Monday, November 22, 2010
A Moment in Time
For the last 20 minutes - yes, 20 minutes - I've been listening to my six-year old son read Julius, the Baby of the World. My heart is full. It was one of the most precious things I have been a part of. The book is from Uncle Ryan and Aunt Catie - so thanks to them for making this moment possible. Picture this: Ethan and Caty in their pj's, Ethan sits on the bean bag to read us a story. "If I have trouble with the words, then you can help me, Mom", he says. Caty tries to find a comfortable spot next to him to see the pictures. (And she continues to try to find a comfortable spot for the entirety of this book reading.) Ethan reads, then stops to describe what Lilly (the new big sister) is saying or thinking. Then he continues reading, Caty puts her head on his shoulder, trying to cuddle with him during a few pages. One of my favorite parts was when Lilly was warning people about babies, and Ethan just chuckled when he read, " 'You will live to regret that bump under your dress,' said Lilly". And when he was trying to read the word extraordinary (cause lots of six-year-olds know that word). And when I offered to take over, but he insisted on finishing the book. And when he was reading the letters and numbers that Lilly was telling Julius and then said, "She's getting him all mixed up!" And when he "screamed" the words that were in all capital letters. I loved it. I wished I was videotaping the whole thing, but instead tried to sear it into my memory and soak it all up. It's hard to put it in writing. And maybe I'm just being a little extra-sappy for some reason, but this was a precious moment. Between siblings, celebrating the abilities of one, celebrating the birth of Levi (in a rather twisted way), and just the extra time this evening to actually read together. Thanks, Ethan. I love you. Thanks, Caty. I love you.
Wednesday, September 1, 2010
The First Day, Part 2
I suppose I should follow up with a summary of his day, or what we know of it. He apparently kindof lost his class a couple of times, once after lunch as everyone was throwing their trash away, he apparently got quite confused about what was going on, and again at the end of school when he should have followed his teacher outside to where we were waiting for him. Somehow he didn't, and by then the big kids were cruising by and Ethan didn't know what was going on. He finally asked a bigger girl, "What are we doing?" At first she said, "I don't know", but then I think she realized he really did need a little help, and she told him he needed to head out the doors to go home. He finally made his way through the crowd, and got a HUGE smile on his face when he saw us! :) That's nice.
He said he made a friend today, and they played together at recess, and sat in the boat in the classroom together. I guess they talked about the fact that they would rather be outside or going home. He really liked his music class, where they were a circus band. :) Sounds interesting. He said there were A LOT of girls at his table, and he didn't sound too happy about that. Lunchtime went ok, but I failed to show him how to open his new water bottle, so he didn't get that figured out. He really likes his carrots and ranch dressing, and wants that again tomorrow. He was truly exhausted when we came home, and the only other complaint he had was that a little girl had come over to him and told him that she didn't like him. He said that hurt his feelings. :( That makes me sad, but I said that maybe he misunderstood, and that next time he should ask why. We discussed it a little, but he was pretty down after that little story. He did remember the silly song that they learned, and all in all he decided it was a good day. We get to do it again tomorrow. He's going to be one tired boy!
He said he made a friend today, and they played together at recess, and sat in the boat in the classroom together. I guess they talked about the fact that they would rather be outside or going home. He really liked his music class, where they were a circus band. :) Sounds interesting. He said there were A LOT of girls at his table, and he didn't sound too happy about that. Lunchtime went ok, but I failed to show him how to open his new water bottle, so he didn't get that figured out. He really likes his carrots and ranch dressing, and wants that again tomorrow. He was truly exhausted when we came home, and the only other complaint he had was that a little girl had come over to him and told him that she didn't like him. He said that hurt his feelings. :( That makes me sad, but I said that maybe he misunderstood, and that next time he should ask why. We discussed it a little, but he was pretty down after that little story. He did remember the silly song that they learned, and all in all he decided it was a good day. We get to do it again tomorrow. He's going to be one tired boy!
Ethan's off to Kindergarten!
Today is Ethan's first day of kindergarten. He was one excited little boy. I mean BIG boy. I was in the shower just a tad before he got up. Sure enough, a minute later, he came into the bathroom already dressed, whistling away, brushed his teeth, and later I found out that he'd also already made his bed. We'll see how long that lasts. ;) He did specially pick out his Franklin Elementary Foxes t-shirt that we had bought at registration, with his new favorite gray shorts. This kid was so ready for school. While I got breakfast ready, Ethan offered to help with lunch, so I had him go ahead and make his sandwich. I think he's only made his entire sandwich one other time, but he did just great! He wanted to do more, but honestly I wanted to put some things in it for his first day, for a surprise. So, he was banned from the kitchen at that point. He was such a good helper, though, getting everything I asked him to get, and he definitely did not want to be late for school. I thought we had plenty of time when we headed out for our walk to school this morning, but when we were still a block away we heard the first bell ring for the kids to line up. I was so bummed - Jason had come for the send-off, I'd brought my camera, and we were all prepared for some meaningful first-day-of-school memories before he left us. Oh well. We found the right line for him, almost forgot to hand him his lunch, and gave him a quick kiss before he followed his teacher into school. A friend who's daughter is in another class did get a quick shot of Ethan, and he has such a serious face! I didn't see too many smiling kindergarteners at this point. I think they were all feeling the nerves right before they walked into this big building with so many strangers. I'm so excited to hear how the first day went! I'm sure he is loving every single thing about it!
Jason said goodbye and headed off to work at that point, but I stayed for a little longer with the kids and went to a little PTO get-together to meet a few more parents. It was a rather slim showing, but I did get to talk to four other moms, which is good. Caty and I had a nice morning together, then crammed in two grocery stores in between lunch and Levi's naptimes. Hopefully they'll have enough energy for church tonight. Well, that's it for now. Happy first day of school, Ethan!
Saturday, August 14, 2010
A Bat Story
When it's been so long since I have posted, it just feels intimidating to start again. I just need to accept it and enjoy the posts I am able to make. And last night's event was just too noteworthy not to write about. We had our first bat in the house. Not just in the house, in our bedroom. And due to the high volume of mosquito food outside this summer, this bat was big! Here's how things went down...
Sometime after 11:30 Jason woke up to the sound of something repeatedly hitting the window. He was trying to figure out what was trying to get in, when he suddenly realized that something was trying to get OUT. A bat. I was sleeping quite soundly, much thanks to my poor hearing. Jason tried to quickly right the situation by opening the window and taking out the screen, but for some reason the bat had decided it liked our room by that point. And that's when I received a very sweet bit of tapping on my shoulder, with my very sweet husband saying, "I don't want to freak you out, but there's a bat in the room." Oh, much inward groaning! Jason turned on the light to see where it went, while I pulled the covers over my face in an effort to NOT see where it went or see it flying or believe that this horrible event was actually happening in real life.
Sure enough, there was a nice-sized bat perched on top of our door, which was open just a few inches. I had already decided that I would stay under the covers until the bat was gone, but Jason had other plans. He claimed that he needed help. So, more thanks to my poor eyesight, all I could see was a dark bump on top of the door, and also determined not to put on my glasses. (Can you tell I live much of my life in denial?) Bad eyesight wasn't going to work well with Jason's plan, though, so I had to don the lenses and look at our furry intruder. The first order of business was to cover up Levi's bed. Aren't we such good parents? So, as I related to the kids at breakfast this morning, my first act of heroism was carefully and slowly pulling the blanket off our bed and draping it over Levi's bed. Then, Jason told me the plan. He would close the door to keep the bat from escaping into the rest of the house, which would probably send the bat flying again. My job was to man the window and the light, and follow his directions, and I don't think he had much of a plan for that point. Short interjection: I think Jason is more scared of bats than any other creature I've seen him encounter in our 10 year relationship.
Jason finally made his way over to the door and pushed it closed. He heard a painful squeak, then the bat was racing around the room again. Wondering where I was? I had just opened the window on Jason's orders, and was crouched down with a pillow over my head. I highly recommend pillows when dealing with these creatures - they do feel quite safe. Well, the method of hoping the bat would fly out the window wasn't working, so I was instructed to turn off the light so the bat could actually see the window. Jason apparently hadn't seen it fly out the window (not only does he have good vision, it's nocturnal), so he told me to turn the light back on. Here commences my second act of heroism. I had to reach up to where the lightswitch was placed on the top of the light stand, and it is a very good place for a bat to decide to land. After freaking myself out once thinking I had touched the bat, I shook the stand, then moved my hand all the way up the stand to the switch, hoping the scare the bat that way. Well, I had nothing to worry about, it was still silently cruising around and around the room. Your bedroom never feels smaller than when there is an unwanted creature in it.
Here comes the real act of heroism of the night. Jason crawls up on the bed with a pair of shorts in hand, watches the bat circle a couple of times, then with all his strength Jason swings at the bat with the shorts as it crosses the window. IT WORKED! The bat was knocked out the window, I closed it shut, and at last we were bat-free! I uncovered Levi, who was still sleeping quite peacefully, while Jason checked the rest of the upstairs to make sure there were no bat-relatives lying in wait. He determined it may have entered through the opening in Levi's closet which is waiting for new drywall. We crawled back in bed, hearts still racing, and tried to talk out our adrenaline. Jason asked what I would have done if he hadn't been here (since this was only night two of him being home after a week and a half of traveling). After thinking about that for a bit, I decided that if I had been home alone, I would have taken about 10 minutes to slowly get Levi and myself out of the room and shut the bat in, then I would have gone online to read about how to get rid of the nasty thing. After 20 minutes of research, I would have spent the next 40 minutes actually completing the act. That's just how I do things, I guess.
So, as we wrapped it up and tried to doze back to sleep, the clock ticked it's way to midnight, closing out Friday....the 13th.
Sometime after 11:30 Jason woke up to the sound of something repeatedly hitting the window. He was trying to figure out what was trying to get in, when he suddenly realized that something was trying to get OUT. A bat. I was sleeping quite soundly, much thanks to my poor hearing. Jason tried to quickly right the situation by opening the window and taking out the screen, but for some reason the bat had decided it liked our room by that point. And that's when I received a very sweet bit of tapping on my shoulder, with my very sweet husband saying, "I don't want to freak you out, but there's a bat in the room." Oh, much inward groaning! Jason turned on the light to see where it went, while I pulled the covers over my face in an effort to NOT see where it went or see it flying or believe that this horrible event was actually happening in real life.
Sure enough, there was a nice-sized bat perched on top of our door, which was open just a few inches. I had already decided that I would stay under the covers until the bat was gone, but Jason had other plans. He claimed that he needed help. So, more thanks to my poor eyesight, all I could see was a dark bump on top of the door, and also determined not to put on my glasses. (Can you tell I live much of my life in denial?) Bad eyesight wasn't going to work well with Jason's plan, though, so I had to don the lenses and look at our furry intruder. The first order of business was to cover up Levi's bed. Aren't we such good parents? So, as I related to the kids at breakfast this morning, my first act of heroism was carefully and slowly pulling the blanket off our bed and draping it over Levi's bed. Then, Jason told me the plan. He would close the door to keep the bat from escaping into the rest of the house, which would probably send the bat flying again. My job was to man the window and the light, and follow his directions, and I don't think he had much of a plan for that point. Short interjection: I think Jason is more scared of bats than any other creature I've seen him encounter in our 10 year relationship.
Jason finally made his way over to the door and pushed it closed. He heard a painful squeak, then the bat was racing around the room again. Wondering where I was? I had just opened the window on Jason's orders, and was crouched down with a pillow over my head. I highly recommend pillows when dealing with these creatures - they do feel quite safe. Well, the method of hoping the bat would fly out the window wasn't working, so I was instructed to turn off the light so the bat could actually see the window. Jason apparently hadn't seen it fly out the window (not only does he have good vision, it's nocturnal), so he told me to turn the light back on. Here commences my second act of heroism. I had to reach up to where the lightswitch was placed on the top of the light stand, and it is a very good place for a bat to decide to land. After freaking myself out once thinking I had touched the bat, I shook the stand, then moved my hand all the way up the stand to the switch, hoping the scare the bat that way. Well, I had nothing to worry about, it was still silently cruising around and around the room. Your bedroom never feels smaller than when there is an unwanted creature in it.
Here comes the real act of heroism of the night. Jason crawls up on the bed with a pair of shorts in hand, watches the bat circle a couple of times, then with all his strength Jason swings at the bat with the shorts as it crosses the window. IT WORKED! The bat was knocked out the window, I closed it shut, and at last we were bat-free! I uncovered Levi, who was still sleeping quite peacefully, while Jason checked the rest of the upstairs to make sure there were no bat-relatives lying in wait. He determined it may have entered through the opening in Levi's closet which is waiting for new drywall. We crawled back in bed, hearts still racing, and tried to talk out our adrenaline. Jason asked what I would have done if he hadn't been here (since this was only night two of him being home after a week and a half of traveling). After thinking about that for a bit, I decided that if I had been home alone, I would have taken about 10 minutes to slowly get Levi and myself out of the room and shut the bat in, then I would have gone online to read about how to get rid of the nasty thing. After 20 minutes of research, I would have spent the next 40 minutes actually completing the act. That's just how I do things, I guess.
So, as we wrapped it up and tried to doze back to sleep, the clock ticked it's way to midnight, closing out Friday....the 13th.
Tuesday, June 22, 2010
Family time and inventions
Again, another month has gone by. It's been a busy one, seeing lots and lots of extended family, which is awesome. We made the long trip down to Flat Rock, NC a few weeks ago, and were so pleased with the good travelers our kids proved to be. Jason had several hotel points that he had saved up, so we were spoiled with nice hotels on the way there and coming back. Indianapolis was our first stop (found a nice playground and "people-watched"), then Bowling Green (Mammoth Cave!), then Knoxville (super-cool zoo), then five nights with my family at Bonclarken in Flat Rock. My cousin Michelle got married, and we left the following day, staying in Cincinnati on the way back (visited Jason's cousin and family). It was a wonderful ten days of vacation and memories and family. Even Levi didn't mind the car rides, stroller rides, or belly rides. :)
We had a few days to straighten up the house before we welcomed members of Jason's family for the following nine days. We enjoyed watching Ethan's tennis class, Caty's gymnastics, going strawberry picking, and our first time at Bay Beach riding the rides.
Now it's back to the five of us for the time being, and the house is screaming for organization and the cherry tree is getting closer to picking time every day. Jason is desperately hoping for a softball game tonight since the last several have either been rained out, or we've been gone, or he's been injured. I think he'll get his wish.
Levi finally got the rest of his vaccines yesterday afternoon, and he sure was mad around dinner time! I guess this may be his usual response. There's not too much new to report on him - he's a happy, healthy little boy who is starting to find his giggle voice! He is finally sleeping longer at night - two nights ago he did a six hour stretch, and last night was a seven hour stretch! Could this be the week where we get a full night's sleep? I hope so! He's 12 weeks now, this could be it!
Ethan and Caty have been constant companions for the last couple of month, and I am so proud of how well they get along. I don't know when the last time was that I heard arguing (with each other), and they are always inviting the other one to join in on their play. Ethan's latest thing the past week has been "inventing" food dishes. He finds a selection of ingredients, mixes them in a bowl (which always includes water), and asking us to taste his creation. So far, he's 0 for 4. But now, he'll write down his ingredients when he's away from the kitchen, and when we're together and I have the graciousness to lend him the ingredients, he'll follow his recipe. Yesterday's recipe looked like this: (I wish I could scan them in, they're much cuter in his handwriting)
BAKiNG POWDeR
WOtR
hes (cheese)
SUGAR
SALT
jAM
VANILA
BAtR
BARRES
LiCWID
MiLK
PeNAt BAtR
10 MiNiS
Then he adds a picture of a spoon sporadically to show we need to mix it, then a picture of an oven for baking.
The recipe for today looks like this:
WOtR
EGS
tAMAtOS
tAMAtO JOS
hES
BAKiNG SODA
SOSiJ
It is entertaining reading his creations, but some days I have a hard time giving up my food for stuff we aren't going to eat. We haven't made today's "invention", and I think we probably won't. Maybe I should include him in my dinner prep so he has some idea of the things that go well together.
Well, the kids took good naps today. It looks like we'll all be heading out to the softball game later. Signing out for now.
We had a few days to straighten up the house before we welcomed members of Jason's family for the following nine days. We enjoyed watching Ethan's tennis class, Caty's gymnastics, going strawberry picking, and our first time at Bay Beach riding the rides.
Now it's back to the five of us for the time being, and the house is screaming for organization and the cherry tree is getting closer to picking time every day. Jason is desperately hoping for a softball game tonight since the last several have either been rained out, or we've been gone, or he's been injured. I think he'll get his wish.
Levi finally got the rest of his vaccines yesterday afternoon, and he sure was mad around dinner time! I guess this may be his usual response. There's not too much new to report on him - he's a happy, healthy little boy who is starting to find his giggle voice! He is finally sleeping longer at night - two nights ago he did a six hour stretch, and last night was a seven hour stretch! Could this be the week where we get a full night's sleep? I hope so! He's 12 weeks now, this could be it!
Ethan and Caty have been constant companions for the last couple of month, and I am so proud of how well they get along. I don't know when the last time was that I heard arguing (with each other), and they are always inviting the other one to join in on their play. Ethan's latest thing the past week has been "inventing" food dishes. He finds a selection of ingredients, mixes them in a bowl (which always includes water), and asking us to taste his creation. So far, he's 0 for 4. But now, he'll write down his ingredients when he's away from the kitchen, and when we're together and I have the graciousness to lend him the ingredients, he'll follow his recipe. Yesterday's recipe looked like this: (I wish I could scan them in, they're much cuter in his handwriting)
BAKiNG POWDeR
WOtR
hes (cheese)
SUGAR
SALT
jAM
VANILA
BAtR
BARRES
LiCWID
MiLK
PeNAt BAtR
10 MiNiS
Then he adds a picture of a spoon sporadically to show we need to mix it, then a picture of an oven for baking.
The recipe for today looks like this:
WOtR
EGS
tAMAtOS
tAMAtO JOS
hES
BAKiNG SODA
SOSiJ
It is entertaining reading his creations, but some days I have a hard time giving up my food for stuff we aren't going to eat. We haven't made today's "invention", and I think we probably won't. Maybe I should include him in my dinner prep so he has some idea of the things that go well together.
Well, the kids took good naps today. It looks like we'll all be heading out to the softball game later. Signing out for now.
Monday, May 24, 2010
Big kids, Little kids, and everything in between
Levi had his 2-month appointment today! We were right, he's becoming our biggest baby. After Ethan's average weight percentile 25%, Caty's of 5%, Levi is our big man, weighing in at 12# 2oz, which is a percentile of 67%! WOW! I'm glad I'm really not that crazy, and all my 0-3 month clothes haven't shrunk THAT much. We are starting to see a new pediatrician. After several frustrating experiences with our last one (most recently being the bilibed extravaganza), I decided it was time to step up and do things a little differently. Plus, I wanted to go to the Appleton office anyway. Which of course is the reason I told the receptionist at the old office. I'm a wimp. We got a good recommendation for a new doctor, and enjoyed the openness and calm with her. We're spacing out Levi's vaccines a little bit, so he got one oral vaccine and one shot today. I'm trying to figure out of his crabbiness tonight is due to that, or to the heat. We'll finish up with the other 2-3 shots in a couple of weeks.
Caty has been my drama queen the last couple of days. Not only is she pitifully sick, but she's not caught up on her naps and she's been terrible at keeping her balance. Hence, her knees are skinned up so bad, and then she'll take another digger and open up the nearly-fresh wound again. For some reason, she is terrified of bandaids or any kind of wound care. I feel like Godzilla sometimes when it comes to trying to take care of her. Even last night she ended up in bed with me because of her cough and fever, and anytime I touched her to try to give her medicine or a cool washcloth, or just rub her back, she freaked out. I have no idea why she's become like this - it's very unnerving.
Yesterday was Jason's and my 7 year anniversary. I remember when that just sounded like you'd been married forever! I was a horrible wife and actually forgot yesterday morning, and Jason wished me a happy anniversary as I headed off to church. We didn't get to spend the day together - he and Ethan were headed up to Door County for their first boys-only camping trip! I'm so hoping they're enjoying each other, and hoping that it's a little cooler up there than it is here. Ethan has been SO SO SO excited about this trip, and literally driving Jason bonkers this weekend with the pestering and wanting to spend every single moment with him as they got ready for the trip. We also enjoyed a weekend visit from some good college friends. It's such a blessing to reconnect and talk about the changes in life!
Ethan's preschool is just about over. I was a parent helper today - the last classroom day of the year. They have a fun field trip scheduled for Wednesday to go to Mulberry Lane Farm, and we're hoping the rain holds out! Today was an obstacle course day at preschool, and we each had a group of kids to help build an obstacle course in the classroom. It was fun, but my kids seemed more interested in building random towers everywhere in the room that we could jump over than in actually figuring out the course. So, I tried to incorporate as many of their jumps as I could (shortening a few of them) without hurting anyone's feelings. Preschoolers are super cute, but super exhausting. I truly admire anyone who can work with them on a regular basis.
On that note, this on-the-verge-of-exhausted mom is going to sign out for tonight. I really need to get these thank-you cards in the mail...
Caty has been my drama queen the last couple of days. Not only is she pitifully sick, but she's not caught up on her naps and she's been terrible at keeping her balance. Hence, her knees are skinned up so bad, and then she'll take another digger and open up the nearly-fresh wound again. For some reason, she is terrified of bandaids or any kind of wound care. I feel like Godzilla sometimes when it comes to trying to take care of her. Even last night she ended up in bed with me because of her cough and fever, and anytime I touched her to try to give her medicine or a cool washcloth, or just rub her back, she freaked out. I have no idea why she's become like this - it's very unnerving.
Yesterday was Jason's and my 7 year anniversary. I remember when that just sounded like you'd been married forever! I was a horrible wife and actually forgot yesterday morning, and Jason wished me a happy anniversary as I headed off to church. We didn't get to spend the day together - he and Ethan were headed up to Door County for their first boys-only camping trip! I'm so hoping they're enjoying each other, and hoping that it's a little cooler up there than it is here. Ethan has been SO SO SO excited about this trip, and literally driving Jason bonkers this weekend with the pestering and wanting to spend every single moment with him as they got ready for the trip. We also enjoyed a weekend visit from some good college friends. It's such a blessing to reconnect and talk about the changes in life!
Ethan's preschool is just about over. I was a parent helper today - the last classroom day of the year. They have a fun field trip scheduled for Wednesday to go to Mulberry Lane Farm, and we're hoping the rain holds out! Today was an obstacle course day at preschool, and we each had a group of kids to help build an obstacle course in the classroom. It was fun, but my kids seemed more interested in building random towers everywhere in the room that we could jump over than in actually figuring out the course. So, I tried to incorporate as many of their jumps as I could (shortening a few of them) without hurting anyone's feelings. Preschoolers are super cute, but super exhausting. I truly admire anyone who can work with them on a regular basis.
On that note, this on-the-verge-of-exhausted mom is going to sign out for tonight. I really need to get these thank-you cards in the mail...
Monday, May 17, 2010
Time for Catch-Up
Not only has a baby arrived, but he's over seven weeks old now! Mother's Day has passed, and I’ve turned 29 years old. We had a gorgeous April, and are having a cold May so far. I did start a blog post a few times, but didn't manage to finish at all. That means we're left to a bullet-pointed version, unfortunately.
To start, Levi Robert was born on March 27, the Saturday that was starting the kids' spring break. Very convenient. :) I had an OB appointment the day before, the doctor tried to get things started, and apparently did a great job! I had tingly legs all day, and contractions that afternoon and evening. I cleaned the kitchen floors that evening, hoping to ignore the discomfort, and slept most of the night. I woke up at 3:40 Saturday morning with much more painful contractions, but still wasn't convinced that this was "it". After hanging out for awhile, being checked on by Jason, a bath (where I was visited by a very confused Ethan who needed to go potty and couldn't figure out why I was in the tub in the middle of the night), and some eyebrow maintenance, I finally went back to bed and slept on and off until the kids got up at 7. By this time, I knew the probability was high that I was going into labor, but we got up with the intention of our usual pancake breakfast and we'd see what happened after that. Once I was up and moving around, though, the contractions came much faster and harder, and I quickly decided there was no time for pancakes. I made a quick call to the nurse, then to our friends who would be taking the kids. We had a quick breakfast, and out the door we went. Levi was born around ten o'clock that morning. Whew! Childbirth sure is exhausting and painful! I seem to forget every time, then once again I'm cursing the curse that made it this way to begin with!
We were blessed with visitors and friends helping out with the kids, and enjoyed beginning to get to know this new little guy in our family. Here's a few pictures from the hospital... just kidding, I’m STILL the worst at figuring out how to do this. I WILL get this figured out, I WILL I WILL I WILL…
Thank goodness for spring break, and my mom! She was here by dinner on Monday, and stayed for close to two weeks. I don't know what I would have done without her. Between her doing the dishes, helping get the kids ready for the day, taking them to the Children's Museum, and McDonald's, and the zoo, playing games with them, and even cleaning my bathrooms, I am SO blessed to have such a servant-minded mom. I hope I can be such a blessing to her and others as they need help. My dad came out for a few days too over Easter, and they seemed to enjoy our Easter dinner and egg hunt. Dad's car wasn't running that Sunday, and he almost had to stay longer than expected. We wouldn't have minded, but those working men always feel like they need to get back at it. :) Thankfully that was fixed Monday morning, and he was off to Michigan again Monday afternoon.
Oh, I almost forgot about Levi's jaundice! That gave us a bit of a scare! Of course, if our pediatrician had given us more info it wouldn't have been so bad. When we took Levi in for his 3-day check on Tuesday, they decided to check his bilirubin levels again. They were high, so we went in again Wednesday for another heel-poke. The level was higher, and we got a phone call that afternoon from the nurse telling us that we would need a bili-bed for him and it would arrive that afternoon to get set up. Unfortunately, no one told me that this was a day-by-day thing, and there was a possibility of him being off of it the next day! So, I'm bawling, thinking he'd be on it for at least a week (which I know does happen for some poor babies and their families!), and we wouldn't hardly get to hold him or leave the house or anything! The bed was small compared to what I had pictured, and what Jason remembered. It fit in the pack-n-play in the living room, and we could even move it to the cradle for the night. But the poor guy couldn't be swaddled in it. He could just be in his diaper, in this gown thing that velcroed to the four corners of the bed to keep him in the right position. That was the hardest part for Levi, because he'd been swaddled the last three days and now just flailed around and screamed while we cried and looked on helplessly. I probably sound so pathetic right now, but it really was very hard that first day. By the next day, he had adjusted better, and could sleep a little more consistently on it. Thankfully I called that first evening with some questions. I found out that yes, I was supposed to come in the next day to check his levels again, and we'd see if he still needed to be on the bed. WHAT A RELIEF! I was left mostly with annoyance at our doctor and her nurse for not informing us what to expect. Well, now we know. Sure enough, the levels had started to go down, so Levi got a break Thursday afternoon, and we made it to the zoo on Friday morning before he got his final heel-poke to make sure we were in the clear. Those heel-pokes were torture for all of us, too. Jason - he loves us you know - came to every one of those appointments, even meeting us there during his work day to help hold Levi and give moral support. Wow. What a first week.
Since then we've been SO blessed by friends who have provided meals and gifts and babysitting while life has charged ahead with bible study and preschool and all the other stuff that keeps us so busy.
Levi has been so fun to get to know, despite his louder than normal cry. I often refer to it as sounding like an eagle closing in on its prey. It can be very sudden, too! Thank goodness he seems to be getting happier this last week, and smiles aren't so hard to come by. He's getting the hang of naps and nights, although for some reason seems to think he must remind us all of his presence at 5:30 every morning. We're working on that. He's a spitter, too! Just like his sister, what goes in must come back up within 5 minutes. I feel like I should be nursing him wearing a rain coat and sitting on a tarp! The boy has dimples, though, and that makes up for a lot. :)
We have spring veggies coming up in the garden, our tulips have just finished blooming, and baby cherries are growing on the tree. Jason did a number on our apple trees, and used several of the branches for a little fort in the back for the kids. He also made Ethan a nice bow and arrow - his new prized possession. I finally used our rhubarb for the first time, and made a strawberry-rhubarb crisp. Yum! I just bought more strawberries, and will hopefully be making a similar recipe soon.
Ethan is in his last month of preschool, and has a lot of fun things to look forward to! He had backwards day (which he wasn't too excited about - didn't seem to like the idea of wearing his clothes backwards), he had safety day with a police officer and police car, and is looking forward to a park day with ice cream, a karate demonstration, and some other fun stuff.
Caty is also finishing up preschool this month, with an "Under-The-Sea" theme. It's been fun, and a little emotional for me as I taught her, Peter, and Kaylynne for the last time this month. It is cool to think that I had a small part in her education, even if it was preschool. :) (And yes, I know that as a parent I am always teaching her...I just meant actual school stuff.)
Well, more has happened recently, but my time is limited and I need to end this for now. I'll be back soon. Thanks for reading. :)
To start, Levi Robert was born on March 27, the Saturday that was starting the kids' spring break. Very convenient. :) I had an OB appointment the day before, the doctor tried to get things started, and apparently did a great job! I had tingly legs all day, and contractions that afternoon and evening. I cleaned the kitchen floors that evening, hoping to ignore the discomfort, and slept most of the night. I woke up at 3:40 Saturday morning with much more painful contractions, but still wasn't convinced that this was "it". After hanging out for awhile, being checked on by Jason, a bath (where I was visited by a very confused Ethan who needed to go potty and couldn't figure out why I was in the tub in the middle of the night), and some eyebrow maintenance, I finally went back to bed and slept on and off until the kids got up at 7. By this time, I knew the probability was high that I was going into labor, but we got up with the intention of our usual pancake breakfast and we'd see what happened after that. Once I was up and moving around, though, the contractions came much faster and harder, and I quickly decided there was no time for pancakes. I made a quick call to the nurse, then to our friends who would be taking the kids. We had a quick breakfast, and out the door we went. Levi was born around ten o'clock that morning. Whew! Childbirth sure is exhausting and painful! I seem to forget every time, then once again I'm cursing the curse that made it this way to begin with!
We were blessed with visitors and friends helping out with the kids, and enjoyed beginning to get to know this new little guy in our family. Here's a few pictures from the hospital... just kidding, I’m STILL the worst at figuring out how to do this. I WILL get this figured out, I WILL I WILL I WILL…
Thank goodness for spring break, and my mom! She was here by dinner on Monday, and stayed for close to two weeks. I don't know what I would have done without her. Between her doing the dishes, helping get the kids ready for the day, taking them to the Children's Museum, and McDonald's, and the zoo, playing games with them, and even cleaning my bathrooms, I am SO blessed to have such a servant-minded mom. I hope I can be such a blessing to her and others as they need help. My dad came out for a few days too over Easter, and they seemed to enjoy our Easter dinner and egg hunt. Dad's car wasn't running that Sunday, and he almost had to stay longer than expected. We wouldn't have minded, but those working men always feel like they need to get back at it. :) Thankfully that was fixed Monday morning, and he was off to Michigan again Monday afternoon.
Oh, I almost forgot about Levi's jaundice! That gave us a bit of a scare! Of course, if our pediatrician had given us more info it wouldn't have been so bad. When we took Levi in for his 3-day check on Tuesday, they decided to check his bilirubin levels again. They were high, so we went in again Wednesday for another heel-poke. The level was higher, and we got a phone call that afternoon from the nurse telling us that we would need a bili-bed for him and it would arrive that afternoon to get set up. Unfortunately, no one told me that this was a day-by-day thing, and there was a possibility of him being off of it the next day! So, I'm bawling, thinking he'd be on it for at least a week (which I know does happen for some poor babies and their families!), and we wouldn't hardly get to hold him or leave the house or anything! The bed was small compared to what I had pictured, and what Jason remembered. It fit in the pack-n-play in the living room, and we could even move it to the cradle for the night. But the poor guy couldn't be swaddled in it. He could just be in his diaper, in this gown thing that velcroed to the four corners of the bed to keep him in the right position. That was the hardest part for Levi, because he'd been swaddled the last three days and now just flailed around and screamed while we cried and looked on helplessly. I probably sound so pathetic right now, but it really was very hard that first day. By the next day, he had adjusted better, and could sleep a little more consistently on it. Thankfully I called that first evening with some questions. I found out that yes, I was supposed to come in the next day to check his levels again, and we'd see if he still needed to be on the bed. WHAT A RELIEF! I was left mostly with annoyance at our doctor and her nurse for not informing us what to expect. Well, now we know. Sure enough, the levels had started to go down, so Levi got a break Thursday afternoon, and we made it to the zoo on Friday morning before he got his final heel-poke to make sure we were in the clear. Those heel-pokes were torture for all of us, too. Jason - he loves us you know - came to every one of those appointments, even meeting us there during his work day to help hold Levi and give moral support. Wow. What a first week.
Since then we've been SO blessed by friends who have provided meals and gifts and babysitting while life has charged ahead with bible study and preschool and all the other stuff that keeps us so busy.
Levi has been so fun to get to know, despite his louder than normal cry. I often refer to it as sounding like an eagle closing in on its prey. It can be very sudden, too! Thank goodness he seems to be getting happier this last week, and smiles aren't so hard to come by. He's getting the hang of naps and nights, although for some reason seems to think he must remind us all of his presence at 5:30 every morning. We're working on that. He's a spitter, too! Just like his sister, what goes in must come back up within 5 minutes. I feel like I should be nursing him wearing a rain coat and sitting on a tarp! The boy has dimples, though, and that makes up for a lot. :)
We have spring veggies coming up in the garden, our tulips have just finished blooming, and baby cherries are growing on the tree. Jason did a number on our apple trees, and used several of the branches for a little fort in the back for the kids. He also made Ethan a nice bow and arrow - his new prized possession. I finally used our rhubarb for the first time, and made a strawberry-rhubarb crisp. Yum! I just bought more strawberries, and will hopefully be making a similar recipe soon.
Ethan is in his last month of preschool, and has a lot of fun things to look forward to! He had backwards day (which he wasn't too excited about - didn't seem to like the idea of wearing his clothes backwards), he had safety day with a police officer and police car, and is looking forward to a park day with ice cream, a karate demonstration, and some other fun stuff.
Caty is also finishing up preschool this month, with an "Under-The-Sea" theme. It's been fun, and a little emotional for me as I taught her, Peter, and Kaylynne for the last time this month. It is cool to think that I had a small part in her education, even if it was preschool. :) (And yes, I know that as a parent I am always teaching her...I just meant actual school stuff.)
Well, more has happened recently, but my time is limited and I need to end this for now. I'll be back soon. Thanks for reading. :)
Wednesday, March 24, 2010
Spring has arrived here in Appleton. The snow is gone, and the spring flowers are trying to bloom. I think the ground dried out pretty quick, though, and I'm wondering if those tulips are craving some moisture. I think it's my pride that's keeping me from going out and watering them. I mean, WHAT will the neighbors think?? I haven't seen anyone else doing it, so I'm not about to be the first. Anyway, we'll see what happens. No rain in the forecast at this point.
We've been trying to keep the house relatively clean and picked up before Mr. Baby Boon arrives, but every day he waits is more opportunity for clutter and dust to collect. We've had some hopeful times, with contractions and such, but so far life always turned normal again. We're pretty sure that this baby has to come out one of these days. Ethan's last day of preschool was today, so spring break has officially started here. We have no place to go...nothing that needs to be done...
A few evenings ago, we found ourselves without anything to do and with two kids that had a lot of energy! Jason came up with another brilliant idea. You know those scavenger hunts that are all the rage with youth groups these days? The ones where you have to drive around and take pictures by/with certain things on your list, then come back and show you made it to each spot? Well, that's what we did. Jason made a list for him and Ethan, and one for me and Caty. Then we set out in our separate cars, looking for our clues so we could stop and take pictures with them. The kids thought it was so cool! It was a relatively simple list, unless us adults wanted to make it complicated. I mean, these kids are in preschool. We had to find a flower, a statue, a bird, something red, the letter C or E (depending on the kid looking), a swing, a pinecone, and a pic running down a hill. The meeting place was set for Dairy Queen where we compared pictures and stories, and shared a delicious M&M blizzard. It was a wonderful idea, and we enjoyed the new memory. Of course, the next morning, Ethan wanted to do it again. Jason and I didn't quite have the will-power to attempt another one right away, so it was a simple one in the house. Not quite what the kids had in mind, and no ice cream at the end. Oh well, you can't please them ALL the time.
And that's about the extent of our excitement lately. Well, besides Ethan's preschool open house last week. Those kids have worked hard on LOTS of projects, and proudly showed them off during a special evening. The theme was Noah's Ark, and there were pictures and projects of animals and rainbows and arks everywhere! There were fun snacks, face painting, and places to take pictures (of course, I forgot my camera!). Each family had brought in their own project that we worked on too, so Ethan showed off his elephant mask with the slinky nose. I'm so proud of all of his work, and his attention to everyone at preschool. It's fun to see him in his element.
I guess that's it for now. Hopefully next time will be reporting baby news! Stay tuned!
We've been trying to keep the house relatively clean and picked up before Mr. Baby Boon arrives, but every day he waits is more opportunity for clutter and dust to collect. We've had some hopeful times, with contractions and such, but so far life always turned normal again. We're pretty sure that this baby has to come out one of these days. Ethan's last day of preschool was today, so spring break has officially started here. We have no place to go...nothing that needs to be done...
A few evenings ago, we found ourselves without anything to do and with two kids that had a lot of energy! Jason came up with another brilliant idea. You know those scavenger hunts that are all the rage with youth groups these days? The ones where you have to drive around and take pictures by/with certain things on your list, then come back and show you made it to each spot? Well, that's what we did. Jason made a list for him and Ethan, and one for me and Caty. Then we set out in our separate cars, looking for our clues so we could stop and take pictures with them. The kids thought it was so cool! It was a relatively simple list, unless us adults wanted to make it complicated. I mean, these kids are in preschool. We had to find a flower, a statue, a bird, something red, the letter C or E (depending on the kid looking), a swing, a pinecone, and a pic running down a hill. The meeting place was set for Dairy Queen where we compared pictures and stories, and shared a delicious M&M blizzard. It was a wonderful idea, and we enjoyed the new memory. Of course, the next morning, Ethan wanted to do it again. Jason and I didn't quite have the will-power to attempt another one right away, so it was a simple one in the house. Not quite what the kids had in mind, and no ice cream at the end. Oh well, you can't please them ALL the time.
And that's about the extent of our excitement lately. Well, besides Ethan's preschool open house last week. Those kids have worked hard on LOTS of projects, and proudly showed them off during a special evening. The theme was Noah's Ark, and there were pictures and projects of animals and rainbows and arks everywhere! There were fun snacks, face painting, and places to take pictures (of course, I forgot my camera!). Each family had brought in their own project that we worked on too, so Ethan showed off his elephant mask with the slinky nose. I'm so proud of all of his work, and his attention to everyone at preschool. It's fun to see him in his element.
I guess that's it for now. Hopefully next time will be reporting baby news! Stay tuned!
Wednesday, March 10, 2010
I love being a mom this week.
"Who said anything about safe? 'Course he isn't safe. But he's good. He's the King, I tell you." ~Mr. Beaver
I'm reading The Lion, the Witch, and the Wardrobe to Ethan, and we were introduced to Aslan in today's chapter. It's a rather tough book to follow, for a 5-year old, but we have good "comprehension" discussions after each chapter. It was fun being able to compare Aslan to Jesus, and see how Ethan would feel if he was sitting next to someone who was not safe, but was good. It took him a minute to answer, but he finally decided it would be a good thing to be next to a person like that. The question we all need to answer, though, is: Am I safe sitting by that one who is not safe? Is there a reason why I am not safe? I SO love our reading time together, and I'm sure when we revisit the book as he gets a little older, more and more things will be easier for him to understand. He hates stopping at the end of a chapter, so I can tell he really enjoys this time too.
Last night was THE RACE! We've been anxiously awaiting this race for a month now. No, a year! AWANA's Grand Prix was last night, and the kids had each made a derby car to race against their fellow Cubbies. Ethan's was black, with some funky white designs painted on it, and Caty's was hot pink with purple polka-dots. Speed wasn't exactly on their side, although they did decently. But each of them came away with a design trophy. Caty came in third, and Ethan came in first. The pride and excitement is just more than they can contain! Ethan told me he had trouble sleeping last night because he was thinking about the trophy, and he brought it in to preschool this morning to show his teacher and classmates. Good job, Ethan and Caty! I so hope that they will truly learn the lesson of sportsmanship as top priority, though.
Ethan has another project this week, too. An elephant mask! His preschool open house is next week, and the theme is Noah's Ark. Each family gets to work on a project, and Ethan wanted to make an elephant. Well, he said he wanted to. But every time we go to work on it, it's like torture for him. That has been a little difficult. Hopefully the boring stuff is past, and he'll enjoy the painting and decorating a little more now.
Well, that's the latest update. Mostly on the kids, mostly on Ethan I guess. As far as the new baby we're waiting for...I'm 37 weeks and counting DOWN! I can't decide if I'm ready to deal with a baby at this point or if I'd rather he stayed put for awhile. Not that I have much say in the matter...
I'm reading The Lion, the Witch, and the Wardrobe to Ethan, and we were introduced to Aslan in today's chapter. It's a rather tough book to follow, for a 5-year old, but we have good "comprehension" discussions after each chapter. It was fun being able to compare Aslan to Jesus, and see how Ethan would feel if he was sitting next to someone who was not safe, but was good. It took him a minute to answer, but he finally decided it would be a good thing to be next to a person like that. The question we all need to answer, though, is: Am I safe sitting by that one who is not safe? Is there a reason why I am not safe? I SO love our reading time together, and I'm sure when we revisit the book as he gets a little older, more and more things will be easier for him to understand. He hates stopping at the end of a chapter, so I can tell he really enjoys this time too.
Last night was THE RACE! We've been anxiously awaiting this race for a month now. No, a year! AWANA's Grand Prix was last night, and the kids had each made a derby car to race against their fellow Cubbies. Ethan's was black, with some funky white designs painted on it, and Caty's was hot pink with purple polka-dots. Speed wasn't exactly on their side, although they did decently. But each of them came away with a design trophy. Caty came in third, and Ethan came in first. The pride and excitement is just more than they can contain! Ethan told me he had trouble sleeping last night because he was thinking about the trophy, and he brought it in to preschool this morning to show his teacher and classmates. Good job, Ethan and Caty! I so hope that they will truly learn the lesson of sportsmanship as top priority, though.
Ethan has another project this week, too. An elephant mask! His preschool open house is next week, and the theme is Noah's Ark. Each family gets to work on a project, and Ethan wanted to make an elephant. Well, he said he wanted to. But every time we go to work on it, it's like torture for him. That has been a little difficult. Hopefully the boring stuff is past, and he'll enjoy the painting and decorating a little more now.
Well, that's the latest update. Mostly on the kids, mostly on Ethan I guess. As far as the new baby we're waiting for...I'm 37 weeks and counting DOWN! I can't decide if I'm ready to deal with a baby at this point or if I'd rather he stayed put for awhile. Not that I have much say in the matter...
Sunday, March 7, 2010
I am blessed.
We successfully made it through our first marriage conference. I've been on plenty of women's retreats, but I think this was the first "retreat" sort of thing that I've had Jason with me. It was really nice! We attended Weekend to Remember, and I do recommend it, although it was a LOT of sitting! When you're in your ninth month of pregnancy with sciatic nerve problems, sitting for that long is torture, and may have caused the hours worth of contractions yesterday! But enough about aches and pains.
In trying to remember a lot of the topics that were covered this weekend, the ones that stood out to me were on conflict resolution (i.e. how to deal with anger), recognizing our differences, sex (of course), my roles and responsibilities as wife and mother, and even how to get back into reality and try to put all this into practice. There was so much covered, and I'll be wading through it for awhile trying to remember everything I need to and want to. The speakers were excellent this weekend, and one of them is a stand-up comedian - we could tell. :) They provided time to work through "projects" with our spouse, and my favorite of these was writing love letters to each other. I'm excited to see how our marriage grows as we WORK at it. As we stop trying to change each other, and try to change ourselves. As we show appreciation and respect and love for each other instead of holding grudges and griping about the way things aren't. As we receive each other as a gift from God. Easy? Um, NO. But necessary if this is going to keep working. And there's so much I want the kids to emulate and retain as they grow up, but there's always so much messiness that we have to sift through too. They learn everything from our marriage, the good and the bad.
Jason and I enjoyed a wonderful date at Casablanca's, a Latin restaurant here in downtown Appleton. Probably one of the most expensive meals we've eaten together, but SO good. He practically had to roll me out to the car between my contractions, back pain, and extremely full tummy. I was walking at a snail's pace. We got to stay in a hotel last night, which was really nice. It kindof made the "weekend getaway" more of an experience.
The kids apparently did pretty well too! They got to stay with our friends in Neenah, and we are SO thankful for their offer to take the kids. The warmer weather helped a lot too, so they could get outside and make snowballs with the apparently ultra-cool snowball maker. I haven't seen it yet.
And the other joy of this past week has been the tulip shoots emerging from the ground by the back door! LOVE IT! Spring is around the corner! We planted our first seeds indoors this evening, starting with Brandywine tomatoes and sunflowers. I hope it's still not too early. I'd like to get a flourescent light to hang somewhere to help these little guys grow straight instead of leaning against our one little south-facing window.
Anyway, that's the run-down. And so we begin another week, eagerly awaiting a new baby as well!
In trying to remember a lot of the topics that were covered this weekend, the ones that stood out to me were on conflict resolution (i.e. how to deal with anger), recognizing our differences, sex (of course), my roles and responsibilities as wife and mother, and even how to get back into reality and try to put all this into practice. There was so much covered, and I'll be wading through it for awhile trying to remember everything I need to and want to. The speakers were excellent this weekend, and one of them is a stand-up comedian - we could tell. :) They provided time to work through "projects" with our spouse, and my favorite of these was writing love letters to each other. I'm excited to see how our marriage grows as we WORK at it. As we stop trying to change each other, and try to change ourselves. As we show appreciation and respect and love for each other instead of holding grudges and griping about the way things aren't. As we receive each other as a gift from God. Easy? Um, NO. But necessary if this is going to keep working. And there's so much I want the kids to emulate and retain as they grow up, but there's always so much messiness that we have to sift through too. They learn everything from our marriage, the good and the bad.
Jason and I enjoyed a wonderful date at Casablanca's, a Latin restaurant here in downtown Appleton. Probably one of the most expensive meals we've eaten together, but SO good. He practically had to roll me out to the car between my contractions, back pain, and extremely full tummy. I was walking at a snail's pace. We got to stay in a hotel last night, which was really nice. It kindof made the "weekend getaway" more of an experience.
The kids apparently did pretty well too! They got to stay with our friends in Neenah, and we are SO thankful for their offer to take the kids. The warmer weather helped a lot too, so they could get outside and make snowballs with the apparently ultra-cool snowball maker. I haven't seen it yet.
And the other joy of this past week has been the tulip shoots emerging from the ground by the back door! LOVE IT! Spring is around the corner! We planted our first seeds indoors this evening, starting with Brandywine tomatoes and sunflowers. I hope it's still not too early. I'd like to get a flourescent light to hang somewhere to help these little guys grow straight instead of leaning against our one little south-facing window.
Anyway, that's the run-down. And so we begin another week, eagerly awaiting a new baby as well!
Sunday, February 21, 2010
Fun times this week
There he goes. My best friend, off to spend a couple of nights in San Fransisco. Lucky guy. He strictly forbade me from having this baby until he came back. I highly doubt he needs to worry about anything. Still 5 weeks until showtime! (unless the contractions this week have been an indication of something different.) Yesterday we put up the crib and brought in any needed furniture for the baby's room, so it's pretty much ready. Holes patched up, a clean sheet in the crib, clean changing table, clean clothes, clean blankets. I have some decorating ideas, but I'm trying to decide whether or not to just dive in and paint the room first. It could definitely use a coat of paint, but then again, we now have the furniture in there. Maybe someone will just do it for me...
I was going to mention earlier this week that Caty had her first dentist appointment! She was strangely NOT wanting to go at all! I didn't think she would have a problem with it, but apparently she did not enjoy watching Ethan or me get worked over. She handled it well while we were there, except for a brief episode of "Mommy, they aren't nice!" "Yes, they are, Caty. You shouldn't say that about the ladies cleaning your teeth." "But they aren't nice!" And finally bursting into sobs. Thankfully we got it out of her system before the dentist came in to double check the cleaning job.
Jason's birthday was also a big event this week - he's now in his final year of the twenties! I told him he'd better enjoy it. And he did seem to have a great birthday, unusually so. We were out of milk that morning, so he got to have pancakes for breakfast; KC had a big meeting that they held at Lambeau Field, including a tour of the stadium, boxes, and going out to the field; we had delicious shrimp and asparagus for dinner; we had a special cookie cake for dessert (not one of my finer attempts at cake decorating); and to end the night he got to go play basketball and win his game! Wow. What a way to start the birthday year.
It's been an eventful week, we've been out and about A LOT, and are finally trying to catch up on sleep and housecleaning. I wonder if I'll make it to Hobby Lobby with the kids this afternoon. It's hard being the only parent around, especially since I don't handle being tackled very well, unlike their daddy!
I was going to mention earlier this week that Caty had her first dentist appointment! She was strangely NOT wanting to go at all! I didn't think she would have a problem with it, but apparently she did not enjoy watching Ethan or me get worked over. She handled it well while we were there, except for a brief episode of "Mommy, they aren't nice!" "Yes, they are, Caty. You shouldn't say that about the ladies cleaning your teeth." "But they aren't nice!" And finally bursting into sobs. Thankfully we got it out of her system before the dentist came in to double check the cleaning job.
Jason's birthday was also a big event this week - he's now in his final year of the twenties! I told him he'd better enjoy it. And he did seem to have a great birthday, unusually so. We were out of milk that morning, so he got to have pancakes for breakfast; KC had a big meeting that they held at Lambeau Field, including a tour of the stadium, boxes, and going out to the field; we had delicious shrimp and asparagus for dinner; we had a special cookie cake for dessert (not one of my finer attempts at cake decorating); and to end the night he got to go play basketball and win his game! Wow. What a way to start the birthday year.
It's been an eventful week, we've been out and about A LOT, and are finally trying to catch up on sleep and housecleaning. I wonder if I'll make it to Hobby Lobby with the kids this afternoon. It's hard being the only parent around, especially since I don't handle being tackled very well, unlike their daddy!
Tuesday, February 9, 2010
The Dentist Visit
I guess we need to start budgeting for our mouths. Ethan and I went to see the dentist today, and didn't get sent home with beaming smiles. Well, no cavities. That's good. We've been brushing well, and the dentist was VERY proud to hear that Ethan brushes twice daily. (Although, Jason and I have been slacking on checking up on his brushing, and it's too early to slack.) No, the problem with Ethan is that his teeth are so close together that once the adult teeth start coming in, there will be BIG problems. The dentist said there is a 100% chance that he will need orthodontic work. And it may come as early as the end of this year. Ethan's six-year molars will be coming in, and will start pushing his teeth around. And there are no gaps for his teeth to move into. BUMMER. The boy got my teeth. BUMMER. The dentist said we would probably start with an expander. Guess who else started with an expander? Yup, ME. But I wasn't SIX! Good grief! Phone call to mom coming shortly to get the lo-down on how old I was when everything started, and how stinking much it cost. YUCK.
Then there's me. Apparently I picked the wrong set of months to take a flossing break. I have my first case of pregnancy gingivitis. How incredibly awful. Sounds like it can be reversed if I start flossing really well again, so here's hoping. Also, I brought up my latest unconscious bad habit: clenching my teeth. The dentist strongly recommended a nightguard. Yeah, not a big deal. It's only over $400 for one of those if insurance doesn't cover it. Better yet, Jason was told he needs one too! Oh, and last but not least, the grooves in my teeth are very deep, so even though I have never had a cavity, they strongly recommend sealants on my teeth. Sure, just throw that in with the other couple thousand dollars we're paying you.
We'll possibly end up with no teeth left by the time we're 50, but we'll have saved a few extra bucks! Ha! Who needs teeth, anyway? My favorite foods are soup and milkshakes, so I won't be missing much.
P.S. I just talked to Mom. I guess I was six. Possibly even five. And she didn't sound as shocked and appalled as I hoped she would. Boo.
Then there's me. Apparently I picked the wrong set of months to take a flossing break. I have my first case of pregnancy gingivitis. How incredibly awful. Sounds like it can be reversed if I start flossing really well again, so here's hoping. Also, I brought up my latest unconscious bad habit: clenching my teeth. The dentist strongly recommended a nightguard. Yeah, not a big deal. It's only over $400 for one of those if insurance doesn't cover it. Better yet, Jason was told he needs one too! Oh, and last but not least, the grooves in my teeth are very deep, so even though I have never had a cavity, they strongly recommend sealants on my teeth. Sure, just throw that in with the other couple thousand dollars we're paying you.
We'll possibly end up with no teeth left by the time we're 50, but we'll have saved a few extra bucks! Ha! Who needs teeth, anyway? My favorite foods are soup and milkshakes, so I won't be missing much.
P.S. I just talked to Mom. I guess I was six. Possibly even five. And she didn't sound as shocked and appalled as I hoped she would. Boo.
Saturday, February 6, 2010
Lifestyle changes, just getting ready...
We moved Caty into Ethan's room today. Now it's Ethan's and Caty's room. Both of them were excited at first, but I think the feelings started to change when they realized this wasn't just a sleepover. This means the end of a roomful of personal space. This means Ethan's stuff is getting more cramped, and he's losing certain corners of his room. This means Caty has to live across the hall, and she wasn't too keen on that. She wanted Ethan to come over to her side of the hall. As the day progressed, Caty became happier with her new room (probably because her toys all looked different and new again), but Ethan got quieter. We'll see how the next few days go. I'm still trying to figure out how to give each of them playtime away from each other. We needed to get another dresser too, since Caty's will be confiscated for the baby (due to the changing table on top). We stopped at two used furniture stores this afternoon, and had success! But it sure was work cleaning out closets and organizing clothes that were too small, too big, and just right. My organization has gone quite down the drain when it comes to the kids' clothes. I guess it will take another weekend to get the baby's room set up. That's why we're starting now, right?
We managed a quick break to try ice skating again, but Caty never did get hers on. Ethan had his on for about five minutes, then we were all on foot the rest of the time. I may have been a little overly optimistic about last week's success.
Jason's big accomplishment today was replacing his first car battery. It took three trips to the hardware store, mostly because he needed a new set of tools (awww....) and one of the bolts had rusted through and broke in half as he was unscrewing it. But the car is running again!!
What a tiring day! It's tiring reading about it! Well, for me. And now after finishing up bible study homework, we are sprawled on the couch. A good night to you!
We managed a quick break to try ice skating again, but Caty never did get hers on. Ethan had his on for about five minutes, then we were all on foot the rest of the time. I may have been a little overly optimistic about last week's success.
Jason's big accomplishment today was replacing his first car battery. It took three trips to the hardware store, mostly because he needed a new set of tools (awww....) and one of the bolts had rusted through and broke in half as he was unscrewing it. But the car is running again!!
What a tiring day! It's tiring reading about it! Well, for me. And now after finishing up bible study homework, we are sprawled on the couch. A good night to you!
Saturday, January 30, 2010
First-time Ice Skating
We took Ethan and Caty to the local park today to try out ice skating! They have a nice big area made into an ice rink, and we had decided about a week ago that we needed to try something new during this rather long and snowless winter. We have snow, that's not the problem. The problem is that the snow is about a month and a half old, and majorly hard and nasty. So we found Caty ice skates at Play It Again Sports, Ethan's size was on clearance at Target, and today the weather was finally not bitterly cold and windy. Caty was really not looking forward to this adventure, but once she got some encouragement on the ice, she didn't want to stop! Ethan was excited, then he freaked out once his skates hit the ice. After some "forceful" encouragement for him, he got the hang of it too, and loved it! We brought a couple of kid-size chairs along for them to push, but Caty definitely preferred having her daddy helping her out. It was fun, a perfect day for it, and we even had some friends join us for skating/sliding around. They were the fun family, with hockey sticks and pucks! Maybe we'll have to find some used equipment for the kids to play with on the ice. Anyway, that was our grand adventure for the weekend. The kids are already asking to go again tomorrow!
Thursday, January 28, 2010
trying to fix this...
So, as you can see, I'm trying to customize this blog a bit. But this header is not centered! Do any of you have a clue how to center it? I've looked at a few sites with different HTML codes, but none of them are working...
Tuesday, January 26, 2010
The Mind of a Child
I listened in on this conversation during lunch today:
Ethan: "Caty, when you grow up, you're going to get married, then you'll have a baby in YOUR tummy."
Caty: "I'm going to marry you, Ethan."
Ethan: "Well, the dads get to decide who they're going to marry, and I haven't decided yet who I'm going to pick."
I couldn't help but giggle. Not sure where he got the idea that only the guys decide. Caty had no response to that one. Poor girl.
Here's a sampling, just a smidge, of ALL the questions we've been fielding over the last 24 hours from the kids. It's exhausting! ...
*Where is heaven?
*Is heaven on a cloud?
*What is in the sky? ... No, what is IN the sky?
*What is in the sun?
*Can we walk on the planets? (apparently I'm ignorant on planet walking. Jason informed me that Mars has still not been walked on.)
*Where do the rockets start?
*When can we ride to outer space?
*Is a rocket as fast as a cheetah?
*Is it bumpy in a rocket?
(intermission so we can watch Ethan run as fast as a cheetah.)
*Do cheetahs like to race people? (I laughed at that one.)
*Where is the train? (as we cross a train track)
*Why is that place called Monkey Joe's?
*Mom, when are you going to die?
Seriously, this is tiring! I think his mind is going more than a mile a minute! I think 98% of those questions were from Ethan!
Ethan: "Caty, when you grow up, you're going to get married, then you'll have a baby in YOUR tummy."
Caty: "I'm going to marry you, Ethan."
Ethan: "Well, the dads get to decide who they're going to marry, and I haven't decided yet who I'm going to pick."
I couldn't help but giggle. Not sure where he got the idea that only the guys decide. Caty had no response to that one. Poor girl.
Here's a sampling, just a smidge, of ALL the questions we've been fielding over the last 24 hours from the kids. It's exhausting! ...
*Where is heaven?
*Is heaven on a cloud?
*What is in the sky? ... No, what is IN the sky?
*What is in the sun?
*Can we walk on the planets? (apparently I'm ignorant on planet walking. Jason informed me that Mars has still not been walked on.)
*Where do the rockets start?
*When can we ride to outer space?
*Is a rocket as fast as a cheetah?
*Is it bumpy in a rocket?
(intermission so we can watch Ethan run as fast as a cheetah.)
*Do cheetahs like to race people? (I laughed at that one.)
*Where is the train? (as we cross a train track)
*Why is that place called Monkey Joe's?
*Mom, when are you going to die?
Seriously, this is tiring! I think his mind is going more than a mile a minute! I think 98% of those questions were from Ethan!
Monday, January 25, 2010
Candy and Coupons. That's my day so far.
Take a 3-year old to a candy store? What, am I crazy? I don't know, but that's what I did this morning. It was actually a field trip, believe it or not. Caty, her "classmate" Kaylynne, Michelle and I went to VandeWalle's for a tour of how they make their candy/chocolates/caramel/etc.! It was very fun, but we missed the third "classmate" Peter. Us girls were able to see the melted chocolate being stirred in huge bowls, candies being covered in chocolate on a conveyer belt, and all the little molds they can use to shape the chocolate. Then on to see the long blocks of caramel being squeezed like snakes, then put through their very own cutting/wrapping machine to go for distribution. Then it was into the cooking/recipe room, where there were big copper kettles to mix the fillings, or the the caramel for popcorn, or the fudge, or whatever! Finally we saw where they do the baking for bagels, breads, cookies, cakes, and all the other fun stuff that they make. We sampled two yummy chocolates, and then each got our own ice cream cone from their own selection of ice creams. SO good! It was a fun field trip, but you should have seen my little girl by the time we were done. She was definitely on a sugar high, and couldn't stop running, talking, or making silly jokes. Thank goodness there's a "crash" that comes later, right? I think she's sleeping it all off right now. What a fun morning.
Ethan didn't believe her when she first tried to tell him we were going to a candy store for our field trip. I didn't push it, since I didn't want to deal with the jealous whining that he couldn't go. I mean, HE got to have a pajama party at school today! Wow, these kids have it good. They even watched a video. Not just any video. It was VeggieTales. For those of you who know Ethan, you know this is RIGHT up his alley. He was pleasantly surprised to hop in the car after preschool and find his very own BLUE rock candy that we picked out for him, and he finally believed us when we told him where we went.
My latest curiosity (as of today) is about clipping coupons. My friend just posted a link to www.krazycouponlady.com, and it is very interesting. Apparently, I could really save some money! I have always been terrible at checking coupons, prices, or anything, so this would be a HUGE life change if I decided to start this. Any feedback? The lady on the website says to get multiple copies of the Sunday paper, but I feel like even that is rather pricey. Trying to get this all figured out...
Well, it's time to say adios to the computer for now. Kids are waking up, and I have 45 minutes before it's time to leave again and meet with our financial guy. Hmm. Maybe HE'LL have some coupon suggestions! :)
Ethan didn't believe her when she first tried to tell him we were going to a candy store for our field trip. I didn't push it, since I didn't want to deal with the jealous whining that he couldn't go. I mean, HE got to have a pajama party at school today! Wow, these kids have it good. They even watched a video. Not just any video. It was VeggieTales. For those of you who know Ethan, you know this is RIGHT up his alley. He was pleasantly surprised to hop in the car after preschool and find his very own BLUE rock candy that we picked out for him, and he finally believed us when we told him where we went.
My latest curiosity (as of today) is about clipping coupons. My friend just posted a link to www.krazycouponlady.com, and it is very interesting. Apparently, I could really save some money! I have always been terrible at checking coupons, prices, or anything, so this would be a HUGE life change if I decided to start this. Any feedback? The lady on the website says to get multiple copies of the Sunday paper, but I feel like even that is rather pricey. Trying to get this all figured out...
Well, it's time to say adios to the computer for now. Kids are waking up, and I have 45 minutes before it's time to leave again and meet with our financial guy. Hmm. Maybe HE'LL have some coupon suggestions! :)
Saturday, January 23, 2010
Juggling session
Mom W., you'd be proud. We've had a ridiculously boring day, it's after dinner, and still WHAT TO DO? So, I reminded Jason about your suggestion to teach Ethan to juggle, and that's happening in the living room with clementines right now. Unfortunately, Ethan can catch a clementine with his left hand, but not with his right. And then Jason shows off more of his skills with juggling. Very impressive. Maybe we can keep this up and Ethan will be juggling by the time he's six. Ha! That'd be awesome. Then they could do tricks back and forth.
Wednesday, January 20, 2010
Are we leaving sickness behind, or in the middle of passing around germs?
I've been trying to upload some pictures and videos on here, but for some reason it's VERY DIFFICULT! I don't know if it's me, or the computer that is showing it's age. Which means my solutions are one of two things: my husband, or a new computer. One of them will be here tonight. The other one is only a distant dream.
Ethan has been battling a cold this week. He's been battling hard, and I'm always amazed at how well kids handle sickness compared to adults. If it were me, I'd be laid out on the couch, very much feeling sorry for myself. He's been a trooper, despite the stuffiness, the constant dripping, and the racing for tissues every 10 minutes. Yesterday was rough - we had to cancel plans for the Children's Museum and AWANA, which made the kids very anti-mom. Today, though, we made it back to preschool, I had a lovely coffee-date with a new friend, and the world is looking brighter. Until someone else gets hit - I think Caty is next. Today's cough is not sounding good.
I'm starting to compile photos that will go into a "portfolio", to be used to show people who would be interested in a photo shoot. I'm still not sure if this is a direction I want to go, but it's a start. I can't believe how much I've learned over the last couple of years of photographing people! In looking at early shoots versus recent shoots I can see how much I have grown, but I have a lot of learning yet to do. We'll see where this takes me.
Well, I was hoping I'd have pictures and videos to share in this post, but that is not the case today. All you have is my "Happy Wednesday!"
Ethan has been battling a cold this week. He's been battling hard, and I'm always amazed at how well kids handle sickness compared to adults. If it were me, I'd be laid out on the couch, very much feeling sorry for myself. He's been a trooper, despite the stuffiness, the constant dripping, and the racing for tissues every 10 minutes. Yesterday was rough - we had to cancel plans for the Children's Museum and AWANA, which made the kids very anti-mom. Today, though, we made it back to preschool, I had a lovely coffee-date with a new friend, and the world is looking brighter. Until someone else gets hit - I think Caty is next. Today's cough is not sounding good.
I'm starting to compile photos that will go into a "portfolio", to be used to show people who would be interested in a photo shoot. I'm still not sure if this is a direction I want to go, but it's a start. I can't believe how much I've learned over the last couple of years of photographing people! In looking at early shoots versus recent shoots I can see how much I have grown, but I have a lot of learning yet to do. We'll see where this takes me.
Well, I was hoping I'd have pictures and videos to share in this post, but that is not the case today. All you have is my "Happy Wednesday!"
Sunday, January 17, 2010
Cupcakes
Jason is upstairs packing for CA, and I'm in the basement waiting for edited pictures to load onto Flickr. It's at 29% and slowly climbing. I have no one else to talk to except you. We've had a blessedly slow weekend, but that also means boredom started to set in with the kids. Jason made an executive decision tonight - we would make cupcakes! I think Caty can claim "idea first", since she saw the Martha Stewart magazine I had from the library, with a lovely picture of cupcakes on the front. She wanted purple frosting like in the picture. So, that's what we did. It was actually my first time making cake batter from scratch, and I must say it wasn't that hard! Very similar to making cookies! I did much of the behind-the-scenes work while Jason and the kids poured ingredients and mixed. And Jason and Ethan actually did the dishes for me! Then they got to play games while I attempted a new frosting recipe. An hour from "go-time" we were decorating cupcakes with purple, blue, and white frosting, adding sprinkles, and occasionally placing on a piece of leftover candy from Christmas gingerbread house projects. It was fun, until Ethan asked to have a cupcake, promptly sneezed all over the one he was decorating, and proceeded to pout about the fact that I was making him eat THAT one. He finally decided he didn't want it. So, it has been carefully labeled so that he will be eating THAT one tomorrow. Lucky him.
Flickr is now at 63% complete.
And...I can't think of anything else interesting at the moment. Maybe I'll see how well blogspot loads pictures. 'Cause I LOVE loading pictures... (I'm rolling my eyes, can you tell?)
Flickr is now at 63% complete.
And...I can't think of anything else interesting at the moment. Maybe I'll see how well blogspot loads pictures. 'Cause I LOVE loading pictures... (I'm rolling my eyes, can you tell?)
Saturday, January 16, 2010
a fresh start
No, it's not a New Year's resolution. Just some time on my hands again, a realization that people actually do occasionally want to hear about what we're doing, and a frustration with our previous blog. We'll see how this works. If you want to check out our previous stories and pictures, go to www.xanga.com/jenboon. Will be updating again soon...
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