Quick update on the kids

What have my kids been up to these days? Let me think?

Ella has a new friend, Cara. She wants to be just like her, so much so that to copy Cara's ankle bracelet, she put a few hair bands on her ankle. I made her take them off for fear of loss of circulation to her foot!

Grayson has learned to spit, and feels the need to do it all the time. Tonight he spit on on coffee table, then covered it up with a pillow. I watched the whole thing with disbelief.

Ella got a Tag reading system for Christmas, and is now excited because, "I can read, Mommy!"

Grayson finally got his train table. He saw one in a Toys R Us ad about two months ago, and became OBSESSED. He opened an early Christmas present from Verizon, and threw it across the room after discovering it WASN'T a train table.

Ella thinks that the answer to every question is located in my computer. When she asks me a question that I don't know the answer to, she says, "Let's find out on the computer! It knows everything!"

Grayson loves to sing the ABC song. Often, throughout the day, you can hear him singing it, and it makes you smile every time! He can also count to 20, but I'm not bragging, or anything.

Ella: "Mommy, how old are you?"
Me: "Thirty-two."
Ella: "Wow. You've had A LOT of birthdays!"

Grayson also attempts to sing Jingle Bells and Rudolph, and again....I smile.

Bathtub fun!

Make a Smilebox slideshow

Halloween 2009

I'm a little late getting these on here, but better late than never!

Make a Smilebox scrapbook

Playground Fun

Make a Smilebox scrapbook

Bad reflexes

Last Friday, I had to make a run to Wal-Mart. Aubry, my niece, was staying with us, so that meant me, plus 3 kids - not an easy task. On our way out of the store, I was thankful our trip was uneventful. Then it happened.

Ella fell down right outside the doors onto the cement. She was right at my feet, and I looked down to see if she was ok. Then, as if my brain wasn't working right, I watched in slow motion, as I ran over her hand with the shopping cart. She was crushed by the back wheel that was supporting the weight of my son (35 lbs), a box of diapers, and a 20 pound turkey.

Of course she was screaming, and her hand immediately turned blue and purple. I was worry it was broken. Wouldn't that be something to tell the doctor: "Yes, it is my fault. I saw her hand on the ground right by the back wheel of the shopping cart, but for some reason, I ran over it anyway."

I gave her a bag of carrots to put on it, and the crying stopped by the time we had gotten home. She was going to be fine. Thank goodness. I, however, still feel like crap about it.

"Ella, what are these?"

This morning I was helping Ella get dressed. Next to her bed is a play kitchen. While she was putting on her pants I noticed some tiny balls on the top of the kitchen. I picked up one and looked at it wondering what it was. "Could be a seed," I thought. "Could be a dropping from a bug?"As I gathered these 7 or 8 tiny balls, I asked Ella if she knew what they were. This is the conversation that followed:

Me: Honey, do you know what these are?
Ella: Yes. Those are my boogers.
Me: What? These are your boogers?
Ella: Yeah.
Me: Ella, why do you have boogers up here? Were you saving them?
Ella: Yeah. I was making a pile of them.
Me: Why?
Ella: So I could make a booger monster.

At this point I'm laughing so hard I'm crying.

Me: Honey! That is gross. We don't keep our boogers! We throw them away. (At which point I did - throw them away.)
Ella: Mom! Don't get rid of them! I need them!
Me: No. Ella. You don't. How long were you collecting your boogers, anyway?
Ella: Twenty years.
Me: So you wanted to make a booger monster?
Ella: Yup.
Me: And how many boogers does it take to make a booger monster?
Ella: Fourteen.
Me: And what were you going to do with the booger monster when you made him?
Ella: It was gonna be HUGE! And it was going to be Unicorn vs. Booger Monster!
Me: It's time to brush your teeth for school. No more collecting boogers, 'kay?
Ella: But Mom!
Me: Brush your teeth.

OK. So my kid is 5. She picks her nose. Don't even try to tell me your 5 year old son or daughter has never done that. But, how many of your kids could come up with such an elaborate story for why she was doing it? I thought so. I've got one very imaginative daughter!

What Ails Me

I hate it when my kids are sick.

I am not a hypochondriac....well not too much of one. If I feel a pain, or have a cough/sneeze/sniffle, I don't assume it is something more. But when it comes to my kids, I worry.

Ella and Grayson are not very sickly children. I have never had to hospitalize either of them for an illness, and they have never had to use nebulizer treatments. I can count on one hand the number of confirmed ear infections Grayson has had. And although Ella gets a bit of seasonal allergies in the spring, she has only missed one day of preschool due to illness in 1 1/2 years.

I try to let little things slide. If Ella has a runny nose, I give her tissues. If she has a cough, I give her a lozenge. If Grayson has a stuffy nose, I give him a decongestant. Although I am a firm believer in taking a pill to make myself feel better, I have been trying to go easy on meds when it comes to the kids.

Yesterday, Grayson had a cold hit him very quickly in the afternoon. I gave him some Advil thinking his symptoms might be teething related. He wouldn't eat his dinner, spaghetti-his favorite, and he only wanted to be near me. After his bath, he passed out in my bed. His body was so hot to the touch. I HATE that. Although I know he can feel that way, and still not have a fever, it still scares me.

This morning he woke up screaming around 5:30, and he was still so hot. I slipped some more Advil into a sippy-cup with juice, and snuggled with him on the couch. His eyes were red, he wasn't speaking very clearly, and his kept saying he hurt, but I couldn't tell where.

He had this same type of problem about a month ago, and the doctor gave him anti-biotics because he had an infection on his tonsils. I thought that maybe this was the same thing again, so I decided to take him to the doctor right away.

I always have an internal struggle with whether or not I should take the kids to the doctor. Do I drive all the way over to Christie on Windsor and pay $15 if my kids just needs some rest and Tylenol? What if it is something more and they need Amoxicillian? Should I wait a day? Should I take him/her to the ER? If I wait, and they get worse, will I feel like a bad mom for not knowing/doing better? ARGH!

I took Ella to preschool, and drove Grayson to the doctor's office. Of course, wouldn't you know it, he starts acting better on the way over. "Look Mommy! Leaves!" "Look Mommy! A pond!" He wouldn't take a snack, but he chugged a cup of juice.

He played with all the germ-infested toys in the waiting room. I say "all" when there really is only two. I sprayed them down with my Lysol-to-Go spray, and gave him GermX too. I'm no fool. There was a sign posted on the door to the preschool stating they had multiple children with "probable" cases of H1N1, and one kid with chicken pox. Nice.

The doctor tells me the Little Man has a cold. Well, there is another $15 down the Peace of Mind Toilet. I ask her what I have to do to get my kids their flu shots, because there seems to be a shortage, and my son is a thumb-sucker. Can you say, "Germ Mania"! She said he can get both his flu and H1N1 shot right then. Wow! I am impressed, and relieved. I decide that this is going to be the best chance for Ella to get hers, and set up an appointment for this afternoon.

Poor Grayson. Normally he does really well with shots. Today, not so much. One shot in each arm had him screaming at the top of his lungs and crying some of the biggest tears I've ever seen. Before the nurse gave him the painful arm pricks, he had asked me for a Thomas the Train sticker. The last time we were there, he left with two. This time there was a poor selection in the basket. I asked the nurse if she could look for one in another room. She wasn't sure if she could find one, but said she'd try. After his screaming started, she practically bolted out of the door in a mad search for Thomas. She came back a few minutes later, but my pained child refused to take the sticker. When I tried to give it to him, he turned away, as though he was thinking, "I know that is coming from the evil lady with yellow hair. She hurt me, and I don't want anything from her."

Grayson fell asleep on the way home, with an empty belly and two Garfield band-aids covering his "wounds." He slept for a short time in his bed, and is now, as I type this, sleeping on the couch in a pool of sweat. I hear him moan every now and then, but he's not awake. I feel so bad for him. It's so hard to help a child when they cannot quite put into words what is hurting them.

Brady should be back soon from taking Ella for her flu shot and H1N1 nasal mist. I'm hoping that went well, or there could be a new Barbie appearing later today.

Am I doing the right thing by having them vaccinated for the H1N1 flu? I sure hope so. I am not a doctor or a nurse. I am just a mother trying to do what is best for her kids.

Curtis Orchard 2009

Make a Smilebox slideshow

Ella's 5th Birthday

Hair I Am

I am a hairy gal. I don't like this fact, but there is nothing I can do about it. Well, that's not true. For thousands of dollars, I could have laser hair removal, but I don't have thousands of dollars. (Wanna loan me some?). I have thick, coarse, dark hair, and shaving is not an easy task. I get razor burn easily. I have to use a men's razor, because those girly, pretty ones don't do a good enough job.

When I was in college, I had surgery on both of my legs at the same time. The scar tissue on my legs from the operation was so sensitive, that shaving was painful. Even now, over 10 years later, just touching those areas on my legs is uncomfortable.

So. Shaving my legs is not too high up on my priority list. It's slightly painful in some spots, and the hair grows entirely too fast.

Now, shaving the armpits is a different story. I don't have scar tissue to worry about, I just have crazy razor burn. Don't try to give me ideas on how to prevent it - I've tried everything. I am not one of you lucky people who can shave her armpits every day. No sirree. Once every three days is the best I can do. If I were to do it two days in a row, I'd be screaming in the shower.

When the weather is cool enough for me to be in jeans and long-sleeved shirts, it makes me happy. I can hide my embarrassing hair issues (except the facial hair, but that's a hormone thing, and a story for another day) and feel a little more confidant.

"Sarah, why are you sharing all this personal information with us" you ask? I'll tell you why.

I walked into my almost-five-year-old daughter's room the other day, and she was drawing a picture. She was very excited to show me.

"Look Mommy, I drew a picture of you!"

"You did?" I said. "That's great, baby! Let me see." She shows me this:

"It's beautiful," I said. "What is this? Hair?"

"Oh yes!" she says. "That's your armpit hair."

*Dramatic pause by me.*

"My armpit hair?" "Why would you draw my armpit hair?" I ask.

"Because your armpits are always hairy."

"But maybe Mommy doesn't like her armpits being hairy," I said.

"Oh, but I love your hairy armpits, Mommy!" Ella says, drawing another picture of me.

At least one of us does.

Take Two

Last year, when I started this blog, I wrote in my first post that I was horrible about keeping up with a journal. Apparently, the same applies to a blog. If I have spare time, my mind just wants to chill out, not form complex sentences and type big words. It's odd - the girl who wanted nothing more as a child then to write, is tired of writing.

Ella is back in preschool for the year. My new goal with this blog, is to post at least one entry a week, during the time she is in school. She goes three days a week now, so my chances of maintaining this blog have gone up. We'll see how well I do.

Rump Shaker

Yesterday, while I was looking through racks of clothes at Wal-Mart, Ella says:
"Mommy, I want my booty to shake."
"What?" I ask.
"I want my booty to shake up and down. Like that lady over there."
I didn't see anybody, and I said, "You want your what?"
"I want my booty to shake like that lady and like you. You're booty goes up and down when you walk. And that lady's does too."
Hmm. Thanks, Ella.

A new bed for Grayson

Grayson has been climbing out of his crib for a while now. I put a child safety door knob cover on the inside of his door. That way, if he were to get out of bed in the middle of the night, at least he'd be confined to his room.

For about a week, he would surprise me by getting out of his crib around 10:30 or 11 at night, turning his light on, and playing in his room. I figured that if he was going to keep this up, and least I could give him the option of getting back into bed when he was tired.

I put up his "big boy" bed the other day, and he couldn't be happier! He sleeps all night, and he has even gone down for a nap without my knowing. He just got into his bed one afternoon, and fell asleep!

He's growing up so fast!

Ella speaks....

We were watching Wall-E the other day. Ok. It is actually played at least once a day, but rarely do I get to watch. Anywho...There was a screen shot of the Milky Way.

Ella: "What is that Mommy?"

Me: "The Milky Way."

Ella: "Oh! Of course! It's white...must be milky."

Me: "Uh-huh."

Ella: "Is there a Chocolate Way?"

Good morning, Ladybug.

This morning, I had to wake Ella up for school.

"Ladybug," I said. "Wake up. It's time to get up for school."

She rubbed her eyes, rolled over, then said "Everything comes to life when..."

"What?" I asked, rubbing her back.

She looked at me with a face that I love. She has the most amazing "morning" face. She looks so rested and her eyes are so full of peace.

"What did you say, honey?" I asked her.

She looked off into space as if she was going to choose her next words very carefully. "Everything comes to life. Everything comes to life when I just dream about them."

Lazy day

I think everyone needs a day now and then where they do absolutely nothing. No phone calls, chores, or errands. Today was one of those days for me.

Ella had a mild cold, then 2 days later, Grayson got it. So last night, he decided to get up about 4 (of course I took a nap yesterday, which meant I didn't get to sleep until 1) and I was too tired to deal with his "I'm-awake-let's-play-jump-eat-watch tv" craziness. I turned on cartoons and took cat naps on the couch while he crawled all over me.

It was no surprise when Grayson crashed out for his nap about 10 o'clock this morning. I decided to take his nap time to hang out with Ella. We watched "Mr. Magorium's Wonder Emporium," and ate homemade Rice Krispie treats, made with the new Krispies that are 3x bigger and have a hint of honey. (They were okay.)

We had such a good time snuggling on the couch and talking about the movie. Before we knew it, it was lunch time and Grayson was still asleep. I didn't wake him. We stayed on the couch for some more snuggle time watching "Martha Speaks."

Grayson finally woke up about 3, and he was feeling so much better. I gave him his favorite snack, raisins, and then settled on the couch with my two favorite snuggle bugs for a few episodes of "Little Einsteins."

I had lots of things I needed to do today, but I had lots more fun just doing nothing with the kids.

Enjoying the nice weather

We were finally able to get outside and enjoy the warmer weather this weekend. The kids were itching to get out their backyard toys and play. Here's some pictures from Sunday and Monday.

This is my new favorite photo of Ella.

How do I know he really loves me?

My husband loves to watch movies. He has the preferred members card at Blockbuster. I think he rents 3-4 a week. I have two major problems with his rental addiction:

1. We pay over a hundred dollars a month to get every channel on DirecTV. I don't even know how many movie channels we have. It's crazy. He should be saving his money on rentals, and using the DVR more.

2. He never rents movies I want to see. He likes his stupid parody movies such as Meet the Spartans, and Scary Movie. He likes violent movies such as Crank, Transporter, and The Dark Knight. He likes horror movies, and luckily, so do I. But does he ever bring home a romantic comedy for me? Hardly ever. I think the last one he brought home was Fool's Gold. It was ok, but I think he just wanted to see Kate Hudson's ass. How can I blame him really....she has a nice ass. Really, I wish my ass looked like hers.

He came home on Friday with 3 movies. I don't know why I get my hopes up when he says he rented movies. I'm always looking for something that will make me say, "Oh honey! You actually got something for me!" This trip brought home: Beverly Hills Chihuahua, My Best Friend's Girl, and Body of Lies. The first movie was for Ella. The second was one he had previously rented, but not had a chance to see. The third movie was one that I thought I might actually like, but I still heard myself say, "You didn't get something I would want to watch?"

His reply was quick, and his motions fast. Without skipping a beat he said, "Since I didn't get a movie for you, I got you these instead." He whips out a box of candy. Not just any candy, mind you. Twilight Sweethearts!!


I was in shock. Not only had he thought about me, he actually bought me something with the word "Twilight" on it. This from the man who threatened to burn my books because I was so obsessed with reading them, that I ignored all my "duties" around the house.
It's the little things he does that shows how much he cares!

Pocket Edward gets a bath

Lauren has been up to it again....or Pocket Edward has.

Grayson turns 2!

Grayson's party is on Saturday, but I decided he needed a cake on his actually birthday. I made this cake, which was supposed to be a panda bear, but I ran short on time and tried to make it into a dog. Of course he wanted nothing to do with the cake, so we'll see how well he does at his party.

Ni Hao, Ella!

On a normal school day, Ella usually wears her hair in a pony tail, or braids. This morning, she asked for Ni Hao, Kai-lan hair. She never really asks for a certain hair style, so I usually just do whatever I want. Same with her clothes. I never have to fight her to wear something. I just pick out her clothes and she puts them on. I hope this new hairdo isn't a step in the, "No, Mommy! I don't want to wear THAT!" direction.

Check out "Cooking with Pocket Edward"

Ok. Everyone and their grandma knows I'm obsessed with Twilight and everything/person/story/interview/video

that goes along with it.

I religiously check out Confessions of a TwiCrack Addict daily.

Today I found a link to another Twilight blog: Lauren's Bite. She has done a wonderful job creating "Cooking with Pocket Edward." I would love to take her idea and run with it - but I need a pocket Edward first. Anyway....check out her chicken enchiladas. They look yummy, and the pocket Edward is such a great assistant.

What a wonderful day!

Dino

I hooked up a webcam yesterday. It is for a laptop, so it's not mounted, but it stills serves it's purpose. The kids were fascinated by it this morning. Here's the first product from the new toy.

Yummy!

I bought a 12-pack of this soda, Diet Sunkist Sparkling Lemonade, today at Wal-Mart. I had never heard of it before, and it caught my eye. All I can tell you people is....It is freaking amazing! I LOVE, LOVE, LOVE IT!! It only has 5 calories and no grams of fat, and yet I'm sure it is bad for me, but OH MY! it is tasty!

It took me forever to find a picture of the can on-line. According to random comments on random websites, this soda is really hard to find. Lucky me!

It's very crisp and, (if possible), sassy!

Where's the snow?

January is almost over. Spring is only a few months away. Most of you are super excited about this, but I am not.

I want some freakin' snow! I want to be able to go outside with my kids and play. I want to build a snowman. I want to throw snowballs at the dog. I want to see the kids go down the slide and plop into a pile of pretty, white, fluffy snow!

I bought all the essential winter items in early November - snow boots, snow pants, hats that Velcro under the chin, and I even searched all over the area until I found the coats I wanted - they had to have elastic on the inside with snaps so that the snow wouldn't creep up under the coat.

The kids have worn their boots two times, and the snow pants are still hanging in the closet collecting dust.

Grayson has never played in snow. Ella looks at pictures of winters past and asks when she can go outside and play.


The few times that we've had enough snow for them to play in, the weather wouldn't cooperate. I couldn't send them outside in 18 degree-below temperatures, and then there was the time that it all melted in 24 hours. Yesterday was the first day that I would have considered going outside and playing. But what happened? All the freakin' snow melted!

Two days after Grayson was born, we got about 8 inches of snow. I can only hope that happens again this year. And that the temperature is high enough to allow us some play time outside, yet low enough for the snow not to melt.

*Yes, all these photos are from last year!

Damn you, VZW!

We moved to St. Joseph over 4 years ago. In the beginning, I did not know anyone. All my friends were back home (okay...I had, like, four). Ella was a baby, and it was winter. The fact that Brady was "on-call" every 6 weeks didn't bother me so much. I had no social calendar, and we worked trips back home around his work schedule.

Over these last 4 years, his company has had employees come and go. It's great when they get a new employee - it takes some of the work off of Brady, and he actually makes it home for dinner at a decent time. What isn't so great, is how much this change in employees alters his "on-call" schedule.

He went from being on-call every 6 weeks (one week as a back-up, one week as a primary) to being on call every 4 weeks. Then it went back to every 5 weeks, but he was the primary person for two-week periods. I don't even know how many times things have changed. If one of the guys wants to go on vacation, they can trade on-call with someone, which means that he could be on-call for 3 weeks in a row. Right now, I think, he is on call every 2 weeks. One week as primary, and one week as backup. But I could be wrong.

I am trying to have a social life. I want to do things with my new-found friends down here. I want to schedule meetups and go for moms' nights out. However, my husband's crazy work schedule is ruining my chances of doing these things. I've stopped asking him what the new on-call schedule is....his answer is always the same, "I don't fucking know."

Why don't I just get a baby-sitter, you ask? Let me tell you. Just because he's on-call doesn't mean he'll be called out. So why would I pay a baby-sitter to come to my home to watch my kids, when their dad is right there. So what if I leave the kids at home with him while he is on call? If he gets called out, he needs to leave ASAP. The chances of getting a sitter over here in 20 minutes is impossible - teens these days have crazy, busy lives.

I have ventured out of the house by myself while he was on call a few times. Each time, I am only 15 minutes away, and my cell phone is always in my pocket on vibrate. I am the one "on-call," and I'm not getting paid for it.

Verizon Wireless is killing my attempt to be social.

Christmas photos

I have not blogged in so long....I really am at a loss trying to think of a topic. I have decided to share some pictures from our family Christmas a few weeks ago. It was a full house, but we had a good time.

Grayson giving Lucian a friendly pat. The not-so-friendly ones came a little later.

Ella wonders what present to open next.

Lucian and Aubry play with the race track.

Ella loves her new guitar.

Grayson takes a well-deserved break.

Lucian is bright-eyed!

Aunt Caroline reads to Grayson.

Papa naps while Ella plays her new Leapster 2.

Out of all the toys, his favorite came with a tube of candy.

Oops, I did it again.

Every time I try to keep a journal, I fall behind. I don't know why, I just do.
This time, I've fallen behind on this blog. I curse myself everyday for it, yet I can't seem to bring myself to write anything.
I am not a fan of New Year resolutions, but I actually have one for this year. I will try my hardest to keep up the blog. I will not be such a slacker. If I miss more than 5 days without an entry, will someone please send me messages howling at me? I'd allow you a kick in the butt, however, I know some of you wear big boots and I'm not all about that pain that leaves marks!