silly kids

Last week, we all piled in the van to take Chris to get a vasectomy.  One of my friends laughed about us all going and asked if that was to remind him why he was doing it.  That wasn't our original motivation but it was probably a good strategy to prevent him from backing out at the last minute.  We just told the kids that Daddy was going to the doctor.  They have always talked about the doctor as someone who fixes people.  After we dropped Chris off, I told the kids we would go get donuts while Daddy was at the doctor.  I laughed out loud when Scout asked, "And then we will go pick him up and he will be fixed?"  Um, yeah....exactly. 

So we went to get donuts and then came back to hang out in the doctor's office parking lot until Chris was done.  I let Flora and Scout get out of their car seats while we waited.  After a few minutes I heard Scout counting to ten.  I asked what they were doing and he told me they were playing hide-and-seek.  Seriously, only a 3-year-old and a 4-year-old could figure out a way to play hide-and-seek in a van.

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I was eating a bowl of cereal this morning and doling out bites to three little mouths.  Scout requested a helicopter bite so I made the appropriate noises and zoomed the bite into his mouth and then did the same for Timber.  When it was Flora's turn, she requested "an airplane bite that is flying the princess to the Ball."

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We've given up television for Lent.  Chris and I aren't watching any tv after the kids go to bed (which is basically the only time we watch tv anyway but if we ever need/want to watch the early news it wouldn't be "breaking the rules").  I decided to cut back the kids' tv watching during this time too.  They watch a lot of tv....or at least the tv is on a lot whether they are watching it or not.  Go ahead and judge me -- but at least it's all educational television.  :-)

So anyway, now they are restricted to an hour of tv when they wake up and and hour before bedtime.  That may still seem like a lot to some people but it's definitely a reduction for us.  The hour in the morning is absolutely necessary as I require at least that long to become functional after waking up.  Surprisingly, since we implemented this new tv rule they seem to be less interested in their nighttime tv.  The first day they were all three glued to Kipper but on subsequent nights they will only half-watch.  They get really excited about picking out which show to watch but then I find them playing instead of watching.  It's also been a good way to get them to pick up toys at the end of the day because they know they have to clean up before they can watch a show. 

Overall, it's been a good thing so far.  The plan is to keep the same rule for them after Lent is over too, although I'm sure there will be exception days.

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Scout is an awesome pray-er.  He squeezes his eyes shut tight and clasps his little hands together on his forehead and prays his little heart out.  It's really too cute.  Last night, Chris read them a storybook about Noah's ark and then asked Scout to pray before bedtime.  He spent the majority of his little prayer asking God to take care of the animals on the boat and to give them food to eat, etc.

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Flora said she wished we could have a girl baby instead of a boy baby.
"But then we wouldn't have our little Timber," I said.  "That would be sad."
"Well," she said, "we could call the girl baby Timber." 
Poor guy -- so easily replaced....

my tooth hurt and the kids got sick -- snip snip

If you've read the title of this post then you really don't need to read any further.  I'm not going to say anything particularly amusing or insightful.  It's been rough (but not exactly bad) and writing is cathartic for me.  Hopefully I won't have more to add to this in coming days.....

My oh my!  Let me provide a little timeline of the couple weeks:

Sunday night -- Stefanie has upset stomach

Monday -- Stefanie has upset stomach (It must have been something I ate since no one else got sick -- and I didn't actually "get sick" but felt really BLAH all day.  Really too bad since it was our first and likely ONLY snow day this winter.)

Tuesday -- Timber has fever and cold symptoms (Happy Valentine's Day!)

Wednesday -- Stefanie wakes up with toothache.  Scout and Timber have runny noses/coughs.

Thursday -- Toothache gets worse.  Visit dentist #1.  Flora has a fever.

Friday -- Toothache is horrible!!  Dentist #1 is closed.  Visit dentist #2.  Dentist #2 doesn't do root canals in her office.  Refer to endodontist.  Cry.  Get a root canal.  Flora still has a fever.

Saturday -- Recovery from root canal is painful.  Chris and Stefanie start exhibiting cold symptoms.  Flora still has a fever.

Sunday -- Recovery from root canal is painful.  Cold symptoms suck.  Flora still has a fever.

Monday -- Hooray!  Tooth is finally feeling much better!  Hard to enjoy due to lack of sleep -- Flora was up all night with fever and coughing.  Stefanie's cold is getting better.....Chris' cold is getting worse.  Flora still has a fever.

Tuesday -- Take Flora to doctor: bronchitis.  Get antibiotics.  Come home to find Chris has set up two humidifiers in our bedroom.  He chugs some NyQuil and heads back to bed as soon as I get home.

Wedneday & Thursday -- We all feel better with each passing day.  Still cold symptoms for Chris, Stefanie, and Flora and still some lingering tooth pain for Stefanie but much better than this time last week.

Friday -- Chris is scheduled to get a vasectomy.  The perfect way to cap off this crazy two weeks, right?!

Notes:

1.  I have never felt as completely hopeless as I did when the endodontist's receptionist informed me that I was only scheduled for a consultation and would have to wait until Tuesday to schedule my root canal.  It was like being in the final stages of labor and finding out that it would still be another few days before the baby would come.  I'm not comparing my toothache to labor pains -- if I had to live with one for three days I would definitely choose the toothache -- but in the moment it seemed like the worse news I could possibly hear.

2.  It was NOT the worse news I could possibly hear.  It's so easy to get caught up in our own struggles and totally lose perspective.  If my biggest problem this week is a root canal and sick kids then I have a pretty good life.  A very good life.  We are very, very blessed and it would be ungrateful and ridiculous to let one week of ill health make me think otherwise.

3.  But my tooth hurt really badly and the thought of living with the pain for three more days was overwhelming.  So.....I cried.  I didn't intentionally cry to guilt the endodontist into staying late on a Friday to fix my tooth.  Honestly.  I don't think I can fake cry....maybe I can....I'll have to try it sometime -- but these were REAL tears.  And they all felt sorry for me and stayed late to do my root canal.  Of course, it wasn't completely out of the goodness of their hearts -- the dental assistant informed me that she was "on overtime pay as of five minutes ago" and had a martini waiting for her after work so she didn't mind staying at all.  And also I was paying them a lot of money.  Oh, and they usually leave the office at 2pm on Fridays so even staying "late" meant that they were still out of the office by 5pm.  It was very nice of them to stay.....I'm just pointing out that there were more factors in play than just my tears.   

4.  Chris is awesome.  I seriously couldn't function while my tooth was hurting and the pain medication I was given only slightly lessened the pain before the root canal.  He brought a bunch of work home and worked in the living room while supervising the kids.  He fixed lunches and wiped bums and broke up arguments.  I helped out but it was hard to be around the kids because their high-pitched voices seemed to go in my ear and straight to my tooth.  Weird, I know.

5.  Chris was great with the kids but not so much the cleaning.  The night of my root canal we sat on the couch and surveyed the disaster area that was our house.  Sometimes I think I don't do anything during the day but after seeing what happens when I REALLY don't do anything for a few days I now know differently.  But we laughed about the fact that we were so perfectly matched because such a messy house didn't bother either of us.  I mean, it would bother me if it was like that all the time, but under the circumstances, it was nice that neither of us was freaking out about a messy house.  We're both messy people at heart.  And the next day, Chris and the kids did an awesome job of cleaning up the living room and kitchen.

6. For some reason, America's Funniest Home Videos was the only thing that could take my mind of the pain when my tooth was hurting.  So when I look back on those foggy days, AFV is pretty the only thing I can remember doing.  I watched it during the day and late at night when I was staying awake until I could take my next dose of medicine.  The thought of watching it now is not very appealing.  I may always associate AFV with pain.....bummer.

See?  I told you this post wasn't worth reading.  But I feel better now that I've written all of that out of my system! 

State of the Union 2012

Ok, so I'm a little late this year but here is my annual State of the Union address (I'll try to keep it shorter than that other guy's State of the Union address):

Timber

     Well, let's see.....  Obviously 2011 was a big year for Timber.  He learned to roll, sit, stand, walk, run, talk(ish), eat solid food, and got his first haircut.  It's hard to top that, huh?!  Maybe I should have saved him for last....  Timber is now 16-months-old and loves chasing Flora and Scout through the house.  He tries so hard to play their big-kid games and is usually pretty good at pretending to know what he's doing.  When he's not imitating Flora and Scout he is usually watching DORA!!, "reading" an animal book, or putting together his puzzles.  He has only recently discovered puzzles and can't seem to get enough of them.
     We recently discovered that Timber is allergic to peanuts and almonds.  On a scale from 0 (no allergy) to 6 (severe allergy), his blood test only put him at a 0.42.  While we're thankful for the low number, we're continuing to follow the doctor's orders to avoid all peanuts and almonds (and basically all nuts since there's so much cross-contamination, I guess) for a couple more years.  Apparently, peanut allergies can worsen with each exposure and we don't want that!  Before he starts school we will do another blood test and possibly meet with an allergist to do an exposure test in a controlled environment.  But that is all a long way off.  Right now we are finding it fairly easy to avoid peanuts and almonds.  And we have an epi-pen that we hope we never need to use -- just in case!

 Scout

     Scout is a little smarty-pants.  He's a scrawny little thing but tough as nails.  He's loud and fast and usually stinky -- basically, he's a boy.  Scout is using the big-boy potty as of last summer and, let me tell you, having only one kid in diapers is aMAZing!  Scout has been seizure-free since his febrile seizure in July.  Of course, he hasn't had a fever since July either but the doctor is fairly confident that he probably does not have a febrile seizure condition.  She said that kids with febrile seizure disorders tend to find ways to develop a fever more often than other kids.  Also, Scout thanks Jesus for Christmas EVERY TIME he prays.  

 

Flora

     Flora is completely out of diapers now!!  She is no longer wearing nighttime diapers and I am sooooo happy to have one child completely out of diapers.  She took a dance class last Fall and absolutely LOVED it!  She also started Awana at church and looks forward to "Awana day" all week.  I think we might try a soccer league next year just to change things up.  I'm completely torn about whether or not to send her to preschool this coming Fall but I think I'm getting close to a decision.  I think I will keep her home this next school year but enroll her in a summer preschool in Summer 2013 -- right before she starts kindergarten.  That's not THE decision yet, but that's what I'm leaning toward.
     Flora is very fancy.  She carries a purse with sparkly lip gloss in it around the house all day and it's not usual for her to pop into her room to change into a princess dress.  We're going to a Fancy Nancy program at the library this Saturday and she already has an "exquisite" outfit picked out to wear.  If you want to pay her the highest compliment, just tell her she looks "exquisite."  She's my girly girly girly girl and I love it!  Flora also participated in our church's Christmas program for the first time in December.  This is a picture of her at the program.  It was a cowboy/ranch themed skit.

 

Chris and Stefanie

     Well, we just aren't very exciting right now.  We did make some major 2012 resolutions that we hope to accomplish in the next 11 months.  Mainly, lose weight, get out of debt, and make my feet look pretty.  We each lost 10 pounds in January!  Woohoo!!  I've developed a deep and meaningful relationship with the treadmill.  I will update more about us when something exciting happens.  There's probably more I could tell now but I'm tired of writing and Chris just got home and I'm not feeling very creative tonight so it probably wouldn't be very interesting anyway. (This is us at our small group's ugly sweater Christmas party -- Chris doesn't usually look this sleazy and I don't usually wear turtlenecks.)

Oh, and my new blog layout includes this nifty LIKE button at the bottom.  I could probably remove it, but then you wouldn't be able to tell me that you LIKE my blog!!  Haha, but no worries, I can't see who LIKEs each post (and I DID remove the DISLIKE button!!).  :-)

crafty moms

Kids.  They're strange little boogers.  Why do they think inappropriate words are funny?  And why do they feel the need to giggle about them in the shopping cart at JoAnn's??  Of course, Mommy had to put a stop to that.  JoAnn's is a relatively quiet store so who knows how many people were judging me for my children's crude sense of humor.

Once I put a stop to the penis giggling they decided to play a rhyming game.
"Ball.  Call.  Wall.  Doll."
"My kids are SO smart," I thought.
"Cat.  Hat.  Bat.  Rat."
"And they're SO sweet to play a little rhyming game while I'm shopping."
"Duck.  Tuck.  F---."
"WHOA!  No more rhyming!!!"
Of course, once Flora had said THAT word she said it again and then said, "Huh, that's a funny word."  I just held my breath hoping that would be the end of it.  I almost expected one of her dolls to have a new name when we got home but thankfully she forgot about her new word discovery once she saw all the jewelry-making supplies at JoAnn's.  Whew!

I really enjoyed browsing JoAnn's with a cart full of kids.  It made me feel like one of THOSE moms -- the moms who sew dresses and pillows and trash can covers and toilet seat cushions, who create beautiful wall hangings out of old toilet paper rolls and fancy door wreaths out of popsicle sticks and teabags, who re-purpose a broken toaster into a funky lamp or a bucket of bottle caps into the Mona Lisa.  I can barely make time to keep my eyebrows plucked, let alone design fashion jewelry out of kitchen utensils.  Somehow these crafty moms manage to dream, design, and create while still putting three meals on the table for their kids.  And I assume their kids don't just watch tv all day so there must be some kind of parent-child interaction taking place.  And kids don't change their own diapers or blow their own noses for at least a couple years.....and then there's the Mess and the Laundry.  The Mess and the Laundry -- my ever-present companions.  At least I'll never be lonely....even if I'm never crafty.

So, ANYWAY, I enjoy walking around JoAnn's with a cart full of kids because as long as I'm in the store I can pretend to be one of those crafty moms.  I imagine that everyone in the store assumes I am a crafty mom (because why else would I be pushing three kids in a too-tiny cart through JoAnn's??) and I certainly don't tell them any differently.

This whole crafty mom thing is all Pinterest's fault -- I wish I could say I was above it all but I'm not.
I want to be crafty.
So I make things.
They're never great but I applaud myself for creating something besides a baby.

Because apparently making babies is not enough to qualify me as a crafty mom these days.