25 Question to ask your child each year

I saw this on pintrest and thought it was interesting. And then I a friend mentioned it and a few friends and I decided to do it with our 4 year olds. This is the answers Myles came up with at 4 years old 1 month and 10 days old.

1. What is your favorite color? Red


2. What is your favorite toy? Lightening McQueen

3. What is your favorite fruit? Carrots

4. What is your favorite TV show? Bug Bunny

...5. What is your favorite movie? Daffy Duck

6. What is your favorite thing to eat for lunch? Noodles

7. What is your favorite outfit? Lightening McQueen Outfit

8. What is your favorite game? I don't know

9. What is your favorite snack? Crackers

10. What is your favorite animal? Cow

11. What is your favorite song? ABCs

12. What is your favorite thing to do with Daddy? Play

13. What is your favorite book? God

14. Who is your best friend? EJ

15. What is your favorite dessert? I don't know

16. What is your favorite thing to do outside? Play football outside

17. What is your favorite drink? Water

18. What is your favorite thing to do with Mommy? Play with her phone

19. What is your favorite holiday? Superhero- Halloween

20. What is your favorite sport? Football

21. What is your favorite thing to eat for breakfast? Cereal

22 Who is your hero? A train

23. Where is your favorite place to go? To Grandma's house

24. What are you afraid of? Dinosaurs

25 What do you want to be when you grow up? A trainer, a trainer with trains, daddy says enginnknee (enginer)

Update: So much to look forward to

It's been exactly one month today since I last updated. I have been working so much to make sure that we have enough money to pay the bills as well as money to do some fun activities that I have planned for the summer. I have been busy, but I wanted to make time to update.

Myles

Yesterday was Myles' last day of school for this school year. He enjoyed his time at his new school. I really like the way they have worked with him. There are so many things he knows and has learned. We are excited to have him attending again in the fall. 

For the summer Myles will be going to summer camp. His first day is the second week in June, and the camp will run all the way until school starts. 

Myles has been having some health issues. He just went for allergy testing and we will get the results back on Tuesday. He has had another ear infection and this time the inner ear looked very abnormal. The doctor will know how to proceed when we find out what the results are from the allergy testing. She will also be looking into Myles' ears to see if the fluid has drained. We are praying that he does not have any hearing loss.

Bryce

Bryce has been doing well with staying home since he had to stop going to daycare. He stays home with daddy. He really seems to miss his brother a lot. He is learning so many new things. He is 21 months now. He is getting closer to 2 years of age. We are getting a bit worried because we were hoping that his bowed legs would clear up by two, but they have not cleared up yet. We still have 3 months and at 2 the doctor will take a look at them again. We may need to go and see a specialist. 

Bryce has began taking music and movement class. He likes it. He was given his own bag with little instruments as well a cute scarf that they use for some of the songs. The class meets on Mondays at 10:30am. The last class is in 2 weeks and then it will pick back up in July. 

I will be signing Bryce up for swimming classes for the summer. It will meet twice a week on Tuesdays and Thursdays. This will give Bryce something to do while Myles is in camp. 

I couldn't do an update without updating about the wedding planning and engagement bbq plans. So far the planning is going good. We are still looking to have the engagement bbq on the 4th of July. Sadly, my mother just informed me, or should I say reminded me that she has dialysis on that day. So now I am trying to think of a way I can work out the schedule so my mom can be there for most of the bbq. I may have to move it to the weekend after or the weekend before. Sigh. We will see. We have come up with a theme. The colors for the bbq are blue and brown and the decorations will say Mr. And Mrs soon to be. There were a few choices I saw and I picked the one's I liked and then let Ola have the final pick. There is still no word on whether his mom is attending the bbq or not. I hope she will because this would be a great time to meet everyone who will be in the wedding party. I have looked at a place to rent tables and chairs. We will just need 4 tables and 50 chairs. Yes 50! It look like it will be 50 people there give or take a few. We are just inviting family and people who are in the wedding party. If each of those people brings one guest then we are looking at 50 people. I am nervous and excited all at the same time. This will be a big step into planning our actual wedding. 

We also have a wedding planner that is helping up find venues that is within our budget. She and I have been in touch and she has an idea of what I would like. I am hoping to hear from her soon with a list of places she thinks would be nice. I would like to go and start visiting places soon. 

Overall the family is doing well. This year has been great so far, we have so much more to look forward to.

Engagement BBQ

The rest of this year is going to be busy, busy, busy. May we have my future SILs (Sister-in-laws) high school banquet, as well as graduation to attend. I am so happy for them that they have completed this goal in their lives and will continue on to college. In June, Ola's birthday, fathers day, and also a trip to Disney. July is our engagement bbq, August is Bryce's birthday, the boys joint birthday party, and the family reunion. September is Myles' birthday. I don't think I will be able to rest until October, but then it will be time to prepare for Christmas. It is definitely going to be a crazy, fun filled, busy, busy, busy rest of the year.

Let's go back to talking about the engagement bbq. Ola and I are having a bbq on July 4th, 2 days short of one year before our wedding in 2013. We will be inviting family, family friends, and people who are in our wedding party. We will be having it in a park in Chicago. I am somewhat stressing about all of this. I want everything to go alright. I think if we just had our friends coming to help celebrate with us it would be fine. But when you add each side of our families then there is an added stress. I am really trying to remember that it is our day and we will enjoy it even if everyone else does not. This idea goes for the bbq, the wedding and any other party or get-together that happens in between. So I have been pinning a few ideas for ice breakers and games that we can play. I will have balls and bubbles for children but I also wanted some, "get to know each other" games and activities. I am looking up some ideas, and as I look I am getting more and more excited, but the family dynamics still worries me. We still have a little bit of time, and other things to plan for as well. But this bbq is what is most on my mind.

Thinking about it all makes me want to have a whole bottle of wine to myself. (Laugh out loud) So cheers, here is to a busy rest of the year, stress free and to planning my engagement bbq.

The Handmaid's Tale by Margaret Atwood

Offred is a Handmaid in the Republic of Gilead. She may leave the home of the Commander and his wife once a day to walk to food markets whose signs are now pictures instead of words because women are no longer allowed to read. She must lie on her back once a month and pray that the Commander makes her pregnant, because in an age of declining fertility, Offred and the other Handmaids are valued only if their ovaries are viable. Offred can remember the years before, when she lived and made love with her husband, Luke; when she played with and protected her daughter; when she had a job, money of her own, and access to knowledge. But all of that is gone now...

This was the book of the month for February with a mommy's online book club that I am head of. Book is written in the main character, Offred's voice. She talks to us as she reminisces about life before the Republic of Gilead. Life before was similar to how life is now. Women had rights, owned properties, had jobs, and some women raised family all on their own. And then something happened. And as the book goes along the narrator slowly begins to tell us what happened to make everything change completely to where now women were put in categories, and her category was handmaid. She was there for fertility purposes only, to help populate. Her name is only a name that describes whose handmaid she is, Of Fred. We go through the book seeing the struggles the narrator goes through because she has memory of how good life was before this new order took place. She has memory of a husband and her daughter and now she has none of those things.

I was astonished at how believable this book was as to what could really happen if for some reason our current government was abolished. How easily women could be oppressed. To read this as a possibility was a bit scary. How quickly things went from being the way they are now to a place that seemed so primitive in its thinking. Using the bible and biblical references to justify an unjust situation and rules. This book definitely had me asking question like, would I be resistant, a martyr, or a survivor and just go with it surviving the best I could. Would I try to be some sort of hero or she-ro? (smile). What would be my place in this terrible female oppressive world? I also said to myself, if I thought it was hard now for women, look at where we have come from, and see where we could possibly go. Scary.

The overall story was good, but I did have problems with the narrator and her lack of facts as to what exactly happened to make things the way they were. I somewhat understand because my guess would be that she herself did not know much about how she went from working, having money, and owning property to being a handmaid. But having the story told from her point of view left a lot to mystery. The ending was left a mystery as well. That somewhat frustrated me because we do not know the true fate of our narrator.

Overall I give this book 3 out of 5 stars but it is a book definitely worth reading. I have been told that this is one of Atwood's mediocre books and that she has other novels that are better. I would be interested in reading other books from this author.

My Review of The Help by Kathryn Stockett and The movie based off the book

This book was given to me for a Christmas gift. I expressed how much I wanted to read the book and then watch the movie. It took me some time to get through the book just because I have a lot going on, but it was a great book. At first the dialectic of the book turned me o a bit but the more I read the more I was able to get use to how the characters spoke. I like how the book is written in the voices of the 3 main characters and each has chapters dedicated to telling the story from their point of view.

In Detail:
I think that considering the author was from the same area, and had a maid herself, I think she did a good job on portraying what she thought a black maid would feel like. I can not say how accurate it was. I think only talking to some of the black maids of that time would tell us if she did a good job portraying it. I think a friend of mine in my book club put it best. Although the book was great, and well written we have to remember that this is a white woman doing her own thought of what she thinks the domestic African American workers of that time were like. Going off what she knows and has researched. She did an excellent job.

In the book my favorite character was Aibleen. She reminded me so much of my grandmother. Just the open heart and not super judgemental, but could tell you what you needed to hear without being mean about it. I loved her character in the book. In the movie, I would have to say that it would be between Minnie and why can't I think of her name, the woman Minnie ends up working for. Minnie was portrayed really well in the book and she kept some realism to this story that not every maid is super nice and doesn't talk back. (Smile) I loved the Terrible awful. And the woman she worked for, I loved her because she seemed to genuinely not see the difference between Minnie working for her and being friends. She never treated Minnie like she was less than she was, and her character really needed Minnie. I liked that.

I cried while reading the book, and I cried even harder when watching the movie, when Aibileen had to leave baby girl. It really hurt me because I know that child will never feel a love like that from anyone else. It sucks that Aibileen had to leave.

I did see the movie and I thought it was a good adaption. I think some parts were better than parts in the book, like the way Skeeter's mama stood up for her in the movie. You could clearly see that. The way she talked to Hilly when she came over. And even used some words from the book Skeeter wrote, to let Hilly know she has been identified. I liked that. It did not go quite that way in the book and I wish it would have. So we could have known that her mother was proud of her no matter what. There was something that they changed for movie purposes. The whole thing with Skeeter's childhood maid and how that situation went down. I did not like how the movie changed it. I also would have like to seen the scene where Skeeter and her family meets Stuart's family at the house. I liked the conversation the family had there and how this previous fiancee played a major role. But overall the movie did good.

I definitely think that Octavia was Minnie in that movie, and she deserved that Academy Award for sure.

One activity I have always loved is reading. I am not getting back to reading more and I want to share the books that I am reading with others so that maybe they can read them as well. So there will be more reviews like this on my blog. I already have two more books to write about.

Happy 18 Months to Bryce

Today is Bryce's 1 year and a half birthday. Time has flown by so fast. He is becoming such a big boy. He can read books to himself. He often turns the pages and babbles about what he thinks the words are saying. He can talk in 3 word sentences. His favorite word has to be Why and Have a nice day. (smile) He is getting better at being able to brush his teeth and often times wants to do it on his own. He lets me know when he wants do something on his own by saying "Mine" and lets me know when he needs help by signing and saying "help". He enjoys playing with balls and his laptop. He repeats everything that is said on his laptop. He also knows how to count to 5 and how to say 4 letters of the alphabet song, ABCD. He is showing signs of being ready to potty train. He lets me know when he is wet or when he has a poopy diaper. He enjoys sitting on the potty at daycare and at home, but he rarely actually goes. I still think I am going to attempt to start potty training him sometime next week. This is the age that I started with Myles. He knows most of his body parts, everything on his face (eyes, ears, etc) his head, knees and his shoulder. He loves to sing. His favorite song is twinkle twinkle little star. He is an amazing little boy. But the crying fits and tantrums have definitely started. He throws things when he is mad. And screams and has a great fake cry. But all in all he is a great growing boy. He will have his 18 month check up next month and we will see how big he is. He had his 15 month check up when he was 16 months and he weighed 21lbs and was 29in long. He is now in 18 month clothing so I know he is a bit bigger than his last appointment. The things that are ahead for Mr. Bryce are definitely potty training. I would also like for him to get involved in a toddler sport program. I can't imagine that 18 months ago I had a newborn in my hands. Looking at old photos and even ultrasound pictures and thinking how fast the time flies.

Happy 18 months Bryce Nicholaus OmoOla Oluwaseyi Adekoya

Looking

Trying to start a trend where I am updating this blog at least once a week, and definitely on Fridays.

Today we received our tax return money. I am relieved. We will be able to catch up and even go ahead on some bills as well as get other needed things for ourselves, kids, and apartment.

I am betting this will not be a long blog post just because I do not have much to say. I will say that just in these few days of my distance from fb and twitter and mainly my birth board groups on facebook, I have had time to get a few things done. I have been able to clip and organize my coupons a bit better as well as send some coupons that I will not need to people who will use them. I have also taken time to write here, of course, and time to decorate the boys room a bit. I have put artwork that they get from school up in their room on the walls. The idea just came to me. (laugh). I guess I will have a lot of ideas coming to me because I will not be sitting on the computer or on my phone staring at facebook. It is liberating. But I do still find myself looking. I am looking for someone who has the same interest as I do, someone who has similar struggles, someone with a similar background. See now I have taken away my main way of socializing, facebook, but I have not replaced it with anything as of yet. So I do feel a bit empty because of it. But I know as I find other things that interest me, and I began to take part in other activities that I will find moms, and women that I can find true friendship in. I do have a few friends. But I just can not seem to find the time to spend time with them. I think maybe I need to work with the friends I do have instead of searching for new ones. I can not seem to keep up with the few I do have, so why am I looking?

Update...

Hi, there.

Again I find myself updating after an extended period of time. I continue to say that I will do better about coming on here, and then I taper off. Now I am sure I will at least update once a week on this blog. I love reading the blog post that I have written in the past. So I am hoping that will motivate me to write things out on here. Plus, writing things out has always helped me. I guess we will start with an update of each of us.

Myles
Myles is a growing boy. He is so smart and has a great over all personality. He has been having some struggles at school. He seems to be looking for attention by doing negative things in the classroom. I do not think that it helps that he sees other children participate in negative behavior and in turn get special one-on-one attention because of it. At home we are trying to reward him for the good things that he does so that he understands that it is good behavior that gets rewarded not bad behavior. Nevertheless, it can be a be hard to reinforce because of the school situation. I really wish we could afford the lovely Montessori school that is around here. I think he would benefit from the structure of the school as well as the way learning is obtained. We are thinking of getting him a chore chart and starting him out with weekly awards to reinforce good behavior. Besides a few behavioral problems Myles is doing well.

Bryce
Bryce will be 18 months in about 16 days. Time is passing by so fast. He is really smart. He knows how to say and sign so many words. He also knows how to say some of the alphabet as well as how count to 4. This month I will be starting potty training with Bryce. I will attempt to do it the same way I did with Myles at this age. Go straight to underwear and do the 3 day method of training. He already goes pee on the potty at school so I do not see this potty training being a problem with him. Bryce will also be turning to forward facing this month. He has been in his infant car seat from the beginning. At his 15 month check-up he still did not exceed the weight recommendations to be out of his infant car seat. So I just kept him in it. I figure by 18 months, and with the tax return money we can buy him a nice new forward-facing car seat. Myles was turned around about this age as well. Bryce is showing some signs of the terrible twos. He has started throwing some fits. I think his fits are a bit exaggerated as well because he has seen what Myles is capable of, in terms of the length and type of tantrum. But on the other hand, Bryce has better language skills than Myles had at this age, so he knows how to communicate his needs better which helps with cutting down confusion. He does not get frustrated often because he can communicate his wants and needs. I think most tantrums at this age is do to frustration because they feel like no one understands what they want or need. We normally understand Bryce very well, and if there is a time where we don't Myles normally can explain what he thinks Bryce is trying to say.

Ola
I am not too sure what to update when it comes to Ola. I guess the first thing that needs to be said is that he is indeed back in school. Yes! Yay! I am so happy about this. School is really important to me, and it is also really important to his mother and father. I am really glad that he has chosen to make it an importance in his life. He is taking classes at the local community college. He will apply to be accepted back in to his university this summer. I am excited about this. I think he deserves to finish his degree. Also he got a promotion at his job in December. This is also good news to him. Working and providing for his family is something that makes him really happy. It also makes him happy that his new promotion means that I do not have to work as hard at my job. Other than that, I can not think of anything else that I would have to say about him. I will say, that he and I have been doing really well. He is learning how to be a good partner for me and a great father for the boys. For him it is all a learning process and I see his willingness to learn has increased in these past months.

Me
First I am happy to announce that Ola and I are getting married. As for right now the date is set for next year, July 6th, 2013. We are really excited about this. We will be going ring shopping the Wednesday after Valentine's day. Also, I am now taking classes that will go towards my Masters in Counseling Psychology. I have mixed feeling about this. I am happy that I am taking this step but I also have some doubts about myself and whether I am capable of actually doing this while being a full-time mother of two, planning a wedding, working, etc. I need to find the confidence in myself and get it together. There seems to be so many people who have confidence in me, I just need to find it in myself. I am also having an issue with not working as many hours as I worked last year. It felt good to work and be able to provide for my family. I am having a hard time depending on Ola financially. It is silly really, but I was raised to be independent and I am having trouble feeling like what's his is really ours. I have always treated the situation the other way around. What's mine is ours but what's his is really his. Silly I know. I have been this way in our relationship for as long as I can remember, actually from the beginning. He has always tried to change this but he has never been able to. But now that we live together and we depend so much on each other, I really do need to change this. When I look at all of this, it seems like I am the one that is struggling with a lot of the change that is going on around here. My children are great, and my relationship is moving forward and yet I feel stagnate. Silly. I would like to blame this on motherhood, why not, can't you blame everything on motherhood? But it truly does not have anything to do with motherhood. It has to do with me. Because of this, and other things, I have chosen to take a step back from the online social networks that I am involved in such as Facebook and Twitter. I need to find time for the things I need to do and things I want to do, such as reading, scrapbooking, and blogging amongst other things.

Wow! That was one mouthful of an update. (Smile). I am glad to be able to come here and update.