Wednesday, February 9, 2011

Sweater Weather

We got last month's power bill the other day.  Ouch.  Suddenly this big, open floor plan kinda house has lost it's appeal.  I mean, I thought we were doing pretty good.  I usually keep the house at 68 during the day (which means the downstairs is 68 and the upstairs is unbearably warm).  And since Jon and I like to see our breath when we sleep I turn it down to 60 at night.  Brrrr.  We've been using space heaters in the boys rooms since they haven't mastered the art of snuggling under blankets yet.  Jack just kicks his around and while Jude remains fairly still while he sleeps, he always keeps his hand up above his head.  Which means he wakes up with little blocks of ice at the end of each arm. 

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Someday, I will get a picture of both boys looking at the camera.  Someday.

So I decided it was time to wage war against the power company.  You wanna play hardball?  Well then let's go.  I think the space heaters are what was killing us so I turned them off and brought out more blankets.  I turn the heat to 65 during the day now (if we can handle it) and put everyone in 2 or 3 layers.  And keep moving.  Gotta keep the boys moving.  Jack's two favorite phrases this week are:  "Less wun!" (Let's run.) and "Less dance!"  And I oblige, until my tired, old self can't oblige anymore, because any energy joules we can burn off in the middle of the day are energy joules he doesn't have to try to burn off kicking his feet against the wall in bed 30 minutes after he was supposed to have fallen asleep. 

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Joules.  Like that word?  I looked it up.  Don't worry, I definitely don't remember what unit energy is measured in, and I'm pretty sure if I had remembered, it wasn't that word.  But it certainly sounds official.  You believed it.

Jude's got joules too.  You should see this kid in his walker now.  Hard to believe he used to throw a fit if I tried to put him in it, because now he gets so excited, and his little legs get to kicking so hard, that it makes it difficult to put him in the seat.  And once you do - bam, he's off!  It's like the start of a horse race. 

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Faster than a speeding bullet.

It's rather funny.  I always pictured him "walking" in a walker.  But it's much more like hopping.  He puts two feet down, pushes up and forward.  Two feet down, push up and forward.  And his little head bobs up and down with it. 

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He's just spotted the camera strap.  Ensue a mammoth amount of close-ups of Jude trying to reach the strap.

And I know he's my child and all but I just think he's so stinkin' adorable.  Between him and his brother it's amazing I get anything done all day.  I constantly find myself watching and smiling, waiting for the next utterly cute look, movement, phrase, smile.  Afraid to miss out on another one of motherhood's most amazing moments.  Amazing despite the fact that they occur every day, and several times a day.

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This is his "don't look away or I'll make a run for it" face.

But I'm only talking like this, like I'm high on mommy-hood and babies, because I'm coming off a very bad low this week.  And the highs are always higher when your looking back down on a low.  This weekend was the 3 days of Great Sickness.  But this weekend was nothing compared to the two days that followed, two days of The Great Whining.  Incessant whining.  Claw my eyes out with a butter knife whining.  Bang my head against a hot stove whining.  I could hardly handle it.  In fact, I definitely could not handle it. 

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I snapped my fingers in the air to get Jack to look up for a picture.  Thus all my pictures of Jack he is attempting to do the same.

I'm not sure what exactly was going on with Jack earlier this week.  Whether he still wasn't feeling well, if he's actually getting molars or not.  But whatever it was, must've been bad.  He literally cried, yelled or SCREAMED non-stop the entire morning.  He was so loud, he woke up Jude from his nap.  And then Jude was tired and cranky the rest of the morning.   I was attempting to talk to my boss on the phone while making lunch and couldn't even hear his questions because of the loud din of voices crowded around my legs.  I eventually ran to the office and locked the door so I could finish my conversation in muffled peace.

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Jude is wary of Jack kisses.

I don't remember much of that day.  I know I lost my temper.  I know I hurt my son's feelings.  I know I had to hug him and apologize later after I realized I had totally lost my cool.  I know that if there was a badge for dealing with poop and vomit all in one weekend, and if I had gotten that badge, I would have probably been asked to give it back after Monday.  But thank goodness for naptime, thank goodness for Jon coming home early, thank goodness for 50 degree weather and a quick trip to the park, and thank goodness the little ones seem to have short memories.

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But today.  Now today was good.  Today was paper-fish floating, mask-carving, chili-simmering-in-the-crockpot, "why sure I'll read you the Pookie book for the 20th time today" good.  Today I was awakened again at o'dark thirty by a 9 month old talking to his hand, but didn't mind so much because even pre-sunrise isn't so bad when it starts off with baby giggles.  Today I even picked up a pile of fecal matter with my bare hands and put it in the toilet where it belonged, then I scrubbed poop off the rug (AGAIN) ... all with a smile on my face.  It certainly must have been a good day.

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Jack didn't whine once today ... but he did get in big trouble for biting his baby brudder's fingers during a photoshoot. :(

And I hope it keeps up for a little while because this is the home stretch.  Soon it will be spring.  Any day now, we should find out if and where we're moving.  By the end of this week, Jon will be finished with the majority of his classes.  In the not so distant future, we'll be chatting and laughing with family in Pennsylvania.  And not so long after that I'm taking my Handsome Coastie to a place that I was convinced only existed in dreams, or at least in England, until I saw it with my own eyes ... well, at least on a website.  And no I'm not talking about that place in the Poconos with the champagne glass hot tubs, although I did check out that website too.  And it gave me the heebie-jeebies.  (No offense if you've been there.) 

Oh yeah, things are definitely looking up.  And in the meantime I'm Jude-steppin' it forward, two feet at a time, until we get there.

5 comments:

Meagan Duthie said...

My ever so wise husband gave me a lesson in energy recently. I am notoriously stringent on money and so I would barely turn the heat up during the day and down at night. Then we have been having these cold spells and I have been staying home more and finally gave in and turned the heat on during the day and way down at night. My ever so practical husband informed me that I was spending so much energy (and money) and overworking the furnace to get the house up that heat that it would be more economical to leave the heat up so that the furnace didn't have to bring it up to that temperature. It would be better to not drop the heat so low at night.
So now, I crack the window with the door closed if I want the bedroom cooler.
Whether it really works or not, well I may never know because our outside temperature has been below zero for so long that there is not a temperature that would not stress our heat right now!

Katie said...

Great post Janine!

J9 said...

Meagan, my husband says the same thing. I don't want to believe him but you may have convinced me all my efforts are in vain. :)

Thanks Katie!!

Unknown said...

Joules! I'm so proud of you, even if "energy joules" is redundant.

J9 said...

Haha I've been waiting 4 days for you to comment Jared!

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