Three Firstborns Under One Roof

Mondays are our cleaning days at the Deckers. Duke was a "big" help this monday. His latest nickname is Rooskers and Raskal, so now that you have the memo, you'll know who I am talking about. Monday mornings get a little wet and wild to say the least. It's always when the junk of the weekend is strung through the house and sunday afternoon laziness has hung over into the next day leaving much disaray and clutter throughout our home. Last weekend, Daniel, our shopping "shark" sold his truck and bought the first piece to his new TV area: an entertainment center. Moving the old TV was a dusty process, so ontop of the weekend "hangover" clutter we had a nice layer of dust. Duke and I started in right after our breakfast. We began with the bathrooms. He got a squirt bottle of water and a small towel and went around making himself useful. He did his best to do just as he saw me do with my more serious squirt bottle and nastier looking rag. After we finished the bathroom, got candy for going "teetee" and put away our rags and bottles, we headed to the bedroom to dust. I love swiffer dusting supplies (clearly I am a stay at home mom, because their new duster extenders were the highlight of my week! I suppose I live a sheltered life, but at least it is a dust free shelter Praise the Lord!) Anyhow, Duke got one swiffer Duster and I got the one with the awesome extender (I was oh so hoping he would not notice how much better my new one was than his handmedown and thankfully he didn't object to the arrangement.) We quickly went to dusting. Raskal dusted, knocked over Daddy's sunflower seeds, had used sunflower seeds dug out of his mouth by mommy, and chased Jax, then sat in time out for picking Jax up by his fur. Then it was time to sweep. He got the broom attachment to my dustpan and went to work imitating my every move. The cutest thing to me though happened by Duke's own initiative and creativity when he saw me vacuuming. He ran to get his push "popper" (you remember them, every generation of kids has had one. This one came from a garage sale for a quarter and Lord only knows how old it is.) Here came Rooskers, running in pushing his popper. I would have thought he had moved on past the cleaning theme and was making his own fun, except for now he was motioning it just as though it were a vacuum cleaner. Couple steps forward, stretch your body and pull that popper back; not to mention in rows just like Mommy. This is what happens when three firstborns live under one roof. Shower time was crazy, yet another shower when I get out with a slippery naked toddler, and only one shaved leg. Each time I promise myself I am not ever going to try to shower us both at the same time. Just be dirty till his nap Katie! I tell myself. But the truth is, nap time is sounding all the more like something I want to participate in more than the shower! Oh gross, and too much information. Sorry!
Tuesday I decided that I was going to focus my morning around him entirely. Afterall, he had earned it by focusing his monday morning on my agenda. So we packed a lunch and headed to the zoo. Just he and I. He had a blast, not real sure about the stress levels of the animals after we left, but Duke took and extra long nap which, I might add, is always the indicator that a good time was had...at least by Duke! Walking by the giraffs I said: "Duke, can you say giraff?" Duke responded: "Ball." Oh well, when in doubt go with what you know, right? I did the same thing when I was in school, if I didn't know the answer I would try to talk about something I was educated on. My logic: hopefully they would conclude if I was so informed to know an oratory on topic B, surelly I had been briefed and was way superior to topic A. Nice, Duke; 'the apple doesn't fall far from the tree'.
When I was in the early stages of Duke's pregnancy, I saw a poster about 'Mom and Tot gymnastics.' It was then that I began the arduous process of BEGGING Daniel to fund this wonderful activity. Three weeks ago my dream came true and Duke and I headed off to Mom and Tots at the Gymnastics Sport Center. We love it! It is once a week and about 20 pairs of toddlers and moms. They are adorable! But make no mistake, Duke is by far the cutest. His favorite thing to do is run down the extra long trampoline run and pounce on the mats. It's even better if he almost crashes into three other little toddler boys with the same idea. Heaven forbid he bump into a girl though. They just aren't as tough. At the end of Gymnastics, he and the toddler mob get candy from Tony the bear. I suppose just in case his energy would be run out, they hand each static headed kid a sugar stick to recharge. I just want to know where the espresso line is for the moms. On the drive home Duke downs his sippy cup of water and I down my sportier, more adult looking sippy. And as we walk in the house to see Daddy, who do you think is more tired? That's right, not Duke. Whew! Skip my walk on those days because I know I have definately burned my callories for the rest of the day. When I think of what I had in mind when I saw that poster two and a half years ago, I remember imagining myself (makeup on and hair done of course) gracefully helping my well groomed, well behaved, toddler flip over bars; jumping together on trampolines, etc. Something about jumping over five toddler boys to prevent the tackling of Little toddler Miss Priss, wasn't exactly what I had in mind. In fact, truth be told it's better. This is real life; our house isn't supposed to look like a museum with everything neat as a pin and Duke was never supposed to look like a plastic my little pony for heaven's sake. The fact is I love having a toddler boy. It's crazy and exhasting, but at the end of the day, I've never felt so blessed. Every day I have to love him is a gift, even when the wrapping is a little unorthodox. Lest we grow old and think we've got it all together, God filled the Decker home with the delight of a toddler boy on a mission...Praise His blessed Name and take cover or you might get hit by a sunflower seed filled, static headed, dirty diapered, precious little boy.

Whole Grain... Goodness!

For months now we have had trouble keeping Duker T. out of the dog food. The other day, what I like to call a stroke of genius hit me about the same time a stroke of hunger hit Duke. He was once again snacking on dog food and making a mess. I looked at the clock and noticed it was about his snack time. Perhaps he is able to pass up the temptation most of the time, but maybe when he gets hungry he just can't pass up the delectable, tempting dog food dish sitting out in the open like an all you can eat buffet. Now, I thought to myself, my son barks like a dog, he scratches on the door when he wants to go out, he chews on dog toys, he crawls in Jax's dog kennel....why in the world would he not exhibit a strong urge to munch on appetizing, Purina One, Chicken and Whole Grain, Healthy Weight Formula, Dog Chow? I couldn't think of a reason either.

We have some bowls for table training that have a suction cups on the bottom of them to prevent both spilling and the ability to hurdle bowls of spaghetti through the kitchen. They are fabulous! Lucky for me, Jax doesn't like Whole Grain Cheerios because I suction cupped a bowl to the tile next to Jax's food and water; then I filled it with Cheerios and said: "Look Duke! This is your dog food!" Much to my amusement, my cutie's sober expression slowly evolved into a look of wild excitement and delight, he dropped from his standing position to his hands and knees to crawl over to his bowl; then full aware of the dog only area, he put his face straight into his bowl of cheerios rather than using his "paws" to assist his eating. Before I had stopped laughing he lifted up his head frustrated that the bowl was too small for his face to fit into. Then, a stroke of genius hit my little puppy wanna'be. He carefully placed about five Cheerios onto the tile and then put his face down to the floor to eat just like a little puppy would.

The next morning upon giving Jax his dog food, I did the same routine. Duke, never to disappoint, did the whole doggy play over again. He has done it several times since then. Now if I could just figure out how to keep him out of Jax's water...

Duke and I are having way too much fun today! We just went to prime time to play in the kid's play place. It was before thier open hours so i got to climb in with him! Now we are home for a nap, laundry and dinner-t0-the-crook-pot, and then headed to the mall to play in the toddler area. So fun!

Videos of Duke!

Here are a few recent videos of Duke:

Just another ordinary, extrordinary day..

I will never stop being thankful for the gift of a stay at home baby. :D I absolutely love being here, pouring my best into my husband, son and home.. and jax too even though he smells really bad at the moment. Of course, if I was truly pouring my best into him specifically, I'd probably be bathing him instead of blogging. Let me start over again. I love pouring my best into my husband, son and home. Jax gets the leftovers ha! Ok, blah, blah. You probably tuned in to get an update on your ____ (fill in the blank here whatever Duke is to you, Grandson, nephew, etc.) not ramblings about a smelly dog. ANYWAY...

This morning when my stay-at-home baby woke up and started asking for me, I got him up and laid him down to change his diaper. He immediately pulled his monkey blanket (his security/cuddle item) over his face; thus starting his flirtatious game of peek-a-boo. I brought him in bed with me for about fifteen minutes to doze and cuddle. He was excited to see that Daddy was awake and kept pointing at him and smiling. Daniel headed off to work and we had breakfast, colored a picture, read books, crashed our toy cars into each other, played peek-a-boo, cleaned up 2 explosion diapers (each alternating with a head to toe bath), and had what we usually have for lunch: yesterday's dinner. After all of this, Duke started getting sleepy. Ready to get rocked in the mommy chair with monkey blanket and then off to nappers. I just love getting to spend the day together. We are so blessed, I don't have to miss out on these special things with him. I absolutely am convinced that this is 'as good as it gets.'

The other evening at the park a woman asked me: "So where do you work?" When i told her I am a stay at home mom she responded: "Oh. Do you have a degree or anything?" She didn't have a rude tone, I think she was merely curious. But still it made me curious if she thought I was missing out on something. Did she think I was neglecting a career? Actually what first came to my mind was: "Does she think I'm dumb? Maybe she thinks I am a stay at home because i can't get a job..." Then I was overtaken by a profound thought: 'Who stinkin' cares what she thinks?' Well, yes I do have a degree. I have a Communication degree and I use it every day loving my family at home. Now honestly, I would have dropped my education in a heart beat to pursue my dream of being a mom if God had allowed. He has His own timing about things. So I got the education, had six months of a "career," went to bed rest, and then to the full time task of turning a house into a nurturing home for the two guys I love most. Today I especially feel overwhelmed to praise the Lord for His provisions and for the opportunity to have a stay-at-home baby.

Speaking of communication, I realized recently that i had totally been misinterpreting Duke's intentions. Whenever I catch him doing something he isn't supposed to do, I kneel down and stand him up so that we are eye level before I correct him. Recently, when I get to this step he has just been reaching out and hugging me. Clinging to my neck with his head laying on my shoulder. Unfortunately me being the skeptic I was thinking: Smart guy. Hug me because you know you are adorable. Hug me because you know I can't resist. Avoid the issue. Well, no sir! You are going to look mommy in the eye and be accountable. I would insist that he look at me even when that meant refusing his sweet hug. It didn't take long before the Lord impressed on my heart that this was Duke's way of showing me repentance for what he had done. He wasn't avoiding the issue at all. Rather, he was immediately sorry for the issue. The Lord corrected me, that I need to receive that hug and immediately tell him: "I forgive you." Then and only then pull him to look eye to eye with him and firmly restate the correction. In spite of that 'communication degree' I so proudly stated to the woman to the park, I failed to correctly interpret the most basic infantile communication. "Simply to the cross I cling" apart from Him, I will always miss it. I have realized my tendency to fail to believe the best in my family. I am going to work on that. I don't like that about myself. I never have been motivated by people who seem to be skeptical of me either. When parents and teachers set a high expectations in front of me, that was when I rose to the challenge. So we got some work to do...but at least I get to be here to do it :D

(Side note: thanks mom and dad for all you sacrificed to fund that degree!)

Please!

Sunday, Daniel had to work so Duke and I just went to church at South West Park where several of my family and loved ones go. Anyway, when we pulled in my dad (Grandy Randy) pulled in the parking lot five min. late also. Upon getting beloved grandson out of my car, we discovered the dire need for a diaper change before heading into the sanctuary. Most of my experience at this church was in high school with a friend whose youth group played hide and seek in the dark in the building. It didn't matter then, but the fact remains that i cannot navigate inside of that building to save my life!!! So many corners and halls. Anyway after Dad, Duke and I walked all over the place followed by a deacon sparying a can of Lysol (totally kidding) we finally found a nursery with a changing table for me to change Duke. My Dad informed me that he is faster at me at changing diapers, but seeing as how one of my earliest memories is him asking me to change my baby sister's BAD diaper, that remains to be seeen.
Now, I mentioned in earlier posts that Duke has learned to sign 'please.' He is now quite profecient at it and uses it any time he wants anything--which ends up being quite a bit. Now, in Duke's 15 months of life we have NEVER left him in a church nursery. He has always gone with us into church and almost always slept on us through the service. This time after his diaper change he looked over and saw all the toddlers playing with cool toys and signed 'please' over and over again. At this point Grandpa took him and headed down the hall--I guess Grandy doesn't understand baby sign language... Nonetheless, I was puzzled by the reality that my baby is turning into a kid. He could care less where we were going, he isn't shy, he wanted to play with the kids. I got the message loud and clear. Since my dad was headed out with Duke I just followed behind thinking to myself a big long exagerated "huhhh????". I worked in nuseries for 10 years before I had Duke. Kids were clinging onto their moms for dear life and instead left in a poopy smelling, overcrowded unfamiliar place surrounded by strangers saying "it's ok", "it's ok", "it's ok". I could see it all over their faces. They were thinking, "no, this is not ok!!!" But this time it's as if my little extravert was looking into my nervous face saying "it's ok" "it's ok" "it's ok" I guess this gives me a week to get used to the idea. Looks like Mr. Duke is ready to go to sunday school. We may continue taking him during church because we like the idea of the family being together for worship, but I guess we'll see. I used to teach two year old sunday school at one particular church and to tell the truth i liked it more than my age sunday school so I can't say I blame him. I better brace myself for this "letting go" phrase that rolls off many wise grandmother's tongues. What a delicate balance of letting go and embaracing; of patience and passion.

"I've got a wheel in my eye"

Duke has been showing such an interest in cars lately! We are so amazed that he moves them while making car sound effects. How does he know to do that? Anything with a wheel on it, whether it be a bike, a car, a wagon, etc. is so attractive to Duke. He starts grabbing his own shirt and wiggling his fingers (that is how he signs 'please') whenever he sees a "wheeled" item. Today he got to spend a lot of time outside while Mommy and Daddy were doing yard work. He absolutely loves it outside. He came in a crashed without my help. It blows my mind that he is starting to go to sleep on his own without even being rocked. What a big boy! He loves his monkey and cuddles it. He has also, in the last few days, fallen to sleep holding his beloved tooth brush or his new gold hummer hot wheel.

Brushing his teeth is another favorite activity. Only he will have no help, thank you. He like sucking on the wet bristles. I am not really sure how much cleaning that does, but at least he doesn't have an aversion to tooth brushing!

Duke has now entered a stage of accountability with Mommy and Daddy. He understands the word 'no' and many other words for that matter. He is very capable of protesting and he remembers which cabinets are his to play in and which are not. Since he spends most of his time in our home, his boundaries remain consistent and predictable. I am very thankful for him and the way that God is using DUKE to discipline me. I have a responsibility to teach him self control and 'cause and effect' but watching him has taught me so much about myself. It is so easy to be focused solely on his actions, choices and progress and neglect my own. Lately I have been thinking a lot of this verse:

Luke 6:41
"Why do you look at the speck of sawdust in your brother's eye and pay no attention to the plank in your own eye?

I often hear the woes of the "terrible two's" from others, and I often hear myself saying: "Mommy said 'no' " more frequently than I would prefer. However, the amazing thing is that recently I have felt a still small voice inside of me showing me my own lack of self control. Self control. Self Control. That is mostly what this word discipline is about right? Teaching my son self-control in respecting his boundaries, authorities and most of all honoring God. I desire to parent him in a way that reveals his humanity, his need for Christ's forgiveness; then to ultimately, please Jesus, lead him to Christ.

Perhaps then I should begin in my own heart. I have to receive the wiser 'no's and instructions that I hear. Dang. That really puts it in perspective.

Duke has such a clean slate. Where is life going to take him? What will he do? Who will he be? Where will he go? I pray that he is a man of God. That he would love ONE woman with a passion. That he would raise up a generation of children to fear God and honor him. I must surrender my control to God--as if I really had any to begin with. For me, this is fear and worry, and the feeling that I have to CONTROL my son. Wrong. I have a very real responsibility to him and to God; however try as I may, I cannot CONTROL him or his will. I easily allow myself to be taken over by my mind's anxiety. I learned last week that the most frequently used command in all of scripture is: "Do not fear." I have learned that I don't have the strength to drive away worry or anxiety apart from Christ. I mean really, how far am I going to let fear manipulate me? It is very easy for me to be anxious about the 'what ifs'. But apart from the what ifs this is what I know: 1.Duke is the Lord's. 2. God is faithful. 3. God will take care of us. I cannot control everything or protect him from everything; but what a relief that our loving and wise heavenly Father can. I love him so much and thank God every day for him.

Joshua 23:14

You know with all your heart and soul that not one of all the good promises the Lord your God gave you has failed. Every promise has been fulfilled; not one has failed.

Duke Walking

Videos of Duke Walking:

First Post

Well, as of today my extremely electronically inclined husband gave me, (his electronically uninclined wife) a tutorial in blogging. I know, I know, I keep hearing: "there's nothing to it!" Well, here's the deal: Being the daughter of a computer genius and the wife of another computer genius, I have come to learn that there is just no sense in waisting time trying to figure it out on my own. I'll take the tutorial thanks. Someday I'll have a cool, impressive background too. That's when you'll know that I must have recieved tutorial #2.

Alrighty, I also feel inclined to comment/explain the name of our blog. Sorry for the false hopes everyone, but I am not pregnant. I do however have one darling little boy who i plan on writing a lot about. Someday in the future we hope to have more little darlings. When that day comes, i should like to avoid getting the refresher course of creating a blog...SO if it's just the same to you, we are going to call this blog: Decker Babies... so stay tuned.

The last two weeks have been astounding in Duke's little world. We finally have a toddler! A piece of advice Daniel's mom gave me several months ago is not to push Duke or fret to see him walk by "dr. Spock's goal" or whomever. Little did she know that at the ripe ol' age of 15 months Duke would finally decide to give walking a chance. He still finds crawling to be his preferred mode of locomotion; i suppose both for it's effeciency (after six months of crawling this boy is FAST!) as well as it's stability. His poor little knees are calloused...you think i am joking, but I AM NOT! To feel his leg from his hip to his toes it would go something like this: silky smooth, silky smooth, sandpaper, back to silky smooth, and then toesies. I just love watching him walk though. So proud of him! He looks so tall and old, and for him he loves to see Daddy and I cheer! He also has gotten three theeth in the last two weeks. That's another thing, he has been toothless for 14 months! Then, to throw us off he got the top two in before the bottom. In all my life, I really don't think I've ever seen a child get in the top teeth before the bottom. We called him snaggle tooth for a few days before the neighbor poked through the surface. He is just such a cutie. You'll just have to excuse me for bragging a little here and there. Also, in the last two weeks he has learned how to sign 'please.' This has been nice especially for mommy because it has cut down on the desperate "uuuuuuuuuggggggghhhhhhmmmmmmmm"s. Praise the Lord!

He is Mr. Adventure that's for sure. The cold weather has been hard on him. He just stands at the dining room windows and points out side at his swing or the grass. He has even tried scratching on the door like our dog Jax. Speaking of that, we have been convinced lately that Duke thinks he is a dog. Let me explain: He barks (oh yes, very often. If Jax starts, Duke joins in. When people asking me what new words he has learned I have to admit that he does a lot more barking than he does speaking or signing.), he loves crawling in Jax's kennel and snuggling in Jax's bed (yes, I let him, he is a boy, not a dainty little girl. I know he will be into much dirt, grime and mud to come.So it's just preparation). Keeping Duke out of the dogfood and dogwater has been an ongoing battle, that sadly for him, Mommy still wins. He also loves chewing on Jax's chew sticks and playing tug of war with Jax's stuffed dogtoys. Of all things it is strange that he thinks he's a dog. If anything he should think he's a monkey. You are probably confused right now, it's just that we've always called him a "baby monkey." Thoroughly confusing parents and family, i know.

Now, I'll just tell you a little about my man and Duke's Daddy. This is one of his first days to have a complete day off in a long time. He just finished the reffing season and is home. Perhaps Daniel wasn't sure what to do with himself but i was quite amused at his choice of entertainment. He quietly slipped my cell phone (which he had put on vibrate) under our sleeping dog. Waiting quietly and patiently, Daniel's moment of fun finally came when Jax went into a deep state of sleep. Daniel quietly opened his phone and called mine. He like to laugh his socks off watching poor Jax wake up in a state of panic. Daniel just has jokes sitting in him that he just has to get out. The other evening I got up in the middle of the night to use the restroom. Only to walk across what i call poppers lining the bathroom floor (you know, those packing pockets of air that you use to pack breakable things). Pop pop pop pop pop pop under my feet. I guess i'm glad Jax got the brunt of it today! Daniel is always making me laugh. I have a wonderful family, thank you Lord. Thanks for taking enough interest in our family to care about all our silly stories. If you enjoyed them, then stay tuned!

The Lord has done great things for us and we are filled with joy. Psalm 126:3