Let's just say that his first pediatrician, with the initials: DR. MARTIN YOUNG, of Southern Oregon Children and Adolescent Clinic, piece of sh**, mother-f**ker, screwed up his circ. when he was a baby. Poor Carter had to have the whole procedure redone, but this time around he had to be put under anesthesia, and has had to end his summer with no swimming, or straddling activities (ie his favorite activities: riding horses or bikes). Carter has handled the whole thing really well. I think it was more trying on us the parents or perhaps the grandparents, than anyone else.

Morally, I don't feel that I should have to pay for this second circ., seeing as how the first one was was REALLY wrong. After consulting with various lawyers who all said they couldn't try to get me my $2,000.00 back, (apparently malpractice cases aren't good for anything less than 30 grand) I decided that I would "professionally" handle the situation by calling the asshole's office myself and politely suggesting that he might morally and ethically feel obligated to either pay for the 2nd time around, or at least refund me our money from the first botched job. Would you believe that the office manager answered my inquiries by stating, "Well, ma'am we get these kind of phone calls about Dr. Young's circs ALL OF THE TIME". WTF?????

Looking on the bright side, it was a great trip to Portland because we got to spend time with my sister, her boyfriend, and my parents. Prior to his surgery we took Carter and Miles to the zoo, which was only made even better with a Peter Frampton concert right next to the elephants.

On another note, I think Miles may be the "messy brother". I am trying not to pin labels on anyone or put any of this energy out there, but he had rice cereal for the first time this week and it wasn't pretty. The encore to ingesting the rice cereal (fed to him by Carter), was the process of smearing it all over himself. We need someone to balance out Carter's need to have everything in order, clean and precise (I wonder where he gets that from:)), I guess that's why Carter knows that Miles is one of "the best brothers in the whole whorold".

The month of July has been very busy for us! Between gardening, housework, weddings, and vacation I feel like it has just flown by!

I will try to sum up some of our most memorable moments of July.

4th of July - Carter LOVED the sparklers and the fireworks. Miles seemed to enjoy the lights as well. Our in-laws hosted a wonderful 4th of July party, almost two weeks later their pool collapsed. . .

Carter's first race - One mile in 27 minutes! It was rough terrain:)

Good friend's wedding - Carter was one of three ring-bearers. I will just say that kids will do anything for a few jelly beans. The wedding was hot and beautiful and my parents took the boys home! We had a nice evening visiting with friends.

San Diego trip - beach, Disneyland, Giants/Padres game, waterslides -

Whew, it was an amazing trip. Both Carter and Miles ate a lot of sand and saltwater, perhaps leading to explain their interesting bowel movements. It was truly amazing to witness the magic (and overcommercialization/stimulation) of Disneyland through the eyes of a child. Carter was genuinely excited to meet Mickey Mouse, Donald, Pluto, and Minnie Mouse. Pirates of the Caribbean was a hit, but ironically, the Pinocchio ride was sheer terror. Miles was a trooper through all of it (read sleeper).

Perhaps the best part of the trip was realizing how important spending time with cousins is. I grew up away from all of my cousins and they were also much older than my sister and I. Carter and Miles are so lucky to live so close to at least six cousins, and have the opportunity to spend the week with six other extended cousins.

Here's to hoping that August does not fly by as fast as June and July have. I LOVE my job but am dreading leaving my boys. . .

Pumpkins, lettuce, swimming, oh my!

With the addition of the faux post prior to this one may notice that a lot has been going on in the Isbell home. With all that has been happening I am happy to report that Miles has been aided in his sleeping by some excellent swaddling advice! Knock on wood, he has had some six, even seven hour stretches! Yahoooo!

Both boys are growing every day. Carter has started swimming lessons this week and even though he "wants to swim without Ty holding me", he seems to enjoy himself. Miles is awake a lot more and likes to move! Carter usually has to be reminded at least once a day to not brutally mutilate his brother, but Miles is still functioning well despite Carter's many attempts to "wrestle" with his brother.

Summer just sort of happened in the Valley. It was so cold for so long. I actually kind of enjoyed the slow pace that the cold brought to our home, but once the temperatures started rising I feel as if we are in a never-ending rat race. As the lettuce started to rise, so did our endless number of activities. We have had a solid garden for several years and have actually grown in size to the point that we have participated in the local Farmers' Market. This past season we started selling to local restaurants as well. However, this year was the year we decided to "go big or go home". (It seemed the right time to go crazy, being as though we had a two year old and a newborn. *note sarcasm) In addition to starting a small, five family CSA (Community Supported Agriculture), selling at the local Farmers' Market, and supplying local to restaurants, we planted a "you-pick" pumpkin patch. That's right, as our little Miles was growing, so were the 2,000 pumpkin seeds that Bradley and Carter started in our greenhouse. Last weekend we planted all of those seeds in our front field. (We being ourselves, a good friend, and amazing parents.) I have run SEVERAL marathons folks, FAST MARATHONS, and I have NEVER been as sore as I was the day after we planted those plants. My muscles hurt to even be slightly touched! That being said, the plants are in the ground, we have a nice logo (see prior post), and we are spreading the word.

I am so proud of my husband for pursuing what he ENJOYS in life. He creates a hell of a lot more stress than I need, but I believe that he does everything with incredible passion and precision. Sure, he blows the hell out of a budget as well as Miles blows through a diaper these days, and we may not see a profit, but we're a family and we're loving life.

Check out our new website www.isbellgardens.com - if it's not working, the nice folks at weebly assure me it will soon.