More from Ella...

I'm slacking again. I know. I suck.
Lately, when the kids say something funny, I will run to my laptop, and open a new Post-It note on my screen, and type whatever it is that they said. This is the easiest way for me to remember, because, well....my laptop is always open and on. (I have a slight addiction to Facebook. But really, who doesn't?)
So, here's a few of the humorous lines from Ella.

*It's morning, and I've already been woken up by Grayson crawling into my bed. I am trying to go back to sleep, and I hear the pitter-patter of little feet in the hallway. It's Ella.
"Good morning!" she says very loudly.
"Wow," I say. "You sure are perky this morning."
"I was born to be perky," she says.

*I was forced to move our couch to a different spot in the living room, to keep the kids from climbing on it and using it as a ladder to get onto the kitchen table. I asked Ella, "What do you think Daddy will say about where I moved the couch?"
"What the Hell?" she replies.

*When deciding who should read a book to her, Brady or me, Ella says, "You're both really great and I love you. I don't want any of you to be sad that you didn't get to read me a book. So I vote for....Mama."

*Ella: "How do you say, 'go,' in English?"
Me: "Go."
Ella: "How do you say it in Spanish?"
Me: "Vamanos."
Ella: "No, that means, 'let's go'."
I just stare at her for a few seconds.

*I overhear Ella and Grayson talking in my bedroom, while they are watching cartoons.
Ella says to Grayson, "The barber is where you get a haircut. Oh, and you get to play dominoes."

Ella is busy, busy, busy!

This week has been filled with activity....at least for Ella. It was a week filled with tee ball, swimming lessons, and summer camp. Poor Grayson, though, just got to hang out.

Monday's tee ball game was cancelled due to rain. And the rain is another issue for another day. Let's just say Mother Nature and I are on the "outs." Friday is Ella's last tee ball game of the summer. I can't believe she's done already! She seemed to enjoy it, but who knows. She's 5. She changes her opinion every 30 minutes!

Tuesday was the first swim lesson of the summer at Miller Aquatics. She was super excited! She loves the water. However she's still a little apprehensive about putting her head all the way in the water. We made sure that she was in the same session as one of our friends from C.A.R.E. in hopes that it might make it more fun. It's always easier to go into a new situation if you know someone else, right? When we got there, a little boy from her preschool class was there too. She's sorta indifferent to B. Sometimes she says he's nice, but mostly she stays away from him because he's "mean."

Wednesday, Ella had her first taste of summer camp. She is attending Eco Adventure Camp at Homer Lake. It's only one day a week for 1 1/2 hours, but it's still camp. Again, she was very excited, and again, we had a friend sign up for the same class. One of the boys from preschool, Bryson, is also in the camp class. In fact, because his mom runs a home daycare, I offered to take Bryson to and from camp for her. And again, when we got there, we discovered another boy from her preschool enrolled in this camp. What's humorous, is that the other boy, Andrew, is the boy who Ella had decided 9 months ago was to be her husband. Now, she's decided she's going to marry Bryson. (Collin was in between these two, BTW) I'm fine with her new choice. Bryson is adorable, nice, and doesn't seem to be one of those "mean" boys. And the fact that I like his family puts icing on the cupcake! (I didn't much care for Andrew's family).
Today, she had another swim lesson. Her teacher said that she was head-under a few times today. Yes! My hope is that by the end of summer, she'll be able to actually move a few feet under water - actually swimming!

Tomorrow we are hoping to get a playdate in with Ella's best friend, Eleni and her family. It's going to be a hot one, so I'm thinking a trip to the park early in the morning might be our best bet. Eleni's younger brother is a few months younger than Grayson, so both of my kids get someone to play with. It doesn't hurt that Eleni's mom, Sarah, is super-nice too!

There is a summer festival at Ella's preschool tomorrow night. (I probably should stop calling it "Ella's preschool" since she's done with it, but oh well). There is going to be food, bouncies, a dog Frisbee show of some sort, and other random stuff. But with it being the last night of tee ball, I'm thinking we'll skip the festival.

So while Ella is having all this fun, poor Grayson is just hanging out with me. I had planned on taking him on a nature hike while she was at camp Wednesday. However, Grayson injured his toe on Tuesday afternoon. I have no idea how it happened, but he tore a chunk of skin off the bottom of his toe while playing in our backyard. It's bandaged, and is finally starting to harden over, but I wasn't going to chance him stepping in a mud puddle and soaking it. He was not happy about not getting to go on a hike, but he got over it. Plus, he gets super sweaty feet, and no band-aid would have held up to that! I'm letting him out of his "cage" (he had to sit in the car with me today at swim lessons) to run and play tomorrow. I'm crossing my fingers the toe will be fine.

It's no vacation here!

Summer vacation is here. Why do they call it that? I'm thinking this summer is going to be in no way/shape/form a vacation for me.

I've listened to moms complain year after year about having their kids home for summer. I've never really understood what the big deal was all about. Unless you are a working parent, and have to worry about getting a babysitter, summer should be a piece of cake! Summer gives you plenty of time to bond with your kids. You can go swimming, hang out outside at the park or the zoo. Unless you have no planned activities, you can just go with the flow. Everyone should love summer, right? Oh how naive I was.

This is Ella's second "summer vacation." Last year, we traveled a lot. Grayson was still a little guy, only being 2, and just wanted to run around outside. He didn't care where we were, he just wanted to run. I made things easy by filling up the swimming pools and letting the kids loose in the backyard. I grilled hot dogs for lunch, and provided lots of Popsicles. Many times, I made up excuses as to why we couldn't go outside to play....on days when I was just not interested in being in the heat.

This summer is a whole new experience already, and it's only been a week! The kids are constantly fighting with each other. Grayson is older now, so he's talking back, and standing up for himself. They've been driving me crazy, and I've been yelling a lot more than usual.

Both kids are already asking to go places other than the backyard - the zoo, a museum, the mall (Ella's asking for this one), the park, a friend's house, the gym.....anywhere that's not here. As much as I love going places, it's not always possible. I've got chores to do at home. Sometimes I'm tired and just want to chill on the couch. Lately, it's been raining a lot. I could let them go outside and get muddy in the backyard, or at the park, but I really don't want to.

With luck, our pool will be finished in a couple weeks, and that might make things easier. But if I know my son, he'll want to be in it ALL THE TIME. Which means I'll have to be in it ALL THE TIME. Grayson doesn't understand that sometimes, Mommy has other things to do. As nice as it would be to lounge in the pool all day, it's not possible.

I'm working on setting up playdates for Ella...perhaps on a weekly schedule. I'll let a friend come over on a Wednesday, if Ella can go to their house on a Friday. My other mom-friends understand and are going through the same thing with their kids. We know that we need to stick together to make it through the next 3 months, or we'll all be medicated by the 4th of July!

I was hoping for a care-free, laid-back sort of summer. That's not going to happen. I need to make a plan, and follow through. Damn it!

I. Will. Try. Harder. Promise.

There are days when I can't believe I wanted to be a writer. I can't even keep a journal or a blog! I need to get with it. I started this to document my family's life....I have not done a very good job. I've said it before, and I'll say it again...I am going to try harder. I really am.

Ella is a walking commercial

Ella loves to talk. She loves to sing. She loves to hum...especially at the dinner table while she's eating. It drives me crazy, but it's a little cute too. She makes up her own songs and melodies all the time.

When she was younger, she would sing commercial jingles. At first it was just a few lines from the commercial, then it progressed to the whole thing. One of her favorites is the "Five Dollar Footlong" song from the Subway commercials.

This morning, I heard her reciting something familiar. I had her repeat it, and I almost fell over laughing. I made her do it again so I could get a video, and here it is:

"You cut, rip and tear. But your brownies never turn out square. Need a hand? Now there's brownie pan!"

Happy Birthday Grayson!!

Sit back, relax, and enjoy the slide show I made for Little Man's 3rd birthday!

Make a Smilebox slideshow

Joys of raising a boy.

When I found out I was pregnant with Grayson, I was excited to be having a boy. "Now I'll have one of each," I thought. I was a little worried about caring for a baby with a penis though. I had no experience with that. I'd never babysat a baby boy, and I knew there were going to be things I couldn't explain from a personal perspective to this little man of mine.

In his infant years, I remember changing Grayson's poopy diapers and being amazed at all the places the poop could settle. I really had no idea there were so many folds and crevices on a male scrotum. I guess I never really paid attention to it before. But really? I had no reason to.


I remember the first time I saw his morning infant erection. I like to call it his "baby-wood." (I'm horrible, I know.) It sorta freaked me out. I didn't think he could do that at such an early age.


I've tried to ask Brady about certain things, and he's no help. I don't know if he's uncomfortable talking about this stuff, or what. He never urinates in front of Grayson, and so the poor kid really has no idea about the whole "stand to pee" thing.


A few weeks ago, we were at my parent's house. My nephew and niece were there too. I was changing my nephew's diaper and Grayson was watching with interest. It has only been recent that Grayson has realized his pee-pee is different from Ella's. He's starting to discover himself more. I hadn't realized that since this new "discovery" that he hasn't seen another penis. A few days after he saw me change that diaper, he said something that took me a few seconds to figure out.


I was changing Grayson's diaper. He sat up and was touching his penis. He said, "I have it like Lucian." He was saying that he and Lucian have the same parts. I told him "Yes! You and Lucian both have the same pee-pee! Good job." I was excited that he noticed the similarity.


There have been a few times where he is sitting on the potty before bath-time, and after peeing, he pulls on his penis and looks at the head. "Yuck!" he says. Poor kid.


About a week ago, I had him on the potty in the morning. He had a dry diaper when he woke up, and I wanted to take advantage. It was cold in the bathroom, and I wasn't prepared for what I was going to see.


I was squatted in front of Grayson to make sure there was no random flying pee, and while I watched, I saw shrinkage in action. It was crazy. I could actually see one testicle move inside the scrotum, and then the other one. They pulled up close to his body and then the skin surrounding them shrank so quickly I would have missed it if I'd have blinked. I'd never seen this happen before. I knew it did, but I'd never witnessed it.


Apparently it scared Grayson. He looked at me and with a very worried voice he said, "Momma, what happened to my belly?" I touched his belly and said, "Here?" "No, there" he said as he touched his penis. "It's ok," I told him. I had no idea how to explain what we both just witnessed to an almost 3 year-old.


I know as Grayson gets bigger there will be more questions that I won't be able to answer. I just hope that my husband gets over his feelings of awkwardness for talking to the boy about these things. I certainly can't explain how things are supposed to happen or feel.

Snow Silliness!

This is the first time the kids have been in the snow this winter.

Make a Smilebox slideshow

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.