A sucker for cuteness

The kids and I went shopping yesterday and met up with Stacy. Throughout the course of the day, Noah came to acquire 3 pennies.

We head for Target. Noah has been asking for a baseball glove for a while and he found one at Target. I told him that I wouldn't buy it for him but he wore it all through the store anyway. He kept telling perfect strangers that he was going to "take the glove to his home to play baseball."

We get the checkout and I tell him again that I'm not buying the glove and he needs to take it off. He goes with Stacy to a different checkout register. Apparently this is what happened next:

"Okay, Noah. Time to go. Take the glove off."

"I take it to my home."

"Well, you have to pay for it. Do you have any money?"

Very excited with his eyes showing every bit of excitement "I do!!!"

He starts reaching in his pocket for his 3 pennies to give to the cashier. In his mind, he paid for it with money so he was ready to take it home.

Stacy was a sucker for his cuteness and bought him the glove. He's been wearing it ever since. He even took it to bed with him last night.

As I was checking out a few lanes away, I took a tag from Natalie that she has been chewing on and was quite content with. It was time to go and I didn't want to buy the shirt that was attached to the tag (don't worry, the shirt stayed dry). She opened her mouth to scream her discontent about losing her toy and I noticed a tooth that I hadn't seen before. She is teething a top tooth and apparently has already gotten the same tooth on the bottom. Well - well -well... that explains the SUPER fussiness that I've been dealing with for 2 days. Since it's so far back, I had no idea. I know the top tooth she is teething because her gum is a giant, painful, nasty looking, purple bubble. I can't wait for the tooth to break through. I bet she'll feel so much better. I'm in pain just looking at it!!!

She has started sleeping through the night. She'll go down at 7 and since Monday, has been sleeping until I get her up at 730-8. Most mornings I'll go in and she's laying there just looking around. She doesn't babble and talk like Noah so I never really know what time she wakes up.

Last night she woke to eat at 1030 but I think it's because she didn't eat dinner. Her gums hurt to much to chew and I didn't want "Battle de Pasta Primavera" again. A big bottle at bed and another at 1030 was fine with me. She was awake and looking around at 830 when I went in this morning.

She sat up by herself yesterday. I've been waiting for it for weeks and really try to focus on her when I see her trying to sit up. I want to see it happen!! I layed her in the floor to change her diaper as Dave was leaving for work. Dave comes back in and says, "Huh - the garage door was open all night and the cars are still out in the driveway." I turn to him, smiling, and say, "We could have been murdered in our beds." When I turn back around, Natalie is sitting up, smiling at me. Oh man!!!! I'm right here and it only took a second to turn. I didn't even turn around completely; I just turned my head. Darn it!!! Oh well... she hasn't done it again so maybe I'll see it next time. :)

Battle de Pasta Primavera

I'd like to think I won because the bowl is nearly empty but looking at how much she is wearing, I'm concerned she won. She has been wiped down 3 times since the battle started. Imagine how bad she'd look if I hadn't wiped her down at all.

Noah's New Thing

"What my name?" (meaning you are supposed to ask him what his name is)

"What's your name?"

"My name Noah. Nice to meet you. High five."

He holds out his hand and when you give him five he says, in a gruff sing-song voice, "All right!"

He will sit and do this several times with anybody that will play along including me and Dave. I think that's part of the humor for me... He acts like we've never met - "what's my name?" :)

The kids are growing

Natalie had her 9 month check up on Monday. She weighs 20 lbs and is 28 inches long. Her 8th tooth has finally poked through. She has been teething that tooth for too long. She's been rolling pretty well for a few weeks but she has started crawling commando style on Monday and is moving pretty quick. She pulls herself up onto all 4s but hasn't quite figured out moving that way. She isn't pulling herself into a sitting position, yet. She's been so close a few times that I hold my breath and watch, so excited, and then she'll fall and keep moving on. Oh well - It'll come in time. I was putting her in her blue rocker to contain her when I shower but since she's more mobile, now, it's harder to contain her in the seat. I'm afraid I'll get out of the shower and she'll look like Noah did when he outgrew the seat.



I weighed Noah when we were at the doctor. He weighs 35lbs. I didn't check his height. I just needed a weight check. He's close the limit on his car seat and we'll have to rotate car seats for him, again.

He is no longer interested in watching a movie in the morning so I can get an extra 45-60 minutes of sleep. We realized this a week ago when Dave came upstairs to shower and found that Noah had gotten into my nail polish. I must say though - he did a very good job of painting his finger nails on his left hand. He only painted his the nail and surrounding skin. I was surprised... For being 2, he stayed in the "lines" pretty well. The problem was that when he finished his nails, he decided to unzip his pajamas and paint his chest. His poor sensitive skin did not take to the nail polish remover very well but I had to get the polish off. The polish he picked is blood red. I use it on my toes in the summer so leaving it on until it wears off was definitely not an option for him. I was surprised he got the lid off. I usually tighten it too tight for myself and end up using my teeth to open the bottle the next time I want to use the polish. When he was finished painting, he put the lid back on the put it back in the drawer where he found it. If I hadn't asked him where he put it, I would have never thought to look in the drawer and never would have suspected he'd get the lid on and tight but he did. Other than having it all over himself, you'd never know he got into it. He was very clean about it.

He came into our room at some point Tuesday night. I pulled into bed with me and fell asleep. I was awakened at 715 with him leaning over me, inches from my face, whispering, "Mom. Mom. Mom... I got dressed." I opened my eyes and smiled. He had gotten into the basket in our room that has all the clothes that are too small for the kids. He was wearing a size 3-6 month cotton pants that no longer fit Natalie and a long sleeve 2T green dinosaur shirt that no longer fits him. It looked like he was wearing shorts and choking himself with the shirt. He's wearing 3T pants and 4T shirts, now. He was so proud of himself for doing it all by himself. I'm just glad he didn't try to change his own diaper. :) It confirms that a movie is no longer an option and he's learned to be so quiet when he moves around our room that sometimes I don't even know he's up.

He's doing great at swim lessons. Week 4 will be Monday. I took him for week 1 because Dave and Natalie were still sick (reference post: The Funk) and he jumped off the edge into the water without any problems. Week 2 and 3, Dave took him while I worked out. Noah wouldn't jump off the edge unless Dave held him hand. Since I finish working out before his lesson is over, I stopped into watch the last few minutes. When I saw he still wouldn't jump without holding Dave's hand, I said, "Noah, jump like Adam." He didn't want to hold Dave's hand after that and jumped right in. He would swim back to the edge and climb out saying, "Again. Like Adam." It didn't matter that the swim lesson had moved onto other stuff, he was jumping like Adam - no hands! :) Now, if I could just get that to work with potty training but no such luck. He wants to wear underwear like Adam but doesn't want to go on the pot like Adam. He's still flat out refusing to try. When I ask him to go on the pot, he says, "No. I need a diaper." Well, okay then, a diaper it is.

I may have mentioned it in a previous posting but in case I forgot - Noah will be starting 3 yr old preschool in the fall at one of the local churches. He will go Tue and Thurs from 9-1130. I'm so excited!!! He loves school and that's all he talks about since going with Stacy to pick Bella up from school one day a few months ago. He is always talking about riding the school bus. We're not there yet and won't be for a few years!! I'm excited now but I know that I will be an absolute wreck his first day. I just hope I can contain my tears so that I don't worry or scare him about it when I drop him off.

Now, if Natalie will just grow a little faster, we'll be set. I don't like the baby stage - give me a toddler and I'm happy :)

What's it really like to be a mom?

**I got this in an email. I don't know who the original author but I thought it was so true and I wanted to share it with you.**

We are sitting at lunch one day when my daughter casually mentions that she and her husband are thinking of "starting a family."

"We're taking a survey", she says half-joking. "Do you think I should have a baby?"

"It will change your life," I say, carefully keeping my tone neutral.

"I know," she says, "no more sleeping in on weekends, no more spontaneous vacations."

But that is not what I meant at all. I look at my daughter, trying to decide what to tell her. I want her to know what she will never learn in childbirth classes.

I want to tell her that the physical wounds of child bearing will heal, but becoming a mother will leave her with an emotional wound so raw that she will forever be vulnerable. I consider warning her that she will never again read a newspaper without asking, "What if that had been MY child?" That every plane crash, every house fire will haunt her. That when she sees pictures of starving children, she will wonder if anything could be worse than watching your child die.

I look at her carefully manicured nails and stylish suit and think that no matter how sophisticated she is, becoming a mother will reduce her to the primitive level of a bear protecting her cub. That an urgent call of "Mom!" will cause her to drop a souffle' or her best crystal without a moments hesitation. I feel that I should warn her that no matter how many years she has invested in her career, she will be professionally derailed by motherhood. She might arrange for childcare, but one day she will be going into an important business meeting and she will think of her baby's sweet smell. She will have to use every ounce of discipline to keep from running home, just to make sure her baby is all right.

I want my daughter to know that every decision will no longer be routine. That a five year old boy's desire to go to the men's room rather than women's at McDonald's will become a major dilemma. That right there, in the midst of clattering trays and screaming children, issues of independence and gender identity will be weighed against the prospect that child molester may be lurking in that restroom.

However decisive she may be at the office, she will second-guess herself constantly as a mother. Looking at my attractive daughter, I want to assure her that eventually she will shed the pounds of pregnancy, but she will never feel the same about herself. That her life, now so important, will be of less value to her once she has a child. That she would give herself up in a moment to save her offspring, but will also hope for more years, not to accomplish her own dreams, but to watch her child accomplish theirs. I want her to know that a cesarean scar or shiny stretch marks will become badges of honor.

My daughter's relationship with her husband will change, but not in the way she thinks. I wish she could understand how much more you can love a man who is careful to powder the baby or who never hesitates to play with his child. I think she should know that she will fall in love with him again for reasons she would now find very unromantic.

I wish my daughter could sense the bond she will feel with women throughout history who have tried to stop war, prejudice and drunk driving.

I want to describe to my daughter the exhilaration of seeing your child learn to ride a bike. I want to capture for her the belly laugh of a baby who is touching the soft fur of a dog or cat for the first time. I want her to taste the joy that is so real it actually hurts.

My daughter's quizzical look makes me realize that tears have formed in my eyes. "You'll never regret it," I finally say. Then I reached across the table, squeezed my daughter's hand and offered a silent prayer for her, and for me, and for all the mere mortal women who stumble their way into the most wonderful of callings.

The Funk

**Sorry this post is so long. There was no way to really shorten it without taking away from my whole experience. I hope you enjoy reading it and you feel it was worth your time.**Names have been changed to protect the innocent :)

Preface - This "experience" started 2 weeks ago.

Our house has been blanketed with "the funk". I'm not sure who started it - Noah or Natalie.

Noah threw up last Monday on the way to Y. It wasn't that much and it was so random that I thought maybe he dribbled his drink. No, he assures me, he spit up like Natalie does. I figured maybe he got carsick. It would be the first time it's happened but what else could it be.

Tuesday night at 9, Natalie starts fussing for what I think is her 930 bottle. I make the bottle and head upstairs only to discover she doesn't want a bottle, she's covered in vomit. It has soaked through her fleece pajamas which normally are pretty good at repelling any liquid. Not this time - she's covered head to toe, literally. It's in her hair, up her nose and since it's soaked through, she's wet down to her feet.

I call for Dave in the monitor. He comes up and decides he'll do the bath and I'll change the bed sheets. After bath and sheet changing are complete, I go in our room to check on her and Dave. She has thrown up again after the bath and again as I walk into our room. This is bad!!! There's clearly more going on here than just a little spit up episode gone bad.

The scariest part of this whole bad episode is that after each vomiting incident, she nearly loses consciousness. Her eyes roll into the back of her head and she becomes a limp rag doll. Just as her eyes are about to close, she perks back up and is no longer rag doll like but definitely not feeling good. She does this 5 times in 45 minutes. I am amazed at the amount of liquid this girl is releasing. Where on earth did she store it all??

After 45 minutes and a call into the doctor, she begins to dry heave. Oh boy!!! The doctor calls back and tells us to take her the ER. We call in reinforcements and have Kate come stay with Noah who is sound asleep. She arrives and we blast out the door - vomiting child and all.

During our long stay in the ER waiting room, we get a message from Kate about all the strange noises our house makes. Paul is on his way over to protect Kate and Noah from strange noises. :) (I understand - I hate staying in the house without Dave.)

Apparently there's weather moving into the area. At some point - I think around midnight - the tornado sirens start going off. The sirens wake up Noah. The sirens are freaking Kate out - it's one thing to deal with it on your own but when you have toddler that you are in charge of, do you pay attention to the sirens and head to the basement or ignore them like you would if you didn't have a toddler? Dave guides her through and they survive the night. Noah is in heaven...curled up in our bed with Kate and Paul watching Buzz and Woody. I think Kate said he finally fell back asleep around 245. So - it's a late night for all involved.

Our lucky number is finally called and we go from the waiting room to an ER room - to wait! The student dr. comes in and we give her the low down on Natalie. She brings in the real dr. and gives him our low down on Natalie. After some discussion and sitting in our own episode of Grey's Anatomy (way cool!! but the dr. was NO mcdreamy or mcsteamy). There is some discussion about what could be causing her to be so sick other than just a stomach flu. (I am not sure I understand what he's talking about and I don't think I can pronounce what she might have so you'll need to talk to Dave for further info).

They take an xray as a preliminary test for this possible problem. The xray comes back with some cause for concern. She has to have an ultrasound to know for sure.

Sweet Natalie does so good. She only fusses a little bit and not for very long. Poor thing is starving and exhausted. She does very good - no fussing or crying - for the xray or ultrasound.

After the ultrasound it is decided that she has nothing more than stomach flu. I'm relieved!! She is discharged at 530am.

We head home with no idea what to expect. How much sleep has Noah, Kate and Paul gotten?

We stumble in the door and up to bed. Dave puts Noah back in his bed. We know that Noah will be up in about an hour and we want Kate and Paul to sleep so we send them to the guest room. It is 615 when my head hits the pillow. Natalie starts fussing at 7 but finds her thumb and falls back to sleep. The battery starts to die on the monitor at 715 so it's making the "I'm gonna die noise". I am so tired that I roll over and fall back to sleep anyway. Noah comes in at 735. So much for sleeping! I've agreed to get up with Noah so Dave can sleep. I'll go back to bed when Dave gets up.

I stumble downstairs with Noah. I hand him a cup of cereal, a drink of milk, turn on Backyardigans and pass out on the couch. Well, as close to pass out as I can get with an active toddler loose in the house with nearly no supervision. He's great!!! He watches Pablo and plays toys by himself. Kate and Paul leave at 1030. Dave surfaces at 1130. I've dozed in and out since 730 so I get up with the intention of pumping myself full of caffeine and making it until Noah goes to bed for the night. I'll go to bed when he goes to bed so I don't my days and night mixed up. That plan works until 1. I can barely keep my eyes open after 2 cups of coffee. I head off to bed. All seems under control. Natalie is happy as a lark and keeping her formula down. It must have been a 24 hour bug. She's fine. Noah is down for his nap so things are pretty quiet for Dave.

Noah and Dave wake me at 415. I crawl out of my bed and into Noah's toddler bed. He's playing in his room with Dave and Natalie. I'll just lay down and watch - I can barely keep my eyes open!!

We all survive the day - sleepless and all!! Natalie goes to bed at 7 - Noah goes to bed at 8. Natalie wakes up for her 930 bottle... covered in vomit - AGAIN!! I do the bath and Dave does the sheets. We hold our breath hoping this is not a repeat of the night before. We just don't have it in us to be up all night again. Luckily – there was only instance of being sick.

Dave heads off to work on Thursday. Natalie and Noah do fine all day but again, after she goes to bed – she gets sick but only once. One does the bath – one does the sheets. I am washing her sheets everyday because I only have 2. Under normal circumstances, two is plenty.

Dave came home feeling sick so I’m in this for the long haul it seems.

I hear Dave up several times Thursday night and he doesn’t go to work on Friday. Oh boy!! When Noah comes in at 630, we do our usual routine- turn on the TV and I get an extra 45-60 minutes. On a week like this has been, every second counts. Because Natalie has been up all night every night since Tuesday, I have yet to get any decent amount of sleep to get caught up from our overnight in the ER.

When I finally roll out of bed, I pull on my sweat pants and ball cap. We make our way to the living room and he is so patient with me being SOOO tired. He doesn’t seem extra needy and seems to really be doing well at understanding this week is really different than usual. I am surprised at my patience with Noah. Being so tired, I would have expected a very short fuse. I am so tired that just thinking about not being able to go to sleep almost brings me to tears. I have to fight back my urge to sit on the couch and cry several times. Since Natalie is up several times a night from not feeling well and being extra hungry from her VERY limited diet, she is all whacked out on her schedule. She and Noah are not napping at the same time which is only making things harder on me.

It’s getting late in the day and I’m getting hungry. Because Noah doesn’t understand why he can’t see daddy (who is sleeping upstairs) – his favorite person in the world, I am having a VERY LONG day. There is only so much food in the house to scrounge up something to eat, I’m tired and don’t really care about cooking so I decide to order Chinese.

“Ten minute – come pick up!”

I load the kids in the car and go a mile and a half down the road to the local Chinese joint. I walk in, pay the cashier and hear from behind me, “Selena?!”

OH NO!!!! (Remember – I rolled out bed, pulled on some sweats, through on a ball cap and zombied through my day. I didn’t brush my teeth, wash my face or change out of my sweats and t-shirt before I left the house. I debated for a very brief moment about at least brushing my teeth but that required energy I didn’t have. I’m only going a mile down the road, running in and running out. It’s 445- everybody I know in the area is still at work)

Again – OH NO!!!!

Trying to hide the horror on my face, I turn to see a guy Dave works with. He lives in the next subdivision down from us. We’ve been in the house a year and half and I’ve NEVER run into him. Why, God, Why – why now???!!!!

“Oh, hi, Joe.”

“Hey, how are you?”

(Really – you can’t tell from looking at me)… “Terrible!!” No sooner does the word come and I really regret it. I don’t really know this guy and I’m about to unload my life on him. Him – of all people!! I can’t just call my mom or one of my sisters to unload my life, I have to tell him??? What is wrong with me???

“Oh no! What’s wrong?”

“Oh, it’s nothing really. Natalie was at the hospital on Tuesday with the stomach flu. She still has and it now Dave is hiding out in our guest room with it.”

“Oh wow! Is there anything we can do?” We refers to his wife, 3 year old daughter and newborn daughter who was born the beginning of December. Like he’s not over loaded enough?!?!

“Oh, thanks, Joe. I’ll let you know.” Not really but it sounded nice :)

“How’s the baby?”

He proceeds to tell me that his new daughter has acid reflux and is on a prescription antacid. Okay, he wins. I'm dealing with this fiasco for a few days. He's been dealing with it for months. We talk for only a second longer and I get in the Jeep.

Now I’m really fighting back tears! I’m exhausted and humiliated!!!!!!!!! :`}

I get home, unload the kids, give Noah some Chinese and head upstairs with a bottle of Sprite I managed to remember to buy at the Chinese restaurant. I hand it to Dave and ask how he’s feeling. He says, “Oh, you already went to the store?”

“No. I picked up some Chinese.”

“I need Theraflu. I think I’m getting the flu. I ache all over and am freezing.”

“Do you want me to go back out to Kroger?” (Please say no – Please say no – Please say no)

“Yes. Just get me some Theraflu.”

“Can I eat first?”

“Yes.”

I head downstairs. My feet are cement. I’m exhausted, humiliated, starving, and now I have to go back out to the store. I think if I eat, I’ll feel a little better – wrong!

I load the kids back in the car. I figure I’ve already humiliated myself, just go the way you are. At this point, what’s the point in even caring who you run into. It can’t get any worse than that.

I decide that Walgreens will be a lot less “attention grabbing” when I unload Noah in his pajamas and no shoes, me in my sweats, a t-shirt, sweatshirt, ball cap and Natalie still in pajamas. I’m clearly having a bad day because I get sympathetic smiles from people walking by the medicine aisle. I must look A LOT worse than I thought.

I’m looking for Theraflu and see that it’s similar to Nyquil. Why not just buy Nyquil? It’s cheaper and does the same thing. He asked for Theraflu specifically so I get the generic brand and make my way to the register. We safely make it out the door and back home again without incident. Thank God!!!

I go upstairs, give him the Theraflu and tell him it’s pretty much the same thing as Nyquil.

“Oh, really? That’s not the kind I wanted. You’re supposed to mix it in water to take it.”

Fight the tears – fight the tears – breathe – breathe

“That’s all they had at Walgreens. Do you want me to go back out to Kroger?” (Please say no – Please say no – Please say no)

“No. That’s okay. Maybe this will work.”

I head downstairs to put Natalie to bed. Then it’s Noah’s turn for bed. By the time it’s all said and done, I can barely stand up. I go upstairs to go to bed and when my head hits the pillow my body thinks it’s time to start the day. I toss and turn – toss and turn. I finally fall asleep at some terrible hour (under any other circumstance, I’m sure it wouldn’t be such a terrible hour).

Noah comes in at some point. I don’t remember him coming in but when Natalie wakes up at 230, he is in our bed with his pillow off his bed. I know he wouldn’t have brought it in. I must have gotten it for him – how scary!?! I function for my kids and don’t even remember. Oh well… she’s up and I don’t want her waking him through the monitor.

I zombie my way to her room, reach to pick her up and she’s covered in vomit. Why me??? I can’t give her a bath. All her bath stuff is in the master bath and it will wake up Noah. If I leave to get it out of the master bath, she’ll freak out crying and wake up Noah and Dave. I must improvise!!

I strip her down to her diaper and give her a “wipes bath”. They are cold and I feel bad but it’s better than sleeping in your own vomit. She rolls around on the floor, happy as a lark, while I change the sheets. She won’t eat and finally settles down back to sleep. I crawl back into bed. What feels like 10 minutes later (but is actually 4 ½ hours) Noah rolls over asking to watch TV. I must some how manage my day, again. I didn’t hear Dave up all hours of the night but I’m not sure what his status is.

I function for my day. Natalie naps – Noah naps. Not at the same time…that would be too good for me at this point. Dave surfaces later that afternoon just long enough to make sure I’m still living and haven’t run off to the crazy house, yet. No, I assure him, I’m surviving.

Dave begins to feel better later that evening. Good thing – Natalie throws up again around 930. As we sit in our room with her trying to decide what to do, I mention just how tired I am. Dave decides that he’s feeling well enough to deal with her overnight. I head to bed.

Again with the not sleeping when my head hits the pillow. Why, God, Why??? I finally fall asleep and sleep absolutely terrible!! For some reason, I am just not meant to sleep – ever!!!

I wake up Sunday morning not feeling good. I figure it’s just sheer exhaustion. I have been going non-stop for nearly a week on the amount of sleep most people get in one night. I head down stairs and decide to take Noah to the 11:00 church service/Sunday school. As strange as it sounds – I really look forward to church because I think they have really good coffee. Oh – after the week I’ve had, I’m really looking forward to a good cup of coffee. I drop Noah at Sunday school and head towards the coffee machine. There’s no creamer - Why, God, Why??? – I’m at church, I might as well ask!! :) No coffee today so I settle for a cup of hot tea.

After church, we head home. I am still not feeling good and decide it’s time for a nap. It’s about 1. I am startle awake at 4 by the sudden onset of nausea – oh no!!!!! I’ve picked up the funk.

When I come out of the bathroom, I make my way halfway down the stairs and sit. Noah is at the bottom of the stairs and says, “Where’s daddy?” Good question!

“Noah, where daddy?”

I hear Natalie’s door open. Dave had heard me in the bathroom and asked if I felt better. I’m still not feeling good. I go back up the stairs to bed. I’m in bed the rest of the night.

It’s Tuesday before any of us feel okay and the house is functioning back to normal. Little Noah steered clear of the funk and I’m so thankful. Two babies with the funk seems impossible.

So, sorry it’s been so long for an update. We were all sick for a week and it’s taken me a week to write this blog.

A Winter Poem

This beautiful winter poem was emailed to me. It was a comfort to me and I thought it might be a comfort to you, too. It's very well written and I hope that you enjoy it.

'WINTER'
by Abigail Elizabeth McIntyre



Shit It's Cold
The End

Do we have a politician on our hands?

I was sitting in the floor playing with Natalie yesterday and watching Fun Food Factories on the Travel Channel. Noah was playing in the closet and trying on every shoe we own. I went upstairs to talk to Dave about going to Sammie and Braden's for the Super Bowl. When I came back down, Natalie had the remote in her hand, turned around, looked at me and smiled. Apparently the Travel Channel bored her - she was watching the presidential candidates on CNN. She had turned the channel on her own and apparently found something that interested her. Dave is so proud!!

An elephant and a smile just for you..

Blueberry's

Why do I continue to feed my kids blueberry's? I don't let Noah eat them anymore. He can eat a blueberry muffin or blueberry pancake but to eat blueberry's straight out of the fresh fruit container, not so much. I've learned my lesson - the hard way. You would think that since I learned my lesson with Noah, I'd shy away from blueberry's with Natalie but no... I'm guess I'm just a risk taker that way (ugh!!)

I fed Natalie some pear blueberry granola baby food the other day. She loved it as I figured she would. All babies love fruit; they hate the other stuff like veggies and meat. Not even 10 minutes after finishing her delicious pear blueberry lunch, she is sitting in her highchair and I hear her begin to grunt. No big deal - it's normal; she's running right on schedule - so to speak :) When she's finished, I can smell her on the other side of the kitchen. :( I am cooking dinner so I figure I'll give her a minute just to be sure she's done while I finish cutting the onions and putting the beef tips in the pan.

I carry her, a diaper and the wipes into the living room to change her diaper. As I lay her down and pull her pants off, I see that it is down her legs where the pants have smeared it on their way off. It is all over her onesie and I am at a complete loss. I didn't expect this!! Dave is at work and I am no where near prepared for this mess. Little Noah is sitting on the couch watching Blue's Clues. I look around, frantically - I don't know why. It's not like the kids toys can save me from this disaster!

I need the scissors. Of course we keep them out of Noah's reach so I can't ask him to be the helpful big brother he is so good at being. What am I gonna do? I can't pick her up because I'll get it all over me and that will make me throw up and make a bigger mess. I can't leave her lay there while I get the scissors - she'll roll over and get it on the carpet. Dinner is cooking and at this point, I'm not even sure how that will turn out. She is distracted by the TV so I make a run for it and grab the scissors.

As I run back into the room (I know, you're not supposed to run with scissors in your hand but hey, I'm almost 30 and I'm desperate to keep it off the carpet), she starts to roll. The next few seconds played out in slow motion as if in a Hollywood movie. I yell, "NO!!" She stops but only for a brief moment. She can't see me on her back so now she must roll over to see me since she hears me. I yell again, "NO!!! Natalie, no rolling!!" Again, I don't know why I do this. It's not like she understands what I'm saying and she is on a one track mind - "see mom".

Just as her leg is about to hoist her all the way over and make this disaster worse, I slide safely into position and stop her. It was sort of like a close play in baseball. She laughed and scrunched her nose as if laughing to herself at this fun game she is playing with me. Noah never missed a beat; he just kept watching Blue's Clues!

I cut the onesie off, pull the diaper open and use nearly all the wipes just trying to get the diaper off. Luckily I didn't run out; the wipes are in the basement and I'm positive she would have rolled before I got back upstairs.

I get everything cleaned up and she gets a new outfit on and we continue our day. I wearily check the meat that has been cooking for what seems like way too long... yep, that's what I was afraid of! Because of the grease from the meat, the juice from the onions, the meat not being stirred and "monitored", the meat has been "boiled" and has cooked past done so we are having beef jerky and noodles for dinner. Yum - sorry 'bout it, Dave :)

A busy time but a successful surprise

Oh boy – where do I start? It’s been a crazy 2 weeks.

Dave went to NY for work last Tuesday. He was scheduled to be back last Wednesday night but got held up and came home Thursday night. You would think, given any normal situation, that wouldn’t be a big deal. To me and the fact that his birthday is a week and a half away – it’s a very big deal.

We were supposed to have party for him on Saturday the 26^th. There was limited availability with my family that day so I was really trying to figure out how to make it work without scheduling a party 3 weeks after the fact. So, last Tuesday night, as I sat feeding Natalie at 930, I decided I would try to pull off a surprise party for Friday. That leaves me 3 days until the party.

I frantically make calls to my family at 930pm to see if we can possibly pull this off. General consensus is “yes”. Everyone will be here no later than 530 on Friday to surprise him as he comes in the door from work. I am so excited - I think I can pull this off!!

Dave called me on Wednesday to say he is held up on his work project and won’t be home until Thursday night. Because he is staying an extra day in NY, maybe he can leave early on Friday. I pretend like it’s no big deal – “Oh, that’d be fun! Okay.” Inside I’m reacting something a little more like this: “WHAT!?!?! Are you serious!?!?! You can’t leave early!!! What the hell am I gonna do?!?!?!” Now I’m disappointed – I don’t think I can pull this off.

I called mom, frantic – “Please help me. What am I gonna do? Help me come up with a believable story about why he can’t leave early without really letting him onto what’s happening.” After some talking and thinking – maybe I can get somebody at work to schedule a late day meeting with Dave. I hate relying on someone at work but I’m desperate. Maybe I can tell him he can’t come home because I have a contractor coming to give me an estimate on something for his birthday. Not to believable but what else am I gonna do. I decide to wait and see what the day in like on Friday before I start telling lies and involving people at work.

Because I can’t let on that I am pulling this together, I have to wait and buy EVERYTHING on Friday. It’s supposed to be 20° and Noah is sick. I hate to drag him out all day but what choice to do I have.

Friday arrives – I’m exhausted. I don’t sleep well when Dave is gone and the smoke alarm went off in the middle of the night because of a low battery which scared the daylights out of me. After my heart stopped pounding out of my chest and I finally fell asleep, Noah came in. Once he tossed and turned and finally got comfortable enough o sleep, Natalie woke up. So, here I am – no sleep, 10° (it’s 8am), a party to plan, buy food and cook food in less than 9 hours. I know I will be on my feet non-stop until 530 when Dave gets home but I have no idea the day I am about to have…

I throw the kids in the car and rush off to Kroger as soon as I know Dave is out of the subdivision. No breakfast…just a big glass of milk for each kid to get them through grocery shopping. I’ll feed them breakfast when we get home. I am planning on cooking spaghetti with homemade sauce. I need to get the sauce going because I want it to simmer in the crock pot all day. I have to bake a cake, make icing and decorate the cake after it has time to cool. I have to get to Kroger for all this food. I wish I could have bought it earlier but Dave would have definitely guessed something was up when I brought enough spaghetti for 15 people.

I push through Kroger throwing any possible necessity for the party in the cart. I pick up a case of beer but wait, we’re having spaghetti – beer and spaghetti…GROSS!! I put the beer back and wonder aimlessly through the wine – yeah right, like I have some sort of idea what I’m doing when it comes to buying wine. I know Chianti goes with Italian food but I can’t find it anywhere. Again – I have no idea what I’m doing! I remembered there is a Zinfandel that we like that I think we can get at Kroger. Mom and dad bought some when they were here. Did they get it at Kroger? I call her and yes, they did but she doesn’t remember where it was in the wine section. I keep looking – if it was snake, it would have bit me. As I’m heading towards the register I remember that not everyone likes wine and there will be drinking games. Wine and drinking games don’t mix so I go back for the case of beer. Beer, wine, spaghetti and cake – yum! – we head to the check out. The cashier gives me the total – GULP!! – $100 in alcohol and $100 in food… it’s his fault for turning 40 :) As I reach for my wallet, I realize that Noah’s drink has been leaking in the diaper bag which has been laying in the bottom of the cart. I pick it up to stop anymore leaking and we’re off. Homebound to cook all day!!

As I throw the meat and onions into the pan, I realize I don’t have a pan big enough to cook all this meat. It’s like I’m making one GIANT hamburger. There’s no room in the pan to scramble it. I call mom – this is not going well. As far as I know he’s still planning on coming home early so it’s only adding to my state of panic. I separate the meat into 2 pans and continue on. Noah is having cereal for breakfast and Natalie gulps down some infant cereal/oatmeal. Thank goodness she is such a fast eater and Noah can feed himself. :) I pour everything into the crock pot. It is full - to the rim. If I put anything else in there, it will overflow. I barely have room for the lid and I still need to add 3 cans of tomato paste. Call mom – it’s not going well!! Based on a taste test, I think I can skip the paste…thank goodness.

Noah wants a drink. Okay – apple juice is already in the diaper bag from the trip to Kroger this morning. Where’s the diaper bag?? I must have left it in the car – nope! Did I put it in Natalie’s seat under her blanket – nope! Oh crap…I left it in the cart at Kroger. My wallet is in there…oh crap!! I’m going to have to cancel my cards and be without $$ all weekend and no $$ to finish buying the decorations for the party. I call Dave in a panic and pretend to be nearly in tears… “Are you coming home early? I’m having such a bad day!” “It doesn’t look like it, what happened?” I come up with a story that I left the bag in the cart at Kroger when I went in for Starbucks. He buys the story but tells me not the cancel anything until I pick up the bag. If it seems like it’s been gone through, we’ll figure out what to do. Good – he’s not coming home early :)

The nice people at the customer service counter handed me my bag with a smile and said I left it on the end of the checkout lane. I apparently set it down on the counter when I adjusted Noah's leaking apple juice and forgot to pick it back up. YEAH – it’s been with them since I left and it hasn’t been gone through!! I’m surprised they don’t know my name by now. Generally, once a month, I end up leaving something – cell phone, dog, drink, etc. They are always friendly – my mom says at least I don’t forget my kids at Kroger…good point :)

I am now driving down the road trying to visualize the closest party store to buy balloons and decorations. Fields Ertel is 20 minutes away and always soooo packed with traffic but that’s where I have to go. As I am in the turn lane to get on the highway, I remember a party store at the next exit – opposite of the direction to Fields Ertel. Good – 5 minutes no traffic is better than 20 minutes plus traffic. I get back in the lane for the other exit ramp and continue on with my ever so adventurous day.

As I pull into the shopping center where the party store is, I see the party store is no longer there. WHAT!?!? This is just my luck. They aren’t closed down for good, they are moving locations and have closed for the weekend in preparation of the move. Of all weekends to be closed – are you kidding me?!? Now I really have to go to Fields Ertel. UGH!! I’ve just lost about 10 minutes coming to this party store and trying to figure out what to do next. Again, as I getting in the exit lane to get on the highway to go to Fields Ertel, I remember a party store at the next exit across from the mall. It’s only 10 minutes away and only a small amount of traffic. It’s nap time for the kids but I don’t have time to give them a nap yet – I have to buy decorations!!

We make it to the party store, buy balloons and decorations. Load Natalie back into the car and then I hear, from Noah, “Where’s my dog?” Oh my gosh!! Unload Natalie and trek back inside to locate dog which was left on the shelf next to the party hats Noah played with while I made my decoration selections. I think we’re good now. We head home. As I’m exiting the highway for the house, I remember I forgot the DVD’s for the video camera that Samantha is letting me borrow for tonight. Noah and Natalie have both fallen asleep so I can't drag them out into the cold. They'll never fall back asleep. Katie and Stephanie are supposed to come over to help… where are they?!?! I call Katie and she will stop for DVDs and black gel icing for the cake decorating.

I carry my kids in the house and down for a nap. They are sleeping and I rush to make icing and ice the cake. I still have to get the decorations together, feed my kids lunch, make the salad and salad dressing, and shower in 2 ½ hours. Oh boy – we’re cutting it close!! I call Dave to figure out if he’s changed his mind about leaving early. Nope – “busy day, I’ll leave around 5. What’s for dinner?” He’s okay with spaghetti, he just doesn’t know it’s spaghetti for 15. :)

Kate and Stephanie arrive. Kate does decorations, Stephanie makes the salad dressing and I get lunch ready for my kids. I hear dog hit the stairs – Noah’s up!! He eats lunch. One down - one to go. Natalie wakes up and Stephanie feeds her. I head to the shower. As the water turns off, I hear that everyone is hear except Samantha. It’s 5:00; where is she? The success of this is dependent on her video camera. I call and she’s not even left her house yet. I think of a back up plan… I can’t think of one so I just hope she gets here before Dave.

It’s 5:10 and I haven’t heard from him to tell me he’s left work – that’s strange. I hope he didn’t get in the middle of a phone call in the car and forget to call. I call and pretend to be starving - sort of pretending. I'm pretty hungry but don't realize how hungry because I have been running all day. I tell him that I don’t want to wait until 6 to eat. How long before he’s home? He’s leaving now and will home about 545… PERFECT!! He tells me to start the spaghetti noodles at 530 so we can eat when he gets home. Um…okay I'm so sure - I can’t start noodles at 530. He’ll wonder why I’m making so many noodles. Oh well – he’ll have to wait for them to cook after he gets home.

Samantha arrives with the camera and I pull everyone upstairs with decorations and posters. We sit in our room and wait… tick – tock – tick – tock!! I’m not sure if he’s onto me so I hide everyone upstairs to make him think Noah and I are playing in his room and nothing is up. Everyone is getting anxious and peaking out the blinds. He’ll see you if you do that. Just sit tight; you’ll here the garage door open.

The garage door goes up and we hold our breath. I have Noah yell for him. I hear Dave yell back. Noah yells, again. I have Noah yell, “Daddy, come see me!” Dave peaks his head around the corner…

“SURPRISE!!”

He is surprised and looking for dinner. I’d say it was a successful surprise!!!

After dinner, we open presents. He is soooo surprised by the trip to Vegas. He keeps asking, “Really?!” We have video that I hope will make it to youtube soon but that’s something he’ll have to take care of.

In the middle of the party planning, Noah gets a cold. Just as he starts to get better, Natalie starts teething and has the nastiest cold because of her teething. She gets 2 new teeth – one on top and one on the bottom. Her nose clears up but now she’s got a cough. So, now that Noah is better, Natalie is sick. Noah woke up from his nap yesterday afternoon complaining that his ear hurt. That’s weird… It’s not an ear infection. He doesn’t have normal ear infection symptoms that he shows – fever, fussy, crying, sleeplessness. I figure maybe he slept on that side and he’s tired from just waking up. Stephanie is on her way over to watch the kids so Dave and I can go out for his birthday. I don’t want to cancel on her, again. Last time she was supposed to babysit, we found out Noah has a nut allergy so we had to cancel. I give Noah some Tylenol, feed him and he seems better - good! When Stephanie shows up, he wants to play toys in his room with her. Noah is better so we are off to the movies.

After watching “Juno” (great movie –highly recommend it), we head out to dinner. Dave isn’t hungry because he filled up on popcorn and nachos. I’m starving… I didn’t eat very much today knowing we were going out tonight. After driving around for a while so Dave could figure what he wants to eat, we decide on Arthur’s in Hyde Park. As we are sitting at a traffic light, looking for a parking spot, we hear “crunch!” Someone has just rear ended us. Oh great… I’m starving! I don’t have time for this. :) Luckily, we just had a scratch but her passenger side mirror is pretty damaged. From looking at it, I think she was trying to get around us at the light. I’m not sure why: the light was red and we were turning right so it’s not like she was going to go anywhere and we weren’t going to hold her up when the light did turn green. Oh well!! Dave decides not to call the cops and to just exchange information with her. Thank god – from my experience, Cincinnati cops are way toooo slow to respond and then process the accident and I’m starving. I don’t want to wait!

We park, eat dinner, and head home.

Poor Noah – he had fun playing with Stephanie but when it came time for bed, he wanted Dave to put him to bed but we were at dinner. He didn’t want Stephanie to do it so he put himself to bed. Poor little guy – he’s never done that before. I don’t know who I felt worse for: Noah for not feeling good and us not being there for him or Stephanie who felt bad for not being able to comfort him. I know she tried but it’s just not the same as mom or dad. L He must have heard us come home because when Stephanie left, I heard him yell for me. We comforted him and put him back to bed. Dave decided to sleep on the couch because Natalie was up crying from 1130 until about 1230. She doesn’t feel good either. She has a stuffy nose so she can’t suck her thumb and she has a cough. She finally went back down around 1230 and Noah was in our room at 230. He tossed and turned and kept me up until 415 when he started crying and complaining about his ear again. I gave him Tylenol and left a message at the doctor’s office that I wanted an appointment for Noah. I finally got back to sleep about 430. Noah was up at 745 – I guess it’s better than the normal 630 :)

The doctor’s office has scheduled us for 10 this morning. I wake up Natalie who is now coughing and wheezing. UGH!! I call the doctor’s office to get her in, too. So, we’re off and running again today.

The diagnosis: Noah has an ear infection – Natalie just has a cold and yet another tooth coming in. Antibiotics for Noah – tough it out Natalie. I think she is going for getting all her teeth at once. Well, at least she'll get it done and over with :)

So, sorry it’s been awhile since I’ve updated the blog… we’ve been busy!!

Clothes for Christmas

Noah got jeans and a little zip up jacket for Christmas from Bryan and Erica. He wears that jacket everywhere and doesn't like wearing any other coat he has. I'll try to take it off when we get home from various errands and he wants to leave it on. When I do manage to get him out of it, he'll put it back on as soon as I leave the room or turn my back. His reason for liking the coat so much - it came from Erica. I keep telling him it came from Erica AND Uncle Bryan but he seems to only hear "Erica". Watch out Bryan - you have some competition. :) He asks about going to see Erica, so I ask him, "You want to go see Uncle Bryan and Erica?" "Yes, Erica" Maybe soon...

Thanks for the clothes!

Resolutions

We joined the local YMCA. Well, sort of local - it's 25 minutes away but worth every minute of the drive. They will watch the kids for up to 2 hours so I can have some time to myself. I have decided to work out and get in shape. The kids will get a much deserved break from me and I will get my mom body back into pre-mom condition. I'm content with my size but feel things are just a little to flabby since having 2 kids.

I went to the cardio center to see what they could tell me about the best way to get in shape. I don't exercise and haven't had any real physical fitness since playing volleyball in 9th grade - 15 years ago. I was the bench warmer so I suppose that doesn't really count :) I told the nice lady at the cardio counter I wanted to get in shape. I don't want to change my eating habits and I don't weigh myself. She seemed as though my thought process was a fairly normal and kindly explained my options for getting my "core a little tighter" (whatever that means!? :) ) without giving up food and stepping on a scale. Elliptical and pilates... got it!! Now comes the execution of my plan.

Today was our first trial run. Drop the kids off at "child watch" and spend 45-60 minutes by myself exploring the Y to really figure out where everything is. This is first day as a member and I'm not quite sure where everything is. My plan is to pick up Noah and have time just me and him. Pick up Natalie and then head home for a family nap.

I went to get Noah from child watch so he and I could play basketball or whatever he wants to do just me and him, but when I went to pick him up, Natalie started crying. I gave in to the guilt!! She came with us to the family play area where Noah could play with life size blocks. I sat on the sidelines wishing to play with him. He doesn't really know any different so he's not as disappointed as I am. Now, family nap is really the kids nap but it's time to myself so things, overall, went well. Maybe tomorrow Natalie will let me play, too.

Easter Sunday

I'm 28 months pregnant (yes, I meant months) and I can't remember a darn thing to save my life. We are going to church to see Mallory get baptized. We aren't used to leaving so early in the morning and we don't really know where we are going. We are all supposed to meet at mom and dad's and we are running late. I can't function without Starbucks so we have to stop which is only making us later. In our rush out the door, I forget to refills the wipes container in the diaper bag. I call Sammie's house to have them bring a few extra for me in case I need them. The conversation goes something like this:

A very groggy Braden says, "Hello." (that's strange - we're supposed to be at church in 30 minutes)
"Braden. What number did I dial? Did I call your house? Are you guys still home?"
"Yes."
"Good. Hey, I forgot wipes for Noah. Can you have Sammie bring me some?"
"Yea. Sure."
Click

About 15 minutes later Sammie calls me. The conversation goes something like this:

"Hello."
***she tells me what she wants***
"Did Braden tell you I called?"
"Huh? You called?"
"Yes - good thing you called me. I asked him to have you bring me some extra wipes. I forgot to bring some for Noah."
"When did you call?"
"About 15 minutes ago."

I hear Sammie ask Braden if I called.

"Braden didn't talk to you."
"Yes he did. I woke him up. Maybe he doesn't remember."
"He's been up for a while. You didn't wake him."
"Really?"
"What number did you dial?"
"I called the house."
"We disconnected our house phone."
"Really?! When?"
"A few months ago."

I wonder what that man must have thought being woken from his sleep to hear some crazy lady talking about extra wipes. With as tired as that man sounded, he probably doesn't even remember.

Teething

Natalie is teething and it sucks!!! If Noah had teethed at all, he would be an only child :) She now has 3 teeth on the bottom and her first top tooth broke through the gum Monday. Top tooth number 2 has started trying to break through the gum on Sunday. The poor child is miserable which is making me miserable which, in turn, is making Noah miserable. Her nose is so stuffy and drippy - yuck!!

Noah slept until 830 this morning. Good for me 'cause I slept in but he woke up with a stuffy nose and I can hear him breathing a little funny like his lungs just aren't functioning to their full capacity. Ugh!!

Mom and dad left for Houston on Sunday and now both my kids are sick. It's a sign - you need to come home!!! My kids are miserable without you :)

Happy New Year - I hope all of 2008 goes better than the first 2 days of 2008.