One Boy, One Girl, One Blog

Go to sleep Jackson! Pretty please?

2012-01-28T02:33:00.001-06:00

Jack sleeps quite well in his crib... for all of 2 hours. After that, well, it's cuddle time with mom. Every. night.

Frankly, I'm a little tired of it. I'm also a champion "find-the-nuk-in-the-middle-of-the-night"-er AND a gold medalist "find-the-nuk-in-the-dark-with-your-eyes-closed"-er. (Not that I've ever asked for either distinction. And if I did win big, really, I would like for anything I win to be awarded with a tiara, if you please.)

But, that's how it's been for the past few weeks. I wake up at 11:45 or so to get Jack. Wake again about an hour and a half later for an emergency nuk search, and pretty much repeat at random intervals all through the night culminating in a 5 a.m. series of kicks and fussing. Not too fun.

I mean, It's not *too* bad, but I also don't want to do this for the next year (which is when Jake got the memo about going to sleep in his bed and *staying* there) so I'm trying a gentle version of sleep training a la Super Nanny. It worked for Jake so here's hoping.

(I'm about to go in to rub his back but he keeps dosing off, then waking up a bit, them dosing off again so I've been standing in the bathroom for about 10 minutes now. Asking myself if I should go in or not. I'm thinking night one might be over soon... here's hoping.

Okay, I didn't go in, Jack fell asleep, and now I'm typing this post.

Oh, yes the boys still share a room.

What?

Oh, where's Jake?

Ummmm. He's... well, he *might* be sound asleep in my spot. On my very comfy bed.

Yes...

A sleep training refresher *might* be needed.

*sigh*

Some exciting updates from the house of little sleep...

Katie took her second math test at school and she "exceeds expectations." This girl is so smart, it's scary.

She also went to the science museum today with the community center after-school program. She had a lot of fun.

She mentioned that they watched a movie about the jungle. And the people in the movie did not wear... pants. Conversation about different cultures is probably needed at this point... after all, we've already had the DWTS clothing conversation so she'll have something to relate it to.

Jake has been Adorable (yes, with a capital 'A') with his "please" and "thank you"s. I had my first (understandable) phone conversation with him today! He still loves to run around the house, loves his Batman costume (the one that fit him in October but that is now just a little tight around his neck and shoulders), loves reading his "No, David" books, loves visiting Grandma and Grandpa's house, and loves playing with Flarp.

And one final wonderful thing... Jack says 'mama'. At 7 months old, he says 'mama' and reaches for ME! He's somehow also learned how to crawl. I wouldn't have been surprised if he just managed to go from scooting to running around like a nut with the other two but I'm glad he's taking this mobility thing slowly.

So, busy times. Lots of kids stuff.

Not enough sleep...

But we're getting there.

He's a crawler!

2012-01-23T18:19:00.001-06:00

When I woke up Saturday morning I sat on the couch in my jammies and robe. Snuggled in while the kids played. So relaxing.

I made my list of to-dos. Laundry, dishes, breakfast, church... and... something was missing. I puzzled on it for about three minutes.

Thats how long it took me to figure out that Katie has gymnastics on Saturday at 10:00... and it was 9:33.

It goes against everything in me to get dressed without taking a shower but there was no time.

I jumped up, looked at Katie with wide eyes and told her to get ready! Leotard, tights, teeth, hair, face, pants, coat, shoes! And hurry!

We did make it and, as usual, it was fun to watch the kids try hard to do the cartwheels, handstands, jumps and balance beam. No one faceplanted this week so it wasn't *as* entertaining as last week but it's always fun to see how excited Katie gets when she does one of the activities well!

Katie is also super observant. On Saturday she pointed out to me that Jackson was CRAWLING. Sure enough.

He's officially mobile now *Gulp* which means the days of setting him down and leaving him to play (without worrying that he'll make his way to Katie's room or into the pantry) are pretty much over.

Crawling is scary and awesome.

He's getting faster every day! Today he followed me and the kids to Jake's room where we were putting up Jake's Toy Story poster he got for Christmas.

I wonder if the baby fence will work better with Jack than with Jake.

Here's hoping.

Kids are fun(ny).

2012-01-19T11:12:00.001-06:00

Me, my mom, and all three kids justh got out of the show for Elmo. Busy event, infant, toddler, 5-year-old (who thinks she's 15), AND over the dinner hour? How we managed to make it out with only a minor demand for a balloon shaped like Elmo's head and a few times when *someone* wanted to wander off on his own (JACOB) I just don't know.

The Elmo balloon he wanted are super expensive... but I think Jake thought they were giving them out for free because he was saying he needed "to get my balloon" as he walked towards a little kid about 20 feet away from us.

Eventually he'll learn that, at $10 a pop (pun intended), we do not purchase fragile bits of helium filled Mylar that won't last long in our house between the pulling and the pushing and the poking and the probable popping. Plus. $10.

Really Sesame Street people?

So, no balloon.

Hypothetically, impulse buys like oh, say popcorn for $4.50 and maybe some cotton candy for $5? Yes. For sure. Ahem. HYPOTHETICALLY.

Balloon? Nope.

Also, Katie started gymnastics! She loves it! It was a little hard though to not laugh TOO much at the face plants and tipovers I saw. Katie did a great job on the things she learned from her last class and she got to wear her pink leotard.

(And I realized that I will pay inflated prices for so-so food but not for flimsy balloons.)

Black Friday. Ugh. And now... an update.

2011-11-24T21:59:00.001-06:00

John thinks I insist on standing outside of Best Buy while waiting for their midnight open because I want a break from the nightly routine of getting the kids to bed. Which, if he knew anything about me at all, he would realize is totally ridiculous. Okay. 98% ridiculous. But still more ridiculous than not ridiculous.

Why? Here are a few reasons I've had time to come up with while standing in this slightly chilly outdoor weather. For the past 30 minutes.

1. Standing outside in the cold (as mentioned, I'm in line as I type this) isn't comfy. Sure I'm in my yoga pants and winter coat but it's not where I would choose to spend my free time on a normal night. (Meaning any other night that *isn't* tonight.)

2. The kids are probably in dream land right now. Meaning that my night would be a bazillion times more relaxing if I were at home at this very moment.

3. I would rather be snuggled into my cozy spot on the couch watching one of the many "guilty pleasure" TV shows that are constantly on while snuggled up with a toasty baby and listening to the snores of my other two from their rooms.

No, what I'm really standing outside in the cold for is a 42" TV that we would never splurge on because it's one of those things I just can't spend an obscene amount of money on when we've got a mortgage, tuition for Katie, two car payments, and baby expenses. But for the price, I figured why not see what the fuss is about.

So I'm at the end of a very long line with next to no chance of getting one of the TVs but... I still don't want to give up. This is the first year I've done this and it's probably going to be the last (I don't play the lottery and I don't (usually) gamble because there's no guarantee I'll win) but even with the horrible terrible no good odds, I want to see it through.

In the cold.

Update:
I didn't get the TV. Duh. I pretty much knew I wouldn't but, like I told John, I wanted to try. And he went with me.

Granted he did spend most of the time in the car watching the activity in the line (line jumpers. Ugh.) and listening to the police radio. And let me tell you, things were hopping at Best Buy, Target, and Walmart.

As a nice little break... I did get to see two guys doing a choreographed dance in the back of a pickup truck. (I know, odd. And oddly entertaining.) I watched said truck park. Two guys got out and started to dance a jig in the back of the truck. A few seconds after they started, the truck pulled forward. With the guys in mid dance. It seemed a little unexpected. And the quick move caused one of the guys to topple out onto the hard ground. It was pretty funny. Okay, I laughed so hard I teared up. And then my eyes kept watering. Comfortable? No. Worth it? Ohhhh yeah.

37 Years.

2011-10-25T23:56:00.001-05:00

My mom and dad will celebrate 37 years of marriage tomorrow. Thirty.seven.years. Wow.

They met when mom was visiting Texas for a missions trip and my dad was the handyman at the church she was staying at. Mom plopped down on the bed and it broke (how embarrassing, right?), my dad came to fix it. With some help from my aunts (dad's sisters), mom and dad had their first date - roller skating with a group. Dad's sisters, mom, and her friend, and my dad. Thus began a really long courtship. I mean, I think it was pretty long since they met when mom was ... well, I won't mention any actual numbers, but it seems to me it took around 3 years before the big day.

During this courtship they wrote letters, sent messages on cassette tape, my dad came to visit mom, even moving into the apartments across the street from my grandparents house!

Finally... finally they got hitched.

But something wad missing. The one thing that would make their lives complete...

They had me when they were living in Texas. I can't imagine how hard it must have been for mom to have a newborn and not have her mom there for support. I can't count the number of times grandma has wanted a "squeeze" and ended up with a gang of kids downstairs, leaving me free to do laundry or dishes without having to stop every couple of minutes to settle a dispute or cheer up a fussy baby.

And dad is there and ready to jump in with help to figure out car trouble, give horsey rides, handmake birthday pinatas (pink unicorn - with a matching stick - so cute I didn't want anyone to break it!) or take Katie to school or to awana club or for dinner at McDonald's and play time at the play center.

So I can't imagine how tough it was for them with a new baby. And though I'm sure dad's family helped out, it wouldn't have been the same as being near her mom.

Eventually we moved back north and have been here ever since. It's cold in the winter and hot in the summer. Dad's adjusted pretty well to the extremely cold temps and on those really cold days I wonder what life would've been like if we had stayed in Texas. Warm sun, no snow, aahhhh. But we didn't. Nope. Cold winters for the win!

Anyway, Happy Anniversary Mom and Dad!

37 years ain't nothing to shake a stick at. Even a very pretty decorative pink pinata breaking stick.

Jackson.

2011-10-24T21:02:00.003-05:00

UPDATED to fix picture size. Why didn't anyone tell me the pictures were huge and not actually viewable on the screen!

I've posted a few pics of Jack. He's the only one of my kids who stays still enough for me to get a pic on my phone. Jake always seems like he's seconds away from rushing off and Katie is so busy with VERY IMPORTANT THINGS that she doesn't have a lot of time to smile for pics.
So that leaves Jack.
For now, he's stuck with me.

Jack is FOUR MONTHS OLD.

2011-10-22T21:16:00.002-05:00

Are you as shocked as I am that these 4 months passed so quickly?
It doesn't seem like that long ago that I was recovering from my csection. In pain and exhausted from many late night feedings.
And now here we are. A slightly more rested mommy and a smiley, happy baby who loves to watch his big brother and big sister play.
He just had his 4 month checkup and he's a whopping 16.5 lbs, 25" long, and his head circumference is 45 cm. (They had to measure that three times. I think that measurement puts him in the 90th percentile, or the "giant melon head" club.)
He sleeps well, naps well, eats well, and can do it all while the other kids are making lots (and lots) of noise.
Katie and Jake are so gentle around him and I can't wait until they can play together. The three of them are going to be a force to be reckoned with.
It's not ALWAYS party time with these kiddos. Laundry seems to multiply, bath time is very long times three, and meal time can be challenging, but I wouldn't change any of it.
Well, unless I could make time stop... that would be helpful when it comes to dinner time, getting ready to go somewhere, and any time I need to sneak in a caramel apple (my new addiction).
But. Nothing else. No other changes.
Really.
Really?
Yes, really.

Growing Pains. Mine.

2011-08-25T17:00:00.002-05:00

Five years ago...

I was visiting family in Texas when I realized something was... off.

I didn't want to go out with my cousins (and they're a super fun bunch), had a hard time staying awake, just didn't feel like myself. I thought I was getting sick and it took me a couple of days to realize that I didn't feel sick. Just sooooo tired.

On the drive home, I slept. The WHOLE way home. I slept for three. days. Only waking up when we needed to eat or when we stopped for the bathroom.

I think it was around the second day that I figured there wasn't anything wrong. Just... something new.

And as soon as I got home, John went out to pick up a pregnancy test (because it's his job to pick up anything remotely personal and/or embarrassing *ahem* suppositories *ahem*) and the next morning when I woke up I took the test. I waited for all of 2 seconds before the lines appeared.

It was Positive.

I called John into the bathroom and showed him the stick and started to laugh. Part excitement, part nerves, part "what on earth have we gotten into". But mostly excitement. (Okay, excitement with a dash of nerves.)

Doctor visits and tests, the ultrasound, baby showers. Everything was so new and exciting and I couldn't wait.

Couldn't wait to hold my precious baby girl.

Labor and delivery (during which John enjoyed watching some kind of sport on TV and took video of the parking lot from our window... as if I weren't laying on the hospital bed IN PAIN) took forever and nothing was happening.

Delivery didn't go quite as planned so instead of welcoming Katie into the world to the sounds of sports fans cheering and soft lighting, her welcome was a quiet, cold, bright white room (there's just no ambiance in these operating rooms. Ugh.). She gave a cry as the doctor pulled her out of my c-section incision and I learned that the ultrasound had been right (whew, yay for the already painted pink room), we were finally Parents of a Baby Girl.

The nurse held her over me and I kissed her fuzzy head. (My first moment with her and I wasn't at all icked out by the "residue" I'm sure was still on her, even though the nurses had wiped her off. Really. Not at all. If "at all" = a little tiny bit.)

My parents were the first to hold her in the recovery room. Katie was beautiful (even with the rakish scar over her left eyebrow - casulaty of the surgery) and quiet. Content being held and cuddled.

A day or so after Katie was born, we noticed her eyes rolling oddly. It just happened once or twice. When we mentioned it to the nurse, just in passing, she quickly took Katie to the neonatal unit so they could observe her. I guess menangitis was mentioned. After 3 spinal taps (they had to repeat the test because it didn't work the first times. Please note that we don't discuss this around Katie. Ever. That girl has a memory like an elephant.) and a brain scan (is that what it's called when they attach all of those sensors to the head?), Katie was declared healthy. We were so relieved. (What an understatement that is... I can't even think of words to describe how fortunate we felt the day we left the hospital with a healthy baby.)

She was picked up and cuddled pretty much from day one. If she was fussy, sleeping, alert, drowsy, we were holding her.  She was the sweetest armful.

She never had colic, though there was that one night she cried and cried. I held her, rocked her, danced with her, and still she fussed and cried. John held her, rocked her, danced with her, and still she fussed and cried. We didn't know what to do. Finally, I think she wore herself out. I remember her in her swing, fast asleep while me and John laid on the floor in the dining room, exhausted and afraid to move in case she woke up!

Doctor visits, shots, growth charts. Birthdays, holidays, family events. Such a joy for us to watch her grow.

Finally this week I took her to her appointments with the doctor and dentist, trying to fit them in before school started. Surprise (or not really)! She's a healthy 5-year-old.

Vaccinations? Check!
     Eyes and ears tested? Check!
        Cavity free? Check!

Knows her phone number, address, and full name? Check, check, and check!

Proud mommy that her Katie managed the dental x-rays? Check.

Adult molars coming in? ... Ummmm, what?! *sigh* Check.

Mixed in with all of the excitement of getting supplies, a backpack, writing all of the school events on our calendar, is a little bit of sadness that we can't go back in time.

She'll never again fit snugly in my arms, never again have that baby smell, never again be that tiny.

Soon she'll march off to Kindergarden and make new friends, learn new things, explore more of the world, and do it all without us right next to her. She handled preschool like a pro so this should be easy peasy... for her. For me? I'm not sure.

She's already going to her first "school friend" birthday party this weekend... I'm going with her, of course, because, well, she's still only 5 (even if it sometimes seems like she's 35). They're going to some really cool play center. ~~I plan on wearing comfy clothes though in case I have to crawl through the tunnels. You know. In case it looks fun.~~ I'm sure she'll have a great time, and I'll get to watch her with the other kids.

Growing up faster than I want.

And I guess that's okay. Because she's growing up to be more than I ever could have hoped for on that day 5 years ago when I felt the doctor pull her out of me and announce,

"It's a girl".

Animals are...

2011-08-16T00:21:00.000-05:00

Tonight we had chicken and corn on the cob. It was really good (if I do say so myself, even though I didn't make it... thanks grocery store for your half price Monday chicken!).

While we were eating and John and I were talking, I was listening to the kids (because it's always important to listen to the kids... you never know when they'll plan something you will need to nip in the bud). I overheard something... interesting.

Katie was trying to share some facts of life with Jake.

Jakey, do you know what animals are for? Do you know Jakey?

Do you know?

(My ears perked up and I wondered what she would say. I'm glad I listened.)

Animals are for eating. Animals are meat. (Not too bad, right?)

Yes Jakey, Jesus made animals for us to eat. (Still... um, oooookay.)

We kill them and eat them... chickens, cows, lambs, sheep, bunnies... (Whoa... where did that come from!?)

Did you know that?

(Then I remembered a little conversation we had one evening while we watched that Jamie Oliver show. The episode where they showed a cow with all of the cuts of meat outlined with paint on his fuzzy cow body. We might* have talked about the fact that the steak we love to eat... used to walk around.)

I'm a little glad Jake wasn't paying too much attention to his big sis. He wasn't eating his chicken before her speech anyway so no harm done.

Now they're in Katie's room. I've heard "Jake, sit on the rug! Good dog." and "Jake, it's time for independent reading."

Makes me happy to see them play so nicely.

Oh, on an unrelated note... I just realized how odd it is that we call Jacob "Mr. Pants"... he doesn't ever want to wear pants and yet this seems to have become one of his nicknames.

*Yes. There was a cow with spray paint. But Jamie Oliver himself pulled out a water hose and washed the cow down at the end of the show.

Just call me Barbie!

2011-08-11T12:50:00.000-05:00

Jake watched Toy Story 3 last night on Netflix. He loves the entire Toy Story empire and I think he loves Buzz, Woody, and Jessie more than any of his other toys (but not more than he loves wearing boots. He really loves wearing boots. Especially Katie's pink princess ones).

The other night we were cuddling on the couch and it was just us.

Katie was asleep which is good because if Katie and Jake both wanted to cuddle we would have had a fight over which side each kid got to sit on, then Jake would have tried to push Katie over more so he could claim more lap space, then Katie would push back, then there would be crying. Yes, speaking from experience here. I shudder to think about a year or two from now when three kids are pushing and shoving to get a spot on my lap.

To hopefully strengthen the brother/sister bond, I tell the kids often that they will always be brothers and sister and that they will be best friends forever and ever. It doesn't hurt to start that talk early.

So the other night I told Jacob that Katie and Jack would be his best friends forever. I tried to put it in terms he would understand so I said they would be his best friends like SpongeBob and Patrick. He gasped in awe with wide eyes. And like Buzz, Woody, and Jessie. He said WOOOOWWWWW, again with the wide eyes.

Then I asked him who he would be... Buzz or Woody.

He picked Buzz.

Buzz is totally his favorite which means Buzz goes EVERYWHERE with him... even though he's hard plastic, weighs a couple of pounds, and makes loud noises if you accidentally hit one of his buttons as you're trying to sneak into the bedroom to cover a kid up with his (also Toy Story themed) blanket.

Then... he said,
"Jakey Buzz, Jack Woody, Katie Jessie, Mama Barbie, Dada Ken."

And I melted. Mama Barbie.

I don't think he sees gray hair, flabby arms, fluffy tummy... he just sees mommy. And I guess that to him, mommy means fruit snacks and pudding cups, jokes and laughing, hugs and tickles... oh, and time outs.

She's a maniac, maniac on the floooorrrrr...

2011-08-07T02:07:00.000-05:00

Okay, so I'm not really dancing like I've never danced before... but I am back to the 30 Day Shred. In all it's sweaty, scary glory.

Yep. I started the Dancing with the Stars workout the day I got the okay from my doc to resume normal activities and did that for about a week (with the hope that it would get my body used to... well... moving...) and then I switched to the shred. I found my abs again. (Sure, they're buried under a thick layer of fat, but they are there.) Plus, the kids think it's the funnest thing EVER. Jake finally stopped trying to climb onto my back during the push-ups and has started stealing my weights for his own workout. Katie grabs the soup cans to use as her weights (and she gets a couple for me when Jake has mine). And we're all tired when it's over.

In unrelated news, Jake got stung by a bee on Thursday night. On his elbow and his pinky finger. John said he ran up the steps to the deck crying "bee! bee!" Poor kid. He's fine now but he really wanted mama so I got to hold him and cuddle.

John mowed the lawn today and found a wasp nest right by where Jake was playing. So maybe a wasp. It's gone now so that's a relief.

He also went to Grammy and Grampy's to help with their new deck and Grammy stopped by to see the kiddos while the men went to get some more wood boards, thinking they would be gone for at least an hour (because that's what happened on Friday). They were done about 15 minutes after she got here so it was a very short visit. So we got together this evening for dinner. I had pizzas (Digiourno, YUM) and Grammy brought jello salad, watermelon, and cookies!

Grammy and Grampy asked Katie if she wanted to go to Sunday school tomorrow and she answered yes right away. She chose a dress for Sunday and got her jammies, then brought her dress back to her room to switch it for another. Jake rushed to put on the shoes he had been wearing all day (Katie's size 10 purple jelly sandals) and he was ready to go too. Except he wasn't going. It was the fastest good-bye we have EVER had with Grammy and Grampy. Usually there are a lot of good-bye's and waves but tonight there was a big hustle!

So, after some cuddling with Jake and a workout, here I am. I'm about to fed Jack and go to bed.

Sunday will be very quiet (I think... unless I just jinxed it) and I plan to make a chicken back or something chicken-y for dinner. I'm hungry now just thinking about it!

I guess Jake is a little afraid of sharks. I think that's a good thing.

2011-08-03T23:18:00.000-05:00

There are very few things I can say I "win" when it comes to the kids. Netflix? I don't usually get to watch what I want, unless I want to also listen to Katie and Jacob complaining that they want to watch PRINCESSES (Katie) and BUZZ WOODY! (Jake). So usually when they need a break from each other, I'll put BUZZ WOODY on the laptop and find something Katie will deign to watch on the big TV. Because princess shows aren't really flooding the Netflix. (Off topic, is anyone else shocked and a little annoyed that they raised their prices SO MUCH at the same time???)

And I guess now I can say I win at sharks.

I'll explain.

Usually our dinners out are not relaxing (unless Jake is asleep) but I think I've found the key.

Sharks.

Yes, sharks.

Now, for some of you with kids who sit quietly and never try to run away from mommy (this was totally Katie. Quiet kid, good listener. NOT a runner... I could take her ANYwhere and 99.9% of the time, when we returned home I didn't have to change clothes because I was sweaty from chasing after her or holding onto her while dodging a flailing fist or because my pants were dirty from shoe scuffs because I had to carry her, kicking, back to our table) this might seem... harsh.

Don't judge.

And if you do want to judge, don't tell me.

Oh! Better yet, email me. We'll go to dinner together. And I'll pretend that Jake is your kid when he takes off for the kitchen or the table across the dining room.

Anyway.

So we're out to dinner last week with grandma and grandpa and Jake decides he doesn't want to sit. I had to hold him as he wriggled and kicked... he was a menace. To my legs and stomach.

So I told him that there were sharks on the floor and if he got down from his seat, the sharks would chew off his legs.

Aaaand now that I'm reading this, it does sound just a little scary. (But I still gave Katie the "don't you dare" look when she started to tell Jake that Mommy was just kidding.)

Jake didn't get down off that seat the rest of the time we were there. I was ~~about to fall on the floor in shock~~ a little surprised.

I should have known that he would start to talk... loudly... at some point once his plans for a little jog were foiled. (An inside voice is also something we work on.)

Sooo, I might have told him that he was being noisy and that other people want to eat and talk and he was being a little too disruptive... and that if he didn't quiet things down, there were bumblebees that would come and sting him. And then he would puff up and fall on the floor and the sharks would get him.

Not my finest moment as mommy. But it worked.

And now I'm wondering if this will work in other situations.

Like... learning to hold hands while crossing the street, or staying in the driveway when we're playing outside.

And if he ends up afraid of sharks, well, all the better! I mean, they could chew off a limb so a little healthy fear is a good thing, I think. It's a lot more respectable than a fear of dolls and clowns. (Not that I have those fears. I'm just saying...)

I would welcome a little advice because I think a) Katie will spill the beans about sharks and how they need water to survive or b) Jake will will learn it on his own from some kids show and we're back to square one...

What do you do to keep your little runner by your side and well behaved at restaurants and on walks?

Soon these feet will be running...

2011-07-31T22:47:00.001-05:00

June 11, 2011

I took this picture at the hospital. I remember being amazed at how quickly Katie and Jake's feet grew too big to hold in the palm of my hand and I wanted to capture Jack's little feet on camera* before that happened.

*Does anyone use a camera these days? I never use a camera anymore... partly because I never have it on me when I want to take a picture and partly because with holding onto the diaper bag, purse, kid, and whatever toy Katie or Jake wanted me to hold at the moment there just aren't enough hands to get the camera out even if I did have it with me!

As I started to compare the pictures, I realized how quickly Jack is growing.

July 22, 2011

And seeing how quickly Jackson's growing and changing, well, that just made going back to work even harder.

Yes,

I had to start work this past week.

It was so hard to leave the kids. I think this time has been more difficult. I don't know if it's just that Jackson is so ... EASY to care for, because he is.

As babies, Katie and Jake liked to be held all. the. time.

Jackson likes to lay on the couch, swing in his swing, sit in his car seat and just hang out. It doesn't hurt that he's got constant entertainment from watching Katie and Jake fight/play/run/laugh/yell.

As babies, Katie and Jake would wake up if the house got a little noisy.

Jack, well, I think that he got used to noisiness while in the womb because now that he's finally here, this boy sleeps through ANYTHING (and all I can say to that is THANK YOU, GOD because I know he answered my prayers. My oft prayed prayers.).

So, this week has been hard. Knowing I have to leave him and Jake at home. Telling Katie that Mommy is going back to work and hearing her cry and tell me that I can't go back to work because she's going to miss me.

Just being sad because this is the last time I'll ever go on maternity leave and have this much time at home at once with the kids.

July 29, 2011

Well, the first day back went well. It was hard but the kids were totally fine with me leaving. Katie went to school as usual and Jake was sleeping so at least I didn't have the kids staring at me from the living room window as I was leaving.

And when I got home, I got lots of hugs from Katie and I soaked them in.

Jake? Well, he was more excited to see grandma.

Even as things change, they stay the same.

Katie is a SUPERSTAR!

2011-07-30T19:24:00.000-05:00

My kid. My wonderful kid who was too shy to dance more than one dance at last year's recital, danced all three dances with her class today. She laughed with her friends, she followed the teacher's moves, she smiled... she was wonderful. I am so proud of her. Proud of her for having the guts to get up in front of a bunch of people with cameras in the first place! I'm not sure I could have done that but she didn't let stage fright get to her.

Then we went to her classroom and we got her ~~five MILLION~~ coloring pages and her very first SCHOOL FRIEND birthday party invitation! My kid. She's got a school friend party to attend next month! (Just don't ask me if I'm more excited about the party or the fact that it's "no gifts please"...)

My kid. My little helper rushes to see what's wrong with Jackson before I can get to him. She puts his nuk back in, she picks out his onesie, she finds the burp cloth and blankets... she's planning to have 16 kids so I guess she has to get in lots of practice.

My kid. My sweet and sassy kid has started to ask for things instead of demand them (mostly). She says, "Mommy, could I have more milk please?" and she gets her own fork or spoon instead of saying "Moooom, you forgot something!" (in a sing song voice). I see her growing up right before my eyes!

She's my favorite little girl.

My three kids and a kid update

2011-07-11T01:29:00.001-05:00

Three kids. I now know why we planned to stop at two.

Today I listened to Katie and Jake fight, Jake fell off of his bed (I'm going to assume there was no foul play between the kids and that it really was an accident) not once, but TWICE (accident?) and there were numerous hitting incidences as well as disagreements over toys. Sooo, nothing unusual.

Then after dinner I sat down to feed Jackson and Katie sat next to me and Jake was playing. Happy kids.

Then Katie got up to turn on the light.

Jake scooted into the now vacant spot and Katie was not happy. I told her to sit on my lap. She did and Jake decided he needed to sit on my lap too. But with Katie on one leg and Jack on the other there wasn't much room left. This didn't stop Jake. He started to climb onto my leg behind Katie and practically ended up on my shoulder. Both kids are crying and I'm laughing at how ridiculous the situation had become. (The kids didn't think it was funny. If they did think it was funny, they showed it by crying harder.)

Finally after listening to Jake cry for 10 minutes I laid Jack down on the couch and put Jake in his crib. In the seconds I was gone, Jack puked on the couch and Katie finally calmed down (she might have thought the puke... or maybe my reaction to it... was funny).

I got Jake out a couple of minutes later ... just before daddy got home from the store to find two crying kids. He carried both of the kids from the kitchen to the living room and made them laugh.

It's weird how daddy can always diffuse the crazy.

Mom called a bit later to say that storms had come through and there had been some damage at the lake place. We're going to check things out and hopefully it's not too bad.

Kid updates!!
Jackson is growing like crazy. He lifts his head up to look around, he pushes with his feet, he's awake most of the day and is happy in his swing or his caraway or laying on the couch or being held.

Jacob is talking a lot more. It's so fun listening to him. He especially likes saying "wake up!" when he thinks I'm even considering closing my eyes for two seconds.

Katie is in school and loves it. She still goes three days a week and Grandpa usually brings her. She's woken up with a good morning song seranade, given a piggyback ride downstairs for hair and face, piggyback ride back upstairs so she can dress herself for the day and then they're off. John took over last week while Grandpa was on vacation. He got to see her room and watch her play. He didn't want to pick her up too late on the first day but Katie told him to pick her up later the next day so she could play longer. I will never doubt that Katie knows what she wants.

I realized the other day that God answered my prayers. I've prayed for an easy baby, a happy baby, a healthy baby.

What I've learned about Jackson - 14 days old (or, Got Milk? I do.)

2011-06-23T01:16:00.000-05:00

Jack.

Sweet
Content
Sleepy
Hungry
NOT sensitive to noise

Jack has been such a good baby since his birth. I'm not trying to jinx it by writing this out or anything, but he has been a seriously GOOD baby ever since we met him in the operating room.

I've learned that his swing and nuk puts him to sleep, his car seat and nuk puts him to sleep, and rocking puts him to sleep. Yes. He sleeps a lot at this stage.

Not only has he been pretty easy in his first 14 days, he even nursed! None of my other babies would, and I was so happy that Jack took to it. And while I was at the hospital and able to "nap when the baby napped" it was kind of the one thing that only mommy could do for this sweet, tiny, new little baby and it was so cool to have that time with him... just the two of us.

Then, once we got home and those super helpful nurses weren't there to bring him over to the nursery at night so I could catch some sleep, or come in every few hours, wake me up, and hand me a snuggly baby (complete with fresh diaper) to nurse... well, I realized that nursing is a big commitment and it's HARD! And since we didn't invest the big bucks for a good pump, no one else would be able to take on any of the (500) feedings each day/night. Oh, and it was no longer possible to "sleep when the baby sleeps" because the other kiddos I birthed were 1) noisy, 2) needing mommy to settle disputes like the one about whose pop tart had more frosting or the one about whose beach ball was whose, and 3) noisy. Yes, I mentioned noisy twice because while Katie and Jake can be quiet and play really nicely together, they can also disagree and they must believe that he who yells loudest automatically wins because they are looouuuuddddd.

I also thought about my "hips," as Katie calls them, wayyy too much. The scene in "Look Who's Talking" wasn't too far off. You know the one, right? (Well, okay, maybe it wasn't THAT bad, but close enough to scare me just a bit.)

So we got home from the hospital on Saturday, I enjoyed nursing a number of times that evening and into the night and then on Sunday John headed over to Target to pick up some formula and bottles.

Good thing too.

Jackson seems to like a 3 to 4 oz. bottle at every feeding and for all the size of my "hips", there were not 3 to 4 ounces being produced so Jackson was eating pretty much constantly... and I was tired.

Jack's also a good sleeper. After his bottle, a diaper change, and a swaddle he's ready to go back to sleep. (Unfortunately, I'm usually pretty awake and right in the middle of Law and Order - at least one version seems to be on every hour - so I'm not getting as much sleep as I could be getting if I didn't like that show so much and could turn it off before the resolution.)

I don't know how he's able to sleep so soundly but it's awesome because he is able to totally ignore the massive amount of noise that his siblings can make. Seriously. loud. noise. I've mentioned that, right?

Like screaming, playing the recorder right next to him (no music lessons, grandma and grandpa just happen to have one laying around at their place) (and it made it's way upstairs for awhile... we stored it in Katie's tall dresser. Top drawer. Way in the back. On purpose. You know... to keep it "safe"), loud fighting, and just the other day there were loud shouts of "SUPER JAKE!" coming from all corners of the house while a heard of elephants (AKA Katie and Jake) tromped through the house.

Yep. He can pretty much sleep through anything at this stage. Hope it continues. Forever. Because he'll be sharing a room with Jake once we're ready to move him to the big crib and Jake can be pretty noisy.

So. Basically, we're pretty blessed to have this sweet, healthy, happy baby boy join our family.

I fell in love with him the moment the doc pulled him from my tummy.

Horsey Rides and a good Chop

2011-06-15T23:20:00.000-05:00

Luckily I've been recovering pretty well from the c-section because sometimes watching John playing with the kids cracks. me. up.

Tonight Jake was giving daddy a piggy back ride.

And then he was giving him a chop on the head. I don't know how that game started but I *do* know that when Jake chops daddy, I actually HEAR the thud of Jake's hand connecting with the top of daddy's head.

And Jake doesn't care what he interrupts. In this case it was a diaper change for Jack.

It was pretty funny. I laughed pretty hard. And it didn't hurt (too much).

I'm thinking that maybe I'm finally ready to watch Funniest Home Videos again but without feeling like I'm going to pop stitches...

Sleeping baby

2011-06-12T20:40:00.000-05:00

Jack is a great sleeper. I think this usually lasts a couple of weeks before baby is awake for longer stretches.

I'll take it! I love snuggling with this little guy.

Jack/Jake ... Tomato/Tomahto? Nahhh. It's "the boys"

2011-06-12T20:34:00.000-05:00

I'm having a little trouble with something. No, it's not the multiple diaper changes or the fewer hours of sleep I'm getting.

I'm having trouble getting the boy's names matched up with the right boy.

For example, I posted to Facebook that I had already changed some of Jake's dirty diapers. And didn't realize that I don't have Jake this weekend until my mom commented that Jake is with them.

Duh.

I have a feeling that there will be a few of those "Jake/Jack" moments.

At least till Jack is a couple of years older and Jake AND Jack are partners in crime.

Then I'll just be yelling "boyyyyyyys!"

And that's okay with me!

Jackson joins our family!

2011-06-08T11:26:00.000-05:00

"He's so big"

That's the first thing I heard when he was being pulled out.

And he is!

Jackson weighs in at 9 lbs. 14 oz. and is 21 1/2" long. He's absolutely perfect.

It's baby time!

2011-06-08T05:14:00.000-05:00

C-section in less than 3 hours! Can you tell how ready I am from the picture?

Sooo ready to meet this baby boy!

Dreams can really mess with your head.

2011-06-03T17:00:00.018-05:00

I woke up the other day feeling good and ready to jump out of bed.
I laughed a little about my dream... the one in which I was pregnant. Laughed for about a second till I remembered that... HOLD the phone... I really am pregnant.

Not achy, not tired because I was up 10 times during the night to use the bathroom, just feeling GREAT!
After a little more laughing, and checking my tummy *just* to be sure... I rooooooolllllled myself onto my right side, waited for the baby to shift from the left of me to almost center, and ~~jumped out of bed~~ finished roooooolllllllling myself out of bed. Yep. Definately still pregnant.
And now even more excited for June 8th.

I'll be reporting to the hospital at 6 a.m. (yes. 6.) and into surgery for my c-section at 7:30 a.m. (yes... still A.M.). I think we've decided on Jackson for a name, which I love love LOVE and both of the kids have been calling the baby Jack (Jacob seems to prefer the nickname) and Jackson (Katie's name of choice) for the last 4 months or so, so I think it stuck.

Tuesday is my last day at work because even though I could have taken a couple of days off, I decided they would be more needed after Jack makes his appearance.

I'm trying not to stress out and so far I'm doing a pretty good job. Considering that we don't have the little crib put together, I still haven't found and cleaned the baby car seat, and I don't have any bottles or formula ready to go. Diapers are on hold until I find out how big he is but we've got a handful of newborn size that we can squish him into unless he's smaller than Katie or Jake were in which case I'm fine for about 2 days worth of changes. I'm waiting on diapers because Jacob and Katie went into size 1 diapers pretty much right away so I don't want to end up with newborn and not use them. Although... Katie does like having them for her dolls...

There's tons more we haven't done and lots that I want to do.

I really want to put a shelf up downstairs for our printer (that I unearthed from the laundry room clean-up), buy toner for the printer, sort the rest of the boy clothes into smaller boxes so they don't get jumbled up again, bring home more boxes from work so I have some to work with, grocery shop for the stuff that I can freeze or that will keep so we can shop lighter for a couple of months.

I did organize the laundry room (where I found the little crib - whew), put the 0-3 month baby clothes away (that mom washed and folded for me this weekend and that I've told Katie are NOT for her dolls. She asked if she could use Jake's clothes and my answer was no. I already wash enough of Katie's clothes due to numerous changes throughout the day that there's no more time to wash other unworn clothes!), and organized a shopping list for our meal plans.

I just can't find the energy to get going. I think it has something to do with feeling huge and roly-poly and not at all motivated to move. The kitchen floor hasn't even been swept in 3 days and that's usually a once a night thing. Arg. Hopefully this weekend will be more productive. I plan to clean and play with the kids and sit outside (if the bugs stay away) and just enjoy it.

My last weekend with just the four of us. Mommy, Daddy, Katie, and Jacob.

And on Wednesday, we'll be five. Mommy, Daddy, Katie, Jacob, and Jackson.

And oh, how our lives will be changed!

We're usually in and out of the library because SOME little people don't know what SHHH means...

2011-05-28T15:29:00.000-05:00

But last weekend there was a library event that was right up Jake's alley (and a lot of fun for the rest of us too).

There was a guitar player, a keyboard player, a wood chip carver, and an artist showing kids how to make clay animals from pieces of clay!

We got to choose four colors and then we rolled, shaped, and cut and when we were done we had these cute little turtles!

Katie made the orange and red turtle. The artist was really nice and complimented her on how well she did. Mine is the purple and yellow one. I did okay too. But boy is it hard for me to stop "fixing" it as I go.

Daddy and Jake looked at books while we were creating.

Just before everyone packed up, we went to see the keyboard player. For his last song he got John and Katie (and some poor, unsuspecting older library ladies) up to do "head, shoulders, knees and toes". I was exempt because I'm hugely pregnant... yay me.

After 2 rounds of the song, Jake decided daddy should hold him so he wandered over. Luckily for John because he ended up standing with Jake and doing the moves with him. Those library ladies weren't as lucky... I think they did the song 10 times and each time the leader asked Katie if she thought they could go FASTER and every time she would nod yes. And the library ladies would sigh. Good sports though. Even if everyone was a little sweaty there at the end!

Lots of fun and it was nice that Jake didn't get shushed at all!

I'm typing this from my phone so please forgive any funny typos!

Katie WILL have her birthday celebration today! (Even if we all need to take shelter in the basement.)

2011-05-22T16:24:00.001-05:00

Today was supposed to be Katie's big birthday bash, postponed from April because Jake got sick with a virus.

And now we've got tornadoes.

Seriously. Like trees down, sirens blasting, debris flying.

Tornadoes.

The kids are with Grammy and Grampy this afternoon so we can get everything decorated and cleaned up for her party at 5:30... and now I don't know if there's going to BE a party.

They're doing fine (even Katie with her obsession of the news coverage of the tornado) with Grammy and Grampy so that's a relief.

Katie prayed a very nice prayer, Grammy told me when I called. I don't know what she said exactly but I would bet it included asking God to keep her toys safe.

Okay... so it's a couple of hours later and the weather seems promising.

The house is fine and we're all safe, thank God for that.

Now to avoid going into labor, falling and breaking a bone, or any other hazardous event and we're home free!

Did I just jinx this thing?

So I had something scheduled to post last night... and blogger went and lost it. The gist of the title was "Don't bring Katie any toys."

2011-05-13T13:00:00.000-05:00

It was all about... our Wednesday and how Katie went to gymnastics and did a spin on the bar and did so well that the teachers told the kids to watch Katie and do it like her. This is after her walk on the high balance beam last week! So proud.

It was all about... Grandma and Jake joining us for dinner at a fast food mexican place and grocery shopping.

It was all about... Katie totally having a huge fit because I told her to clean up her toys and then she could go for a walk with Grandpa. It didn't go over well. She cried, yelled at me, screamed, and carried on. She was not behaving well.

It was about... me actually crying because I felt like a bad mom when Katie was just so naughty with her temper tantrum and screaming and yelling and carrying on. This was all very upsetting to a pregnant woman with no AC in a house that felt like it was 1000 degrees hot.

It was all about... me worrying about getting our car fixed, paying for Katie's summer program, getting her school supplies, needing new windows, cleaning the carpets, washing baby clothes to put in drawers before June comes around, calling service plus to come out and look at our AC because when I turned it on Tuesday evening it wasn't working and I did I mention that I was HOT, tired, and sweaty?

There's more, but I'll spare you. I'll just say that it was pretty intense stuff.

And now, no one will ever read it. Because it's gone thanks to Blogger's little issue.

*sigh*

Maybe that's okay because I do feel better today.

Not as good as I want to feel, but for sure not as hormonal and hopeless.

And then she cried...

2011-04-27T18:00:00.005-05:00

If the opportunity presents itself, I talk to Katie about loving Jesus and having him in our hearts and how he's always with us... (and how he can see EVERYTHING WE DO and how he knows EVERYTHING WE THINK, and how if there's mean and angry feelings in our hearts, there's NO ROOM FOR JESUS THERE. Not to scare her or anything. We might just happen to have these talks when she's in a mood and being... oh, a little mean and disrespectful though.)

Well, one day Katie told me she loves Jesus more than she loved me. I suspect this was meant to be a mean thing (like when she told Grandma that Grandma was a flower... a flower wilted and stuck in dirt or something like that, after Grandma wouldn't give her a third popsicle). And even if she meant it mean, it still gave me a good opportunity to tell her that she's supposed to love Jesus first and most, then her family and then other stuff.

This was a few days ago.

Fast forward to last night. Katie is in bed singing to herself. (My actual Facebook post was: Katie is in bed singing to herself. I can hear her sing "Jesus, Jesus, Jesus is alive"... Now she's humming and "bawking" like a chicken. And back to Jesus!)

She had just picked out her clothes for Wednesday that she can wear to gymnastics (long shorts and a tank top because she gets sweaty, her words) and she had just given me orders not to forget to bring her "Katie" cup for gymnastics in case she gets thirsty. (I suspect it was the fact that the other kids had their own cups last week that makes remembering her cup super important.)

I thought the evening ended on a very high note.

I went to bed smiling about how cute she was.

I went to bed cheering about how it was earlier than 12:00 a.m.

I had just gotten comfy and was ~~finally relaxing~~ feeling baby Jackson kick and push and jab... when I heard it.

Her saaaaaad voice. The voice that gets weepier and weepier. Until the soft weepy voice turns into a wail.
She was talking to herself but she sounded like she was on the edge between weepy and wailing. (Once she's at "wailing", we've got a crisis. And I've got a headache.)

So I went to check on her before she passed the point of no return and as we cuddled I asked her what was wrong.

She said (in her weepy voice)...

"Mommy, you know how I'm sposed to love Jesus first, and then my family, and then my toys?"

I said yes.

"Well... Mommy... *sniff* I don't think I doooooo *sob sob*. I think I love my toys moooore *sniff* than I love Jeeeeeesus*sob sob sob*. "

I hid my smile and tried not to let her feel my belly shake from my laughter as I gave her an extra long squeeze.

I told her Jesus understands how hard it is to be a kid because he was born as a baby and had to grow up just.like.her. And Jesus knows how she feels, and what's in her heart, and that she loves him. And because Jesus knows all of this, he also knows that she wants him in her heart because she loves him. It might not have been the perfect answer but...

She calmed down a little.

Then we snuggled till she fell asleep.

Crisis averted.

At 12:00 a.m.

Life skill lesson for Katie at 5 years old. Too much too soon? Nah.

2011-04-26T20:35:00.001-05:00

Katie didn't want the egg salad I made for dinner so she MADE her own peanut butter and jelly sandwich. All by herself. Basically I gave her a butter knife, peanut butter, jelly, and the loaf of bread. And she turned it into a sandwich... that she actually ate!

Then she counted all of the big girl stuff she did today.

1. Made her bed ON HER OWN
2. Cleaned up her toys ON HER OWN
3. Cut up eggs for our egg salad sandwiches (with one of those Pampered Chef egg cutty things)
4. Rinsed off dishes
5. Got her OWN bread for her sandwich
6. MADE her sandwich

She's super proud of herself!

Katie... This is your mother speaking. STOP growing up.

2011-04-21T11:33:00.000-05:00

You know how one second you're changing diapers or looking for a little shoe or packing a diaper bag and the next you're not?

Well, that's what's happened with Katie.

She grew up on me.

She turned 5, even after I told her not to.

She turned 5.

Not fair.

I revived from my faint just enough to go with her on her play date during her birthday week (which was a couple of weeks ago but for some reason I didn't hit the post button so I'm doing it now... just pretend you're reading this on or around April 9th!).

Jake, Grandma and Grandpa came with us and Katie played with Jake until Livvy (that's her friend) arrived and the girls played for a bit before stopping to eat. Jake had a great time climbing to the top of the platforms and going across the wobbly tunnel. He didn't get stuck and was totally unafraid, but any time Katie started to go down toward the entrance, she made sure he was okay and following her.

When it was time, the girls got their shoes on and Grandpa brought Katie to her kids club. I sent along a treat for her table (princess fruit snacks for the girls, toy story fruit snacks for the boys) and went with Grandma and Jake to order Katie's cake. What theme, you ask? Um, more princesses.

Then I ran to Aldi's for bread, remembered they had a good price on ham and picked that up too, saw some cookies, fruit snacks, fish fillets and added those to my cart. I went in for bread. How does it happen that I leave with more than I planned on? I expect it at Target, but Aldi? My first mistake was getting a cart in the first place!

Tonight (not really... this was actually Katie's actual birthday day) we went to dinner with Grandma and Grandpa for Katie's birthday dinner. Last year it was Red Lobster, this year it was OCB. Luckily, Grandma and Grandpa reminded Katie that OCB has her icee drink and she gets an ice cream cone after dinner. It was way cheaper than Red Lobster and everyone gets what they want! Jake included. A buckets worth of mac and cheese? Check. A handfull of corn? Check. A few cups of fruit? Check. It was way better than buying him a kids meal and him not eating any of it.

Katie enjoyed her dinner too. She also enjoyed eating a lemon slice. Maybe she takes after me... I loooove lemon slices. My mouth is actually watering right now as I type this!
Katie brought Jake a gift so he could open something and not feel sad. How precious is that? She wrapped one of their toys in one of baby dolls shirts and made (yes, MADE) him a card! He looked at the card but was distracted once she opened her gift and he saw the TOY STORY picture on the box.

Grandma and Grandpa gave her the Ken doll from Toy Story. Her princess dolls now have someone to go on dates with. Which is what they were doing for about 30 minutes this evening. Oh, change that... Ken was waiting to go on a date... the princesses were keeping him waiting. Katie said he was waiting for 6 weeks. Poor Ken. And all this after he was rude (not sure how but it must have been pretty bad) and the princesses were planning to run train tracks over him. I don't know if they set him free before the train arrived, or after.

Her party is on Sunday and she's really excited. Grandpa and her have been working on a pink unicorn pinata for the party and just tonight got the unicorn horn in and filled it with candy. This is like a work of art. I almost don't want to see it destroyed, it's so cute! I'll post pics once I have a chance. It's seriously cute. Grandpa crafted the horn and it's not just a tube with a point... he made a spiral around it. The unicorn fur (not sure if unicorns have fur or what but you know, the stuff that covers the bod) is pink and grandpa put rows of the pink strips on it that he painstakingly cut into fringes so it looked like fur. There's a string mane and tail.

Seriously, I do not want to break this open it's so cute. But Katie has no qualms. It sounds like she wants to use her princess bat for the breaking. Princess theme rears it's pink, sparkly head.

Finally got the birth certificate papers in the mail. Woo hoo for me!
I didn't hear the kids argue once today. (Maybe that's because they were either playing downstairs with their favorite people or eating and separated by a table. Who knows.)

Katie just came in and asked, "Mom? What are you doing without me?" Another golden phrase? "Mom, are you thinkin what I'm thinking?"

She cracks me up. Love this kid...

My 5 year old.

Katie the Ballerina

2011-04-15T18:11:00.001-05:00

Little dictators don't get what they want (all of the time)

2011-04-12T17:30:00.004-05:00

I ran to the grocery store last night for two things. A&D (or "butt paste" as we call it in our house) and chicken. Oh, and bread. And I can't forget the juice. Oh, maybe some coupon items too... And John wanted a comb.

*sigh* It's never "just two things".

Anyway, before I left, Katie stops me and looks up at me with her sweet face, eyes big, and asks me if I could get her a present while I'm at the store.

I told her I would see. I think she's figured out that this usually means yes in mommy speak.

She lost the big eyes and stared directly at me as she laid down her demands of what she wanted. "Something with princesses on it. And glitter. And don't forget."

So, when I got home with a princess coloring book that came with princess stickers (I think they were glittery), she looked through the whole book, seriously thumbed through it with a look of concentration, then she looked at me, held up the book, and said, "Mommy, I wanted paint. Not a coloring book." And gave it back to me. With the expectation that she would get a painting book.

Um, I don't think so.

And it's funny that she thinks there's a chance that it might happen.

Urgent care is for wimps... the emergency room is where it's at!

2011-04-11T17:00:00.003-05:00

Fun evening on Friday. Me and Katie and a friend and her two kids went shopping at a GREAT sale (seriously good deals) then to DSW, then to a pizza place for dinner, THEN to Walmart.

I bought the pants I mentioned in my post from a few days ago (at $10, not the $2 I hoped to spend... but I think they're worth it...) and Katie got $5 to spend on whatever.

She bought a ballerina princess barbie. Of course.

It seems like in the past year she's gathered a collection of barbie/princess dolls. We even had our first guy barbie join the group on Thursday (a birthday gift from Grandma and Grandpa) and Katie loves him. You might have heard of him... his name is Ken. He's in that new Toy Story movie?

Katie is pretty generous with her dolls... Jake introduced Ken to Woody, Sponge Bob, and Buzz and now they're buds. It's so good for Ken to get out with the guys sometimes... He's seriously outnumbered by the princesses. Those girls won't leave him alone!

So we finally head home at about 10 pm and it was time. We used Grandpa's truck for our transportation and I think it brought back memories of all of the times she's gone somewhere with Grandpa... which made her miss grandpa (TEARS on her face and her sad voice telling me "Mommy, I miss Grandpa soooo much.") and we were both tired.

We finally get home. I headed to the bathroom, and on my way I heard Jake cough in his room. A cough that sounded like a seal bark. Really bad.

John picked him up and he just didn't seem like his usual self (I know... middle of the night, of course he'll be tired, but it seemed different) and he was breathing funny but hadn't been sick or anything.

Katie was her usual helpful self by mentioning that Jake "might have" swallowed a tiny toy. She never said he actually swallowed this toy but she said that he had a tiny little ball or something and now she doesn't know where it is. Helpful, right? Just enough info to freak us out. Thanks sweetie.

Soooo, off I go to the ER at 10:30 at night.

Jake was tired and his nose was really snotty. Pretty gross... all of that snot. John does better with body fluids than I do but I do better with emergency care. I guess it's a given that I take one for the team this time.

(As a side note, John has been puked on WAY more than I have in our parenting career so we're probably still not even... although Jake DID pee on me during my c-section... right as he was being pulled out of my stomach which is pretty gross. Maybe we are even after all.)
Waited about 20 minutes to be called into the first room with the triage nurse. Oxygen levels were fine. Huge sigh of relief. A bit of a fever, lots of snot, and lots of nurse charming later and we were back in the waiting room. For about 45 minutes.

Not too bad so far. Hospital waiting rooms can be interesting.

Got called back to an exam room with a bed so we snuggled in and waited.

And waited.

And waited.

Doc came. Gave Jake a quick once over but he didn't find anything scary. He ordered an x-ray and left to see other patients.

Oh, a random guy pushing a computer walked into our room just before the doctor came in. He typed away but didn't say anything to me. Looks like it's this guys job to wheel his computer around with the doc, taking notes. He didn't look around, didn't say hello, didn't acknowlege us at all. It was pretty funny. Not very funny now that I'm typing this out, but at the time it gave me a chuckle.

Waited for the x-ray guy.

Waited.

Waited.

Dozed off snuggling with Jake till a nurse stopped by to ask if he wanted to color. He said yes in his cute voice. She brought in a table and colors and a book for him.

I dozed off again with him sitting in front of me, coloring away.

About an hour and a half later, doc comes to see if we've been to x-ray. I opened my eyes to a squint and told him that we hadn't. The tech came about 20 minutes later. Asked if I could be pregnant so he could ask a nurse to hold Jake during the x-ray.

Pregnant? Ummm, yes.

Found a nurse. Did the x-ray. Jake charmed again. So cooperative and so sweet and he wasn't even afraid when I had to step away into the x-ray booth. He got 3 stickers.

Then back to the room and the same nurse asked if Jake wanted a popsicle... he said yes. And smiled at her. Again, the little charmer.
We finally got the verdict. Nothing on x-ray (thanks again, Katie) and it looked like a virus. A contagious virus. He mentioned what to do in case of croup but the verdict was virus.

We finally got home at around 3:30 a.m. Yes, in. the. morning.

John held Jake and I went to bed.

And we decided to postpone Katie's birthday party when she ended up with a sniffly nose the next day. She wad surprisingly okay with it... once she made sure she would still get the princess cake she picked out when we did reschedule her party.

Oh, Grandpa? You might notice a blue, rectangle shaped sticker on the window of your suburban. Katie may have accidentally (or on purpose) stuck that there after our stop at the big sale. She was very upset when I mentioned that it was not a good idea to stick sticky stickers onto car windows... especially when the car window is not ours. She got very emotional when she thought that you might be mad at her. Funny, she didn't care so much about how mommy would feel when she stuck a sticker on the window of our car...

Some blog updates...

2011-04-08T17:00:00.007-05:00

Hi everyone!

I'm considering changing the design of the blog. I'm not going to go crazy and totally create something beautiful from scratch, no, it will probably be more like, "Hmmm, what template on Blogger am I loving more than the one I've been looking at for two years...?" because I am not techy.  At all.

I'm still just surprised that I managed to add a "Subscribe" button and a"Follow by Email" button onto my blog.

Psst...

It's right over there.

Over to your left
                                 < -----------
                                                and
                                                    down
                                                          a little.

You know... in case you wanted to get every exciting post update sent directly to your email account OR reader (love my reader). Or both?

But wait...

You might not want to do that.

Because I've also figured out how to get my blog to update from my phone, which means that I might, possibly, probably be posting more random (and by random I mean once or twice a day) pictures of the kiddos and stuff we're doing. So if you don't want the extra email in your inbox, you might just plan to stop by when you've got a moment to catch up.

Oh, Grandma and Grammy?

You there?

You might want to sign up for the email.

Because those pictures are going to be CUTE.

Katie "flies" and jogs on the Wii

2011-04-08T12:35:00.000-05:00

Grandma and Grandpa have a new game on their Wii and Katie has been playing along! She jogged and flew around before bed the other day and last night too. She had so. much. fun!

Beds, diaper changing trickery, and pet store fish

2011-04-07T17:00:00.002-05:00

Okay, continuing on from yesterday...

On a side note, we picked up these beds about a week ago but Jake was a little sick (again!) and they've been sitting in our garage just waiting to be set up. So, we get home and I notice that one of the headboards was missing from the garage. Then I realized the mattress and other stuff was missing too. Got in the house to find that John had been busy while we were gone... Katie's new bed was set up and her old bed was in Jake's room! That was just the inspiration I needed. That night I got Jake's room set up and everything in place. It was a relief that everything fit in there and I can now say that space is at a premium in every room of our house.

Now we just need to paint the boys room, sort Jake's clothes, find curtains (that aren't pink - a leftover from Katie's habitation), get another sound machine, figure out if we're going to have issues with Jake staying put in his big boy bed or if he'll be as good a sleeper as he is now...if he's not in ~~baby jail~~ his crib. Lots to think/worry about.

Oh, Katie was trying to help me the other night. Jake usually does his best to avoid me when I need to change his diaper (I think he thinks it's a game) so I have to be very tricky when I try to catch him because he's faster than me now.

So, the other night, Katie had a toy he likes and was telling him "Jake, come over her and look at this toy! You really like this! It's so fun, see? Isn't it fun? Mommy needs to change your diaper, you should come here and mommy will change you and I'll give you this toy! Won't that be nice?" and so on in her very best big girl/mommy voice. She mentioned the toy, then me changing his diaper maybe 3 times with no luck. He wasn't having it. Finally, she looks at me and says (in what sounded like a reassuring, don't want to hurt your feelings because Jake doesn't want anything to do with you voice), "Mommy, maybe I won't tell Jake you're here, okay?"

So what else... I had my OB visit on Monday. It went well (no shots, no tests, no discomfort... unless you count the weigh-in). Gained 2 lbs since my last appointment TWO WEEKS AGO. Arg. Doctor isn't alarmed since this brings the grand total to 22 lbs gained through the last 7 months. Also, good news. I don't have to add another iron pill to my packed pill holder! The doc looked at my levels and, while they're still down from the last time my hemoglobin was tested, the levels aren't horrible so I'm okay at 2 iron pills per day. Can I just say? What a relief!

Feeling okay mostly. I'm not even that tired... but when I'm ready to sit down, I'm realllllly ready to sit down. And it just seems like I can be right next to the kids all evening puttering around in the kitchen or living room and no one looks at me twice (or acknowledges that I even exist) but when I go to sit down on the couch and just get comfy, it's like suddenly I'm the air they need to breathe, the filling in their pop tart, the glass slipper in Cinderella's story. And they neeeeeed me. Sometimes it's fun to be neeeeeeeeded. Especially when it's a super tough question about how to play a game on Sprout and they're in awe of me because I can figure that stuff out.
Oh, there was also that time at Petco when we were looking at the fish and I was reading the names off of the tags. We were about 3/4 of the way through after having stopped at each tank to admire each fish (lots and lots of fish) and I had just read off the name of the fish. Katie looked at me with wonder and said something about how smart I was. I asked her what she meant and she answered that I knew all of the names of the fish. Ha! I had to tell her that I was reading them off of the card.

(But sometimes it's hard to pull myself up (again) off of the couch for something for the 6th time in 10 minutes.)

And finally, Jake scared us half to death the other day. Dad and John were loading something into the truck and Jake snuck out of the house. (I did say he was outside... but apparently no one heard me.) He took off running down the street and was just over half a block away before John caught him. Luckily his little light up shoes were on so we could see him in the not-quite-dark but I don't even want to imagine how that could have turned out.

Just some other odds and ends... the kids ate sloppy joes and liked them, I made a mexican tater tot hotdish that everyone ate (even the kids had 3rds!), Jake has developed a love of toast to the exclusion of actual dinner foods, I sent the birth certificate requests in for both kids (lucky me... I was picked to do a dependant audit at work and have to prove date of birth, etc. Of course that had to happen.), our hot water heater broke and we had to buy a new one, and lastly, I've got 2 months and 1 days left of pregnancy!

Said goodbye to Costco... it was hard.

2011-04-06T17:00:00.001-05:00

Took Katie to Walmart this weekend because when I was there last week, I found a pair of knit pants for $2. (Yes. Two bucks. The price tag said $10 but I really needed some comfy pants for work and these seemed to be okay. Got to the checkout and they rang up as $2. I should have gone back right then and picked up 5 more pairs but... I didn't.) I decided I would go on Saturday after I thought about the expense a bit more. Then I was like, what? Think about spending $2 on pants I could wear during the rest of my pregnancy AND after? I'm kicking myself today. Because today, the $10 pants that last week rang up at $2 actually did cost me $10. Each. So I took them out of the cart and just picked up the stuff I needed for Katie's birthday party.

The highly anticipated princess theme stuff.

You know... The princess plates, princess cups, princess napkins, princess tablecloth. Princesses. everywhere. Katie was very happy. She was also in love with this outfit (Tinkerbell) and just exclaimed over how cute it was and that maybe she could wear it on her birthday. It was pretty cute (in other words, it wasn't totally princess obnoxious) and it didn't cost a fortune so I told her we would buy it.

More exclamations over how cute it was and how excited she was to wear it, I decided it was worth the $13 it cost.

However, in the excitement of finding all of my princess party stuff and this cute outfit, I managed to forget that when we were at Target a couple of weeks ago she found a dress that stopped her in her tracks. Literally. She stopped right in front of the rack and just stared at this dress. And tried it on and twirled around in the dressing room and I was totally suckered into buying the "beautiful dress" for her to wear.

On her birthday.

Luckily, Katie has quite a week planned. She's got kids club on Wednesday, dinner out on Thursday, and her party on Saturday so even if she decides to add her purple Christmas dress into the outfit rotation, there are enough events to go around. I'm thinking Tinkerbell on Wednesday and the beautiful dress on Sunday.

After Walmart we ran to Costco to ~~eat samples~~ pick up diapers and wipes and some other stuff I had coupons for. And we shared a hot dog and an ice cream bar (seriously, those nut covered ice cream bars are SO good). And then I *gulp* cancelled our membership.

Costco isn't exactly in my neck of the woods so it wasn't convenient to run over when we were low on something. Plus, I did a little cost comparison and the stuff at Sam's Club (where my parents have a membership) and Sam's Club was actually cheaper by a dollar or two... or three for the things I buy most often in bulk! So I cancelled. I might have been in shock a little but I made it out of the store without any dramatic goodbye scene.

No tears allowed. But sniffles are permitted.

Okay, so just as I was going to hit "publish" I realized that this post was getting VERY long. So I'm ending here for the day and I'll post the rest tomorrow.

Really, I won't forget.

Really. I'm going to schedule the part I copy/pasted to post tomorrow afternoon and I'm going to do it RIGHT NOW. Otherwise I might forget. Like two seconds from now.

Oh, and, as always, feel free to leave a comment... I'm not sure if anyone reads this stuff anymore!

Iron. It's not just for pumping anymore. (Get it? Pumping iron... like a body builder? Okay, I tried to spruce up the title a little... stretch with me here.)

2011-03-24T17:30:00.006-05:00

So, this pregnancy has been going pretty well. I'm not in (much) discomfort, I'm still pretty active, and I don't have perpetual morning sickness. Win, win... WIN.

However. I do seem to have low hemoglobin. About 4 months ago, my doctor told me that I would need to take more iron for this.

So ~~after about a month of procrastination,~~ I started to take more iron.

Two pills a day. Followed by a pill each time that will take care of any *ahem* side effects of the two iron pills a day.

Now. I'm also on thyroid medicine. I take this each day. Two (yes two) separate doses, alternate days. Not confusing at all.

I have to take the thyroid meds one hour before or after eating and I have to take the iron at least four hours after taking the thyroid and I have two iron pills that I don't want to down at one time... SO, I take my thyroid pill in the morning (and alternate between two different measurements) when I wake up, my iron and "other" pill during lunch, and the other iron and "other" pill at night with my pregnancy vitamin. (You can only imagine the hijinks that ensue when I forget to take my thyroid in the morning. It throws off my whole day.)

Also, between all of the bottles I would sometimes get a little confused as to which pill was taken when and one day I ended up taking my thyroid pill twice in one day and my iron not at all... and that's the first time I actually noticed I had taken the wrong pill. Has it happened before? I don't know. So, now I have them all neatly stored in one of those days-of-the-week pill cases...

It's been working out okay.

But today I got this note from my doctor...

Kristina,
You passed your 1 hour glucose test. (YAY! I was worried I would have to take the 3 hour test)
Your thyroid is normal. (Yay again! That's great news!)
Your antibody screen was negative. (Woo hoo! I don't remember what this was for, but negative usually means "good")
Your hemoglobin is slightly low, so you should take an extra iron pill daily. These are available over the counter. Wait, what?

Did you read that last part? Yeah. I did too. I read it about 12 times... before I was able pick my jaw up off of the floor and resume normal breathing patterns. My little days-of-the-week pill holder is starting to get a little bit crowded.

Oh, and when I called John to give him the exciting news (about my glucose and thyroid) he gave me some exciting news too.

Jake's been throwing up.

He threw up on John, the carpet, the rug, the kitchen floor, and my red couch pillow (no, not the red couch pillow Katie cut open and spilled all of the little styrofoam beads out of... the other red pillow). Poor baby.

I'm thinking we may need to borrow the carpet cleaner again.

I'm still around just busy, busy, busy!

2011-03-18T17:30:00.001-05:00

Yes. I'm still here. It's been a busy month for me. Wait, I'll just say that maybe it seems busy because I'm growing a baby and pretty tired much of the time. And the times I'm not tired I'm spending organizing gift bags and blankets and shoes and closets (you know, those things that absolutely MUST be organized right that minute or else...). Which makes me tired. As a matter of fact, I'm pretty tired right now just thinking about being tired.

But I'm still here!

We've had a fun week so far. Katie went to cubbies with Grandpa as usual (who I heard was getting off of work 30 minutes earlier so Katie could play at McDonalds a little longer before church), I took both kids to dinner with a friend who also brought her two kids who are about the same ages as Katie and Jake. We tipped a bit more heavily after we realized the chaos we brought. Our server was excellent (and patient with our multiple requests for more bread. Who knew the kids *ahem* could eat so much of it!). I also have a suspicion that maybe we were the reason that the table next to us stayed empty during our entire (noisy) visit even though the restuarant was totally full the entire night. Now tonight we're going to Cole's birthday party.

Then it's the WEEKEND. Maybe I'll find a closet to organize or something. Or take a nap.

The kids are as super, wonderful, and a mix of sweet and sour so not much different there and my pregnancy is going really well. The baby loves to kick and wiggle and, yes, kick. A lot. Usually for most of the day and part of the night. He does calm down when I go to sleep - is this a good sign?

I had my OB visit (with the glucose screen - can I just say bleck? That stuff tastes awful) yesterday and everything is going smoothly. The CNP tried to listen for the heartbeat and usually she's right on with the machine in the right spot and the goop kept to one area but wouldn't you know it...

By the time she felt for the baby, turned to get the goop, put it on my stomach, got the machine ready and in place to listen (this didn't take as long to do as it did to type), the baby had moved. I ended up with goop all over my whole stomach as a result of our extensive search to find him again (not that he could go far) and finally found him.

In the same spot we started looking.

I'll bet he was laughing at us.

I wonder if he'll have Jake's "I'm so cute how could you possibly be upset with my behaviour?" grin...

Katie doesn't use the "I'm so cute" grin too much anymore. Either we get the attitude like, "how can I be expected to know that?" as she looks down her cute nose at us OR she just looks back at us with an expression as puzzled as ours ... and very convincingly blames it on Jacob. This doesn't always work although she is very convincing.

It usually backfires when we know Jake couldn't be the culprit. Like when I find the word "NO" written on our fridge, on the cupboards, on the wall... (this last time I was happy it was done with whiteboard marker). It doesn't take Sherlock Holmes to deduce who could be responsible for anything legibly written on surfaces. I do know, on the other hand, that Jacob was probably responsible for the whiteboard marker scribbles found in his bedroom closet.

Katie is also very creative... with insults. She was at the lake this weekend and I guess she wanted a THIRD popsicle and Grandma said no. Katie told Grandma, "You're like a flower... in the ground with no water." My kid.

Oh, and Jake is still dumping out glasses. Glasses of juice, water, milk... whatever beverage someone happens to leave out. Last time he even made me think I had a chance at getting to the glass before he could dump it out. Waiting till I started my "NNNNnnnoooooooo!" run toward him (pregnancy+running isn't funny) before he grinned, reached over, pulled it off of the table, held it out from him (so he wouldn't get messy) and dump it out. I almost made it but he's just. too. fast. This hasn't happened in awhile, mostly because I'm on to him and I remember to push everything back a safe distance from the edge... but he's getting taller so that distance is changing!

The other day, I noticed that he's tall enough to comfortably see over the ledge of our front window. I remember when Katie was just at around that height. I love to see these "milestones" reached, but I'm a little sad too. He's getting older...

And this week when he heard Grandpa coming home, he said, "Bappa just got home!" and I was doing something and not focusing on the COMPLETE SENTENCE he had just SPOKEN till I was like, "Did he just say what I think he said?" Unbelievable. He's spoken like this before but it's not often. It's usually one or two words and usually shoe, or choo choo (for train) so I was blown away.

And something else exciting is coming up!

I put a "wanted" ad up at work for a twin bed for Jake (because we'll need the crib for the baby in... oh, 6 months or so. Just call me a planner) and someone I work with has furniture they haven't really used from a house they've sold! A brass twin headboard, a mattress, a box spring AND a dresser with a mirror that we'll use in Katie's room (but don't tell her, I'm keeping it a surprise!) and the bed that she was using will go into Jake's room for him since it's a little more "boy-ish". I am very excited for Monday when we should be able to get the furniture. Did I mention that this will be free? And that there's a big possibility that they will deliver it to... our house? Just a big pile of awesome to look forward to!

So good things.

Now I just hope my glucose screening went well because when I was pregnant with Jake I had to go back for the 3 hour test. (It was a nice little vacation - reading magazines, relaxing, nothing to do but wait... to have blood drawn each hour. Ick.) I would rather not repeat that experience, and the worry that went along with it.

Katie's Kindergarten Registration? Already?

2011-02-17T07:00:00.001-06:00

I got the letter from Katie's elementary school the other day telling me that we're scheduled for kindergarten registration next month.

This seems to be happening just a tiny bit too fast.

I checked off the list of things I needed and, happily, seem to have all of them ready to go. All except one tiny thing.

The birth certificate.

The birth certificate that I never actually requested... 5 years ago.

Insert gasp here.

Now, I'll admit that it's not hard to return a form. As a matter of fact, I thought I returned the form waaaaay back when Katie was a tiny baby.

I realized about 3... years... later that I had not. When I found the envelope (neatly stamped and addressed) in a planner I rarely (really rarely) use.

And when she was 3 or even 4, I didn't actually need her birth certificate so it wasn't a big deal. I thought I could get around to it when I had a chance (probably at the same time I requested Jake's since I couldn't tell you if I sent the form in for him either). And now? Well NOW I need that birth certificate. By early March. So I can bring it to registration.

So I don't have to babble some incoherent explanation about how I didn't send it in when she was born even though I thought I had and when I found out I hadn't, I just didn't think I would need it so soon so I didn't send it in then either and now I sent the form but I have to wait for it to arrive because expediting the delivery and the process would have cost an arm and a leg... as I open a paper bag to breath into. The kind of explanation I give, when inside my head I'm saying "Shut up already!"

So, I'm going home tonight to check the one place I've managed to successfully store the kids' social security cards and hope that maybe I'll find one certificate for Katie and one certificate for Jake in that same envelope and I'll be able to save the $45 per kid that it would cost to replace them. You know, $26 for the birth certificate, certified of course, and $19 for the extra copy of the same certified birth certificate that I will keep as a backup.

Because it's got to be some kind of Murphy's law that if you only order one of something important, you'll lose it... or someone will cut it up with child scissors.

BUT if you order two, you're golden. No one will want anything to do with whatever you've got, as long as there is more than one. Aaaaaaand as long as it's not candy. Or anything colorful. Or dangerous.

Or any combination of the above.

The kids like to fix stuff with Grandpa

2011-02-14T16:52:00.001-06:00

So, about 2 weeks ago we noticed our bathroom sink wasn't draining. In fact, when we used one of the sinks it would start to fill up and then the other sink would fill up leaving us with two watery sinks.

John and Grandpa both looked at this but neither one could figure it out. It seemed there was something blocking the pipe. I thought it might be a cap from something, Katie thought it was a tiny shoe Jake "must have" put down the drain. (I wasn't ready to lay the blame on Jake too quickly though. I think that Katie thinks he's a good scapegoat because he doesn't really talk much and isn't able to defend his honor. Soooo, I take Katie's finger pointing with a grain of salt. A big one, the size of a salt lick.)

After mulling it over, Grandpa decided he needed to get to the pipe and hopefully the source of the problem.

Through a hole in Jake's bedroom wall.

Grandpa cut a hole in the wall (gasp!), daddy fixed the pipe (whew!), then it was time to patch things up (yay!).

Katie helped on day 1... Jake held his toothbrushes.

Jacob got more into the process on day 2 (of course, he had just had a bath so he ended up with the mud in his hair and caked on his hands... but he had such fun using the tools and "helping"!)

This is a "before" picture. What you didn't get to see is the mud Grandpa put on the wall for him to work with. I couldn't watch. I have a big aversion to messes that I can't immediately clean up and this had the makings of a BIG mess. But the kids had a ton of fun working with Grandpa. (Jake was not a ton of fun once it came time to clean him up. He did not want to let go of the tools of the trade.)

In other news, Katie went to cubbies (she's wearing pink pants with hearts to match her pink shirt with hearts... and her red dressy coat she got with her Christmas dress... two years ago. Her cubbies vest completed the ensamble. And her winter coat, that I didn't think would go over this, fit fine.

While she was at cubbies, we (me and Jake) went to Bakers Square with Grandma. Jake ate fries and french toast. Happy camper. AND we each got a slice of free pie. YUM. Jake gave mommy his slice of pie. He didn't tell me to eat it in so many words, but I know he would have wanted me to have it. He's sweet like that.

That was last week. I'm happy to report that the bathroom sink has stayed fixed and nothing else has broken, and I would like to say that we've been drama free ever since... but I can't.

See, there was a tiny bottle of purple nailpolish... and a sweet almost-5-year-old girl... but that's another post.

Katie paints her fingernails. And the bathroom counter. And her Leapfrog. And the toilet, wall, and blinds.

2011-02-11T21:00:00.000-06:00

I got home last night and saw my almost-5-year-old daughter in one of her designer outfit creations (this day happened to include her grey, pink, and cream mouse socks, her brown and pink skirt, her neon orange/green heart tank top, and her blue, pink, and white polkadot bathrobe) and after I admired how lovely she looked, I noticed the nail polish on her nails. I exclaimed over the pretty color and asked if daddy had painted them for her. She said yes but... daddy looked at me with raised eyebrows and said nope.

Then daddy told me to go look in the bathroom.

*sigh*

That's usually what I do when daddy tells me to "go look" at something. Or when I hear Jake in the kitchen and the splat of liquid hitting the floor.

On my way to the bathroom, I noticed one of the brand new, child proof cabinet locks I got from Target the night before laying on the living room floor. These were for the kitchen cabinets; one for the cupboard under the kitchen sink that I store our cleaner/detergent in, replacing the plastic bag we had tied around the knobs (it wasn't a good look, but it worked), and one for the cupboard with pots and pans because Jake's been using the shelf in the pots and pans cabinet to test his climbing skills and he can now reach about 2 feet higher onto our kitchen counters. Not good.

I asked John if he took them off and he said nooo, because he couldn't figure out how to use them (which would be funny if I hadn't had to consult the directions more than once myself to figure the things out) and I looked at Katie, who immediatly pointed the finger at Jacob. I wondered if maybe I hadn't tightened them enough and Jake strong armed them off (because he's good at that) but really I figured it was her because I remembered that she was standing right.next.to.me. as I read ~~and reread~~ those cryptic directions. So I put them back on, tighter than before in case it really was Jake.

*sigh*

Off I went to check the damage with a pit stop to glance into Katie's room. I noticed the metal nail file on the floor and yelled to John that it was there and DANGEROUS! He yelled back that he thought he already picked one up. Which made me even more nervous about opening the bathroom door.

So I figured I would open it a bit at a time, slowly. The first 6 inches revealed a Leapfrog Explorer that Katie LOVES to play with. She had accessorized with polish on the screen and the buttons. Lovely. Oh, and lines of polish on a section of the counter. Not... terrible... so I continued opening the door.

More polish on the other side of the sink. And on the wall by the toilet. And on one of the blinds slats. And on the handle and step of the step stool. And on my shower curtain. I was a little less pleased about that (everything else would come off with polish remover). I saw a little streak on her potty chair seat, still okay. And then... I saw the bottle of nail polish remover. The cover was laying on the floor and the bottle was empty. I didn't see evidence of a spill anywhere so I decided to ignore that.

Katie knew I was upset, she got a time out because she used MOMMY's stuff. This stuff isn't just laying around... It was in the bathroom cupboard UNDER the bathroom sink, secured with a little "child proof" thing you need to push down and at the same time pull the door open before the cupboard will open. It was also in a little plastic case with tabs on each side that I have trouble opening. And she got in and opened up her little bottle of polish all by herself.

Here's my question... How long are things that say "child proof" really supposed to be child proof? At what age does the kid have the smarts and dexterity to open this so-called CHILD PROOF stuff? I'll tell you... almost 5 years old.

*sigh*

While I was talking to her about the dangers of nail polish, I noticed that she had taken one of my new bins from my bedroom closet and packed it full of her books. She totally took something of mine (new, in the wrapper) opened it up and stole it. We talked again about MOMMY's stuff and how it is NOT Katie's.

*sigh*

Then, I noticed that there were a number of dish towels laying around the living room. I asked what happened and she said she was trying to clean up water Jake had spilled. I told her that it was nice of her to do that but she could just tell daddy. She does not need to pull out 9 of my kitchen towels to clean up the water and then leave them all strewn about the room...

*sigh*

I wondered if it might be time for bed yet? It was 6:00 p.m. after all...

But no, too early, and we hadn't eaten dinner yet. John picked up Zantigo because I was just thinking that this was not going to be a "relaxing, make dinner for the gang while the kids play nicely" kind of a night. I guessed that it might be more of a "scarf down dinner fast so I can be ready to follow the kids around so I could make sure they don't pick this one night to get into something they've never paid attention to ever before" kind of night (ahem, Katie).

So John gets home with the food, I head to the kitchen with Jake and get our chairs out (folding chairs we have to store behind the table between meals so Jacob doesn't use them to climb... you know, so he can hit the ice and water buttons on our fridge, for example) when I hear a thud, then Katie crying.

I look into the living room to see Katie on the floor next to what used to be a table (the kind that you can scoot under furniture because it's only got legs on one side) but is now two pieces of wood - the base and side legs... and the top. From what I can piece together, she had one hand on the arm of the couch and the other on the tabletop and pushed off... and landed chin first on the table.

She's got a little scar but it's not terrible. I made her laugh and we continued on to dinner. She posed for this before we ate.

After dinner I ~~collapsed onto the couch~~ enjoyed some relaxing time on the couch. Till I heard Jake in the kitchen all by himself and wondered what he found in there. I thought I might have forgotten to put one of the chairs back behind the table... then I heard the splat of liquid hitting the floor, and his laughter.

I rushed into the kitchen to find him holding Katie's almost empty juice glass. Right next to the juice he dumped out on the floor. I don't know how he manages to dump out the glass but avoid the splatter.

Grandpa came upstairs to hang a shelf, then take it down again because it wasn't very sturdy. Jake started to walk around with the hammer. Cried because I took that away.

Finally decided that it was jammy time at around 9 and the kids ran around like crazies till I put on "An American in Paris" which (surprisingly) they both liked... at least, they enjoyed the song and dance parts.

Katie was laying on the floor to watch and holding a package of wipes and Jake saw that and picked up the other package of wipes and the bag of diapers from the diaper box and he laid down too.
They both hung out till I said it was bedtime (about 30 minutes). Jake got up, put back the packet of wipes, then went back and grabbed the diapers to put those away too (much to my amazement). Then he went to the chair all of his toys were on and we both picked up some toys and walked to his room. Put them in his crib, put him in his crib, shut the door and went to find Katie. She was in bed (much to my amazement). She got up a few minutes later which was good, because I had forgotten about the nailpolish just waiting for a cleaner.

I asked her if I would find nailpolish anywhere else that I hadn't already seen and she opened up the CHILD PROOF lock on the cabinet to show me a little burst of color on the inside of the door. I left that as a reminder to myself that she's not so little anymore...

*sigh*

She cleaned up some of the mess with the nailpolish remover (luckily I had a little left in another bottle) and then I sent her to bed while I finished.

Later that night, I went into the bathroom, lifted the toilet lid, and shook my head at the streaks of polish there. Was nothing left untouched?

I checked on her before I went to bed and she was wearing the sleep mask all tucked in. Looked like a little angel.

What a stinker.

Huh? Whaaa? How?

2011-02-07T17:00:00.001-06:00

The weekend? One word... Awesome.

Fun Saturday night at a friends (the men watched some fight on pay-per-view upstairs while the moms watched a movie downstairs and the kids ran around the whole house like savages - minus any face paint), grocery shopping alone (yay), Jake and Katie playing "chef" with my pots and pans while I made caldo de res (which was DElicious), the kids running around in their matching Sponge Bob jammies and eating uncooked pop tarts for a snack (somehow this has become their favorite food), and silence at 8 p.m. on Sunday night because Jake went to bed early after a nap-less day leaving me to watch Glee (with Katie snuggling and half asleep next to me) in peace.

Something big also happened this weekend and even though I knew it was coming, I suddenly realized that my baby wasn't a baby anymore.

No way.

Jake can.not be 2 years old.

It's like I blinked and went from c-section recovery to chasing an active crawler, another blink and I went from crawler to climber (um, scary), and I blinked again and went from baby to BIG boy (with a lot of other blinks in between just speading the growing up along).

It went so fast.

I mean, sometimes I'll admit that I'm watching the figurative clock waiting for the day when these kids decide that I'm not the best thing since sliced bread (or Sponge Bob) and they're okay with me leaving the room for the minimal amount of time it takes me to use the facilities...

~ Start tangent ~

I almost long for a day when Katie doesn't open the door and wander into the bathroom to see what I'm doing and to have a very important, right-that-minute-urgent, long discussion about favorite animals.

Which leaves the door open for Jake to wander on in and check things out.

Which usually leads to a fight over who gets to sit on the step stool (situated less than 1 foot away from where I happen to be trying to do something I don't ever need company for).

Which usually leads to me getting stressed out over the potential for injury on the many hard bathroom surfaces (not to mention the scary possibility of one kid pushing the other into the tub during any scuffles). Which makes what I'm trying to do very difficult to do quickly.

Which leads to many a sigh over one of the great injustices of mommyness. Why is it (at least in our house) that the kids feel the need to follow mommy into the bathroom on almost every occasion, but daddy can wander about, even looking like he's got something important to accomplish, and NO ONE feels the need to follow him around? If I look like I might have a purpose for leaving the room (not including picking up toys... somehow neither of my kids even twitches when I get up for that purpose), I've got two shadows attaching themselves to me.

~ End tangent ~

So, yes, sometimes I'm clock watching... but other times, the other 90% of the time, I'm hoping they stay right where they are for the next 10 years... maybe longer. My babies. Smelling sweet from their bath, cuddling next to me on the couch, running over to give my leg a hug before they shoot off to another adventure, heads together talking... all of those moments that make me forget the not-so-fun stuff (like throw up and spilled milk and the quickly resolved drama of the weekend that came when Katie, upset that it wasn't her birthday, told me that "all she wanted was for me to say Happy Birthday to her so she could stop crying" which I did, and she did.)

Oh, back to Jake. We sang Happy Birthday at Katie's urging (a few times) but we're having the official birthday party later this month so I don't have any pics yet.

Organizing bug hit me this weekend. And it didn't hurt... too much.

2011-01-31T13:02:00.000-06:00

Had the.best.weekend.

(Well, okay, the best weekend possible with two kids and a pregnancy and housework and stuff I can't ignore in lieu of some R and R.)

The kids slept in (yay!) and I woke up and decided to run errands. I had a plan to organize the laundry room and wanted to pick up some bins for sheets and blankets so Target was on my list. It was pretty much the only thing I had to do for a change since I got to the grocery store during the week and didn't end up having to devote 3 hours to it on Saturday or Sunday.

I usually bring Katie with me on my weekend errands and we go while Jake is napping. It's our time together, we call them our "mommy and Katie dates", and we giggle and she tells me stories and sings songs while we're in the car (and we taste samples and test out all of the couches when we hit Costco).

Well, I was feeling rested, we had eaten breakfast (homemade breakfast burritos and not homemade toaster strudels), and the kids were getting along so... I figured why not bring Jake too!

I thought I might regret it later... like when he started to get fussy and cranky but I wanted to see how things went. I don't take him with me if I've got a packed agenda since he's still in the run-away-from-mommy phase and he doesn't like to sit in the cart for a long time so it can be... challenging... to bring him. Plus, it's not a fast process when I help Katie down from the car and have to get him out and then he wants to walk just like she is but he can't (see above on the running away thing) because I don't have a free hand to keep hold of him... so it's easier to leave him at home. But not this time. I was ready.

I got Jake dressed without any trouble (he even sat down so I could get his shoes and socks on), Katie got ready without any trouble (by herself, love this age), and we left the house without any trouble. I was still waiting for regret to set in.

We got to Target and started shopping. Well, wandering through the aisles and enjoying some samples. I knew I only needed the storage bins so I wouldn't have to get a ton of stuff in case things went sour.

Well...

The kids were SO good. We shared samples of a cookie and coffee (the coffee was mine), and some flavored water, and some pasta, and a spring roll. And I saw a really cute spring jacket that wasn't expensive and I really thought Katie would look cute in it so I asked her if she liked it. I guess she didn't need it. She told me that "we weren't going to buy a lot of stuff" while we were in the kids section and I was scanning the racks for something to buy... So serious and I couldn't help but laugh!

We made it to the plastic bin area and Katie pointed out the ones she liked. I decided to go with them and she was proud of her good picks. I may have called her a genius because her choices were perfect for what I needed. She also picked the color (red) of our basement bin theme.

I could tell the kids were getting hungry so we made it to the checkout and then headed to the in-store restaurant. Katie wanted a hot dog and icee, Jake wanted mac & cheese (duh) and a milk, and both kids ate all of their meals except the apple slices. I think they might have tasted different from the fresh apples they love, love, love to eat.

We were gone from 1:30 until 3:40. By the time we made it home, it was time for Jake's nap and, even though I really wanted to take a nap myself, I wanted to organize the stuff downstairs more!

So Katie came with me to organize the blanket and sheet explosion in the laundry room. I set aside at least 10 blankets/throws to donate to a charity and a couple more to donate to an animal shelter and sorted sheet sets and blankets and comforters into three piles. I only had two bins so I could take care of two piles and had to add a bin to my "must get" list.

Then I went through all of the gift bags and "gift stuff" I keep in Katie's closet (oh, okay, things I never moved out of Katie's closet when she moved into what was the dining room) and sorted them into the other two smaller bins I bought. It looks so much better.

Also, Katie has a bin on the shelf full of stuff that she can play with but that will get lost in the shuffle if she plays with it upstairs so she's spent a lot of time with me in the laundry room while I catch up on the wash.

Then I got ready to go to a birthday dinner for a friend. Had a great time eating dinner and went to the bowling alley after. I didn't plan to bowl, just wanted to visit for a little bit. After I left, I happened to drive by a Target and remembered to pick up the extra bin I needed... and while I was there, I grabbed a few more things I needed. Like licorice.

Got home and put the extra stuff into the final bin, put it on the shelf, stepped back and gave myself a pat on the shoulder, then went to bed.

On Sunday we had eggs with green peppers and some cinnamon rolls. I was happy that everyone liked the food (with the exception of the eggs Jake didn't eat and the "green things" in the eggs Katie didn't care for) and was once again surprised at how much Jake can eat.

The kids played together while I did laundry*.

*Incidentally, if your dryer ever takes 12 hours to dry a load of clothes, check that you didn't leave it on "fluff" after washing a stuffed animal on which your daughter puked. The stuffed animal dried beautifully but it's just not a very... efficient... setting for drying actual clothes. Of course, others might notice that it's taking forever for a load to dry and decide to check the settings on the dryer, but not me. I didn't notice till today. And I washed her stuffed animal last week, maybe it was Wednesday. Anyone else ever do this?

Then Jake went down for his nap (can any parent ever say they don't like nap time?) and I took Katie with me to the library, the hair place so I could get a trim, and the Salvation Army to drop off the blankets.

And the pizza place. Because while we were leaving the Salvation Army, Katie asked me when we were going to eat because she was "so hungry, mommy" and "can we eat at a restaurant? Because I'm so hungry I don't think I can wait to eat, mommy." And so we ordered out. Not only because her little voice was so precious and she was asking so nicely, but because we were super hungry by then and I dreaded the thought of going home and defrosting hamburger for dinner. And then figuring out what to make with the hamburger that wouldn't involve lots of time (or a big stirring spoon since the kids decided they wanted to play with my utensils and hid them somewhere). And I thought pizza and cinnamon dessert pizza would be the best thing to eat EVER. And it was. Really good.

The kids are sitting with me on the couch now. Jake is sighing so I think it's time for bed. And I have to drink my metamucil (ick).

See? Best weekend.

Oh, I'm trying to convince Katie that giving someone a heads up before taking their picture (or a *shudder* video) is the right thing to do. She likes to pop out of nowhere with her pretty pink camera and snap a picture without much warning. It's not always the best time for a photo op. It's also not too fun when you think she's taking a picture and you pose, then relax into whatever you were doing only to notice that 30 seconds later you're still the center of her attention, and she's been recording. We're working on it.

I'm also feeling some baby kicks against my hand! It's very cool. Katie wanted to feel too, but didn't have the patience to keep her hand on my tummy till it happened, since it's not all of the time that baby kicks out.

The kids are still sitting next to me. Jake is "reading" The Cat in the Hat and Katie is playing on her Leapfrog Explorer. I hate to break up the party with bedtime but I am extra tired tonight after our fun weekend. And the metamucil is calling my name.

Okay, closing now for real. I'll need to post this on Monday after I can look at it again without interruption. You know, to proof for any awkward, run-on sentences or other goofy writing errors.

And in Baby News...

2011-01-24T08:43:00.000-06:00

The big ultrasound was on Saturday and IT'S A...

BOY!

(We saw a very clear picture so I'm pretty sure.)

I asked for a pic but the ultrasound lady told me (very nicely) that the clinic doesn't give out pictures of the sex prediction... I guess some people complained when their boy turned out to be a girl!

Katie came with me into the room. Jacob was not interested in joining us (he was too busy playing with the big toys in the waiting room) so he and John hung out there during all of the measurement stuff and I called John when we were ready to find out the sex.

The ultrasound tech announced it (although by the time the picture came up with a direct view, we had pretty much gotten the idea) and I was inwardly cheering because Jake's clothes are still neatly stored in the basement and I don't need to send out any requests for the girl clothes we passed around more than 2 years ago. You know, when we learned we were having Jacob and we *thought* we were done having babies.

John was excited too... but Katie was not thrilled with the news. She really wanted a sister*. I think she'll get over it when she realizes she won't have to share a room, or her clothes, or her toys.

*Katie is actually serenading me with a lovely song about how there's a baby in mommy's tummy and it's a boy but she really wishes it was a girl. For. real. I think she's done for now though... it was really very creative.

And Jake is little enough, and used to not having anything that's just for him to play with since Katie likes to take over his toys too, that he probably won't be upset by a new brother coming into his space.

Oh! I also have a new due date. My original date was June 13 but now it's June 9.

I know, I know. That doesn't seem like a big deal right now... and what's a few days more, right?

Ummm, wrong.

I can only imagine how ready to have this baby by the time June rolls around.

Keeping my cool

2011-01-07T16:35:00.000-06:00

A blogger I follow pretty regularly (I'm a REAL LIFE mom) posted about overreacting to kid stuff today and asked how her readers deal with with their nerves. I was going to leave a long long looong (if you've read my posts, you know how I like to go on) comment until I realized I could jump into 2011 with a brand new blog post that will hopefully be more entertaining than hearing about how sick I've been and how it was almost like a vacation from all responsibility, but one where I was almost passed out the entire time in between visits to the exotic locale known as the bathroom.

So, without further ado (and slightly tounge-in-cheek)... my take on keeping my cool with two noisy kids who sometimes do things I don't want them to do.
By: One Mom of two, soon to be three, noisy kids.

My kids are pretty good.  They're pretty helpful, they like to sit together while they watch Sponge Bob (who ever thought a yellow cartoon sponge would bring siblings together), and they will even sometimes play quietly together while sharing toys. This weekend the kids were even cleaning (with water and vinegar, not the hard stuff) the kitchen stove, fridge, dishwasher, floor, you name it they cleaned it!

But sometimes... sometimes they are not helpful, they can't sit in the same room together without someone pushing someone else for no reason, and one child will not allow the other child to look at their toys. And sometimes they make more messes than they could ever clean up.

It's during those times I find myself ~~over~~using this phrase:

"Of Course ."

As in,
"Of course Katie dropped her juice on the floor right after the kitchen was cleaned up for the afternoon."

"Of course Jake grabbed the mug of coffee daddy left on the edge of the kitchen table and walked alllll the way into the living room to dump it out on the carpet."

"Of course Katie was spinning the desk chair while Jake was sitting in it."

"Of course Jake fell out of the spinning chair."

When I say "Of course..." it brings me back to the reality that I've got two kids and as awesome as they are 100% of the time, and as sweet as they are ~~99%~~ ~~90%~~ ~~80%~~ a lot of the time, they are still kids. Soooo, saying "of course" is just my way of telling myself, "Hey, foolish mommy. Quit thinking that their behavior/attitude/hand eye coordination is going to be excellent 100% of the time because they are KIDS. There will be times when things are going to get messy... and someone's probably going to walk away with a bruise."

And when I say "Of course..." it makes me address the current issue specifically (Of course Jake just pulled Katie's juice glass off of the kitchen table") and once I state it, I can start to work on how to fix it (running to pry it out of his fingers before he runs to the living room to show me his handywork.).

It's not perfect... there have been times I've let out a very loud "ARGH" because I can't even begin to formulate the words. But it's actually helped me focus. Before I get down on the floor to scrub. And put a kid in the tub. And add more clothes to the laundry basket.  Also? Once I accumulate enough "of course's" I've earned a crazy mom laugh and some ice cream.

Oh, and just for fun I'll throw in another little phrase.

"At least the toilet ain't broke."

This is an oldie from before we had kids. John picked me up from my temp job (he was unemployed and I was on a short assignment) and showed me our credit card bill (that we really couldn't afford). I guess he was expecting full freakout mode and I was a little "meh" about it. He was surprised but moved on to share more news.

Then...

shudder

THEN he told me, in a nonchalant way, almost as an afterthought, that the toilet. wasn't. working.

In our one bathroom house.

After hearing that news I did freak out a little. I mean, I have to USE the bathroom on a more-than-daily basis.

He thought that was funny* and a saying was born.

* That phrase was still funny when we brought Katie home from the hospital after she was born and we couldn't open the front door. I stood on the front steps with Katie in her car seat after recovering from my C-section waiting for John to run around to the back door to get into the house.  As I listened to his footsteps as he ran all the way through the house to open the front door, all I could think was "Well, at least the toilet ain't broke."

This isn't another New Year's post... Warning: This is super long because I'm cramming all of my memory things from the last half of December into one ginormous post. But there are pictures!

2011-01-01T02:41:00.000-06:00

This isn't another New Year's post mostly because we didn't do much in honor of the new year. We even celebrated early (at 11 o'clock) with sparkling grape juice and oreos.

So, really not much to report. I'm pregnant which means I'm tired and so sitting on the couch watching the ball drop from the comfort of home was pretty much perfect.

But, because this would be a pretty short post if I only talked about our New Year's Eve Celebration, I'll also do a Week ~~or Last Few Weeks because I haven't posted since mid-December~~ In Review... (I know, improper use of capitalization...)

- Grammy and Grampy came over to visit with Grandma and Grandpa. They left their shoes unattended by the back door. The kids love to try on shoes and had a ball trying to walk in Grampy's size 14's! There were only a couple of falls and no one stomped on anyone.

- Me, mom, and Grandma (mine not the kids') took the kiddos to Macy's* for the display. We saw a puppet show first - Mom heard about it and thought it sounded cute.

*Thanks Macy's for putting your theater right. inside. of the toy store. It sure was fun to wrangle Jake for the 30 minutes it took to buy the tickets and then wait for the puppet show to start.

The puppet show was very cute. Worth the wait, I think, even though I looked like a mean mommy after putting Jake into one of those child leashes. And it was only done out of necessity! He thought it was funny to run around the display shelve things and then pause and wait to see if I was still chasing him before he took off again... like 6 times. So, safety first. And he did get to explore, just with me keeping hold of the end of the leash so he couldn't explore at 50 miles per hour while I attempted to catch him.

So, the puppet show... Katie sat with me on the floor in front and Jake started out sitting with Grandma in the seats. Once it started, he came to sit with me and once the wooden moose head started talking, well, that was it, he was laughing and pointing and loving it.

Then we went to the display area and walked through. The kids liked that and I have a feeling that Jake wouldn't have minded jumping up onto the platforms and joining the elves.

- We went to our investment company to see Santa! The kids were thrilled, as you can probably see from the pictures below.

Grandma and Grandpa posed with Santa too!

- Family Christmas part 1 (with Aunt and Uncle and family... except Mike and Jenny and Paige who couldn't come because Paigey was sick). Don't worry though! We saw each other for Christmas Eve! Here are the kids with Uncle Mark, and then us with the kiddos.

- Katie doing a twirl in her new Christmas dress. She and Jake went to the lake after FC part 1 and so she got to wear her dress twice.

- Christmas Eve (which started out that morning with a leak in our bay window and ended up with 6 pots and buckets in same bay window until the ice/snow froze again and we were able to leave for the church service knowing that the leak had stopped... for now) was at Grammy and Grampy's.

Grammy made roast beef, mashed potatoes, gravy, rolls, and I'm sure I'm forgetting something but it was all super good! We opened gifts after dinner and then had to find more room in our bellies for dessert! I loved watching the kids open their gifts this year! Katie was excited about everything and Jake actually opened his own presents. They have grown so much in one year. And just think, next year we'll have a 6 month old at Christmas. Wow!

On Christmas Day we were also at Grammy and Grampy's. Had ham and other really good food. I brought the buns.

I know. Buns are easy. But I justify that with the knowledge that I'm working extra hard growing a baby inside of my tummy, so really? Buns were my superstar moment of deliciousness. In my defense (in case the whole "growing a baby" thing wasn't enough) they were frozen rolls that I needed to put into greased muffin tins and let rise for hours before baking! (Oh, um, thanks Mom for putting the frozen rolls into the greased muffin tins so they were ready for me to bake when I got home from Christmas Eve...)

Oh, and the Christmas Eve leak was done. No sign of it's return on Christmas Day, either! (John climbed onto the roof later in the week and shoveled the snow off and then chiseled ice out of our gutters. We have the cleanest gutters on the block right now. We also spent $50, yes, that's FIFTY dollars on a roof shovel. Wow. That's all I could say after I checked to make sure that John hadn't needed to purchase fifty or so of those little square pencils they sell by the checkout that would have boosted up the price. He hadn't. And $50 was the *actual* cost of a shovel on a long stick. Hmph.)

So, some cute Christmas Eve picks... I don't have any of Christmas Day, because it was all I could do on Christmas Day not to fall asleep ~~like I did at Aunt and Uncles for the big Family Christmas the weekend before.~~ Again, falling back on the pregnancy thing. Which I will continue to do until June.

Katie with her new kitty.

Jake with his grin!

Jake and Paigey. Not sure where Katie went...

Here they all are! I think Auntie Jenny took this one.
(In my pics, Katie's eyes are usually all glowey from the flash.)

(Ummm, no ghosts have been reported at Grammy and Grampy's.

I think my finger just gets too close to the flash.)

See Jake's new Sponge Bob jammies? See Grampy modeling them?

Katie and Paigey in their new tu-tu jammies.

- Katie had her very first successful dentist visit! She went with me and talked to the dental tech while she cleaned my teeth. The whole entire time. I tell ya, she was so chatty with this woman that by the time we left, it felt as if we had known her for much longer than an hour. After my teeth were done (I have a cavity, boo hoo), Katie hopped into the chair like she had been going to the dentist for years. No sign of the Katie who cried all during the 20 minute drive to the dentist that last time I tried to bring her in. No sign of the Katie who begged me to take her to the doctor instead because she would rather go to the doctor instead of the dentist. Nope. Just a self-assured, almost 5-year-old girl who went through her appointment like a champ.

- The kids played in their toy bin. Katie's playing with the Leapfrog Explorer she got from Grandma and Grandpa for Christmas. I think Jake is playing with his Woody doll. I don't know why they are doing this inside of their full-of-toys toy bin.

- Katie and daddy went to a movie date to see Tangled! Katie won free tickets from a drawing and this was the perfect movie for her. She loved it. Daddy said she watched the movie and ate her popcorn and drank her icee (I know. An icee. Sugar city.) like a big girl. She had such an awesome time. I could tell she was just so thrilled to have had this outing with her dad.

Aaaaand in other exciting news, I finally called Service Plus to come look at our dishwasher. It's been cleaning the dishes but leaving a film behind. Ugh. We'll see if they do as good of a job on this as they did on our furnace that QUIT WORKING a few weeks ago. The guy had that fixed the same day they came out. The problem started the night before we called. If sleep hadn't been highest on my mind, I probably would have figured out that something was wrong after checking the thermostat at each of my 5 bathroom breaks and seeing the temp had lowered every time but it just didn't register. And lately I've been freezing cold pretty much non-stop so I figured it might just be me! Well, getting up in the morning to a 65 degree temp inside wasn't fun and I realized that it wasn't me. So glad Service Plus had it fixed before I got home from work. (Service Plus didn't pay me for this excellent review of their service, but if you or anyone you know, happens to work for Service Plus and would like to work out a deal whereby you provide stuff for me to review and I blog about it, we could start with a new furnace since it sounds like we'll need one in the next 5 years. Really, call me. We'll talk.)

Oh, and if I ever start collecting animals, please stage an intervention. Animal Hoarders has been on today.

Happy New Year bloggy/family friends!

Katie has "preferences" when it comes to pizza. Jake too, I guess.

2010-12-17T13:45:00.000-06:00

It's kind of sad when your kid is old enough to have a preference about her pizza toppings and the preference doesn't include mushrooms or pineapple... which happen to be your* favorites.  Your two favorite toppings that you usually only order when you don't have to pay a million dollars extra for them... (Plug for Papa Johns... we've been milking this deal for all it's worth!)

* And by "your" I mean "mine."

Soo, I placed my usual order a few weeks ago; pepperoni, pineapple, mushroom, extra cheese. Yum, right?

Pizza arrived, we're seated and ready to dig in, Katie takes her first bite and... her face scrunches up.

I thought she bit her lip or something, but no. She got a bite of pineapple.  She informs me that she does not like pineapple.

I removed all pineapple from her pizza before she would continue to eat.

Next bite, again with the face scrunch.  She asks what "those dark things are". I inform her that those are yummy mushrooms (in my excited, happy mommy voice).

She informs me that she does not like mushroom.

I inform her that there is no way I can remove the mushroom... the teeny, tiny baby pieces of mushroom. So she ate it but she didn't like it.

I ordered pizza again a couple of weeks ago.  Again with my faves.  But I ordered half mushroom, half pineapple thinking that she could eat from the mushroom half.

Forgetting that both were on her "ick" list because she did eat the mushrooms last time. I distinctly remembered that she hated the pineapple (because I spent time picking each piece off), but really? Mushrooms? They're so small I could hardly taste them! Luckily, they were so small she could barely see them. She ate the pizza and I sighed a sigh of relief.

Now, last night (and yes, I know we order pizza a lot but it's good for two meals... when we order on Friday night, we eat leftovers for lunch on Saturday afternoon) I ordered from a different place (John wanted a change) and went to pick it up.

(We've had it delivered before from this place but it occurred to me last night that they're located less than 5 minutes away so I could save on the delivery fee and tip by getting in the car in the freezing cold and picking it up. Money saved is money spent on our next pizza order. Duh.)

I pulled into the parking lot and saw a Chinese restaurant just two doors down and it was as if my legs wouldn't listen to my brain.

I was telling myself "pick up pizza... must. pick. up. pizza." but my legs must have wanted some cream cheese won tons. Which I purchased. And debated opening the bag for a taste, as I walked the long stretch of sidewalk to the pizza place two doors down. I didn't open them (I waited till I was in the car because I knew that once I started eating, I wouldn't want to stop eating and it would have been way too hard to juggle the open bag plus the pizza).

So, I paid for the pizza and headed for the car. Enjoyed a won ton (or two) and the peace and quiet in the car, sighed a deep breath, and headed home.

I was super excited because I had gotten half mushroom and half pineapple (half and half because at this place, extra toppings were not free). When I opened the box I was surprised to see huge mushrooms the size of the peperoni slices.  I did not expect that. I hoped I could fly these under the Katie "radar" like last time. And I tried. And Katie took a bite and asked what those dark things were.

She did not like them. She would not eat them.

She did like daddy's pizza. Thin crust with pepperoni and ... onions.

But the drama is not over... oh no. Jake took a bite of his pizza... a piece with delicious pineapple.

And he promptly spit it into his hand. Then dropped it on the floor.

Arg.

The pineapple strikes again.

Oh, Noisy Night

2010-12-16T21:52:00.000-06:00

Katie is playing with daddy and Jake. Daddy is supposed to chase Katie and Jake but when Katie comes by me she's "safe". And she's safe when she goes next to the Christmas tree with the picture of Jesus, too. And pretty much wherever else she decides is "safe".

Running is accompanied by screaming and giggling. It' not quiet.

Then when she's ready to run again, she says, "are you ready Freddy?" Then daddy says, "ready" and then they run around the house.

Last time around, she shared a poem with us. It went a little something like this,

Roses are red
Violets are blue
I had a dream
I went to the zoo

Now they're done running and Katie wants us to "oooooohhh" at the tree.

The kids are getting a little wound up (understatement) but they're having fun.

Now Katie and daddy are playing the "I'm going to repeat everything you say" game. The password to stop playing is "706". Katie picked that one out. And she changed the password... now it's our address. Ummm, maybe because she forgot the first password.

Okay, gotta go. Jake's pushing a book into my face. He's being a little rough and he's probably going to start throwing it any minute.

(I'm typing this on my cell, so try to ignore the typos. Also, I've had a few interruptions so the "flow" might be a little choppy...)

Wordful Wednesday Post - Smile!

2010-12-15T14:32:00.000-06:00

A few smiley moments...

Katie burried under stuffed animals.

She's got plenty of stuffed animals so we just let these visit her in the cart... and anyway, they weren't in our budget* so we didn't buy them.

*The budget thing is probably the best idea I've come up with. Katie gets it, and she makes me stick with it. That's why I no longer share my shopping list with her. You know, just in case something jumps into my cart and beggs to be taken with us... It's hard to hear your 4 year old tell you in a sing-song teacher voice, "Mommyyyyy, we didn't budget for that." It's a bummer when I hear that and see her stern look which is coincedentally kind of similar to mine. I know I've got to put it away to set a good example. Ugh.

Here's Jake playing with Paigey's toys... he loved the Little People set.

Katie had a great time at Lego Land and Jake? He made a bit of a mess with the legos that are out for kids to play with and then tried to pull them out of the color specific cubbies built into a huge wall that are *not* out for kids to play with. (I know it was a kid-friendly space but the color arrangement in the cubbies was so... perfect... I didn't think he should be allowed within 5 feet of the wall. But he had fun anyway.)

Jake. Playing with my pots and pans. He loves to do this still, to this day! And sometimes he'll put them away. (Sometimes he'll bring them to the living room too, and that's okay. I usually only need one.)

Jake in Texas. Just around the time he was learning to walk. So sweet... and a little wobbly! He tried to run away but just had to stop and look to see if I would follow him.

Oh, the guy in the background on roller skates totally took a tumble a little after this picture was taken. Super funny, or so I hear. I was too busy trying to catch Jake to watch the action.

I am participating in the Invisalign Teen Bright Smiles Holiday Photo Contest with Dumb Mom. Because she told me to, and because I might win something. Plus, I like sharing old pictures of the kids being cute!

Legos are fun... when I'm not stepping on them in my living room.

2010-12-08T14:11:00.000-06:00

Super fun day yesterday. I left work early to go with John for a "consultation"... you know... to make sure that we don't grow into a family of SIX in a couple of years, instead of the family of five we'll become in June... ahem.

So, I was pretty much giddy that I was just an observer and that I wasn't the one being poked and prodded... or listening to crying at one of the kids' appointments (shots=crying and the fear of shots also?=crying) and John may have thought I was a little too happy/excited but really? I needed this. I'm calling us even for my pregnancies, labors, and deliveries. John? Well, he was kind of quiet during the consult.

No pictures from our appointment (John would have objected) but do I have some from our trip to the Mall of America.

Mom needed to pick something up from the good ol' MOA (where we've been like twice in the past 10 years - both of those times were in the same week when family was visiting from Texas) and she invited me and the kiddos to come!

We ate dinner at Ruby Tuesday, did some looking around in the American Girl store (Katie was loving it) and I bought two (maternity) tops and a pair of pants (such a strange phrase... they don't sell'em as a two pack) on clearance.

Something that made my night? Oh sure, I'll share!

I was getting a belly band (to keep my pants up because the rubber bands thru the belt loop were prone to unexpected breakage... just ask me how I know this...) and I mom asked the lady if the size 0 was right. She said "oh sure. That's the regular one size fits all." And then she said...

"And your definately NOT a plus size."

I couldn't believe it. It made my week! And I wasn't even wearing my skinny jeans! (And by skinny I mean that I feel skinny when I wear them... not the skinny that cuts off circulation in your legs if you're larger around than a toothpick.)

Then we went home. And I'm still basking in the compliment glow. <happy sigh>

And that's my excitement.

And baby makes three... gulp

2010-12-01T10:06:00.000-06:00

Three.

Threeeee

Threeeee kids...

We're still trying to wrap our minds around that news even after the ultrasound where we saw the baby's heartbeat. Even after nausea became my (unwanted) pal. Even after waking up at least 3 times each night for a bathroom break. Even after noticing my pants getting just a little bit tighter....

Even after thinking we were perfectly happy with

one boy

and

one girl.

Yep, we're still trying to wrap our minds around having a baby.

We're excited though. I mean, after we got over the whole "wow" factor (where we repeated that one word every time we thought about the baby), after we processed the whole thing and the shock wore off and it really hit us that we were going to be parents again... we were more excited.

And here I thought I had put away my wistful* thoughts of going through pregnancy again, of feeling the little flutters, of waiting to see how this new little person would grow up, and my dreams of being able to snuggle with a tiny baby (who can't push mommy away because he or she is too busy playin') but now, with this news, they're back in full force.

*Sure, I was thinking more in a "wouldn't it be nice but nope, we're good where we are" way but what's that old saying?

Oh, and in case you're wondering... things I'm not looking forward to would include (but aren't limited to) sleepless nights, baby vomit, buying formula, and changing 50 diapers in a day.

So I'm due in June. With number 3.

Here's an ultrasound pic showing the baby at about 8 weeks.

And this one will be our last.

(Really. I know we said that after Jake, but this time it's absolutely, definitely, positively FOR SURE.)

Help! I'm cooking!

2010-11-13T20:48:00.001-06:00

What's up with this "cooking" thing?!

Normal weekend breakfasts at our house usually involve cereal (with OR without milk, depending on who's eating it) and toast. Yogurt too sometimes. And if we're feeling fancy I'll whip up some scrambled eggs and sausage and we'll have breakfast burritos but that's pretty much it.

Well, this morning you know what sounded "fun"?

Making those cinnamon muffins... the kind you roll in butter and cinnamon sugar right before you eat 8 of them and never want to see them again (until the next time). And as if *that* craziness wasn't enough, I had a hankerin' for egg bake.

I was officially in cooking mode. I called grandma for a recipe for the egg bake and started in on the whole process (even exceeding my usual 4 ingredient limit by TWO).

I was thrilled beyond words when both recipes turned out the way they were supposed to (and a little shocked, but I played it cool) and when it was all done, it was delicious. I didn't burn any of it and both kids ate it which is pretty much the hardest test of any food I prepare.

I've started down a dark path though.

After my successful success today I got a hankerin' for something else.

Banana cream pie.

Made with actual ingredients.

So I went to the grocery store and picked up a banana cream pudding mix and a graham cracker crust. Till I saw the Oreo's and thought that Oreo's would be a much tastier crust than plain old graham crackers. So tonight I crushed cookies and made the crust. I'm waiting till tomorrow to mix up the pudding because even though I'm not hungry, I might be able to convince myself to taste for quality control purposes. So that's on tomorrow's agenda.

Along with eating the rest of the cinnamon muffins and egg bake. Yum!
Sent from my Verizon Wireless BlackBerry

Chocolate Milk and Personal Space Don't Mix

2010-11-05T21:00:00.001-05:00

After a full night consisting of refereeing fights, folding laundry, pulling Jake off of the side table many times, taking toys away as consequence for not picking up said toys, and just generally trying to deal with two kids who are sweet as sugar and then turn into Dr. Jekyll without a moments notice, all I wanted was a pedicure, facial, and shopping spree at Target to buy something just for myself.

But, since that's not in the budget... *sigh*...

I decided to settle for a mug of chocolate milk.

Chocolate milk *is* in our budget and not too much for me to ask for after making it through the evening as a good mommy (meaning I was super patient, didn't raise my voice too much, and no one got sent to time out, even though they deserved it, ahem, *KATIE*), right?

So I wandered into the kitchen (because the second I start walking anywhere with purpose, both kids are on me like butter on popcorn. Somehow they know I want to accomplish something and they need to be there to watch. And Katie will ask for help to go potty or for a drink of water, or for me to find lambie or bunny or another toy she could totally see if she would just go to her bedroom door and open her peepers... and Jake will suddenly need to be held and read to and will want to show me Chuck the Dump Truck for the 30th time that day. But wandering just says that mommy is going to go to a different room and she's going to do something super boring and why don't we just play here till she comes back?) and pulled out a heavy mug. I mixed up a perfect concoction of milk and Ovaltine (which, incidentally smells a little off... it's a little reminiscent of the smell of kitty litter but it's hasn't gone bad... it's smelled odd from the start. Not yummy in powder form so I've stopped smelling it before I mix up my chocolate milk.)

I got everything mixed up and walked into the living room. The kids were still playing nicely about 8 feet away. So far so good!

But then... as I sat down... Katie looked over. And focused in on.my.mug. And Jake noticed she was looking. And so he looked. And then both of them came over to where I was getting settled in on the couch and they stood right in front of me, all up in my personal space (even though after becoming a mommy that seemed to shrink to almost non-existent proportions), and Katie asked me what I was drinking. Like 20 times.

And 15 times, I told her it was a mommy beverage. By the 16th time I was still telling her it was a mommy beverage but had to stop the impulse to protectively hunch over my mug ~~because that would have lowered it enough for one of the kids to get a hand around it and take it from me~~.

That wasn't informational enough for Katie and she kept asking. I stuck to my guns and continued to tell her that it was a beverage for mom and that it was mine to drink. (Insert scene from Lord of the Rings... Gollum and "precious" wouldn't be a stretch when considering my behaviour. I'm not proud of it looking back, but it was seemed perfectly normal last night.)

So then, after one more question from Katie:

Katie: Yes, but what IS it?

I finally just gave up on the hope that they would get bored and give up, and told her it was chocolate milk.

And got this:

Katie: Can I have some?

Me: In a bit.

Katie: But I'm really thirsty.

Me: Just let me drink mine really quick.

Katie: But I'm reeeeeeaalllllllyyyyy thirsty.

Me: One second honey... I just want to finish mine and then I'll give you some...

Katie (starting to look a little unhappy): But mommy, I am so thirsty and I really want something to drink!

Me: Here. Just drink mine. (My "moment" was lost.)

Katie: But that's a mommy beverage and I can't drink that!

Me: Yes, it's yours. Take it.

Katie: Oh, but mommy, that's a mommy beverage! That's not for me!

Me: Take it. I'm not making you your own so if you want it, drink it.

Katie (with an angelic smile): Okay mommy!

Then I put Jake to bed, cuddled with Katie, held the mug for her in between drinks, and decided that I wish someone would invent a glass that would look like it was filled with water no matter what was inside. That way, I could sit down with a glass of chocolate milk without both kids wandering over to see what I've got before I even get settled, and wanting it.

Later that night, after I put Katie in bed and she was playing Make a Mess on my cell phone, I wandered into the kitchen and whipped up another batch of chocolate milk. And drank it down before anyone could interrupt me again. It was very good. Because it was alllll mine.

Kids are weird. And noisy. And silly.

2010-10-26T21:00:00.003-05:00

Last night we're just hanging around the house after dinner, eating our mini ice cream bars (100 calories and pretty good if on the very small side).

Katie got her own and finished half of it before she decided to put it away for later. (Who's kid is this again? Oh yeah, she was supposed to clean toys up after our dessert... she's pretty smart. If she doesn't finish dessert, it's not time to clean up, right?) I shared with Jake. Which meant that I mostly tried to keep him from taking bites that would choke a large animal. We were down to the last two smallish bites and I had my hand situated so he wouldn't push the whole bite into his mouth. Well, he pushed and he pulled and I stayed firm. There was no way I was letting him eat that whole piece ~~especially since I wanted one more little taste!~~ because it was too big.

Then he drooled. On my pants leg. And I let go of the ice cream bar. Because cold, chocolaty drool is gross.

Before I could reach for a wipey to clean off my pants (gross), the bite was down and gone. And Jake was smiling.

Tricky kid.

Oh, and Katie has a thing for chapstick. She neeeeeeeds it because her lip hurts (it's chapped under her bottom lip) and when she applies chapstick, she usually applies just a bit too much. Last night was one of those times. I had just gotten over being out-drooled by the boy when I looked over and saw that the lower part of Katie's face, nose down to chin, was very shiny. Very shiny. Like, glowing shiny when the light hit her face just right. I figured out it was the chapstick and I laughed so hard I was tearing up and holding my sides. And since chapstick is so long lasting, I kept laughing for the next hour or so before it wore off.

We blamed the laughter on Jake being so funny earlier (the ice cream incident) because we didn't want her to 1) do it again, and again, and again because it made us laugh the first time or 2) feel bad because we were laughing at her.

Good times.

Oh, and Katie told lots of jokes last night. There was a reoccuring theme... "You know what's funny mommy? Glasses (and after glasses, just substitute whatever else you might see laying around the house)... in WATER!" then lots of laughter from her, and from me because she was so cute (even if her jokes could use a little work). She listed a lot of funny things... in WATER. Strange? Um, yes. But she cracked up so much over it that I couldn't help but laugh.

Our night. In a nutshell.

And I've spared you the story of Katie's excessive crying because she left Mr. Bear at the lake this weekend and was so saaaaaaad that he wasn't here. And her crying because I made her stay in her room after bedtime. Oh, and I won't mention the 9:30 p.m. request for more pizza because she was staaaaaarving. Or the 10 minutes we spent downstairs after she found the bin of toys and decided she neeeeeeded all of the soft toys to cuddle and could choose one, which resulted in... yes, you guessed it, more tears when she could only choose one soft toy. And finally, some more crying about Mr. Bear before she finally fell asleep... with all of the soft toys (the 10 she already had in her room) set around her in bed.

And finally silence. (Finally!)

Katie made crumbs last night.

2010-10-20T12:15:00.000-05:00

Grandpa gave Katie a cookie last night. It's one of those red, white, and green ones from the panaderia. John came over and asked what it was and Katie told him it was "pan dulce" and yes, she pronounced it correctly! It was cute so we had to ask her to say it a few times.

She sat at the kitchen table to eat her cookie and then told me she was making pieces for my party (I'm doing one of those food parties on Wed night*). I "um hm'd" her because I was busy mixing and making the official party food and wasn't paying a ton of attention other than to think "awww, how cute!"

* If you are a member of my family who lives nearby, I meant to invite you, I just didn't do it early enough and then by the time I remembered to do it, I felt like it was too late. So I didn't send an invite. An invite I wish I had sent.

Well, about 10 minutes later, she had progressed to making crumbs. (I should have figured that where there are cookie pieces, there will be cookie crumbs.) And was she ever successful. That one cookie produced way too many green, red, and white crumbs and left a coating all over her shirt, skirt, table, chair, floor... everywhere. They were kind of pretty at first glance. Less so when I remembered that someone would need to clean them up. And even less so when Katie announced, "Mom, you were right. I have to go potty." (This is in response to my inquiry before the whole crumb party began.)

At this point in the mess, I couldn't just tell her to go like I usually do. This required a plan and speed. A plan because by now, Katie was covered in crumbs and I did not want to spread them around the whole house. And speed because by the time she acknowledges she's gotta go, she's really gotta go. So we worked it out pretty well. I didn't see any crumbs on my newly cleaned bathroom floor and I think we contained the mess to the kitchen. Whew.

And then, after Katie was done with her hand washing and had found a suitable pair of shoes to wear (some cute purple boots in case you were curious), she was ready to sweep the floor. Because part of making a mess is cleaning it up. She swept, she wiped, she picked up. By the time she was done, the crumbs were mostly gone. I did a final sweep while she danced around the kitchen in her "slippery shoes" and then we were finished.

It took me about an hour and a half (it felt like FOREVER) to make 6 dips and two bread things, deal with the potty break, AND clean up the kitchen.

The food is ready and it looks pretty good, when I'm able to forget that mayo is the base for many of the mixes (for some reason this grosses me out).

One of the breads (a cranberry oat mix) smelled so good I wanted to take a little, teeny, tiny piece of it right then and there. But I didn't. Because I have a feeling that by the time I got home from work the next day, the tiny square I took would have multiplied into half of the pan being gone. Can't wait for tonight so I can try the stuff.

Katie is also excited. She's got Cubbies (even though I'm debating keeping her home so she can tell me when Jake does something "dangerous" and so she can play with Donovan and Marshall while their mom hangs out) so I told her that when she's done she can help me hostess. She's very excited to ask people what they want to drink. She's in charge of the water and I have a feeling that a lot of people are going to be very thirsty for water once she gets home.

So, tonight should be fun.

I wish this morning had been fun... or at least go as planned. I wanted to get to work early today so I could leave early and get a jump start on last minute stuff I need to do (like vacuuming. That could only be done a day in advance if the room was declared off limits and had an invisible barrier so no one could enter. That's just not possible so vacuuming tonight is on the schedule). Well, of course I hit snooze on my 6 a.m. wake up call (aka cell phone alarm) and of course my alarm didn't go off again. So my eyes pop open and I have the too rested feeling that only comes from oversleeping. My cell phone confirmed it. It was 20 minutes later than I get up to be on time to work. Ugh. So anyway, I won't be leaving work early.

But maybe Katie can learn vacuuming 101 this evening. She is 4 and a half now... and she loves Cinderella. Oh! I think she's even got a Cinderella dress up dress in her closet... By golly, I think I've got a plan!

Meanwhile, at work today we're having a potluck. I've eaten my way through about 6 of those tiny wieners wrapped in bacon and lovingly surrounded by brown sugar, one brat (that word always looks weird when it's written out), one spring roll (homemade so I couldn't turn it down), a special K bar, two little cream puffs, bread and dip, slice of fruit pizza, chips and homemade salsa (and some cheese). I think that's it. And now I feel a bit sick.

I planned to do the 30 Day Shred this afternoon over lunch but that might make me actually be sick so I'm going to stick with the elliptical instead.

Maybe Katie will be a teacher?

2010-10-20T08:52:00.000-05:00

I got home from work on Monday night feeling a little tired, as usual, but excited to be home, also as usual.

I sat down to see how the day went and learned (from Daddy... Katie is denying everything) that she had pushed her brother and talked to Daddy in a less than nice way. I did the usual "it's nice to be nice/don't talk mean or people will be sad and DON'T HIT YOUR BROTHER!" talk for the 50th time this month and then Katie started to talk about how she wanted to run around the house but couldn't because Jake was asleep. I don't know where this came from... I wonder if she was trying to deflect the heat.

Well, this went on and on and let me tell you, she knows how to work a room.

She complained (in her sad voice) about how she couldn't run and she needed to run because she needed to get excercise and that mommy gets to excercise and why can't she. Add in a little whine just on the verge of angry and you'll probably get a good idea of how she sounded. It went on for awhile. So long that I *thought* she was done so I turned to ask John something.

Katie saw that and I guess she decided to use it as a "teaching moment" or whatever it is a 4 (and a half) year old would call it.

Katie looked at me and at her daddy and explained that she was not done telling us something. Then she said, "When someone is talking, you shouldn't do what?" Then she gave us a hint... "Ta... ta... ta..."

I jumped in with "Talk?" and got a figurative gold star when Katie turned to me and said, "Yes! That's right. When someone is talking, you shouldn't talk."

Well, we chatted a bit more which really means that Katie talked and we listened (and chuckled a little over her comments... behind our hands of course so she wouldn't see us laughing).

We laughed harder when we noticed that Jake had walked over to stand next to her. And he started to say, "Shhhhh. Shhhhh. SSssshhhhhhhh." over and over. Katie would move away and Jake would follow. She moved three times before he was distracted (I think he wanted to play with his truck). He only "shushed" us that one time but it was fu-nny! Back to laughing behind our hands.

Then I talked to John again and Katie said, "I was talking! When someone is talking, you should what? Llll lll llll..."

Daddy jumped in with "Listen?" and he got the gold this time.

Katie beamed at us and said, "That's right! When someone is talking, you should listen."

Here's what I think is funny; when KATIE is talking, everyone should listen. And if anyone else is talking, well, Katie is going to say something more inportant and more interesting anyway so everyone else should just "SSShhhhh". We're working on this. Mostly I'm telling her that I'm talking and she needs to wait her turn. And then reminding her that it's not her turn yet.... and that it's still not her turn.

We'll probably be working on this for a long time.

Hair Stylist? Mommy? Which one will she choose?!

2010-10-12T17:17:00.000-05:00

So in my travels through the land of Google reader, I came across a post by Parenting by Dummies where I could enter to win a cute kids top just for answering one simple question. So I started to think about how I would answer this one simple question and I realized that it was harder than it seemed.

The question?

What super smart profession do I dream of my kid becoming one day.

It was hard to think of Katie (I thought of her first just because she's oldest) being old enough to work because that would mean she was old enough to drive and old enough to pierce her ears and old enough to vote and old enough to go out on a DATE! And old enough to move out and have her own apartment! Her.own.APARTMENT!

(Insert heavy breathing and crazy eyes HERE.)

Whew.

This was tough.

But now I was determined to think, and think hard, of a suitable profession for my ~~baby~~ girl .

Now, this wasn't hard because Katie isn't super smart and able to do whatever she puts her mind to, because she is super smart and there are so many possibilities... it was hard because I want her to have a job that is so totally awesome she loves going to work every day. (Making oodles of money and never being too busy to come hang with mommy would just be added bonuses. Unfortunately, I don't know if a job like this even exists.)

I finally came up with the (kind of serious) answer along the lines of Katie working where I work (because I would love to see her every day and then we can carpool every day and have lunch together and meet for our breaks and send emails with smiley faces all. day. long.) but she's got her own ideas. She either wants to be a mommy or a hair stylist.

I think right now hair stylist is winning, but only because I'm pointing out all of the things mommies have to do (and hoping it stops her from wanting children until she's 30 because taking care of kids is hard... and they pull hair and pinch... and I'm talking about you *Jacob*).

Things like
- never finishing your own meal because someone spills or throws food or falls out of their booster seat... or squirts vinegar water in their eye (but eating off of the kids half full plates while doing dishes),
- having to forget about a peaceful shower (unless you get up before the kids to take it),
- making dinner while kids play underfoot (when they haven't had any interest in the kitchen ALL evening),
- hiding markers and pens so the really smart kids with long arm reach can't get to them (then forgetting where you hid the only sharpie),
- scanning the room before leaving for anything the kids can get into (this is tough... things you don't consider dangerous can be very dangerous when there's a 2 year old around... lamps, picture frames on high shelves, TV remotes are some examples),
- making sure the box of granola bars are not left on the floor in the pantry (because some kids like to smoosh them, and then they're just granola. With little tiny chocolate chips.),
- collecting cooking utensils from wherever the kids were playing with them and having to wash them before using them to make dinner (the spatula and spoons being among the favorites and I still don't know where my flat spoon is)...

And oh, there's more, but I'll stop here.

So what I'm saying is that having kids is hard.

There are also some pretty great moments mixed in with the vomit, spills, icky diapers, and mutinous glares (Katie, that one was all you).

Great moments like getting surprise hugs, two shadows following me around just to see what I'm doing (usually not exciting since I'm usually putting something away or picking something up), seeing their exitement when they see something they think is really cool... and of course, hearing "Mommy, I'm glad you're home today and not at work" or "Mommy, I love you" is pretty great too.

They show me* pretty rocks, a bird flying above our house, a funny cloud in the sky, a picture they think is neat... an endless list of things that it seems I've lost the ability to see on my own.

And oh, there's more, but I'll stop here.

*There are still some things the kids don't show me... like where our kitchen remote is hidden. That's been missing for about 4 months now. I think it's gone for good. We've gotten used to getting up to change the channel... because there aren't any remotes we can program for the tv we have in the kitchen. And we've tried, oh we've tried to find one.

Just the other day, Jake came to sit next to me on the couch. He didn't throw a book at me to read, he just wanted to sit next to me and snuggle up close. Katie came over too and sat on the other side of me. And snuggled up close. This totally makes up for the marker on our back door, the 500th cup of spilled milk, the pinching, the missing remote ... well, all of the other stuff that's not so fun (see above for the almost comprehensive list... here's a hint: it starts with "vomit").

So I guess it's okay that Katie has this on her list of jobs... the pay isn't too great and the benefits are way more than I could have imagined. Hugs and smiles and kids who think I'm the best. mommy. ever.

But I'm going to keep pointing out all of the things mommies do... I wonder if cleaning the bathroom would be too much for a 4 year old...

Two weekends ago we got to go to the lake.

2010-10-04T12:15:00.000-05:00

So, mostly I write my posts with an actual reader in mind so I try to break up paragraphs, include some pictures, spruce things up a bit. You know, so heads don't explode from the boredom.

Aaaand sometimes I post stuff so I don't forget.

This is one of those "not forgetting" posts.

Which just means that if you're looking for something super funny and witty, you may not find it here today. (But check back because the kids have been in fine form and have so kindly given me tons to share.)

Sooo, I apologize in advance but will tell you that it's still not going to be a long as my Texas post from February. (I'm not linking back to this because you'll never get through the whole thing and also, I'm already tired from writing this all out. And yes, it's about a week late in the posting.)

Here's my recap of our weekend at the lake:
1. Played outside (well, the kids did this mostly with Grandma and Grandpa. I'm not known as an "outdoor" person. Just like we're not "pet people" yet whenever Katie brings up the topic.)

2. Ate rueben sandwiches cooked in the fire and decided they were surprisingly tasty. Gooey and hot and really greasy. And doesn't that always equal GOOD?

3. Made homemade (from a box) pizza with hot dogs and peperoni as toppings. (I remember mom making these when I was a kid, usually on Sunday nights. Mom and Dad would set up the table in the living room and we would sit and eat and watch the Disney movie. I loved that.)

4. Went for a walk into town and looked in a couple of the shops (didn't spend any money, even though I wanted to). The kids got to ride in the wagon. Me and Mom took turns pulling the wagon. It was hard.

5. Made Ghiardelli brownies with red hots (I love red hots... or Cinnamon Imperials for you fancy pants people) .

6. Saw "The Switch".

7. Listened to the kids play together.

8. Listened to the kids fight over toys.

9. Listened to Katie cry and carry on because her princess blanket wasn't spread out properly. (It had WRINKLES, people! This is a travesty for Katie.)

10. Went to Walmart (3 times).

11. Got my hair cut (at Walmart, which I swore I would NEVER do again after the great hair debacle of early 2010, also noted in my Texas post, but decided to give it one last shot and ended up with a great cut!).

12. Laughed a lot.

13. Got a horrible headache and didn't feel great.

14. Took a nap. Katie came in to see what I was doing. I had her precious Pprincess blanket over me and somehow I could sense that she was about to demand the return of the blanket. I told her mommy didn't feel good so I'm resting. Right away she morphed from demanding 4 year old into super sweet "mommy". She felt my forehead and said "Oh, you're a little warm" and then started to tuck the blanket around my arms and my feet. Then she said that I needed to take a nap and she would see how I felt later. She was about to walk out of the room but stopped and came back to give me a kiss on the cheek. I fell back to sleep marvelling at how Jekyll and Hyde her attitude can be... and glad that she took pity on mommy and was feeling more Jekyll than Hyde.

15. Ate almond crusted stuffed chicken breast with rice for dinner on Sunday. The recipe exceeds my 4 ingredient limit (by about 15 ingredients) and it probably took at hour just for the preparation (this didn't even include COOKING TIME!) but it was really good and I would definitely eat it again. But only as long as I don't have to make it. (See #3 above. That was my contribution.)

Ahhh, vacations.

Oh, then I was sick on Monday. The outside time spent walking in town and cooking my reuben over the fire probably did me in.

Wordful Wednesday

2010-09-22T13:18:00.000-05:00

Here's my Wordful Wednesday...

Jake stayed home with me one afternoon while John and Katie went to visit grandma Mary Lou. I think Jake liked the peace and quiet. He played on all three of the kid bikes and on the scooter without once being elbowed aside by his big sister.

We also tried going for a walk but only got around the corner before he decided he liked the toys in one of the yards and that he wanted to play with them right then. I had to carry him back (after I chased him down). He landed a few good hits on my lip while he was thrashing about, but I managed to keep him in my arms and get him home without too much damage to my face... although it was just a teensey bit embarrassing.

Ahh, Katie. Katie got a new ceiling fan the other day. Grandpa, Grandma, mommy, and Jake went with to help choose one that wouldn't be too pink or too frilly (I thought I should go so I could veto anything that would fit either of these two categories. I wanted to keep things neutral.).

Well, what do you see in that picture? Flowers and hearts? Check. Pastel pink background? Check. Next time maybe I'll just stay home.

Katie's job was to screw together the fan blade and the part that fits the blade into the fan. And also to make funny faces at the camera. A+ for Katie.

I remember watching my dad do work like this when I was younger. I haven't given much thought to it but it's so fun to see her "helping" grandpa with stuff, and she really was a help! She handed grandpa the pliers and screwdrivers, and she really did put together fan blades... at least three of the four! Jake was also there, but he was more interested in climbing the ladder. See?

Ahh, and this is what happens when Jake has something Katie considers HERS. I thought this was a chase to win custody of the Woody doll... but now I think this was the chase to get her chapstick that Jake had picked up off of the floor and carried away. Woody was causing problems earlier when both kids were still in play clothes and not jammies.

Ah, Woody. Too bad we can't clone you, or find another one of you for really cheap. Then there would be no discussion over who you belonged to, which would lead to more peace and quiet. That would be nice.

So that's it. My first Wordful Wednesday. I'm linking up on Parenting by Dummies here. Maybe. If I can figure this whole "linking" thing out. That's why this is my first Wordful Wednesday... or first anything that requires me to figure out how to link. Maybe I should ask Katie how it works... she's pretty smart ofr a 4 year old.

I'm a Disney Princess (without the gown. Or woodland creatures. Or pretty jewelry. So, I'm a Disney Princess mostly in attitude which really just isn't as much fun).

2010-09-21T11:07:00.000-05:00

I went downstairs for just a few minutes last night to move laundry into the dryer and when I turned the corner to head up the stairs, I saw Katie waiting for me. She looked a little upset. Aaaand, that's an understatement because she had big tears and a heartbroken expression on her face.

I didn't know what was wrong so I went to pick her up and cuddle her. She can be a little... intense... sometimes so I just thought it was a mood. Until she told me, between sobs, that she was "running in the living room" and she "knocked over daddy's laptop". Daddy was already in bed and doesn't know this happened. (Hi Daddy!)

I looked, and sure enough, the laptop was on the floor with the hinged side in the air. It was open when it fell and luckily didn't break apart upon impact.

I didn't freak out over this very expensive potential paperweight and I'm very proud of that. Um, if it had been my laptop I might have shed a few tears... maybe let loose with a "NNNNNnnnnnooooooooo!" but I didn't want to scare Katie. And it wasn't mine. So I kept it together. I felt like a Disney princess with all of the tra la la-ing and oh, let's just put this back on the table, no need to cry, everything will be fine. Not sure which princess though... maybe Lily Tomlin in 9-to-5. (Minus the animated woodland creatures... I don't know if I like those.)

So, after the initial shock, my calm, positive attitude helped to calm her down a little and after I got the laptop back on the table without it breaking into two large pieces, Katie ran to me and wanted me to hold her. This doesn't happen a lot these days. She's usually very independant and very much "I can do it myself" or "I don't want to sit with you, I want to play" (and this: "in my room, with the door shut so Jake can't get in here and mess up my stuff because, even though I want to keep all of *his* toys in here, I'll scream if he so much as breathes on my stuff" is implied even if it's not verbally stated).

We cuddled and she cried and I told her that it looked fine, just be careful when running in the living room. Which, I just don't get anyway. I mean, daddy's laptop is in the far end of the living room, the only thing near it is his chair and the TV cabinet. And the kids don't usually play over there because, well, it's not too exciting.

And after taking half a second to consider that statement, I've got to take it back. Jake *loves* to play over there when daddy isn't in his chair and he's forgotten to close his laptop (the laptop that's now minus a few keys because Jake has plucked them off. Don't ask me how... it's a mystery of tiny fingered dexterity) but Katie usually ignores it.

I guess maybe curiousity got her. Daddy has a pretty cool screen saver and I can see her being interested in it and trying to get closer look at it... and then trying to turn the screen for an even better look, and then getting mad that the laptop isn't moving, and then giving it a really hard jerk because she really wants to see that screen, and then realizing that maybe it was too hard when the laptop falls to the floor. That's another way this might have played out.

Anyway, I haven't gotten any calls today asking what might have happened to the laptop last night so I think this little mishap ended without the destruction that usually follows when one of the kids drops something.

Happy day... because I really don't want to share. (I like my keyboard keys right where they are... thank you very much.)

Mommy loves you BOTH the SAME... Do you hear me, Katie?!

2010-09-16T16:55:00.000-05:00

Jake and Katie.

These kids can be the worst of enemies at times (these times are not fun... there's usually some hair pulling, loud screeching, yelling for mommy, pushing and shoving... not to mention the resulting tears from pushes and shoves) and then, as if a switch has been flipped, they're the best of friends.

Running around the house together, laughing, doing silly things to entertain each other, sharing... SHARING! I wish I could find that switch, turn it to "friends"... and break it so it can never be flipped again.

Want to know why?

Here's why...

The other day, Jake was playing in the bathroom sink when Katie ran down the hall past the door yelling, "I'm going to wear THIS!" and waving her jammies around. Jake saw her, we ALL heard her, and he laughed.

He laughed harder and harder each time she did it (and she did it about 20 times).

Eventually he left the bathroom to follow her down the hall and she would gently walk him back to the bathroom and say, "Jakey, you stay here." (so she wouldn't run him over) and she would continue running and yelling, and he would continue to laugh. Eventually this lead to them running around our house in circles with one or two "accidental" pushes when Jake got into Katie's way. But they were getting along.

No bribes or threats could have accomplished this.

(Not that I've tried, or anything... Really.)

It was just nice to see them getting along and happy. And it was especially nice after I overheard this comment from Katie to Jake...

"She loves me better than you." where "she" = mommy.

Um, yeah. Usually I let them get through whatever they're doing without my intervention (unless Jake has his hand in her hair and is in the process of pulling hair out, or they're about to come to fisticuffs, then I intervene) but in this case, I had to tell her (in my most serious mommy tone with my most serious mommy face) that I love them both the same and that Jake is my favorite boy* in the whole world and Katie is my favorite girl*... but I could swear that when she smiled at me, her smile was saying, "Suuuuure mommy. I know you have to say that... he's your kid too of course. But I know the truth!" Something tells me she won't be convinced.

*So lucky to have one of each. How do you parents of two girls/two boys handle this?

Here's also why...

And some oldies I couldn't resist posting again...

Jake's 18 month well check went... well. And he had lots of fun playing with the stirrups.

2010-09-08T00:09:00.000-05:00

Jake had his 18 month baby well check this week. He's healthy and growing well which we kind of suspected... the kid is crazy busy and not tiny.

As a matter of fact, he weighs in at 27 lbs and his head circumference is 19 inches and a bit. The nurse took his height measurement when he was standing up... usually they lay him down on the paper. I think the paper might be a better way to go because when she compared this measurement to his previous measurement, something wasn't quite right. Unless Jake really did shrink two inches since his last doctor visit... Anything is possible.

So weight and measurement was the easy part. Trying to entertain a toddler while waiting in the room was not so easy. Luckily they baby-proofed pretty well. My only complaint? There were two chairs in the room. I sat in one and Jake? Well, he enjoyed climbing up onto the other chair over and over. But, aside from the chair, and the stirrups that swung out from the table (he thought those were pretty fun AND they made a satisfying CLANG as he pushed them from side to side), the room was pretty much baby-proofed.

Katie came with us too (it was easier to let her come with than to spend precious time explaining *why* she couldn't go and running out of the house while hoping that this time the doorknob guard that is supposed to prevent little hands from opening the door would actually work). It turned out to be a good thing because after Jake tired of the stirrups and forgot about the chair, the kids played together nicely while we waited for what seemed like an hour (but was really probably only 20 minute) between the doctor and the nurse. So the appointment was a success.

Shots? Check.

Tired baby who needed a long nap when we got home? Check.

Oh, and one last thing...

Pee pee trouble because of some adhesions the nice doctor had to "break"? Check.

Oh, yeah. I won't go into more detail because it's a ~~little~~ lot gross AND something that is more common than I thought in infants. And it's something the doctor didn't warn us about when Jake was circumcised*.

Sorry Jake. I'm sure that if this blog is still around when you're a teen and some of my more personal posts, like this one, get into the wrong hands, there may be a little potential for embarrassment but hopefully I've written enough stuff about your sister so it will be in her best interest not to mention some of this to anyone.

My poor baby. It's sad (but a little bit cute)... the way he's been holding his diaper, looking at me with a scrunched up face, and saying "Ouch." when he "goes".

And based on that potty time routine (hold, scrunched up face, ouch), I'm going to assume that separating the adhesion area at every diaper change, and the resulting discomfort, is just minorly less fun for Jake than for me.

If I had a million dollars... I would probably spend it all on preschool, shoes, and diapers

2010-08-30T13:31:00.000-05:00

Preschool. Katie loves it. Mommy loves it. Our budget? Does not love it. We've decided not to send Katie back for the *actual* school year that starts next week, but I still hope that we'll be able to send her next summer (the summer before kindergarten starts).

Oh, something EXCITING that happened last Saturday...

John was getting ready to go to a powwow up north and I saw a red car pull into our driveway. Now, we do have friends... just not many of them. And none of them drive a red car.

And Katie, being the smarty she is, remembered that it was a red car that crashed into the back of her Grandpa's car the week before and thought that whoever it was had come back. She was worried that they were going to hit one of our other cars. We reassured her that they probably would not return to our house and park in our driveway just to hit another one of our cars.

Turns out that I was right. (Katie was relieved.)

It was actually one of our old neighbors (who used to live kittycorner across the street from us when I was a kid) who had seen our car parked next to the garage for awhile and wondered if we were looking to sell it.

Our answer?

Yes, yes, YES! (That car has been sitting there for probably 6 months, if not longer, because we need to put a tire on it and the tires for our car are very spendy.)

How did he happen to spot our car and wonder about its availability? Well, apparently he drives through the area every once in awhile (I kind of think it's to check out his lawn*) and spotted it just sitting there.

*I wonder if there was a condition written into the house sale that the new owner must maintain the lawn to the standards of the previous owner! If so, he doesn't have anything to worry about. The new owner edges, eliminates weeds, ~~spray paints the grass so it's always a vibrant green~~ (Just kidding. I've never actually seen him do this. I just wouldn't be too surprised if he did), and he takes out any leaves that dare to land on his yard. In the fall. When there are bucketfuls of leaves yet to drop off of the trees, this guy is out there ready to defend his lawn from the invasion.)

So now I've got to figure out which payment is for which car. This normally wouldn't be a problem. Just pull out the statement and check it out, right! Oh, if only. But no. We bought two cars on that fateful day; two cars of the same make, model, and year. So, I've got to track down the payment invoice, pull out the title (that has the matching bank name), and search for the teeny tiny color description, and THEN call to see what the payoff total is. Ugh. Which is why I haven't done it yet.

But I will. This week for sure.

Because I saw Frank drive by our house again on Sunday and I have a feeling he's a persistent guy. And an early* riser.

*Early = before 11:00 a.m.. I mean, we're up and everything but we're still in cozy jammy mode.

And if he stops by early (like he did the last time), I don't want to have to make a mad dash to the bedroom to change out of my jammies and into real clothes...
(again).

I'm a Winner! (But I still don't have the mad skillz of a photographer. Oh well.)

2010-08-23T23:40:00.000-05:00

This is a long post but I find that I'm a pretty wordy poster. Just ask my mom... she stood for about 5 minutes tonight listening to me tell a story that would have been about a minute long if I had just gotten to the point. Which I never seem to be able to do. This post is evidence to that fact.
~~~

So, remember this post? Where I won some excellent gift cards?

Well, a few days ago I got an email from Chocomize for my custom chocolate bars (I can't wait to use this!) so I knew it wouldn't be long and was waiting in eager anticipation. Because on Thursday I came home and found an envelope from Dumb Mom... my giftcards had arrived! Along with this card...

This cute, creative card with a really nice note inside! I was just thrilled to have won the contest... I didn't expect to get a card *thanking me* for reading her blog, and for entering the contest too! And I know, from reading her blog, that these are her actual kids. Which means that she probably took this picture herself. And had it made into a card. And, well, I was impressed.

Katie and Jake don't usually cooperate when I want to take a nice picture of them together like the one above, and my photog skills aren't very advanced so I can't even make them look like they are sitting nicely so this kind of snapshot will probably have to wait till they are older... or until Jake is old enough to bribe (even if Katie is in a diva mood and doesn't want to be photographed, she will usually cooperate if I promise her a few extra minutes of extra play time before bed... or a marshmallow).

But I do have these pics... (and when Katie is older, like say in her teens, I'm sure it will be fun for me to pull them out and reminisce about these younger years... and wish for them back.)

Katie was playing with cans. Please don't ask me why. I don't know. I unloaded groceries and they were on the table... and then they were hers.

Katie was playing with these and wanted me to play with her, so I did. Although let me tell you... it's tough to play when your "person" is a can of soup. So the name I chose for my can of soup was... wait for it... it's so out there you won't believe it... Soupy!

And when Katie asked what the cans second name was (because don't cans have two names?), I picked Cassandra*. Katie liked the name so much, she started to use it too and her can was dubbed Cassandra Soupy.

This is kind of my "go to" name. In my stories, if Katie doesn't want the character to have the name Katie, I use Cassandra.

Oh, and yes, she's wearing her Halloween princess costume. And crown. And probably her "tall shoes" too.

Jake loves to climb on Katie's bed. He climbs up onto the foot board, then onto the bed, then he slides off and does it again. And again... and again (sorry, couldn't resist).

This is how *my* pics turn out... a gifted photographer I am not.

Jake gives hugs. First he hugs, then he hangs on to you while he goes limp. Katie usually ends up falling down. Yep. It's funny.

Got home from work one day and Katie came out to see me... wearing *my* "tall shoes". I wore these to work one day last week and wore flip-flops home... and Katie grilled me on the where-abouts of my tall shoes. I have to hide my shoes from my 4-year-old.

Jake likes to color.

He likes to color and I like triangle shaped crayons. They don't roll onto the floor and under the table. Whew! (There's still no special crayon that won't color on the floor though. Wish they would get going on inventing that one.)

Grammy was watching a video on my phone. The kids were sitting with her so sweetly.

Till I took the phone so I could get a picture.

More coloring. Notice the location of all of the crayons?

Yep. Katie still has a problem with that one word... the really tough one to pronounce. Oh, yeah. SHARING.
She also told me to stop taking pictures... she was too busy working.

Jake. Just watching TV. Oh, and John's legs.

Me and Katie stopped at this house on our walk the other day. I love these flowers. But not enough to grow them in my yard. Although with the big hit that was the summer garden, maybe I'm ready for these next year.

THIS is another example of what happens when I try to get them to sit still for a picture.

Oh, Katie got dressed in a purple and yellow flowered shirt and matching purple pants. This was a complete outfit. But she must have thought it needed a little extra... something... because she decided to add this denim dress and her yellow "tall shoes". She's already got her own style and it's looking better than her mommy's. Sad but true.

Awww. Another hug!

Katie is giving Daisy a kiss goodnight. Daisy is a electric keyboard nestled lovingly on the pillow and snuggled under Katie's princess blanket. Jake is the blur in the foreground.

Reading with Jake.

Katie doing "exercises"... that's why her arms are blurry. She was moving them around.

Jake really likes to read. He'll come over with a book and you better take it because he's going to either drop it on your lap or wave it around near your face just before he climbs up for a story. And setting it aside while he gets comfortable is better than getting tapped in the face with the edge of a book while he settles himself. Voice of experience here.

That's all for now. I'm going to call it a day. And it's been a pretty good day... No one got time out, no one got hurt (although Jake did get his leg stuck between the wall and the top rail of Katie's headboard... and I can not figure out what he was doing to get stuck that way) everyone liked the dinner I made, and both kids were asleep by 9:30. In my book, that's a pretty good day.

I'm posting this later in the week and today was still a good day (even if it wasn't the good day I posted about above). No one got time out, John made steaks for dinner (and cleaned up), Katie and Jake played outside a bit before bed (and Jake only got a little hurt after falling off of the scooter John was pushing him around on), and I did my workout early.

We had a good evening after "Mean Mommy" put in an appearance to put away toys (and when I put them away, they go away for awhile, usually after I ask someone to pick them up a few times and get no response) but once Katie was reminded that she didn't do it when asked, she got over it. It didn't hurt that we started scavenging in the kitchen and spotted cucumber slices on our salads just begging to be eaten!

Katie had fun playing with grandpa and grandma for awhile tonight and I was glad it worked out since our schedules are pretty opposite all week and she thinks her grandma and grandpa are extra fun.

This week we've got two play-dates at Donavan's (one is during a Pampered Chef party and I'm hoping the kids behave themselves!), Jake has a well-check appointment, and it's Katie's last week of summer pre-school and they're fitting in two field trips instead of one. Busy busy busy.

Oh, and Jake apparently does know the word "mama" but chooses not to use it but tonight he was a little tired and as I picked him up to put him to bed, he clung to me and put his head on my shoulder and said "mama" and no one heard it but me... let me tell you, it was the sweetest moment of my evening. I'll have to try coaxing it out of him more often... maybe Costco sells marshmallows in bulk? I had better check because as bribes* for Katie and Jake, I might be needing more.

*Okay, so the kids don't get marshmallows that often. They're mostly for me and have replaced chocolate chips as my "food drug of choice".

Farewell Kayla (otherwise titled "Grandpa had to call the "Cobs" on Car-Crunching Meanies")

2010-08-20T08:42:00.000-05:00

Do you want the good news or the bad news first?

The good news is that our family got together to celebrate Kayla before she heads to college out of state. We got together at Grammy and Grampy's for dinner (hot dogs, beans, chips and salsa, watermelon, and I could go on... lots of food) and had fun talking and trying to unlock the secrets of the Blackberry (apps and settings and calendars, oh my!). Aunt Colleen showed me a couple of apps I had to download and the kids played everyone sat around the living room chatting*.

* Except Cole. He hung out downstairs and might have had a nap. This hasn't been confirmed but he was dressed in comfy clothes so it's totally possible. He did rejoin us after about an hour. He was missed. Especially because the kids seem to like being chased and picked up by their feet. (Ahem, Cole and Uncle Mark!)

Paigey also did a Beyonce impersonation of Single Ladies. Have you ever seen something so cute (there were no lady gyrations... the moves were all G-rated!) that all you can do is grin... and when it's over you want to see it again? This was one of those things.

So as we were getting ready to roll our full tummies out (and maybe that was just me...), *now here's the bad news* dad got a call from John saying that someone had hit dad's Suburban. Parked Suburban.

In the summer, dad parks it in the street but not close to the corner or anything, and someone in a red car came around the corner, hit their brakes, and plowed into the back of it.

Then the driver turned off his headlights. And zoomed away.

I know. So.Rude.

John filled us in when we got home and my dad called the police (or as Katie says, "the cobs") and waited outside with Katie for them to arrive. Katie had to get her jammies on first and she was *so* excited to see the police and she was *so* afraid of missing their arrival that we had to get her jammies on in the living room as she watched out the window.

We didn't wait long till the officer arrived and took dad's statement. Katie and I walked over so she could get a close look at the "cob" and the officer stopped talking to my dad and turned her attention to Katie. Katie was thrilled.

She shook Officer Bridgett's hand and Officer Bridgett chatted with her for a few minutes. And then...

She offered to let Katie sit in the back of the car. Where the (possibly dirty, possibly pukey, possibly drugged out, possibly injured) bad guys sit. You can imagine my relief when Katie politely declined. Or maybe just violently shook her head "no".

BUT when she offered to let Katie sit in the FRONT of the car, right in the drivers seat, and she didn't want to do it, I felt I had a duty to push her out of her comfort zone. Not too much, just a little. Which is why I held her while *I* sat in the drivers seat. And looked at the computer. AND pushed the switch to turn all of the lights on. *grin* I'll just say it was fun. And pretty cool.

We finally got out and the officer told Katie she could call the police at any time and someone would come. She also told my dad she would follow up on the car-crunching meany* who hit his bumper.

* So maybe she didn't use those exact words, but she was probably thinking them.

Then, as she pulled around and passed our house again, Katie waved and waved and Officer Bridget turned on the lights AND started the siren for just a second.

Too exciting! For Katie, of course.

Katie wants to call the "cobs" on me.

2010-08-18T23:40:00.000-05:00

Katie has been in rare form this week.

She's been screechy, demanding, whiny, and a little bit naughty. She's been pushing her brother around and getting very bossy.

She's also been cuddly, silly, sweet, huggy, and funny. She's been patient with her brother and spent time playing with him and reading to him.

I guess I would say that it's been a roller coaster of a week.

(And while I used to like roller coasters, since I've gotten older I've realized that roller coasters are DANGEROUS. (Really. What was I thinking in my youth?) So when I say it's been a roller coaster of a week, I don't mean that in a good way. Because similar to a roller coaster ride, there's been lots of screaming/screeching, arms waving in the air, and bumps. Don't feel too sorry for me... it wasn't too bad, just not too much fun.

However, based on the actions of the week, I didn't plan on taking the kiddos out till Saturday when we were going to a birthday party for one of Katie's friends, Donavan, until Grammy called and invited us over for dinner.

Of course I had to accept. I may have mentioned how much I like her cooking a time or twenty on this blog and, after my usual question of what's for dinner (because for some reason I can't go somewhere and not know what the meal plan is*) I quickly said I would be there.

And I even brought the kiddos with me even though I'm sure Grammy and Grampy really just wanted me to come so we wouldn't be distracted by two cute kids running around like crazies. Which they totally never do**.

*Slight exaggeration... trust me on that. And don't ask my mom.
** Trust me on that too. Really. Never a nut house here.

So dinner was a favorite of mine. Pot roast, mashed potatoes, biscuits, and broccoli. (It was delicious, of course.) And as I sat there wondering why I ate so much (I didn't wonder for too long because, um, I TOTALLY blame Jacob. He didn't finish his meat or his potatoes and I couldn't just let it go to waste, could I? It might have also had something to do with the fact that I had seconds...) I also rued the fact that we would have to leave before 9 so I could get to Target in time to pick up John's medicine refill before the pharmacy closed.

So I was stuffed AND I would have to lug the kids out of the car and into the store and try to avoid a repeat of this trip to Walmart all while picking out a cute, creative gift for Don's birthday, talking to the pharmacy person to get John's refill, AND picking up a few grocery items. And before leaving, I would need to find room for my Grandma's homemade APPLE PIE!

Luckily Grandma mentioned that they would watch the kids while I ran out for a bit. What a relief. And I didn't feel too bad about leaving Jake with them because so far during our visit he hadn't caused any damage to their house or belongings. (Huge sigh of relief.) Katie's never a concern because she is usually so well behaved (the Walmart visit mentioned above? The ONLY time she's caused any trouble when we've gone out. It was probably all of the chocolate I gave her... and she was hungry for dinner. Not a good combo.) So I got to go to the happiest place on earth (move over Disney) all by myself!

Even though they were behaving well when I left, I still didn't want to tempt fate so I hurried... Ran in, got our stuff, picked up some fun art supplies for Don and got back to find the kids... behaving.

And learned that the pie Grandma grabbed out of the freezer wasn't pre-cooked so it would be awhile. But that was fine with me. The kids were having fun and (I think) Grammy and Grampy were enjoying our visit. And the house smelled really good. There's nothing like the smell of baking apple pie to make someone who was previously full miraculously find just enough space in their tummy for a slice of home cooked apple pie. With ice cream.

Finally it was done. We ate it about 5 minutes after it came out of the oven and it was fabulous. The crust was flaky, the pie filling was perfectly perfect... it was delicious. I'm getting hungry for it all over again. So good. And I shared with Jake but he doesn't need to know that most of the bites I gave him were ice cream... and not much pie.

We finally left at around 10 and headed home. Got the kids to bed and did my shred. Not an early night.

Saturday was A BLAST! Well, not all of Saturday. The morning was pretty much life as usual for a Saturday. But the trip to the miniature golf place where we were celebrating Don's birthday? Awesome!

We had cupcakes and juice (if you didn't already know, consider this a PSA that red frosting is not attractive when it sticks to your teeth... and your tongue) and Don opened his presents and then the kids played miniature golf!

Well, Katie played and I "helped" till she got tired of playing (probably somewhere around the 8th hole) at which time I took over the club and her purple ball. She enjoyed walking along the brick "walls" around the holes, jumping down off of the brick "walls", and watching all of the other people there while I tried my hand at something I hadn't done in at least 15 years. It was so fun!

After we completed the 18 holes we went to the BUMPER BOATS! I went on with her and tried to steer away from the fountain and the cave because I wanted to avoid a soaking. We came close enough to get a little wet but not too bad.

Then we went over to the GO KARTS. I think I was a little slow but she didn't mind. We were both grinning from ear to ear.

Who knew that 4-year-olds could be so fun?!

We went back to the bumper boats for the last ride and Katie went on with one of the older girls at the party. Kiera (I don't know how to spell her name so I took a stab at it) steered into the fountain and cave and came off of the ride soaking wet. Katie loved it. She didn't look thrilled as they were heading under the water but coming out of it she was smiling.

Finally it was time to go and as we said goodbye, Don's mom told him to give Katie a hug.

There was a moment where the kids just looked at each other but then Don walked over to Katie with his hands at his sides. Katie stood with her hands at her sides. They stood about an inch apart, just looking around each other, for a few seconds. Long enough for us to get the giggles while watching. Then they both turned and walked off. I'm still laughing about it as I type this.

On the way home, Katie wanted something... I think she wanted to play with the Make-a-Mess app on my phone. I told her she had to go home, go potty, wash her hands, and then she could play with it.

After being told that I was a mean mommy (tell me something I don't know because I had probably already heard that 6 times already this week... let me see... two scoops of ice cream is plenty=mean mommy, you can't go downstairs because Grandma and Grandpa are sleeping=mean mommy, you can't take all of Jake's toys to your room=mean mommy, pick up your toys=mean mommy.), Katie said she was going to tell on me. She was going to tell Grandpa that I'm mean. And I was okay with that because I'm pretty sure Grandpa has heard it all before. Then she threatened to call the COPS on me. Hmph. I wasn't impressed with the threat. After all, I still had the only phone in the car and she wasn't going to get it until she went potty, washed her hands, and changed her clothes.

Then she decided to change the topic. She said, "Mommy, if I see someone running down the street with money in their hand, I'll call the cobs. Not the CORN on the cobs Mommy... the police." I laughed. To myself, of course. I got the idea she was calling a truce and didn't want to upset the delicate balance. That happened a few minutes later when she said she again demanded to wear her wet dress all day long and I told her no. *sigh*

Sunday was a quiet day. We didn't have anything planned AND the weather was so beautiful.

I did laundry while the kids played, Katie did my workout with me *grin*, the kids colored and no color ended up on the walls (kitchen floor, yes, but not the walls), and the best thing about today?

The kiddos got along.

Ahhhh, bliss.

Now I'm off to have some ice cream and then to bed.

The Weekend That Would Not End (a belated posting)

2010-08-15T21:52:00.000-05:00

So. This is a post I wrote about 3 weeks ago but didn't post because I thought about something else I wanted to write about more than this awful trip to the store. So I didn't want to check for spelling errors and I didn't want to even think about it anymore. Till I wanted to link to it in another post and realized that, oops, I hadn't gone back ever. So here it is.
~~~

This felt like the weekend that would not end. For real. Not completely in a bad way, it just felt long. Like time had been suspended. That's not usually the case.

On Saturday I took the kids to Walmart (we had a gift card and needed milk and bread. I waved sadly at Target as we drove by). I know. Both kids. To the store. By myself.

But I figured that since Katie is usually so easy to take anywhere, I could handle Jake if he got fussy. Hmph.

And things worked great for about the first 10 minutes... mostly because I bought an 8 pack of miniature Hershey's bars and shared with the kids as we we ~~rushed through the aisles to get our necessities before their enjoyment of my distraction ran out~~ wandered the aisles, looking for the things we needed.

Things were great until Katie got out of the cart to try on some sandals and cute white shoes. She was having so much fun "on the outside" that Jake started to fuss because he wanted down. And by then, my distraction wasn't as exciting as the possibility of freedom.

So I held him while Katie finished up (while he pretended that his head had gotten so heavy he was unable to support it on his tiny baby neck and he flopped over to the side. Luckily he's pulled this before. Luckily-er I've been working out so my arms have gotten strong enough to take this in stride. He kinda leans at a funny angle till I can get him upright but at least he didn't go crashing to the floor.) I finally got him to sit in the basket while we walked to the front of the store. We turned to the right to go to the home stuff and clearance when Katie decided she wanted to hold on to the outside of the cart and ride on the bottom rail.

Now, normally I let her do this. We haven't had any accidents since the time when she stepped off of the cart at Kohls and got run over... resulting in some pretty serious laughing (me) and alot of irritation and stomping of feet (Katie) when someone (me) just couldn't stop laughing. But it was sooooo funny that I just couldn't help myself. Anyway, after that we instituted the "tell me before you need to get down... you ride at your own risk" rule. No problem since then. And if she looks like she's getting uncomfortable, I just remind her about "that time she got run over" and she holds tight until I can bring the "ride" to a complete stop.

Well, this wasn't a normal time. Jake was in the basket and he looked like he was about to get a little rambunctious so I really had to keep an eye, and possibly a hand, on him so I could catch him if I needed to (I really need one of those child leashes) and I had to say no because I didn't think I would be able to watch her well enough to see if she needed the "carts hurt when they run you over" reminder. So I said no.

And it happened.

My sweet girl. The sweet, precious, well-behaved girl I know and love... well, she actually screeched at me! A loud, high pitched scream. And then she started to tell me LOUDLY that she wants to ride on the cart and that I'm a mean mommy.

Well.

I figured out pretty quickly that our trip was at an end so (after I picked her up, still steaming and crying, and put her in the cart with Jake) we headed to the checkout where she cried and cried some more. Jake did not like having her in the basket with him so I had to hold him while he had another heavy head moment.

So to recap: I was listening to Katie crying, trying to balance Jake in my arms, digging for my gift card, waiting for the register lady to call the key master because the gift card didn't process correctly the first 6 times she tried it, and finally we escaped. Not fun.

I expected to listen to this all the way home but once we got outside it was like the clouds parted and my children turned back into their usual sunshine-and-candy sprinkle selves. We loaded up and on the way home had a very interesting conversation...

Katie: Mommy, you know why I was so crabby at the store?
Mommy: Not really. Why were you so crabby?
Katie: I was very tired and it makes me cranky.
Mommy: Well, that's good to know because if you're tired and cranky, you can go to bed right away when we get home.
Katie: Well, there were four reasons I was so crabby mommy.
Mommy: Oh, really. What were they?
Katie: I not tired now mommy. I wanted to leave and go home.
Mommy: Oh. *sigh*

Then Jake started to cry. And Katie complained that Jake was crying. Then I turned the radio up and she complained that it was too loud because she was trying to sleep.

At this point I decided to give myself a mommy time out. This only means that I don't have to respond to the whining... I do still have to listen to it.

Katie did end up going to bed early on Saturday night... but not early enough for mommy.

Sunday we went to a Norwex party. She was a gem. Her usual self.

Sunday night? Same wonderful kid. I mean, she and Jake were reading together by themselves!

I guess she can't be sweet without some of the sassy. Kinda like that commercial with the sweet and sour candy.

But if she cuts my hair while I sleep... she's going to time out. And it made me realize how lucky we are that she's mostly sweet and only a little sour.

Versatile Blogger Award? For Moi?

2010-08-11T11:50:00.000-05:00

First I'll say that my font color got really wierd on this post. I don't know how to fix it and I don't know why it did this so apologies in advance.
~~~

Stacy and Carol from Intentional Conscious Parenting gave me the Versatile Blogger Award and (I'll admit, it was about two weeks ago and I was so busy just basking in the glow of the award that) it took me awhile to get busy with my post!

Here's what they had to say:

It is our pleasure to give you the Versatile Blogger Award today! Thanks for sharing your recipes and insights into your parenting world.

You can see the announcement at:
http://bit.ly/clQgPq
Congratulations, Carol & Stacy

Thank you so much Carol and Stacy! This is my first ever award!

I'm supposed to:

1) Thank the person who gave me the award. Thank you Stacy & Carol!
2) Share seven things about myself. (If you've read my blog or had to sit through listening to me try to share *anything*, you'll know that these will be pretty wordy "things".)
3) Nominate 10 newly discovered blogs, and let the nominees know about the award. (These are newly discovered for me... all within the past year or so.)

Some things about me you may not know!

1) My grandma had to remove all of the dolls from the guest room so I could stay there while house hunting. I told her that the basement was very comfortable and I really wanted to stay downstairs but really? The idea of sleeping in a room full of dolls freaked me out a little. Grandma figured this out and put them all away for the length of my stay. Um, who hasn't seen Puppet Master, Chucky, or any other number of shows about dolls/puppets that come to life to kill?

2) I love to wait until the kids are asleep before I get myself a bowl of ice cream... because there are some things I just don't want to share. And they crowd around like baby birds starving for a meal and they can eat faster than I can.

3) I went to the community college and took some fun courses (English and Psychology) but didn't pursue education there because my math skills were (less than) non-existent. So awful that I wasn't even at the point where I was taking math for credit yet. If I had conquered two more no-credit math classes, then I would have been on the books.

4) I wanted a c-section with my first pregnancy but the doc said no. I ended up having an emergency c-section and decided right then that I needed to plan it for my second. It was the best decision I made, even though it might not be right for everyone.

5) I feel guilty that I work outside of the home when John stays with our kids.

6) I made up a song for Katie when she was a baby and she still asks for it. And I still sing it on demand. Now she sings it to Jake.

7) I like SyFy movies. Mostly the ones with mutant animals (this covers about 70% of SyFy movies) but I also like Conan the Barbarian and Conan the Destroyer, movies about killer weather, and movies where there's a heroine with superpowers. Oh, and I loved that one movie where the hero could see who the robots/aliens were when he wore some special sun glasses. Yep. Those kinds of movies are just the thing for a quiet Saturday afternoon. (As long as they aren't too scary in case Katie is around.) But nothing too gross or with the remote possibility of realism. No "lost-in-the-woods" movies for me, thanks.

Now I get to share some blogs I enjoy reading because they make me laugh, give me some great ideas for around the house, or motivate me to improve something.

In no particular order (except for how they show up on my Google Reader) the 10 blogs (and I could have listed waaaaay more!) I'm sharing are:

1. Knock-Off Wood

2. Parenting By Dummies

3. Striving for 31

4. Once Upon A Mommy

5. I'm a REAL LIFE Mom

6. june cleaver nirvana (Hey Mom... This is the blog I saw the pizza buns on... and this recipe doesn't call for... *shudder* SPAM.)

7. Mrs. Yellow Hat

8. Chez Larsson

9. A Slob Comes Clean

10. Small Notebook

If you do visit any of the ones I've listed... I hope you enjoy reading them as much as I do!

Remember those bushels of tomatoes I joked about?

2010-08-08T23:52:00.000-05:00

Yeah, I laughed when I mentioned having to give away bushels of tomatoes. I laugh no more.

We've got three (THREE!) tomato plants and they all seem to be doing *very* well.

This is one section of the huge tomato corner of the yard.

In addition to the "regular sized" tomatoes, there are two other plants with cherry tomatoes that are flourishing (and so heavy that I think they will crush the wire thing they are growing around... seriously.)

Here's a close up of the grapes. Now imagine this spanning about 6 feet tall and about
15 feet wide (if not more!) and you'll have an idea of how it looks.

This is the pumpkin plant that seems to have outgrown the garden.

And it's taking over the back of the yard. There's also a vine growing toward the fence with the grapes.

I hope our neighbor, Max, thinks it's super cool to have our pumpkins growing in his yard.

Here it is again from a different view. You can see the grapes on the left and the vine growing into them.
(Just ignore the mini van on the right. I don't think we should move it just now as the pumpkins have attached their little vines to the bumper. Note to self: Move the van away from the pumpkins next year.)

Here's an *actual* pumpkin. Who knew we would actually be successful in growing them! This pumpkin also just happens to be growing on the vine currently attempting to reach the other side of the yard. I posted those pictures above. John's currently mowing around the vine.

And here's a more obedient vine, growing inside of the garden.

It looks like we'll have a pumpkin on this one too!

Here's the watermelon plant. And a real, live, actual WATERMELON is growing! This was a shocker.

I can't wait to see how this tastes!

Here's the watermelon again. Same one, looks like we've only got one so far but it's lookin' good!

I love, love, LOVE my cucumber plant. It's growing so well; I think I've already gotten 10 cucumbers off of it... and it seems like there are more to pick each day. There's one ready to eat showing at the bottom of this picture. Yum

Just a funny shape for the cucumber.

And finally, my pepper plant.

These have been really good on tacos.

Unfortunately, I'm not really into cooking with peppers but I've been able to give some away. I don't know why I grew this plant... I guess I wanted something I wouldn't be too disappointed about if it didn't work. I did *not* need to worry.

So that's it. The quick recap. I think we'll end up harvesting tons of tomatoes this week alone - John's already been pulling cherry tomatos and he and Katie eat them up quickly. I'm more excited about my cucumbers and that watermelon! And if we can get two pumpkins, I'll be thrilled... the kids can decorate them for Halloween and we won't have to buy any.

On another note, I think Katie has a hearing problem. Her talking voice and her yelling voice are strangely similar.

On yet another note, I just pulled out the brand new package of mint chocolate chip ice cream I bought today (the only flavor I really like, all others are merely tolerated) and opened it up. And then stared at it because it didn't look like mint chocolate chip... Sure it was mint green but someone had played a horrible joke. Someone had switched it for mint chocolate COOKIE. This was not funny.

I know I tossed it into my cart and I realize that the ice cream maker isn't required to include a disclaimer, although something along these lines (which would have been helpful in bolded, red font... underlined) would have been helpful:

*This is not mint chocolate CHIP. It's the evil cousin of mint chocolate chip. Do not buy this if you're expecting minty chocolaty crunch, because you will not get it here*

Because if they had included this disclaimer instead of relying on me to, ahem, more carefully read the flavor name on the container, I would not have bought it. I would have stayed true to my mint chocolate chip goodness and not turned to the dark side. Because I'm eating it as I type... and I'm thinking that *maybe* I could *start* buying two ice cream flavors... Because *maybe* mint chocolate cookie isn't evil.

Maybe it's just... misunderstood.

Katie goes to the Dentist with Much Objection. (To put it lightly. Like, the lightness of a feather as opposed to the not lightness of a very heavy, very dense rock. A rock surrounded by cement and further weighted down with chains...)

2010-08-08T00:22:00.000-05:00

So the last time we talked, I went on and on about our Farmer's Market field trip.

Here are a couple of pictures:

Katie had decided that she didn't want to walk anymore. She got down and sat on the ground. *Cringe* She got up pretty quickly when I told her that people pee on the sidewalk downtown. It's (probably) not true but it got her moving.

She still managed to pull out a smile for me...

We were all pretty tired by this point.

And after posting about the walking and the eating and the shopping, I was tired out and I just couldn't bring myself to rehash the terror that was Katie's dentist appointment.

But it's time. I'm ready...

So, we were leaving grammy and grampy's house and I jumped the gun.

I made the mistake of telling Katie that she was going to get to go to the dentist (!!!) right now! and how exciting is that!? In retrospect I maybe should have waited till we were in the parking lot of the dentist office and I should have distracted her with something shiny and maybe some candy so she wouldn't see any teeth related pictures there. But I didn't.

In my defense, I figured I was golden. I figured that since Katie had listened to Donovan tell her about his dentist visits - he's 5 and has already been to the dentist more than once! - and she seemed interested, and when I asked her if she thought she would like to go to the dentist, she said yes, that there was nothing to be worried about. (And I was a little relieved she seemed so okay with this when Donovan was talking about it because, well, um... I had already scheduled an appointment for her a couple of weeks ago.)

Turns out that Katie was not interested in coming within a million feet of a dentist office.

She started to cry. And scream. And yell at me. The Whole.Way.There. At least 20 minutes of non-stop, ear-splitting shrieks and screams.

It was not a stellar experience.

At one point she even said she didn't want to go to the dentist, she would go to the doctor instead. (Totally shocked me. She never wants to go to the doctor either but she's got good reason... shots and strep tests and more shots are never fun for kids. But no reason to be afraid of the dentist! She's gone with me and her grandma and been fine watching everyone.)

We finally got there and I had to carry her in. Gave her name to the receptionist over the sound of her cries and sat down in a far corner of the waiting room. (Not that it spared anyone from hearing her.)

The dental hygienist came in and sat down next to us. Katie cried some more. The hygienist was really nice but no match for a 4-year-old's fears. We did go into the room and she was able to count Katie's teeth while Katie sat on my lap, but no cleaning took place. Katie still scored a new toothbrush, floss (that will end up in mommy's bathroom drawer - it was good stuff!), and a sticker. And she didn't even have to get her teeth cleaned for it all!

We headed home. Me with a sigh of regret that I'll need to take more time off of work to take her back (after today's reaction I would much rather be at work than at the dentist) and Katie with her loot. And my assurance that we wouldn't go back for "a whole week"*.

* For Katie, "a whole week" can mean an hour from now, a month from now, or a year from now. I'm not sure if she realizes that we do, indeed, need to get this done. I don't think she'll be ready even if we did wait a year. *Sigh*

Next up? Jake's well check where I'm sure there will be shots. Arg.

A Fun Farmer's Market Visit (also, Fresh Linen and Puke don't mix.)

2010-08-06T22:20:00.000-05:00

This was it!

Finally the day for us to go to the Farmer's Market. Everything was ready. I had a half day of vacation from work, John was picking Katie up early from school and he and the kids were meeting me at work at 12:30 so we could park and walk over.

He called me at 12:23 to tell me he was outside and I heard Jake crying.

Then I heard John say, "Jacob puked."

I was all, "How bad can it be? He hasn't had lunch yet so it can't be terrible. We'll just wipe him up with wipies and be on our way. Easy peasy." and walked out of the office with a spring in my step.

After all, we'd only rescheduled this day five MILLion times (okay, maybe it was five... five times) with my work and finally, FINALLY everything seemed to come together and we were going to have a fun family outing even if it hurt.

I walked outside (still springy) and saw my family standing on the sidewalk.

"Oh," I thought, "How nice! They were so excited to see me that they had to step outside to watch me as I walk out! I wonder who's going to give me the first hug!"

My next thought was, "Hmmm, why does Katie have her frownie face on?"

And still my next thought was, "Where are Jake's pants?"

Now, these thoughts came quickly. It didn't take too long for me to put it together. And let me tell you... Puke + car + baby = fussy and smelly. Katie doesn't like crying or stinky smells. Neither do I for that matter but I managed to keep the gag reflex down as I put my bag in the back of the car and got a whiff of Jake's shorts and just the general... smelliness that seemed to have taken over the interior of the car.

It was B A D. And we got to "enjoy" it all the way home.

And I laughed through my grimace remembering that I thought we would be able to fix this with wipes. I laughed more when I got into the back seat and saw that John had already tried to clean up the mess with wipes - there were about 20 of them on the floor of the car - and it must have helped a little but even wipes were no match for puke. If he'd had a hose or something, we maybe could have cleaned out some of the gross mess but we did not have a hose. So the car stunk all the way home.

So, to recap, no one was glad to see me, everyone under 4' was crying, and the whole way home was pretty miserable.

Then Katie asked when we were going to the Farmer's Market and I hated to break the news to her but I had to tell her that I didn't think we would be able to go, but we would try.

She cried. Because if there's one thing she dislikes, it's not being able to do something (or not having a definite and right - in her book - answer on something she's had her heart set on, and this was one of those things.

We got home and put Jake to bed. John took off the car seat cover and I threw it in the wash. Katie walked around chattering away and asking questions. And was getting a little huffy over not being able to go on our Farmer's Market trip.

Then... out of nowhere... came this awesome idea! I could bring Katie to the Farmer's Market and John could stay home with Jake!

He and Katie both thought it was brilliant (okay, that might be over-exaggerating) and my status as the best Mommy EVER was reestablished (definitely not over-exaggerating!).

Of course, the more the merrier so I invited Grammy and Grampy to go with us and they just happened to be available. We picked them up on the way (unfortunately, even after a hearty spray with some air freshener, the car still had that faint smell of puke. Now it was just Fresh Linen-scented puke but Grammy and Grampy didn't complain one bit) and got a parking spot.

We walked about 9 blocks out and hit every booth. It was a lot of walking.

We ate hot dogs at one of the street vendor stands where the topic of conversation was how the lady next to us had her purse stolen that morning. And I spilled mustard on my pants.

And we shopped.

I bought bananas, strawberries, blackberries, toasted almonds, dried apples, and soap. Grammy bought some onions and some honey. She might have picked up something else but I don't remember because I was too busy trying to convince Katie that "big girls walk" to the car, they don't get carried.

This worked for awhile in conjunction with the cookie I ~~used as a bribe~~ shared with her. But pretty soon she decided she was too tired to go on. And I carried her... piggy-back. Not really something I would recommend. I mean, it wasn't too bad for the first three blocks, but after a that she had gotten pretty heavy (I was happy when she finally settled her hand placement to a location *not* wrapped around my neck. Supporting the weight of a toddler with the same part of my body that needs to remain unobstructed so I can maybe breath a little was challenging, to say the least!).

We were about 3 blocks away when I finally convinced her to walk on the side of a planter, like a balance beam. After a moment of panic when I realized we were out of balancing ledges, I make up the "Let's run till mommy's out of breath and exhausted AND tired of saying, "Don't step on a crack! Don't step on a crack!" Luckily I've been doing that 30-Day Shred or I might have ended up on the ground. Oh, remember all of the stuff I bought? Grampy carried my (very heavy) bag the whole time.

We finally (FINALLY) made it to the car. I had a fun time looking at everything and the stuff we bought was pretty good (we've already finished the strawberries and blackberries though... and the bananas are almost gone too. TWO bunches of them! Jake is a banana fiend!).

So, I would say this was a successful "field trip". We dropped Grammy and Grampy off at home and headed out to Katie's dentist appointment.

And that is a story for another day.

Mommy Fail? Not a chance! (This time anyway)

2010-08-04T09:27:00.000-05:00

Katie came to me on Tuesday morning and said, "Mommy, do you have my nickels? For the nickel jamboree today at school."

I told her that was tomorrow and she said (doubtfully), "Oh, okay... Are you sure it's tomorrow? I don't want to miss it."

Then I told her to check the calendar in the kitchen. The calendar she can't read yet. The calendar that's so high up on the wall she can't really even touch it. (This is intentional. She may be a big girl but she still likes the sound of paper as she rips it into tiny pieces. My calendar is paper. Therefore, Katie should not come into contact with it until she's at least 10.) Duh.

I heard her in the pantry yelling to Grandpa that "Mommy says it's tomorrow." She still sounded doubtful.

And even though Mommy said she was sure it was Wednesday and not, in fact, today... Grandpa got her a baggie of nickels for the jamboree *just in case*.

Just. in. case.

And what does that tell you about the level of trust bestowed upon my by my dear daughter and my dad? Hmph. Maybe a little lacking... and through NO fault of my own! I've never forgotten to get her stuff ready for a school event, or to pay the school for something she wants to do... Never ever. (Although I did kinda forget to make Katie's lunch on Monday night but got it together on Tuesday morning in time for her to have the usual jelly-no peanut butter or she won't eat it-sandwich, chips, and a pudding cup. I usually try to include some fresh fruit* but there was no time to cut up strawberries...  and since I don't think she realizes that I usually get that ready the night before, I doubt she would use this as an example of a semi-Mommy fail sooooo, I'm not counting it either.)

* Arg. Just remembered that I forgot to buy bananas when I was at the store on Monday night. I looked at them about 20 times but wanted to get them last so Jake wouldn't want to eat one (or 10) before we checked out. And I forgot them completely. *sigh* I sense a grocery trip coming up soon.

But I was totally right and I knew it.  Not because I'm so up on all of the pre-school happenings but because they kindly scheduled all of their stuff on Wednesdays. (A silent thank you is being sent right now to whoever decided that consistency was key when scheduling events for kids when mommy works and has enough trouble remembering what she's got going on that day... or just what day it is. It's always nice to know that if Katie goes to school for one day, the next day she's got a field trip.)

I still checked the calendar though, *just in case*, because there's always that chance that I'm wrong. (I wasn't wrong.)

So, by the time I went to bed on Tuesday night, Katie's lunch was packed and in the fridge, the check for her tuition was in her bag, and her $5 in nickels is in a cute coin purse, also in her bag. There wasn't too much room when her small-ish bag also holds:

Lambie
Change of clothes
Towel
Swimsuit
Shoes

Also, and I've only rescheduled this 5 times!, we're planning on going to the Farmers Market on Thursday.  John and the kids are picking me up from work early and, barring torrential rain or horrible heat... or both, we'll be wandering around looking at veggies and soap and salsa, (oh my!) for the afternoon.

Until we need to leave for Katie's dentist appointment. Her very first dentist appointment!

We've talked about going to the dentist before and I've learned that if there's one thing (besides the doctors office) that Katie is adamantly against having anything to do with, it would be the dentist office. Which is strange because she's never had a bad experience there. I took her to one of my cleaning appointments and so has Mom. She was fine. Sat in the chair and hung out and talked to me (I couldn't answer but the dentist assistant did). Nothing scary there.

So I thought it would be a great time for her to get her teeth checked but when I mentioned that it was time for her to see a dentist, she started to cry. Hard. She was very upset. <---- Understatement.

Sooooo I haven't actually told her she's got an appointment.  I'm hoping she won't ask why we're dropping Jake and Daddy off at home and not us. I'm hoping she'll just assume that I need to have my teeth cleaned. I'm hoping she'll be so tired from the Farmers Market that she can't summon the energy to freak out.

At the very least, I'm hoping she'll save her freaking out until we get to the dentist and she's in the chair and they can show her that it won't hurt to have the dentist look at your teeth (at least at her age with her new little teeth... but two crowns later and I can say that sitting in that chair with the dentist looking at my teeth scares me. They usually find something that needs fixing.  I hold off because a. it's too expensive and b. I don't want to have someone poking my gums with Novocain. Mostly b. Then it gets worse until I can't put it off any longer and it's more expensive because they have to do two crowns instead of one and the cost of crowns is roughly $600 EACH, and shouldn't you get a discount if you have to have two of something? They're in there anyway just drilling and scraping away... *deep breath*) for a few minutes, get her new toothbrush and floss, pick out her sticker and go!

Oh well. At least if she's freaking out, her mouth is wide open (mostly from the yelling and screeching) which usually helps when the point of the whole thing is to see all of your teeth.