Will wonders ever cease? OR They both slept till 7!! 10-16-11

Yesetrday morning I thought I heard talking so I tried to force my eyes open and checked the time. 7 O'CLOCK! I jumped up and immediately wondered was something wrong? The baby hadn't woken me up and Cash hadn't called out, something was wrong! I heard the talking again and ruling out my snoring neighbor I moved towards the door to the boy's room. I saw the light turn on and paused, Cash was out of bed, but again he hadn't called for me. I tip toed to their door and peered through the crack to see Cash swing one leg over the crib rail and hurle himself into the crib with brother who was awake as well. He began to tell his little brother that it was morning now so he needed to take out his pacifier, brother of course did not agree. I watched for a few minutes as they "chatted" and played, then let them know I was awake too and we could go downstairs. I couldn't wait to tell Ryan the fantastic discovery I had made that morning, a memory to last forever.

Open House (or the shoe is on the other foot) 10-6-11

Tonight I had the pleasure (and nervous wreck'dness) of going to Cash's Open House. Now at my Open House the students walk around and show their parents what they have done so far in school. We spend the first few weeks of school making artsy projects to put up and make our room very showy. Cash's Open House is different. It is parents only and you sit in a circle on teeny chairs that remind you maybe you shouldn't have had that extra slice of pizza at dinner. You get advice, suggestions and general information which I like. The teachers type up and post student answers to questions like, what is the best part of pre-school e.t.c. and I had to laugh when I noticed that Cash's answers were often very long, maybe two or three lines of text when other students maybe used a word or two, can you say verbal? I try not to compare Cash's work, writing, art e.t.c. to the other students (okay maybe I end up doing it a little), but you can't help noticing when there are major differences. I didn't notice major differences per say but I did wonder how my parents (at school) feel when I have their child's work up with everyone else's. Is it a postitive?

Answers to the question "What do you like best about pre-school?"

They were completing a seed unit and had tasted different seeds, when asked which seed he liked best he said.......

Pretty definitive I would say!


And on a different note, the boys have loved a new set of trucks they just got and for a moment we even had sharing!

Cash Berry Defense Attorney at Law (9-28-11)

When baby Ryan was born we waited for the sibling jealousy to come from Cash and we did just that waited. There was a wonderful selection of books on "How to be a Big Brother" and we had read them from the day we knew I was going to have baby Ryan. It wasn't until later, maybe when he started crawling, walking and touching Cash's things did the jealousy and annoyance begin to show. After a few months of yelling at brother, pushing brother out of the way, and comments that were less than "Bucket Filling" (You have to read the book.) I wondered if Cash would ever like his little brother.

Jump to last Thursday night. It is just the boys and I Sunday through Thursday because Ryan is working the late shift to be home with the boys. Yes, he deserves an award, medal of honor, a nap e.t.c. Here's my thoughts on Stay at Home Moms, you have the hardest job ever and going to work (even as a teacher with 30 students) is not as tough as your job. okay, back to last Thursday. R2 (trying to break away from "Chubs" as a nickname, but don't want to call him baby Ryan either so R2B2 it is) was eating playdo (again) and throwing it on the floor. When I started to scold him Cash jumped in saying "Mom, you don't tell my brother that!"

I was quite surprised and responded, "That's nice of you to defend your brother but eating playdo could make him sick and the floor  messy."

"Well you don't hurt his feelings!" Wow. Cash was worried about his brother's feelings? Maybe he did like his brother after all.

The Power of Praise (9-21-11)

I need a bumper sticker that says "Proud Mama!" today.

Both boys spent the summer in a weekly class at The Little Gym and we carried over Cash's Sports class through the winter. At the end of each class one of the teachers comes out and explains what skills they worked on (this week was being a soccer goalie and using polite game playing manners). Teacher Angela is always very positive and honest. If the group had a hard time listening she shares that with us parents and we all secretly hope it wasn't our child. The same goes for the compliments and "good news." One week she shared that "some kids" made home runs and she didn't usually see that at this age, I secretly hoped one of the big hitters was Cash, mostly because he loves hitting the ball over the fence and roof at Grandma's house and I knew he would be proud of himself. Later when I would ask him about it he would nonchalantly say "Yeah, I hit a home run" like it was an everyday occurrence. But this week Teacher Angela made a special point to let me know Cash really set an example with his manners. He said "Good Job" and "Nice Try" to the other kids and encouraged them when they didn't make a goal. I was proud, I was beaming, I was secretly laughing because had Chubs been in his class this conversation would have sounded a lot different. On the way home we shared the news with Grandma who happened to call and left a note for Dad. What I really loved seeing was that just like his home run, Cash wasn't proud of himself or his teacher's comments about his behavior but rather felt that his actions and words were the way things should be, he really hadn't done anything special, he was just being himself.

 All the kiddos love this "Donut" thing at the gym. Cash's class uses it to practice throwing a football, below Ryan's class uses it to climb through.

Ryan received his own round of praise as well this week with a visit from the speech path. We took the summer off from visits through our ESD because Ryan seemed to be doing so well, but after several months of ear infections through the summer, Ryan's hearing was likely not up to par for a while. He proved that he wasn't going to be seen and not heard by the end of her visit. He was mimicking, asking for help, and following directions very well. She mentioned he was making great progress and I was so happy because what parent wants their child to struggle, especially with communication which can be so frustrating for our kids.

As I reflected over Ryan's therapist visit, and Cash's class last night I was reminded that I hadn't yet checked in with all my parents. There is now an item reading "Write Good News Notes" on my work To-Do list. It is so easy to forget when my students are doing so well to pass that on to their parents. Who doesn't like a little Good News?

A Lesson from my Son

I have this problem/stumbling block/, call it what you will, but whenever something I am working on does not seem to be "Good Enough" I will often find a reason to move on from said task and spend my time on something else. That happened to my blog way back in April. But, I am finding that my newly found quiet evenings have given way to some extra time and a need to "talk" or write and share the great things my boys are doing, and with no one to share these moments with in the evening until Friday night, here I go again......


Cash sat next to me yesterday with his pen in hand flipping through the pages of an alphabet book. He has about 10 of these books I picked up at Target for a buck each. Some are addition which he is very in to right now, letter writing, object discrimination, and other activities that earn him computer time. He practiced a few B's, moved on and practiced a few Y's, moved on. After a few minutes I asked him what he was looking for and he told me "I want an easy page." I knew that "easy page" really meant a page where he did not make a mistake, where his letters looked very close to the letters already lightly outlined for him as a guide. An easy page. The mom sayings kicked in "We sometimes need to practice to get better." and "Writing letters takes time to learn, look at all the letters you already know!" He didn't respond but rather kept flipping pages determined to find one that suited his needs. He eventually gave up stating that he was very tired and went to find something else to do. Later I thought about how much alike we were. I do the exact same thing, maybe not look for the easy page, but the pages where I will succeed and my letters will not go outside the lines so to speak. I just knew I might as well put those books in the recycling, he wouldn't go back to them, but I was wrong. The next day he would pick up his pen and continue on searching the pages, trying letters that yesterday may have been too hard, and picking up pride along the way in the process. He inspired me to think about things I had given up and should try again, this blog was on of them.

Speaking of writing, when I started back to work I began to leave Cash notes most mornings on this whiteboard not only to let him know his mom is thinking of him but also to hopefully inspire him to write as well. Sure enough after a few mornings I came home to find he had written me back a letter, he read it to me and while I couldn't make most of it out, I did recognize the "Mom" above my Love, Mommy, priceless.

Baby Ryan's 1st Birthday Celebration (2-26-11)

We couldn't be more excited to celebrate baby Ryan's birthday today. He has brought such a new element to our family, he combines so many qualities of myself and Ryan, and he truly is a happy-go-lucky little boy. He had such a rough start and I when I remember those 10 days he spent in the NICU I have a hard time holding back the tears. He seemed so fragile, and helpless. Then, we finally got to bring he home, and we feared we would do something wrong. One year later he is tough as nails, not easily dissuaded, and even his brother gets a run for the money if baby truly wants something. You would never know he had such a trying first few weeks of his life. Happy Birthday Ryan!

Some quiet time with Grandma Severance

Pinata Time!

My mom made me wear this hat!

Cash and Bear - Too Cute!

T-1 till baby's birthday or a regular Friday night! (2-25-11)

Friday! I love coming home to remind Cash that mommy gets to stay home two days on Fridays. As I ascended the stairs to the living room I could hear giggling, lots of giggling. That usually means someone is hiding and waiting for me to turn the corner. Sure enough......

They were trying to hide together under the blanket but baby kept trying to escape causing a lot of laughter. Too cute, my 3 boys all together in a huddle.

And even though we had below average freezing temps, Cash continued his commonplace practice of playing the Wii in as few clothes as possible. If we look back over this year-long blog I am fairly sure that this will be his usual routine for most activities.

SNOW DAY!! (2-24-11)

I am the first to admit I am worse than the kids when it comes to wanting a snow day. It isn't the time off from work that prompts me to entertain the thought of a day off, but rather a day with the boys where we can stay in, drink hot chocolate, an unexpected wonderful day together.

A few weeks ago I started looking at the weather and saw a hint of possibility we may see snow again before spring. I waited to pack this year's snow gear, and that was a wise decision. Baby and I woke up first, of course, and I couldn't wait for Cash to come downstairs and see the white blanket. He was as excited as I thought.

First, a bowl of oatmeal to warm your tummy.

Next, dance around in excitement! Love the red socks!

Last, figure out which end the snow bibs go on. And after looking at this picture a few times I just noticed baby trying to get into the rice tub again. 

We started our snow fun with a wagon ride.

Baby tries his first snowball (I was careful where I took the snow from).

We finished up with a snowball fight. Cash remembers his first snowball fight with dad a year ago.

Had to add this pic in, Cash loved making this little snowman and the next day it was still freezing so he lasted, but by Saturday Cash would wake up to a pile of sticks and rocks. :( It did however lead us to get the book "What Snowmen Do a Night" from the library, definitely a must add to the Berry Library.

Baby Ryan adds a new word and Cash sleeps in (2-23-11)

This morning was an early morning, the kind where I am not sure how much sleep I actually got and the baby was awake before Ryan left to go to work. Ryan leaves at 5. Even though I dislike early rises, I absolutely love the quiet mornings with baby. I watch him play and try to show him new things. He always seems ready to go even if I'm not.

Last night baby was in the bath and he stood up and leaned over the side yelling out what sounded like "ette, eeeeeettttttteeeee" and he had the exact same inflections as I have heard Butters (his cousin) use when calling for Nana Nette. This morning I tried to get him to add the "N" for Nette and sure enough....

And of course a jaunt on the pony before breakfast is always a must! Cash slept in until the last minute and when I woke him he said "I need to sleep longer." There was a day, when he used to sleep like his brother, and I never thought I would hear such words. :)

Angry Birds! (2-22-11)

Cash (and the rest of America apparently) is obsessed with Angry Birds! I didn't understand this preoccupation with a slingshot, variously sized birds and "Are they smiling at me because I didn't beat this level?" pigs until last night, but that's a future blog. (3-11) A few years ago Ryan and I went to a Parent Forum and the keynote speaker spoke on the challenges our newest generation will face with all the new technology bombarding them, the media in front of them, and so on. He gave some ideas on how to stay "connected" and raise children minus the "gimme" effect.

Idea #1: Have children "earn" things like their computer or t.v. time, you don't even have to say that is what's happening, and it can be the smallest thing, "Let's pick up those toys and then watch some t.v." or in our case "Let's go poop in the potty, and then you can play "Angry Birds" the goal being that you instill into your child with a little work we get rewards, so can you guess who went poop?

I'll cut the suspense, it was Cash, dad just has to remember how to share! :)

Idea #2: Sooooo excited to try this starting this year when Cash turns 4. For your child's birthday you give a list of activities to do, say once a month, and they check them off as the year goes on. You also put on one DU, destination unknown, a surprise place to take your child. The speaker said when he went to visit his son in college his son planned a DU for him.

Baby on the other hand is going to be the unfortunate recipient of 2nd time around parents. Where some say with the second one they can eat off the floor, stay up late. Um, sorry baby Ryan but not true. Not only is he not going to be in on the Angry Birds scene for many years to come, he will wait longer for t.v., waited longer then child #1 to try juice, and so on. At least he has 101 toys to keep him occupied!

A Teacher in Training (2-21-11)

Cash has always liked to explain how his toys work. Now with baby Ryan around he has more of an audience. Today we brought up the "Open when baby turns one" tub that had a bunch of Cash's old toys.

The Drop and Roll Dinosaur was truly a favorite for Cash on his first Christmas! Now we had resurrected him and Cash wasn't exactly sure he wanted baby to be right next to him. I asked if he could explain how to play with the toy hoping that would help facilitate the sharing process.

Well, maybe not such a helpful idea?

Baby Ryan says his first animal sound & surprising sleeping positions (2-20-11)

You always have to wonder when someone starts out with "You gotta see this" and in our house we say that a lot. This time it was Ryan who said it and I followed him upstairs to see what was going on in Cash's room. Once in a while we let Cash stay up and read books in his bed for a while, and he takes it upon himself to do so even when we don't tell him he can so I expected to find him in his bed covered in books. Not exactly.......

Yes, that is Cash's head at the top right of your screen with his Cars bed flipped over on top of him.

Earlier today Baby Ryan surprised me by saying "Moo" and so I grabbed the camera and tried to get it on tape. Notice how he completely ignores me and goes about his business at first, hmmmm reminds me of someone else I know. 

The sensory table experience or "Stop eating the rice baby Ryan!" (2-19-11)

It took about 2+ months after we received the sensory table from grandma and my brother so easily built a table for it that I finally tried putting something other than toys in it. Water or rice? That was the question. Rice can be vacuumed, and water might cause enough damage to need a deductible of some sort so rice it is! Baby Ryan was getting observed and I wanted Cash to be occupied so I started with a small amount of rice to get our feet wet so to speak. Little did I know baby Ryan would stop at nothing, hurtling his chubby little legs over mountains of pillows, crawling through and quickly thereafter crying out in frustration as he became stuck in between the legs of a child rocking chair, and even pushing his brother a good foot and a half taller out of the way to get to that table. Once he "made it" to his destination things always started the same. First he may wrinkle his nose and make some snorting sounds, a sign he is being silly or gotten away with something. Then, he may pick up a tool and play around in the rice a while. But, inevitably he always goes in for the kill, he is quick and he is precise, and in a matter of seconds his mouth is full of dry rice. You'd think one bite and he'd be done with it, but alas we are on day 4 of rice in the sensory table and I just may be asking Ryan about that deductible tonight.

Step 1 - Step 2 (2-18-11)

Step 1: Make sure brother is not around his Diego toy and attempt to press the blue button.

Step 2: Delight in my abilities to problem solve and repeat task to check for repeated results while simultaneously hoping brother does not see what I am playing with!


Meanwhile.....

Step 1: Play tug-o-war with dad and make a silly face to help aid in the winning of this game!

Step 2: Try to remember that dad is a lot stronger than me and playing tug-o-war can be dangerous for me.

I see a pattern! or the Gene Simmons Affliction (2-16-11)

So there are some nights where I seriously chase the boys around and say "Come on, just smile once for the blog!" It probably sounds easy 365 days of pics, but I am definitely challenged some nights. Tonight I sensed a theme in our pics, "Open mouth syndrome" which for baby Ryan is a teething/clogged sinuses issue and for Cash is a stinker/I'm not going to smile issue. :)

 The more I open my mouth, the better I play the guitar!

The more I open my mouth, the higher I can jump!

Mom's Birthday Presents (2-15-11)

On my birthday I was not excited to add another year, I have been saying 34 for so long I almost believe it. But as I go to bed I am overjoyed at the evening's events. Cashy made me an incredible mug, he painted all by himself. Baby finally used his first sign language sign AND we got it on video.

You demonstrate and show your children how to do things and you wonder if they "get it" or when they may show you what you want to see and then you hold a piece of asparagus in front of them and presto, you see the results. Now using sign language isn't the be all, end all, but I am all about solutions before problems and I know that using signs kept Cash from getting frustrated before he started talking, so you go baby Ryan,


Cash would not let me take a picture of him and the mug he made but he did have a pretty funny story to tell about his stuffed animal.

Had a fantastic birthday with my boys!

Valentine Day Prep (2-13-11)

It was hard to know if I should just fill out Cash's Valentine Cards or try to get him to do it. I decided to test the waters and have him try a few, he went ahead and filled out 20 of them! He was pretty funny about it too because by the end he was putting a C in one corner an A in the other and making a game out of writing his name. He also tried to hold back several of his 3-D Sports Valentine cards for himself.

I was pretty proud that he stuck it out until all the cards were done.

Valentine's Day (2-14-11)

Ryan was working late which meant I got to pick up the kids. There is nothing like the yells of "mommy!" from Cash and baby crawling at lightening speed to get to me. When we got home Cash wanted me to carry him, a sure sign he was tired. I left him at the bottom of the stairs and went back to the car to get baby. I found him asleep on the stairs 1 minute later.

Cash had his first Valentine exchange today and loved going through his bag and pulling out the candy. After his snooze, Cash got things ready for Dad by decorating cookies and we baked our heart shaped pizza.

You gotta love the frosting on the side of his mouth!

Hey, what are you doing back there?

One Size Fits All - apparently :) (2-11-11)

It was a S-A-D day and Ryan needed to leave when I got home. He told me he had a cute pic of Cash sleeping and Ryan playing so I checked it out.

I didn't think much of the tummy hanging out at this point, but after watching Cash play a few games of tennis and dance around I knew something wasn't quite right. I tried to look at the tag inside his shirt, which took an hour because he kept running from me, and sure enough it read 12 months! You see, I bought matching Cars outfits for the boys at Christmas, Cash was wearing the right pants, but Baby Ryan's shirt.

I thought Ryan had done it on purpose to be funny, but when I checked with him he seemed pretty shocked Cash actually fit into it.


That night we told Cash he could stay up a little later than brother and watch a movie. He had never seen   The Jungle Book, but we had read the book many times. He loved the movie and halfway through took off all his clothes because he was going to be like Mowgli, he even asked for orange underwear!

The Early Bird Gets The Smiles (2-10-11)

Oh the sound of baby slowly grabbing at the rail on the top of the crib, pulling himself up. Sometimes it takes 2 or 3 tries because he is still sleepy. But once he makes it to that standing position, game over and mommy has to get up. This morning was extra early, 4:45 to be exact, but the following pics show it was all worth it!

Ahhh makes it all worthwhile!