misadventures in mommyhood

tents and trains

2012-02-12T11:04:00.000-06:00

man, time flies by and i am not keeping up very well! we had more sickness this week, sawyer had a double ear infection and an eye infection and is on amoxicillan to treat it. troy hurt his back, and spent a couple days in bed and still isn't 100%. but we're getting better! the kids have a 4 day weekend coming up, i know they could use some downtime too.

next weekend is the ottawa wrestling tournament, should be fun. emma spent the night at grandma's with her girl cousins last night, and should be getting home anytime. me and the boys came home and had a movie night, which ended up being just me and aj watching because both other boys crashed.

today sawyer started saying uh oh after he'd throw a toy down. it was pretty cute. we're getting cabin fever around here, so we made some tents and trains.

lollipop!

2012-01-31T08:09:00.000-06:00

ok. no soapboxes this evening. emma had a dance clinic saturday and if you can be the best at shaking your butt around, she was it. so cute. and retarded, but still pretty cute. she's in the front row, white tee black leggings. lollipop!

she will be dancing at the basketball game this friday, i am excited to go watch and leave the boys with mom. i have been such a witch lately, and the boys are responding to it by being extra naughty. i caught alex with a tube of spree sticking out of his pocket at country mart, zach stole my nook and hid it under the dresser in my bedroom, and sawyer throws himself backwards when he doesn't get his way. thunk! on the kitchen tile. thunk! off the wall or couch. you'd think he'd learn, but after he hits his head, he always looks surprised and then pissed. at me. like i did it to him. whatev.

after a day of listening to zach complain that he's not having any fun, can we go somewhere, we never do anything fun...and listening to sawyer scream because he wants whatever zach has in his hands, well, i'm back to daydreaming of running off into the sunset. alone.

i love my new nook! troy bought it for an early valentine's, and so far so good. the screen froze on me today but other than that no problems. i have found some free books and am addicted to angry birds. that damn green guy better stop grinning at me.

i am going to wrap this up with a cute pic of the boys taken when i wasn't screaming at them.

although i'm sure i was soon after i snapped it. and here's our bad ass cat indy:

sunflowers are best!

2012-01-28T22:38:00.003-06:00

we got this sweet postcard in the mail the other day. troy brought it inside and handed it to me. here's what it said:

so i'm reading it aloud, and when i got to the sentence "i like the bud a lot too" i just started laughing! and troy gave me a stern look, but i couldn't help myself. and then, i realized alex was watching, and he started saying "i like the bud a lot too!" because it was making me laugh! oh my gosh. so funny. not really appropriate, but still, so funny.

today emma went to a dance clinic, and shook her butt like nobody's business! it was so stinking cute! friday night i'll take her to the basketball game and they'll perform at halftime. we went to play with cousins afterwards, and had dinner at jeff & amy's. their huge dog hank was leaning against my leg, almost pushing me over(he's a bull mastiff and enormous!) when i got home, einstein was crazy jealous, sniffing my leg and following me around. so funny!

earlier tonight my MIL was talking about some family she knows where the mom was a "dopehead" and the dad was all "drugged out" and she said "i think a lot of people just think oh, it's just marijuana, it's no big deal, but then why is it illegal?!" and i couldn't help it, i said "because the alcohol and tobacco industries wanted it that way" and she gave me the strangest look. le sigh.

but i did refrain from getting into a discussion about decriminalizing and regulating marijuana and hemp farming as a way to reduce the nation's debt. and how our founding fathers had hemp AND tobacco farms. or that the paintings of Rembrandt and Vincent Van Gogh were painted primarily on hemp canvas, often with hemp oil based paint. in the 1930's a lot of rich folks (dupont, hearst) made changes to the laws to ensure they continued to get rich - and that needs to change. if they can put rendered beaver anal gland in my vanilla ice cream, why should this plant be illegal? they are both "all natural"...

sick

2012-01-22T21:11:00.001-06:00

apparently, getting influenza causes my inner bitch to be unleashed. after sleeping, shivering and coughing my way through thursday and friday, i went to the walk in clinic sat morning. mom met me up there to watch the kids while i saw the doctor. so i sat, freezing, in the waiting room wearing a turtleneck, coat, boots, scarf, hat, AND gloves for an hour.

then i began sweating, & crying, and had used up two boxes of their kleenex. and i started getting really mad when people i saw come in after me were being called back. i had already been up to the window once, and was told first come first serve. but after a lady who had commiserated with me - even said "i know you've been waiting a long time, you were here when i got here" was called back - and didn't even say anything like, "um, she was here first?" i exploded at the desk. the memory of my whining voice still haunts me. so embarrassing. they said i was next. i said forget it and stormed out. climbed in my van and was telling mom what happened when i had a coughing attack so bad i peed myself. bless my mom, she went back inside and asked them to still see me.

and they did. and they were so nice. and i apologized to everyone in sight for my tantrum. and they stick a swab up my nose - the nurse told me not to hit her - and shut the lights off and had me lay down while they ran the test. yep, the flu. duh. well, the tamiflu and cough suppressant they gave me doesn't seem to be doing much. i'm not as tired as i was, but i'm still hacking away.

and this morning sawyer woke up with 102* fever and cough. i went to the clinic and they luckily got us right back - no tantrums, phew. stuck a swab up his nose, and yep. more flu. he's on tamiflu now and slept all day. the boys are coughing a little too.

and i feel like punching something. i am filled with rage, and i don't know why. i screamed at the kids because they made a mess in the family room. i sorta hate myself right now!! i wish i could go to sleep, wake up, and this would be just a nightmare. and that i could stop crying. and peeing myself. :(

let's get ready to RUMBLE!!

2012-01-15T22:59:00.001-06:00

today was wrestling at burlington - aj's 2nd and emma's 1st tournament! i wasn't planning to go, but troy had to work the night before. they had to be there to weigh in before 8am. bert rode over with me, we almost ran out of gas, and i was a nervous wreck before we even got there. troy met us in the parking lot and saved the day. he got them signed in and where they needed to be.

zach found hunter and followed him around all morning.

mom and dad go there just in time for the matches to start, and the fun began!

aj wrestled first. this was the first time i've ever gotten to watch him.

i thought he did awesome - but i don't really know anything about it. what's that ref doing? is that good? does that mean points for or against?

but he was so focused and determined and i was so proud! he won that match.

emma was up next, against another little girl, and they were so polite and gentle. it was emma's 1st match, and i'm glad it was an easy one. she won that one.

troy had to leave to go get some sleep, and bert went with him to take sawyer and zach home, which was a relief. my back was killing me from carrying him around, and it was too busy to let him run free. he would have ended up in the middle of one of the mats! mom and dad headed out too, and the rest of the day it was just me, emma, and alex. they hung out in the bleachers with the other kids, mooching off of other people's ds's and headphones. we seriously should buy our kids some toys of their own.

the next match was pretty rough on her. the boy was a good wrestler, and he just got the better of her. she started to cry a little but didn't give up. she was madder that she cried than that she got beat. she knew troy didn't want to see tears, but the kid kept stuffing her face into the mat! luckily she had a longer break between it and her last match. she won that one, and placed 2nd. woo hoo!

aj lost two and won two, and ended up placing 4th in his bracket. :) medals for both!

***i'll keep trying to add the video here***

he got pushed around pretty good by this kid, harding, from SEK. afterwards he told me the kid was trying to choke him - to DEATH! he kept coughing and was upset and crying but still had a great attitude. the boy who won, ended up winning the bracket. i think. i'm still not sure what was going on. but he was a tough little guy, that's for sure. and alex wore him out - it wasn't an easy win.

oh - and where did this crazy sports mom attitude come from? i was all "KILLKILLKILL" when the kids were wrestling! grrr! get em, nobody better touch my babies! maybe i don't want the video on here after all...

all in all, a fun day. probably would have been better if i had gotten some sleep saturday night. but i can sleep when i'm dead, right? at least, i hope. otherwise, death's gonna suck.

bringing the pain

2012-01-14T23:32:00.001-06:00

well, after finding out today that some people do still read this little blog, i will try to do better about updating it! :D

alex turned 6 on the 6th! he's getting so grown up! he wanted a mario cake but didn't tell me that until that morning, before school. i threw one together, and he really liked it, even though it was a train wreck of a cake! after school the crane's came over and they walked the timber trying to flush a deer out. then he played wii with hunter and later kirby came down to watch them while troy & i went to a party. he seemed to enjoy his birthday!

we went to the movies saturday to see the chipmunks movie, and then...

he had his first wrestling tournament in bonner springs last sunday, and he took 4th! which i thought was pretty cool for it being his first time. emma and alex both are wrestling at burlington tomorrow, and troy is working so i will be taking all the kids along, fun fun! bert's going with me and mom & dad are coming, so hopefully we can keep an eye on all four of them and get the little wrestlers where they need to be. troy will get off work at 7am and meet us there, but he'll have to leave and catch a nap before going back in for the night shift.

emma's excited about tomorrow - but i hope it doesn't overwhelm her. she's pretty good at practice, but she gets upset when someone is overly aggressive. i understand how she's feeling, but i hope she can keep it together and get mad and go get em! she told me she was going to bring the pain. too funny!

oh my, speaking of funny. tonight i listened to alex and zach argue over whether justin "beaver" was a girl or a boy. zach says girl.

merry christmas

2011-12-26T00:22:00.000-06:00

christmas has come and gone for another year! well, not really. tom & trav will be in town tuesday, so we have a couple more days of guilt free eating and gifts.

the kids seem pretty happy with their presents. emma got squinkies, a guitar and harmonica. i broke one of the strings trying to tighten them. zach got a new leapster to replace the one that got crushed under his bed, and a ball glove.

alex got an official red ryder "baby" gun. (that's what zach calls it) and an mp3 player for the bus.

and sawyer? well, he got a gyro bowl and a toy we stole from troy's mom's toy box last night. because there was absolutely nothing that we don't already have. troy and i opted to forgo gifts this year, but are planning a night away for dinner and romance. hubba hubba.''

mom and dad came over for lunch, and brought ham and rolls and nana's fruit salad. nana was going to come, but sawyer, troy & i all have colds, and she didn't want to catch it. sawyer sounds the worst, his cough is pretty ugly. but he's happy and active and eating like a horse, so we're just watching it.

christmas eve we had dinner at bert's, and it was awesome. homemade rolls, breaded pork cutlets, mashed potatoes, corn, and apple pie for dessert! and then we played the game, and i won a gun! yes. really. i'm kind of excited about it, i'm hoping troy will show me how to shoot it tomorrow. troy won a bunch of tools and stuff, and other things i'm too tired to remember right now.

anyways, hope you had a merry christmas, and enjoyed yourselves!

countdown to christmas

2011-12-17T20:56:00.000-06:00

we are coming up on christmas break, and that means another busy week of things to do! today was joy's cookie exchange, tonight we went to crane's for a party and tomorrow is schaffer family christmas in kc. tuesday zach has his preschool program, i can't wait! and wednesday the kids have parties at school, and then they are out for the year! yay! thursday emma's having a slumber party with her cousins, sat we'll go to bert's and sunday we get to lounge at home. i can't wait.

sawyer has changed so much the past few weeks. he finally figure out how to climb up on the bar stools in the kitchen, and from that moment on, he's refused to use the high chair. he eats his meals at the island like the other kids, thank you very much. he also doesn't want a sippy cup, although he will still use one. but at meals, he has to have one of the plastic cups like the big kids have. i have to say, i'm not ready for this independence. i should be, but it makes me sad.

speaking of sad, i had a sonogram friday, and seeing one without a baby in it? sad. it looks so empty. i actually found myself tearing up, and turned my head to stop looking at it. only there was a poster of a teeny baby on the wall. not helping. ugh. anyways, no large tumors or anything crazy, just waiting on test results from a biopsy that say everything is normal. which i'm sure they are. lots of hoops to jump through for legal/insurance stuff so i can get a procedure done that i've been asking for since i had sawyer. but it looks like it will finally happen.

troy has been cutting lots of wood and got a water tank for our cellar. the project is sort of on hold until spring at this point, but at least we've gotten this far. hopefully, after christmas, we can put up some walls for bedrooms, and then the boys will stop driving each other crazy at bedtime. and troy and i can reclaim our room from lumpy. and we will have two more closets, each kid will have their own, it will be awesome!

hohoho!

2011-12-03T14:55:00.000-06:00

the greeley christmas program was thursday night, and the kids did such a great job! it was a "musical", and they did the motions and sang their hearts out! they dressed like carolers and a few older kids were santa and elves. zach was sitting with us, singing all the songs, since they've been practicing around the house. afterwards, they got to see santa. zach was at the head of the line, but got nervous and didn't want to sit on santa's lap. he just wanted to say hi. so he gave hom a high five and grabbed his goody bag and ran!

i asked them what they asked santa for. emma said she told him she was thinking about it. alex said a DS. man. christmas is going to be disappointing, i'm afraid.

progress reports

2011-11-19T21:40:00.000-06:00

hmm, let's see how the kids are doing in school. 1st up, emma!

our little worry wort. before she even got it out of her back pack, she said "i got all smiley faces except for the other. i want all smiley faces." so troy looked at it, and said "just try to do better next time, emma." and she was staring at the floor, pouting, and started to protest and i told her he was teasing her. and i suggested we write whining in the space next to it, so she could get a smiley face since she's pretty good at it. ha ha.

ok, alex is next.

whaaaat?! he likes to do things his way?! has a hard time following directions? alex? our alex? i'm floored. seriously, shocked. actually, i think it's funny. i fight that boy over everything. down to his underwear or socks. he wants to make every choice and will argue it until you are both in tears. he wore shorts to school last week, and probably froze his butt off. and told me later mrs. bunnell (vice principal) told him he couldn't wear shorts to school anymore, it was too cold. and i said, huh, really? isn't that what i said?

anyways. sawyer had his 15 mon. checkup friday. he's grown an inch and gained a pound in 3 months. he's doing great, although he was mad as hell when they called our name, because he was playing with a bead chaser in the waiting room and didn't want to leave it. so he looked like this when we went back.

and he looked like that when we left, too, because he got three shots. poor guy. then today he fell outside and cut his lip, it's swollen and bled quite a bit. i was in the shower, and he was playing with alex while troy kept an eye on them. alex said he fell on this:

emma's shelter project from school. (isn't it cool?) i told them to put it outside for a fairy house. and so i guess he cut his lip on those pokey bark pieces. or something. anyways.

tonight we went to cousin will's 1st birthday party. it was a blue valley rec center, and it was a gymnastics party - the kids had a blast! pizza, cake, and trampolines?! yes please.

happy birthday will! thanks for the pizzas and fun!

hey!!

2011-11-14T20:51:00.001-06:00

look at me! posting twice in one month! wowza!

last friday was emma and zach's check ups with a new doc - same practice, but our ped. retired. we are now seeing dr. rawson, who is pretty awesome too. emma's gained 5 pounds and grown 3 inches since last year! and i'll have to get back to you on zach - the sheets are still in the car :) both of them are happy and healthy. alex was feeling a little left out, but i think he was glad to be left out when zach had to get a shot!

after their checkups, i took them to see puss in boots and it was so good. i love those movies. zach was a little squirrely towards the end - he really didn't even want to go to the movies. but he didn't have a choice in it LOL. sawyer stayed home - mom and dad came over to help watch him so troy and dad could get the door put on the cellar. sawyer didn't want grandma to leave - i think it made her feel really good!

we had birthday dinner at bert's saturday, delicious, beef burgundy, rolls, grandma corn, and the kids had so much fun with their cousins. troy got beer, i got starbucks, old navy, and panera gift cards - yay! i see some yummy stuff in my future!

i am almost finished piecing a quilt top, hoping to take some in on wednesday to get them quilted! i'd like to have some finished for christmas gifts this year. we'll see!

november

2011-11-08T00:37:00.000-06:00

man, it's been so long since i posted, i don't even know where to start. the kids are crazy and great. sawyer is babbling a lot, saying something like "this" and pointing at the cookie jar and candy bowl. zach is loving school, and hops out of bed to get dressed at 6:30 on school days. then, for 2 hours, he asks when are we going to leave? can't we go yet? alex is doing great at school, and emma is too. parent teacher conferences went awesome.

they had fun with halloween this year. emma was a snow princess, alex went as harry potter, zach was thor, and sawyer was a lion for about 5 minutes.

halloween seemed to stretch on forever. first the school carnival on the 21st. then trunk or treat on the 29th. then halloween at school, and halloween trick or treating. they were really good about all their candy, though, and let me put the buckets up with no arguing. they really haven't even asked for any of it. well, except for zach. man that kid has a sweet tooth!

troy and i had fun too - we went as kenny rogers and dolly parton to jessi's party. good times.

he's been working like crazy on getting the water stuff in. he poured the cellar, and last weekend he stacked railroad ties for a retaining wall around the entrance. he also rented a trencher and got that part mostly done. it's pouring rain now, and there's even been 2 earthquake aftershocks! weird. i haven't felt either of them. troy felt the first one though.

we got a new kitten - indiana jones - we're calling him indie. he's wild, he's always attacking something. like my "design wall" in my sewing area (a flannel backed tablecloth thumb tacked to the wall) he keeps climbing up it. he's loud and pretty cute.

hmm, what else is new. emma asked me what it means when you flip the bird (well, she showed me, only she pointed it at the floor) and i explained it was really rude and not to do it. she started to cry and said she did it to someone in kgtn last year! and when i asked her where she saw it, it was nathan on the bus again. sigh.

the kids wrestling starts soon for emma and alex. zach's not old enough yet. it's tues and thurs night for 1 1/2 hours thru march. ugh. but troy says he'll stop after work and bring them home, so i will just have to drop them off. those days will be my running around days, i guess! preschool then wrestling.

we're going to go see puss in boots this friday night. zach says he doesn't want to go - weird. i'm sorta hoping he changes his mind, and sorta hoping he doesn't. but i'm excited to go to the movies! and i need to start christmas shopping. i have clothes for the kids, and i think we'll see about getting a tv/dvd for the downstairs.

all right, time to end this lame post. here's a cute pic of sawyer and his favorite food, mac n cheese.

my mini bucket list

2011-10-18T20:30:00.000-05:00

i've always thought of making my "bucket list", but since some of the things i want to try aren't exactly family friendly, i've never written them all down!

This is my entry in the Just Ask Bucket List Getaway Giveaway. Just Ask offers a breast and ovarian cancer screening and is encouraging people to share 15 things that I want to enjoy in my lifetime as a reminder to be aware of my health. Want to enter? Head over to TodaysMama.com to get the details.

15 is a pretty manageable number though, so let's get on with it. just don't hold me to any of them, mkay?

1. play frisbee golf
2. watch back to back to back to back to back to back to back to back harry potter movies.
3. visit NYC
4. sky dive
5. run a 5K
6. drive a corvette
7. be on martha stewart's show
8. learn to make yeast bread
9. win a blue ribbon at the county fair

hmm. this is harder than i thought!
10. go to hawaii
11. hot air balloon ride
12. scuba dive
13. pet a big cat - like a leopard or lion
14. kareoke
15. own my own blue moon

so fun! maybe some day i can cross some of them off!

hello october!

2011-10-05T08:48:00.001-05:00

wow - time sure flies! zach turned four last saturday!

he had his birthday at school yesterday, complete with walmart power ranger cucpakes. the frosting on those is like face paint. i guess zach had it everywhere on his face. i believe it. he is a messy kid, no doubt. our little pig pen.

we got a new kitten yesterday. alex named him indiana jones. we're calling him indie.

no pics of indie and emma because every time she tries to hold him, he claws her and she freaks. this kitten's nails are sharp. well, all kittens i suppose. he's also very vocal. great. someone else to yammer at me. we already have the old cat mod, who walks around saying mraaarh mraaarh mraaarh all the time. now there's a new younger version.

yesterday i think sawyer thought it was a new toy, not a living thing. he was so rough with him! today i think the kitty scratched him, and now he's being a lot more cautious and gentle. emma was so distracted this morning by the kitten that i had to help her get dressed, remind her 8 times to brush her teeth, and basically hold her hand until she got on the bus. she just wanted to stay home and play with the kitten. alex was about as bad. and he left for school today wearing a brown long sleeve cowboy shirt, black knit shorts, white socks and shoes. i tried to get him to change his mind. it really showed me that they are usually pretty self sufficient kids. i can't wait until they get a little older and can start doing chores like laundry and dishes. what age is that? i don't want to miss it.

we are busy busy as usual. this weekend is the kids' birthday party. we're going to mason's football game, then pizza at a park. emma wants doll crap craft kits and makeup for her birthday. zach asked for a mario sweatshirt, mario swimming trunks, the Cars2 dvd, and pjs and a bathrobe. i had gotten him a cap gun set, which he seemed to like. this is probably the last birthday for him where i can run out last minute and pick up a gift at alco. because after he played with it for awhile, he said "where's the rest of my presents?"

friday troy and dad are pouring the concrete walls on the cellar. that night emma is doing a cheer at the hs football game. but she really really wants to wrestle, because jack has a thousand medals from it. and she wants a thousand medals like him. so, i guess she's going to wrestle alongside the boys. crazy.

fall-ing behind

2011-09-19T14:06:00.000-05:00

ah, september. the cooler weather, the warm clothes, the fall chore list. overnight it went from tank tops to sweatshirts. and i hadn't sorted out the kids clothes yet. so it was a morning scramble as i tried to find pants long enough for both to wear to school.

emma is actually wearing highwaters today - we got them yard saleing friday, and she hadn't tried them on yet. but since sawyer's sleeping in her room, we had to go with what was in the clean laundry basket. i cannot believe how much she and alex have grown! alex especially. he's shot up a few inches. i need to mark them on the chart.

we had ball tourney too - everyone had a great time. i love being close enough that i can run the baby home for a nap. the kids were so filthy sunday evening - they looked like they had gray hair.

the friday of ball tournament weekend, i went to a quilt program in garnett. and while there, a lady said "you look familiar..." and i braced myself for another person to call me wendy. but it turned out it was a friend of bert's, and she hadn't seen me since i was a redhead! anyways, the very next day, i'm following sawyer around the ball tourney, and someone says" hi wendy!! how are you!" sigh. i imagine i'm the only person around who gets mistaken for her sister-in-law on a semi annually basis. next year, i think i'll hire a bunch of random people to walk up to wendy all year and say "tammie! how are you!" LOL

troy said he feels like fall is creeping up on him. i agree, there's so much to do. he got the grass seed cut in friday, and we got a good rain so hopefully that'll take. i have lots more to share but i have a huge to-do list today. so i'll try to post later.

kitty love

2011-09-09T11:03:00.000-05:00

happy labor day!

2011-09-05T20:47:00.000-05:00

we had a fantastic weekend! loved the weather, the company, the food - couldn't ask for more.

family pics today, quick and cheap, just like i like it ;)

hope you had a great holiday weekend!

zach's in school!

2011-09-02T13:37:00.000-05:00

zach started preschool this week! tuesday night, we had "meet the teacher" night. we stopped by, and he had to play with every station, starting with the tools. it was nice to see he offered toys to the other kids who came up.

and he built this big tower, and then moved on to the pretend vacuum. when a girl came and knocked his tower down and started to build her own, he went over to tell her "you need a base." (which is what troy's told him a few times, when he cries that his blocks fell down.) helpful little zach!

when it was time to leave, as we walked back to the van, he said "we didn't even learn anything." cracked me up! i took him to DQ for a cone. cherry dipped :)

thursday was his first actual day of class. he didn't even say goodbye to me. sniff. walked on in, and that was that. the cutest part was after emma & alex got off the bus that afternoon, when emma said (in syrupy sweet voice)"zach, how was your first day of preschool?!" and he showed her the picture he colored. she ooh'd and ahh'd over it. she's such a sweetheart!

today, though, stacy called to see if zach could come over and play with chase. she came and got him, and an hour later, called to say zach was teary and wanted to come home. no, they were getting along fine, he just missed me and wanted to come home. so he came home, and then not 15 minutes later asked if chase could come with us to the cafe tonight! silly boy.

i did realize today that when zach starts kgtn, sawyer will begin preschool. and i will be all alone. can't decide how that makes me feel.

nothing much else going on - although i haven't posted in awhile, so i may need to do some catching up. did i tell you emma lost her other front tooth? she looks like a vampire now!

goodbye to you, my friend

2011-08-22T20:21:00.002-05:00

sadly, last night alex's cat, king fluffy stripe, passed away.

unbeknownst to troy, he was sleeping behind the van tire, and didn't wake up when the van began to back up. i made the mistake of going outside to see him, thinking i could somehow help him. but it was way beyond that. poor poor kitten. troy tried to warn me. i didn't listen. i wish i'd never seen that.

so i am trying to keep from crying. he really was a great cat. i've seen him be the rope in a tug of war, i've seen him dragged all over the house, and stepped on, and his tail pulled, and yet he was always so patient with the kids. just yesterday sawyer was beating on him. and he just sat there and took it.

but what i will always remember is that alex bonded with him right from the start. i loved teasing him about his cat, and calling him K-fluff or kingston fluffington stripe the 3rd. i love that he named him king fluffy stripe and never looked back! i'd look out the window, and AJ'd be running around the yard in his underwear, with the cat following him around.

the kids were pretty upset, but today everyone seems ok. emma mentioned it this morning, but no tears. that's good, we had enough yesterday.

we've been talking about the funny things he did. like when he climbed into the middle of the christmas tree and took a nap.

or when he climbed in the van, and i didn't know it, and he rode with us to preschool. once we got on the highway, he hopped up and then he sat in my lap, purring the whole way. and amy b. asked me later, "was there a CAT in your lap at preschool drop off?!"

thanks for being such a good kitty, king. the good ones die young.

happy 1st birthday sawyer!

2011-08-20T22:57:00.000-05:00

um, last tuesday. i just realized i never did a birthday post! doh!

it was 1:00 tuesday afternoon before i realized it was actually his birthday! i kept thinking it was on wednesday, the first day of school, since he had his dr. checkup that day.

i made him chicken pot pie for his birthday dinner and barely got it done before he was ready for bed. sleep is something he's awesome at! once i weaned him(about a month ago), he had to cry it out a few times(never anything drawn out), but now, if he's tired, he goes right to sleep with minimal if any crying.

he's walking everywhere, and starting to try to climb things. he loves throwing things away in the trash - i've lost count of the random things i've fished out. a flip flop, troy's hat, sippy cups and who knows what we've missed. he also likes digging in the flower pots. when i scolded him for it today, he cracked up laughing.

he can throw a suitable tantrum if you take something away from him. he just flips the switch and he's a screaming mess. hand the phone back, and he shuts right off. stinker.

we still haven't moved him out of the infant carrier. we have a front facing seat but they changed the guidelines. and at first i was all pshaw, but when i googled it and watched a crash test dummy video of a front facing vs. a rear facing impact - ugh. it's not pretty. and since his head is so much larger percentage wise than the rest of him, he's sure to get whiplash.

he's starting to talk more - still mostly dada but some mamas thrown in and some shrieking and hollering. he laughs a lot, and loves to push the buttons on the tv.

he's eating great too - whole milk from a sippy cup and usually a bowl of infant cereal or a jar of baby food, some puffs or rice mum-mums, macaroni and cheese, mashed taters, bread, you name it, he'll probably eat it. texture still throws him off sometimes. he loves baby food bananas but not the real thing.

i still can't believe he's gone from this:

to this:

hey look, same outfit though!

we don't have a baby anymore! happy birthday!

first day of school 2011

2011-08-17T21:05:00.001-05:00

today alex started kindergarten and emma started 1st grade! troy is working nights this week, so he stayed awake and we hung out on our deck upstairs, waiting for the bus.

the deck needs some serious attention.

piles of old brick edging, dilapidated chairs and table, dead plants, a rusting tool box, and rotting steps on the deck. that deck is this weekend's project...

when i woke alex up and said it was time for school, he said "yay!"

and i am so glad, no tears at school! he did say he felt like crying (because he missed me, aww), but he didn't. so proud of our little man!

emma came home and said "mom, you didn't pack me a lunch!" um, yes i did. i looked everywhere, and finally found it in the kids' bathroom next to the sink. i assume she carried it in there when she brushed her teeth or hair and forgot it. i should have checked her backpack though.

they survived!

and after we got them on the bus, zach and sawyer and i headed to kc for sawyer's 1 year dr. exam. he did great, even if he hasn't grown at all - 22 pounds (40%), 28 1/4" (10%), and head circumference of 49 (97%)!!!! hmm. must be all those brains. three shots today and several pics snapped by zach while dr. anderson and i talked.

i was sad to learn last week that our pediatrician is retiring. she's really nice, i will miss her. and, she's very stylish, i usually covet whatever she's wearing. she's been all four kids doctor since birth. but there's another doc there i like, so we will switch to her and at least i don't have to worry about switching offices right away.

when i was "choosing" a ped with emma, i ultimately picked her because her name is allison, which is also the name of a very smart girl i was BFF with in jr. high. isn't that the best reason to choose a doctor? plus she has red hair, so bonus points.

and finally, a funhouse style self portrait by zach dylan, also taken during the doctor exam. someone wash that kids face!

roid rage

2011-08-03T19:49:00.000-05:00

another visit to the doc yesterday afternoon. this time i saw our family doc, "bud" ransom, and i really like that dude. he seems to take you very seriously, and i feel like he's actually trying to help. anyways, he's pretty confident i'll survive, even though it was still spreading. his first remark was "well, that's impressive."

tuesday

the redness continues to move out and up. he said it's from the toxin, spreading from the bite. continuing on with the bactrim and another higher dose round of prednisone (40 mg a day, then 30, then 20...) and today it already looks better.

wednesday

mmm. peeling.

but the steroids have the effect of making me wired and jittery. i was awake until after 4am last night, and up at 7. hope that's not the case tonight, since i took my dose first thing this morning. and i plan to have a nightcap of benedryl to send me to lala land.

in related news, alex is obsessed with billy the exterminator. which IS a step up from swamp people, but i have learned more about bats and skunks and beavers and black widows this week than i care to know. we discovered we have bats here, too, we've seen them at dusk catching bugs. did you know they eat their weight in insects every day? yep, billy said so.

in UNrelated news, emma got her ears pierced this morning!

we met up with lyla, claire, and ava, and they all got it done. emma and ava chose hello kitty, and lyla & claire chose flowers.

i'm so nervous!

they all did great, emma was super nervous but didn't cry!

i hope i won't cry!

then we had lunch and ran errands and had a nice time. kirby watched the boys and they played epic mickey on the wii. hopefully i won't have to keep showing these spider bite pics much longer, i'm over it and ready to get back to normal. we have a birthday party sunday at the pool, for sawyer, ava, and claire, i'm hoping to get some great pool pics!

gross!!

2011-08-01T12:27:00.000-05:00

is there a way to take a flattering pic of your thigh? probably not. and it's a little alarming how that looks like chicken skin.

as you can see, the hives surrounding the bite has spread even more. i'm not supposed to get alarmed unless it goes below the knee or above the bikini line. sure thing, doc. this looks like nothing to be alarmed about, right? i'm hoping the yellowish area is just bruising, and not necrosis of the skin. i have a followup visit tomorrow afternoon. meanwhile, i'm guzzling benedryl and trying to stay awake.

squee!

2011-07-30T21:26:00.000-05:00

sawyer took his first steps this afternoon! so awesome! only about three steps, and only about three times, but he did it! the kids were so excited!

look at that face!

yes, i know his shirt is huge on him. it's a 2T! it was all i could find thursday morning, scrambling around to go to urgent care for my spider bite and pick up emma from her sleepover. it didn't have stains so i grabbed it. i had planned to make him a tee with a number one on it, and matching booties! i will have it done by his birthday.

i got his pics done at target the other morning, these were three of my faves. FYI, they now charge a sitting fee again, even with a coupon, so you may want to get the portrait saver card. i know we'll go back before the end of the year so i did it, i saved about $10 and got two more sheets than i planned.

time to spray again

2011-07-30T11:11:00.001-05:00

well, it's been an eventful week. i know i haven't posted about my reunion yet - it took me a few days to recover - but i'm working on it.

to recap - the sunday night before my reunion, i woke up with strep throat again. saw the doc monday, started amox, but spent 2 days sleeping. felt better by friday though, so went for the weekend away. missed the kids and troy terribly, decided i don't like vacationing on my own. i teared up talking to them on the phone saturday. but i had fun, and made it home safely.

fast forward three days to wednesday morning. i put a pair of jean shorts on and felt a sharp prick on my thigh. didn't think anything of it.

sorry, but he deserved to die

a few hours later, i grabbed a diaper from the cabinet and there was a spider on it. i squealed, tossed it down, and then captured the spider in a jar after poking it with a pencil. it was a brown recluse. you see where this is going, don't you?

thursday morning

i got bit that morning. and as the day went on, it grew from a quarter size to a baseball size. by bed it was softball size. the next morning i went to urgent care and got prednisone and super antibiotics. it continued to grow up my leg and started to itch.

friday morning

so yesterday i saw my doc, and he said i was having an allergic reaction to the bite. so now i'm on benedryl, and a steroid cream, and the pred. and antib. and i have to check back after the weekend, just to follow up.

saturday morning

that damn spider has cost me $60 so far, and i still have to go back monday! the good news is it seems to be getting better, even if it doesn't look it. the bad news is that benedryl wipes me out, so i am getting nowhere on anything i'd like to be doing! i have a baby shower to go to this afternoon, and we have a pool party to go to tonight, for the kid's summer reading party. don't you want to swim with me and my leper leg? also, the antib makes me extra sensitive to the sun - as if i'm not already - so i will be wearing a coverup too. ugh. this summer has tried to kill me i swear. strep twice, and a wheezing allergic reaction to ???, and now a spider bite. wtf?!

lazy days

2011-07-20T22:24:00.000-05:00

well, it's been another crazy week! troy didn't have to work last weekend, so he took the kids swimming at the pond every single day. it's 100 degree weather around here. all our flowers are drying up. jeff and amy brought the kids over to play thursday night.

last saturday i took emma and sawyer to quinn's birthday party. cinderella came to the party, and the girls loved it! emma talked about it all day. then sunday she lost her front tooth. it was so loose, so she finally let troy pull it out. he barely had to touch it though.

the tooth fairy brought her a dollar folded like a butterfly. which she liked, but she did look for more stuff. so maybe next time the tooth fairy needs to have a little something else to tuck in for teeth.

sawyer's finally getting weaned. and i'm a big meanie and i've let him cry for four nights now. well, one night he didn't make a peep until 5:30am. and he keeps pulling at my shirt. he;s been drinking milk during the day from a sippy, and i was basically just nursing at night. i never intended to nurse him this long, but when he won't take a bink, or a bottle, there's nothing left to soothe him with when he's fussy. and he has 6 teeth now, so he's had some fussy times!

i've been fussy too - i woke up sunday night with strep again!! same thing, middle of the night my throat is killing me. then the chills, and then the sweats. i saw the doc monday, but i didn't start feeling better until late morning today. my throat is still pretty tender. ugh. but so far no one else seems to be catching it, knock on wood. i have my 20 yr. hs reunion this weekend.

eating is hard work!

sawyer still won't walk on his own. he scoots around the furniture, and he'll walk if you hold his hands. he pulled my jewelry armoire over on himself tonight and got a bruise on his forehead. i took all the kids to the pool today - they did great! sawyer was grumpy so we didn't get to stay too long, but they had so much fun. school starts soon - only a month of summer left!

simpson clue is a fave

celebrate!

2011-07-07T00:17:00.000-05:00

happy july! we spent the 4th up in iowa at the neppl family reunion. both my brothers were there, which made it even more fun. i love spending time with my family! we laugh so much - i wish i was half as funny as the peeps i'm related to. we always have such a good time.

we drove up saturday morning - we usually split the trip in half and stay friday night at tom's, but troy's aunt liz flew in from CA friday and we wanted to spend some time with her. the kids were really good, the whole trip! we had to go a different route because of the flooding, but i got to see a bunch of barn quilts along the way. even the drive home wasn't too bad. we were all a little tired and grouchy but we made it!

troy and i stayed at the hotel in town instead of at the cabins at the lake - we just have too many kids to cram in with everyone else. plus the kids love swimming in the hotel pool, and watching all the cable shows they don't get at home. oh, and the breakfast room. aj and zach both ate hotel eggs - shudder. but anyways - the kids all did great in the pool, even sawyer was having a blast. he was up really early each morning, and since we didn't leave the lake until 11 or so each night, it made for a tired momma. next time we go, we'll try to rent a cabin and maybe share it with someone, so we can stay up partying with my aunts and uncles and cousins!

i brought apple pie booze and sparklers, both a big hit! i got to wear my estherville midget shirt. emma had a leech on her foot from playing in the lake. we had the best breadsticks EVER from godfather's pizza. i crocheted three washcloths on the drive up - none on the way back.

monday, before we came home we stopped to visit grandma neppl. she didn't really know any of us, but she seemed a little sweet on troy! and she got to meet sawyer, who's her latest great grandbaby - for a few more weeks anyways.

highlights of the trip:

boat ride - once we figured out how to drive the boat!

netting minnows off the dock

catching a turtle

apple pie & drinking games

lots and lots of piggy back rides

brothers, cousins, aunts, and uncles!

pepaw time

swimming in the pool

visiting grandma neppl

and coming home to find our sweet mail carrier julie had left sacks of poppers and glow sticks for the kids! she's awesome!

hope you had a fantastic fourth!

summertime

2011-06-11T19:48:00.000-05:00

i've been thinking i need to try to update at least once a month. maybe on sawyer's "birth"day, the 16th. but since i'm here right now, let me play catch up.

sawyer has 4 1/2 teeth - one eye tooth is through the gum but not dropped down yet. he is still nursing, mostly at night, and still refuses/throws bottles at me when i try to make him take them during the day. since he's almost 10 months, i give up. i've been giving him whole milk in a sippy during mealtimes, and he's doing pretty well with that.

he is pulling up to stand on everything. he climbed in the shower with me, fully dressed, while i was washing shampoo out of my hair. he loves to pull everything out of the drawers in the kitchen. he also loves to turn off the dvds while the kids are watching them. they hate that. he likes to chew on the wii remotes. he still gets all nervous if he thinks i'm going to leave him somewhere, and follows me around whining.

he has fallen into the baby pool twice, leaning over the sides to splash in the water. he makes me nervous that he'll drown in the toilet. so we're on toilet lid patrol 24/7 around here. he is getting very vocal, and likes to scream and yell with his brothers and sister in the car. he's wearing size 4 diapers and growing out of 12 months clothes. his eyes are changing from blue to grey/brown blue, depending upon the light and what he's wearing. i'm thinking he will have emma's eyes. her ears too.

emma is doing awesome, getting tall and her two front top teeth are loose. she loves jumping on the trampoline, and is still working on riding her bike with no training wheels. in her defense, she is learning on our sloped gravel driveway. i think on flat pavement, she'd have no problem.

alex is awesome too - he's been such a good helper, crushing aluminum cans, feeding the pets, and picking up the yard for daddy to mow. he's got the cutest freckles on his nose and forehead. he still talks all the time. he told me this morning "mom, i'm sorry i talk a lot. i just have such good ideas all the time."

zach has been an ornery little bugger lately, pestering his brother a lot, and he has the bruises to show for it. he also fell out of the van during load up time the other morning. i was inside, still not sure how he fell, but his shoulder is still a big bruise/scrape. he's gotten tall too, past my belly button, and slimmed out. he's really pale, taking after me. right now he's helping me make chocolate cake. he starts preschool in a few months! crazy.

so, summer. tball is going great. next week the older two have theater camp. should be fun.

seed spitting contest at the richmond library! we're doing summer reading programs at three different libraries this year. the other day emma picked out two chapter books - a weather fairy one and a pony princess one. troy tried to discourage that when we got home! alex picked out three books on ocean animals, he really loves to learn about wildlife. this is zach's first year getting to do summer reading. i still need to get them in swim lessons. before we know it, school will be starting. they are growing up too fast for me.

pics from the last few weeks

2011-05-21T23:22:00.000-05:00

only a few weeks late...

2011-05-21T23:18:00.000-05:00

i had a wonderful mother's day. nothing fancy, just my man bringing me a gorgeous flower basket and apple fritters from casey's when he got home from work. then he let me sleep until 10 am with sawyer. and he kept the kids so quiet, i'm still not sure how he did it. what a nice way to wake up! the kids drew me a bunch of pictures, and made me stuff at school too.

tonight emma gave me a scare. we got a letter today from the school bus company, saying that their buses had been vandalized and the clipboards with the kids' information had been stolen. not that they think anything will come of it, but just for us to be aware.

so i worked in the flowerbeds this evening and when i was done, i took baby inside and told the older three i was taking a shower. they were playing on the trampoline, and said ok. while i was in the shower, both boys came in and talked to me and when i got out, emma was nowhere to be seen. i looked everywhere for her, hollering her name outside, and really starting to panic a little.

finally i found her, under a pile of pillows and blankets on her bed. she was hiding because i made a joke before i came inside and it hurt her feelings. i had asked the kids to get the wagon and pick up the weeds i pulled, and she said no she wouldn't. alex got right up and went to do it, and i said "guess who my favorite kid is today?!" which is a joke, i say it often, depending on which kid is behaving awesome. and i always make sure to say i'm kidding, i don't have favorites, you know - but she got upset tonight. after i found her, and i explained how worried i was, she got even weepier and cried about it for a half hour or so. ugh. i felt bad i hurt her feelings, but she really should have just helped pick up weeds and i was only kidding. so i don't make that joke anymore.

sawyer is cutting another tooth on top, one is through and the other is right there. he's crawling all around now, and even took a tumble down the stairs. he trills all the time and very much won't let me out of his sight. he's still eating really well and sleeping long stretches in his crib at night. which i love. today we got out his splash mat and hooked it up to the hose, he liked it a lot. it was hot out there!

zach is hilarious. the second day we had the trampoline up, he fell off it. he came screaming inside, and i thought he had broke an arm or something. so he tells me that alex was trying to squirt him with his juice pouch, and he was running away and fell off. then he looked at me and said "and then he LITTERED." like that was the worst thing imaginable. it was so funny. he was so serious about it. today he helped me get out all the tank tops and shorts and fold his sweats and jeans away.

alex is learning to read, and doing awesome at tball practice. he's also swinging by himself - thank goodness. he and emma swing as high as they can go, trying to touch the tree branch with their feet. he got the wii and computer taken away for a week, i don't even remember what for now, and he didn't complain or whine, i expected it to be a lot worse. but it was ok, and even now that he's "ungrounded" he doesn't play it like he had been. it helps that we've been able to get outside too.

unplugged

2011-04-27T00:23:00.000-05:00

oh new laptop battery, my back thanks you already. i believe i will be posting more now that i can relax in bed and surf the net at the same time. lots to catch up on - it's been a packed week already.

today, sawyer crawled on his hands and knees. and i even got video of it! i'll post it soon, but listen to it with the sound off, if you please, because my voice is waaay irritating. he is also getting a top tooth.

zach is so awesome. i love spending the afternoons with just him, when baby is napping. he is so big - size wise, but likes to tell me how little he is. he is hilarious to listen to - today we were trying to hula hoop and he was cheering me on, saying great job! you're really good at it! whoa, mom, your boobs are really big. i'm not even kidding, he said that.

he'll be playing with his cars or blocks and be making up conversations and inevitably, someone gets boomed or shot or killed or something tragic. he was cussing for a little while there - err, not sure where he picks that stuff up - saying things like crap or damn. one day he said oh crap! and i reprimanded him. and he said, no mom, i say oh crap because that did that. like - hey, if i have a good reason, then it's ok. then a couple days ago he was playing wii and i heard him say oh damn. and i said Zach! and he said no mom, i said oh jam, that's not a bad word. he is such a handful.

alex is growing up so much. he is swinging like crazy these days, going really high, and it's funny how he just got it one day. he and emma will swing together and both of them are flying. he's pretty close to riding his bike with no help, and after watching him hustle at soccer i know t-ball will be fun this year too. he loves going on woods walks, and still is super interested in animals and birds. he wants to go fishing sooo bad.

emma had her first friend spend the night - reggi from her class. they got along so well! dress up and makeup and blue nail polish and movies and wii and popcorn and pizza and no parents had to be called in the middle of the night. she wants to learn how to dance. i haven't talked about that with troy yet. she is reading really well, and has been writing stories and i just love the way she spells stuff. i found about 5 pages the other day, a story about call 911, oh no, the hous is on fire, what will we do. don't worry, supper dog will save us! but he's at work! haha! it's 5:00 and he is here now. but how will we know he is supper dog? he sprayed water all over our hous. there was some more too, but it was cracking me up.

oh, we had easter and mom and dad and nana came with me & the kids to the hall. yummy food, sawyer was so good and actually let other people hold him. he was squealing his high pitch shrieks. zach was cute, about half way through eating he realized he was sitting at the girls table and had to move. and troy's mom had put out a bunch of grandma marie's craft stuff and photos and told us all to take what we wanted. so i have an unfinished quilt top to try to complete.

i need to make note that i had another allergic reaction last saturday night. it came on more slowly than ever before - i was itching most of the afternoon, but thought it was from mushroom hunting, i felt like i had a tick crawling on me. so i showered and then thought i was itchy from dry skin. then by 11:30 that night i was hiving up. my hands swelled and i had a tough time getting my ring off, and then it left an indent for a day or so! i'm supposed to write down everything i ate for the 24 hours previous - which makes me realize how much i eat and how much of it is crap. i'm going to chalk this one up to the red beans and rice with turkey sausage i had for lunch. or the easter candy i indulged in all day.

horses

2011-04-17T22:00:00.000-05:00

the kids spent the night with grandma and pepaw last night. troy and i (and sawyer) went out to celebrate our 9th wedding anniversary a few days early, since he has to work that night. we ate at our fave mexican place, and country cruised home, listening to music and seeing several deer and owls. then we watched harry potter and the deathly hallows. it was a nice relaxing night, and it flew by.

sawyer is such a momma's boy. although he has been babbling dadada among other new sounds. if i leave the room, he will drag himself clear across the house looking for me. i ran outside today, and when i came back in he had made it from the living room rug all the way to the refrigerator, screaming his head off. it's pretty ridiculous. i can't get anything done.

the kids had fun staying over, and when i went to pick them up we got to feed the neighbor's horses. pete, cherokee, and jack. the kids loved it. i love getting to pet them!

call him bear

2011-04-13T07:44:00.000-05:00

no more man vs. wild for aj. he killed a 4 foot black snake last friday. with a metal bar. he bludgeoned the thing to death. and yes, i am only now writing about it. i still feel sort of queasy over it. he was playing over at the crane's with jack and chase, and came across the snake on their land. which went "achhhk!" at him(his words). so he grabbed a piece of metal that was laying there and killed it. and then it came back to life! so he killed it again! (again, his words)

my emotions over it are all over the place. i'm sad and sickened that his response was to attack instead of run away. but i'm shamefully proud a little too. i tried to explain to him that he didn't need to kill it, and he said "but daddy & pepaw kill snakes!" which they do - copperheads. then he said "i just wanted to kill something too." which broke my heart. then he started to cry, and i felt terrible. i tried to explain to him i'm just not ready for him to be a hunter, and kill stuff. (he also shot a bbgun that day too) those damn cranes. i bet he was drinking beer and playing poker too. hahaha! just kidding, sort of.

but thank god it wasn't a copperhead, or a rattlesnake. he probably does know the difference already, little nature freak that he is, but still. trying to show off for his cousins i bet he would've been all "i got this" and went after it anyways. and now he wants a bbgun for christmas. sigh. my work here is done. troy, it's all up to you now.

inservice day

2011-04-11T14:04:00.000-05:00

bad momma

2011-04-07T00:44:00.000-05:00

sawyer has two teeth now - working on a third but i'm not sure where yet. he's gnawing his fingers and being fussy. he's dragging himself everywhere, even venturing towards the stairs. but he still hasn't "crawled". he gets up on his hands and knees and rocks, and he can twist around from laying down to sitting up. he's making lots more sounds, he'll be saying dada soon i think. OH! and the big news! he's sleeping in his crib. all night long. without crying. he's not eating at night either, and since he doesn't use a bink or bottle much, we won't have to take those things away!! what a relief to be able to put him in his crib.

soccer's going great for emma & alex. alex scored another goal last night. emma's so fast on the field! once she gets the hang of it she'll be unstoppable! i think alex really likes it, and the games only being a half hour long helps. he's not much of a runner, so he gets bright red and sweaty after a few trips up and down the court.

alex is learning about dinosaurs at school - and he loves that they are actually learning something! he's been telling me lots of facts about dinosaurs. :)

emma is reading chapter books like junie b. jones and she told me today it wasn't fair, because all the other kids in her class' books have pictures in them, and hers doesn't. and then i pointed out that none of mommy's books have pictures. she's been sleeping in my bed, and she's a great roommate. she's so quiet, doesn't flop around.

zach is in limbo - he's not sure whether he's a little guy or a big boy. still in pullups at night, and still needing a nap, even if he hardly takes one. still dressing up in crazy clothes. but he can write some of his letters, and he knows how to spell his name. he wants to do things for himself, even when i would rather help.

troy's working all the time, and working when he's off work fixing things and getting water and soon mowing the grass. we're getting a trampoline for the kids once he's through with his overtime, so i'm looking forward to summer. i can't wait to see the kids throwing the cats on there.

so that's what's new.

i'm a soccer mom

2011-03-20T21:36:00.000-05:00

and i drive a minivan. and i'm a member of the PTO. who woulda thought?

em & aj are playing soccer at the new rec center in garnett. 90 kids signed up! it's 4, 5, & 6 year olds and they play monday and tuesday nights. we have 8am practice on saturday mornings, which is tough. but it's good for us, gets us moving and starts the day off. they have been doing pretty well, better than i worried they would do.

this thursday, over spring break, they are going to a program called spring into fitness! the KCChiefs cheerleaders and Wolf will be there. they are pretty excited. emma wants to bring pompoms and wear her red cheerleader outfit. i'm glad zach will be able to play too, it's hard for him to sit and watch them in jujitsu and soccer and not get to join in.

sawyer is crawling now. yep. well, dragging might be a better word. he's army crawling but he gets around! he's also cutting his 2nd tooth, the bottom middle, and today was a grouchy day for him. it's right there, you can see it, so hopefully tomorrow it's through and he goes back to happy baby. my back is killing me.

saturday i had a scary allergic reaction, who knows what caused it. but i suddenly felt sick and threw up, then hived out and got the chills and cramps and my hand puffed up. it really hurt, it's still sore and stiff. i called mom to come over, but when she got here the benedryl had kicked in and i wasn't wheezy anymore. i am going to talk to my doc on tuesday, and maybe there's some more tests they can run? each time i have an attack, it gets worse. the last 2 times it's started to affect my breathing. but the angiodema in my hand scared me the most. everything i love to do involves me using my hands - sewing, cake decorating, writing on the computer - and today i haven't had full use and it's scary. plus dr. google always manages to come up with obscure things that you 99% don't have but it still keeps you awake at night.

it's actually march 4th, doh!

2011-03-20T21:22:00.000-05:00

let's start with the obvious - someone's always sick it seems. this time, emma got sent home from school last wednesday with a tummy ache and low fever. that night, sawyer was coughing and fussy and got worse over the next day, getting a fever too. i took him to the doc thursday, and he tested positive for rsv. so they suctioned him out and gave him a breating treatment, and sent us home with the nebulizer. he tolerates it really well. he's even cutting a tooth on the lowers and is still a happy guy. rolling around, trying to eat paper, and grinning so big when he sees his daddy. he had gained weight, and was 20 pounds 12 ounces. he's gotten his appetite back but is still congested and somewhat wheezy, if he doesn't keep improving we'll be back to the doc.

emma missed out on a day of state assessments, and not to brag, but the scores might have dropped a bit without her there. she is reading so well! immediately - refreshing - sometimes i'm a little awed by how well she's doing. i read well too as a kid, and i just hope she enjoys it as much as i still do. i opened her door last night to find her reading aloud, to herself, so cute! it was the book bad dog marley. she's also writing her numbers up to 400, and they are working on money and time. she's been earning "dollars" for completing work at school , and gets to "buy" junk from the treasure box. then she brings it home, shows the boys, the fight starts and it gets put on the fridge. that's our "tomorrow shelf", where the toys go if they fight over them.

oh, the boys. they fight over everything. zach has been throwing big tantrums, sometimes over someone talking to him. don't talk to me!!! he'll scream. he also hates girls, and doesn't want girls to bother him. heehee. i told him he was going to spend the night at lyla & claire's and he said NOO! i don't like girls!

alex cut his hair the other day, and so we had to buzz it off. i used a 4. it looks good, but i wish i could figure out a way for him to have hair and have it look good. i like longer hair on boys. but his just looks like he combed it with his pillow, as his dad would say. anyways, it's short and he looks handsome. he has such pretty eyes!

speaking of hair & dads, troy has grown an orange beard. and yes it looks better than it sounds. but still. it's a bushy beard. he said he will shave it soon.

happy valentine's day!

2011-02-13T23:01:00.000-06:00

it's hard to believe sawyer is turning six months. we had his check up last thursday, and he was 2 ounces shy of 20 pounds. he's becoming so much smilier! and squealing too. loves to get his hands in the cat.

loves to take a bath, he goes crazy splashing and really likes his book.

today we had him baptised by father jerry. he was such an angel all day long. scott & megan are his godparents. sawyer did great during the ceremony and lunch afterwards. we had all the family over for lunch, yummy ham and homemade rolls. i made pumpkin pie.

i had his pics taken finally when we were in kc last week. after getting two vaccination shots and no nap, i was expecting a big tantrum but he held it together and did pretty good!

he's such a joy.

the other kids made their first snowman! daddy helped but they decorated him. it was cute because they checked on him the rest of the day to see if he had melted yet.

it made me happy to see it out the window above the kitchen sink. he's gone now, but it was sweet while it lasted.

tonight we made valentines and tomorrow we have parties at school and then jujitsu. i better get to bed!

craaaazy.

2011-02-07T14:05:00.000-06:00

this thursday, sawyer has his six month checkup. can you believe it?

he's behaving a lot like a six month old. pretty pleased with himself. happy most of the time. chomping down on his spoon and occasionally my boob. i'm weaning him as soon as he can hold his own bottle! the little turkey, he bit me the other day and when i yelped, he grinned. he thought it was funny. i can assure you it wasn't.

he's sitting up so well, all by himself, playing with toys. last night he rolled and scooted his way around emma's room, ending up underneath the crib more than once. sometimes he hollers and squeals, just to hear it. i love this stage!! he's slowly getting better with other people, i think soon i will be able to leave him with a sitter and not worry about him crying the entire time.

he's also not sleeping as well at night as he was, wanting to eat all night long. i need to get him moved to his crib, but i've been so tired and am only now feeling like myself again after being sick. so soon, no excuses.

emma had a skating party to go to saturday, we had fun! she did better this time, and skated a lot by herself. she even won the limbo contest! it was for lacy & her sister linda, so there were lots of girls from greeley there.

alex is a little mario obsessed lately. anyone remember a mario tv show from back in the day? we found it on netflix, and it's awful. and funny too - the other day the guest was cyndi lauper and she was looking for captain lou albano. i've also seen winnie from the wonder years and magic johnson on the show. i try NOT to watch it, it's seriously dumb but alex LOVES it. the first thing he and zach ask in the morning is "can we play wii?" and i have the little beeps and doot doot doot, duh doot de doot song stuck in my head all the time. boing!

zach. oh zach. he's such an obstinate little man. he will absolutely not let you help him do anything. he's funny to listen to when he plays by himself, carrying on crazy conversations and different voices. he's always always filthy. not sure how, but he is.

gotta love these kids.

bleah

2011-01-23T19:11:00.000-06:00

so the flu has ravaged our household for over a week now. ugh. i'm the only one left who hasn't thrown up. the record is held by emma, who threw up 12 times. loudest puker award goes to troy who i could hear downstairs through closed doors. it's been pretty miserable around here.

we had to reschedule sawyer's baptism, it should have been this morning. but that's ok. i wasn't up to having everyone here and still haven't found a white shirt for him to wear. i am about caught up with washing all the sheets, blankets, and clothes that got yacked on. i am so ready fpor things to return to their regular state of crazy. i had planned to take emma and alex to the movies this weekend, and we were also supposed to celebrate dad's birthday at el mezcal. so screw you, flu, for messing it all up.

this next weekend troy is going hunting with dad and bill and brian. i will probably try to get all the kids' pics taken together. we need a good shot of all four of them for our photo wall. and i'm hoping to get mom to go with me. we'll see.

emma got her report card and it was all awesomes. perfect attendance again. she also gave a presentation at the school assembly about the cottonwood tree. the other kids in the class talked about ks stuff too, like the sunflower. then she performed a mini dance routine at the homecoming girls basketball game, it was so cute! she loved the dance cluinic and wants to go back every weekend.

we had fun at the game too. it was the 1st high school game i've been to since high school! we sat with john & stacy and troy's mom came too. sawyer slept through it, even the tubas!

i got zach enrolled in preschool for next fall. he's going to faith lutheran, where emma and alex went. i am so excited for him! he's going to have so much fun! i've missed going there this year.

we've had three snow days so far. i'm new to this school thing - do they have to make them up the end of school year?

turning five is a week long thing

2011-01-08T16:44:00.000-06:00

happy new year!

2011-01-02T21:19:00.000-06:00

hope you all had a merry christmas! get comfy, joy, it's a long one! ;)

we had an enjoyable holiday. "santa" was super good to our kids, and they have a ton of new toys and clothes thanks to grandmas and aunties. we have a wii now, and have it set up downstairs for the kids to watch netflix and stuff on. they had fun watching some shows they hadn't seen in awhile, like blue's clues and scooby. and they love playing sports. we all suck pretty bad at super mario bros - well, until we realized michael had us playing world 5. once we started from the beginning, it was a lot easier!

christmas eve we spent at bert's, having brisket for dinner and then playing our gift game. we won some good prizes, like an awesome blanket. it's sherpa fleece on one side and soft microsuede on the other. so cozy. i also won the $50 bill at the end, so it was a good year. troy won some tools and beer and other goodies too.

christmas morning was quiet - the kids slept in until 7 or so, which was nice. no big stories, just opening gifts and everyone happy.

zach got a green scooter, a magna doodle, and thomas the train sets. emma got a barbie makeup case she loves. she's been wearing blue eyeshadow ever since. she also got an mp3 player. anyone know a brand of earbuds that fit a 6 year old? alex scored some new color wonder kits and a nerf shotgun (which broke immediately). all the kids got pillow pets. a frog, puppy, and unicorn. new books and leapster games too.

we spent the day after christmas at mom and dad's, tom and trav were in town with their families. again, really relaxed, some gift swaps, and dinner. then monday we brought michael along with us to jujitsu and he was pretty good! really flexible and tried the nunchucks and flips and everything. the kids thought it was cool to have him go along.

wednesday i was trying to get caught up on everything and was multi tasking, cleaning and cooking and stuff. and i forgot i started the bathtub for the boys to take a bath. they forgot too, watching tv and no one noticed the tub overflowing. at least not until the water was on the carpet. i am so mad at myself. we had to pull the carpet up in our room and replace the pad. so the bedroom is in a state of chaos right now - not what i had planned for the past week.

alex had his first night terror. i heard this awful shrieking scream and ran in there to find him sitting upright on his knees in his bed, totally panicked. he said "mom! help me!" i scooped him up and snuggled him. his heart was racing and he didn't even know what was going on. poor kid. it was weird! nothing since, so hopefully it won't happen again.

sawyer is changing every day. he's eating cereal now, opening up for the spoon and chowing down. he's rolling side to side, sometimes going all the way over but twisting and trying stuff out. every once in awhile he gets over on his face. he drools so bad, and gums everything. he loves the sling i got, he falls asleep in it almost every time. he loves to be held while he sleeps. he won't go to bed at night unless i lay down with him. which is going to be hard to do in a crib, haha. i need to just tough it out a night or two and let him cry. i had planned to do it over break, so emma could sleep in the boy's room, but obviously that didn't happen. he's taken a few naps in it though, so we'll get him used to it.

we spent new year's eve at red's house, well, until 10:30 when troy dragged me out. bert was watching the kids and we promised to be home early. it was fun, i was glad we went even though we both paid for it the next morning. i only drank a few beers, but i felt awful the next day! troy was working on the gallon of jack daniels jade got him for christmas. he didn't look so good either.

so far so good on not running the furnace this winter. can you believe it? the wood stove keeps the house pretty cozy. we have the furnace on, just set at 62* so it only comes on if it gets that cold. and we - so far - have only used about 5% of our tank. which is awesome!! poor troy though, he spent this morning cutting hedge with jeff, filling his truck and a trailer. then coming home and unloading it all. he's definitely paying for it - just not from his wallet, so he's happy.

ok, that's a lot to read through so if you made it this far, yay you! let's have a great year!

hohoho

2010-12-22T22:07:00.000-06:00

so i am a little concerned that alex may be dyslexic. i often find him writing things backward, and on a magnadoodle the other day he had written apple, in mirror image. when you research it you see they have trouble with pencil grip, self esteem, and coordination. but i may be making too much of it. he has excellent far away vision, and memory. but it's a red flag. i will be looking into it.

zach has blossomed lately and is drawing more, and writing some letters like a, f, e, and n. he is also making up stories all the time, about how a snake bit him, or a fire burned the house, or weirdly tragic things like that. i am excited for him to go to school next year,

emma's doing so well at jujitsu they want to train her one on one for competition, and think she could win trophies. she's doing front flips off the mat and started back flips too. i love watching her. i wish i was so cool. she's doing weapons too. she had her school party today, so cute, santa hats and games.

sawyer is a whole new baby. blowing raspberries, rolling and scooting around! eating yogurt and cereal. talking and gooing. love it! he refuses to be left alone, or sat down anywhere. i am holding him right now. but if i lay him down, he will wail. so my back hurts.

troy is off work the rest of the week. he's planning to get us a new tv tomorrow. we are getting a wii from santa, so we obviously need a new tv for it. right?

have a merry christmas!

snaggletooth

2010-12-13T22:45:00.000-06:00

so alex finally moved up to a red belt! he was pretty happy. he's been quite the artist lately, cutting and gluing and coloring and painting. we made playdoh decorations with the christmas cookie cutters the other morning.

and they all made me handprint stepping stones. that was one of those ideas that sounded a lot more fun than it actually was. they had to dry for 24 hours before they could come out of the mold. but they wanted to paint them right away. there were only two molds, so only two people got to make one at a time. the agony! alex finished his today and emma's is almost done. sawyer's itty bitty handprints just kill me. i'll post a pic of them once they finish painting them.

emma's loose tooth still hasn't come out, but her adult tooth is poking through behind it. it's weird, it looks like her tooth is coming up in the center of her mouth! but dr. google says it's normal and will move into place. i see braces in her future.

we have a busy weekend ahead. birthday party saturday (alex, lincoln, and kaden) and schaffer KC christmas on sunday. i need to get the teacher gifts made and neighbor cookie plates delivered. i also have to make the birthday cake for saturday - eek! i will probably do R2D2, but we'll see how much time i have.

4 months!

2010-12-10T10:17:00.001-06:00

sawyer had his four moth checkup and shots yesterday! the little chunk has lengthened out, 25 inches long now and 97%. he is 17 pounds 8 ounces! that's 90% if you're keeping track. 44 cm head, 90% again. he was so good, he cried after his shots but just until the nurse left. then he settled down and went shopping with me. he's starting to grab things, trying to put them in his mouth.

he's in a size 3 diaper and wearing 9 month or 12 month clothes. he's adorable, talking to me, and has tried rice cereal and a taste of sweet potatoes too. the doc thinks he's just got a real sensitive gag reflex, which may be why he spits up the way he does. he gags on pacis too. and she thought maybe that might be why he doesn't like a bottle.

while i was gone, mom and dad had the kids here at the house - total chaos. em & aj got to "shop" at the christmas store at school, and alex was going bananas wanting to give everyone their gifts. so since he'd already opened sawyer's and emma's, we let him give out the rest. he got me a little candle. he got troy a santa bowl, filled with a stocking, a comb, a super scented bar of soup, a pack of gum, some hershey's kisses, and some chapstick. so apparently, daddy has body odor, bad breath, and messy hair.

we have so much going on. troy is working all this overtime, and i have the cookie exchange tomorrow. i want to take the kids to see santa sunday morning, and maybe we'll be able to get a christmas picture done too. next weekend is the birthday party for alex, lincoln, and kaden. on sunday is schaffer christmas in kc. and then the kids will be out of school on the 22 and who knows what else, i'm sure i'm forgetting stuff.

contest entry

2010-11-30T22:51:00.000-06:00

Mama’s Holiday Wish List Meme

TodaysMama (link to: http://bit.ly/tmwishlist) and GameStop (link to: http://bit.ly/gamestop10) are giving away a sleighful of gifts this holiday season and to enter I’m sharing this meme with you.

1. What is your holiday wish for your family?
happiness and health for 2011

2. What is your Christmas morning / Hanukkah Nightly tradition?
we wake up when the kids start yelling about santa, grin at each other over coffee, listen to music and watch the kdis go nuts.

3. If you could ask Santa for one, completely decadent wish for yourself, what would it be?
a vacation with my husband somewhere beachy and tropical.

4. How do you make the holidays special without spending any money?
I like to drive around and look at lights and decorations. although with the price of gas, that's not exactly free anymore.

5. What games did you play with your family growing up?
UNO and crazy eights

6. What holiday tradition have you carried on from your own childhood?
putting up the tree thanksgiving weekend

7. Where would you go for a Christmas/Hanukkah-away-from-home trip?
I'd love to take our kids skiing some winter, when they're older.

8. Check out GameStop (link to: http://bit.ly/gamestop10) and tell us, what are the three top items on your GameStop Wish List this year?
1. red wii bundle
2. just dance 2
3. udraw studio

700!!!!!

2010-11-28T16:53:00.002-06:00

so i guess this is my 700th post?! i started this lil' blog back when emma was a wee babe, and i've enjoyed writing it. but times change, and now i post a lot on facebook. so i wonder how long i will keep writing here. hopefully i can still make the time. especially since i've really failed at the whole baby book thing. and the scrapbooking thing.

sawyer is growing so fast - he's been pretty fussy and isn't sleeping well. he'll fall asleep but wake in ten minutes or so, spitting up or pooping. he's on zantac for reflux but we'll see what she says at his visit next week. probably "well he's still gaining weight so we're not concerned." meanwhile he's urping up 5 or 6 times each feeding, which is a lot of milk to clean up off him, me, and the floor. but i suppose the important thing is that he's growing. large. the kid is growing out of a size 2 diaper and is also sporting 9-12 month clothes!! he's also starting to grab stuff, and looks like he could roll over. he hasn't yet, but will soon i think.

his eyes are still blue, and he tried rice cereal for the first time and did ok with it. just a spoonful or two, i was hoping it might help him keep some milk down.

rice cereal drool

zach is a terrible three. he's obnoxious and disobedient and hits and kicks and throws tantrums and whines, pretty much round the clock. his hair sticks up in the back constantly, and he's always dirty. always. the kids had their dentist checkups last week (no cavities, yeah!) and we stopped in the bathroom immediately prior to walking in. i took a paper towel and wiped his face clean. but when he got into the dentist chair, she said "um. i'm going to just clean him up a bit before we start." i don't even get embarrassed anymore - it's unavoidable. zach did great and let them polish his teeth and do xrays - 6 months ago he barely let them look inside. i was really proud of him. i am excited for him to go to preschool next year - he'll love it. and he's stopped wearing emma's clothes, at least for now...

alex has a girlfriend, named olivia, who he's going to marry. she lives just outside of greeley and whenever we drive by her house he tells us "that's where olivia lives" every time. he's growing taller and skinnier - all his pants are getting short. he has a list a mile long of what he wants for his birthday - basically everything, and he's pretty adamant that santa's bringing HIM a wii. i keep explaining that santa would be bringing all of us a wii, if he were doing so, but it hasn't sunk in.

try not to look so happy, zach.

emma is a sweetheart still. i've missed her, i feel like i never see her anymore and what time i do get with her i am rushing her around from place to place. between school and jujitsu twice a week and church on sunday, i just don't get to see her much. we went shopping on friday (later, not with the crazies) and had fun. then we kept wendy's girls friday night and the boys fell asleep early, so i think she enjoyed having a "girl" slumber party. they all slept upstairs, i was surprised they didn't get scared. she's climbed in bed with me twice this week - i think someone is missing me a little too. :)

she's got another loose tooth, and started nunchucks at jujitsu last week. just defense stuff, blocking, but still!

well, that's a pretty long wrap up. i know there's a lot i haven't posted about lately - jessi and jade's costume party, thanksgiving, but i'll try to be better and post more often. i've also got to get busy making our christmas cards!!

i suck

2010-11-08T22:30:00.001-06:00

i know i've been terrible about writing! it seems like i never have time, even though i do and i think daily about what i want to say. so let's jump in.

zach is wearing women's clothing. emma's, to be specific, although he sported a pair of my yellow striped fuzzy socks earlier today. he waits until alex leaves for school, and then the cross dressing commences. underwear, socks, pants, sequins, it's all fair game in emma's closet. he fell asleep today watching dora while wearing emma's undies, pants, and costume dress with his tennies. yesterday it was vampire teeth with a striped skirt and pink shirt - worn backwards, another recent trend.

and on top of that, he keeps coloring on the walls. and peeing his pants. i am seriously frustrated, and troy said something about me not paying enough attention to zach (or something like that, i wasn't really listening) but anyways, what is zach's problem!! today he ran a black crayon along the stairwell, a few days ago it was turquoise on emma's desk and rug.

alex is awesome. he told me the other day he wants to be god for halloween because then he will RULE THE WORLD! arms spread wide, maniacal laughter. I WILL BE KING!!! i had to explain that god is not a superhero. then today, he told me he wants to be an army guy. and a few minutes later he said after he's all done taking care of all the bad guys, he will come home and eat a big dinner. i love him, even if he is a total pain a lot of the time he is so funny and sweet.

emma is having some issues, someone at school is being mean to her and she doesn't know how to deal with it. and we're not sure if she's just overly sensitive( i wonder where she gets that from?!) or how to deal with it if she's not. i keep hoping it will resolve itself. she is reading so well, and got her red belt at jujitsu last week!

sawyer is smiling a lot, cooing and such. he still spits up a lot, still gets fussy in the evening. i wish i could spend more time just staring at him.

troy is working a lot, watching his chiefs, cutting firewood, keeping busy. i am trying to get ready for the craft show next weekend, and the monday after i have my tubal ligation. i am so nervous about it. mostly about being put under, which i've never done before. i don't want to be out of control, it's freaking me out!!

baby got back

2010-11-08T22:17:00.001-06:00

OOPS! (I NEVER POSTED THIS BUT WROTE IT BACK ON OCT 21ST, BEAR WITH ME)

happy 8 weeks old (last monday) sawyer daniel! you are fat. a fat fat fattie. 14 pounds 14 ounces yesterday at your checkup, you've doubled in size since birth. except in your length. you are 22 inches long. and if i could remember your birth length i'd compare, but that was 2 whole months ago, and i'm awfully tired. but i think you're short. 25% for height, 97% for weight. lucky lucky you, lumpy. yes, lumpy is the nickname dad has christened you with. he says your head is lumpy. so lumpy joins wingnut, snacks, and repeat. fabulous.

you are strong, holding your head up and shoulders too. you are heavy, especially since you like to lay straight back and make someone support your head with their forearm while you insist on being carried around like that, at a 45* angle. (ooh, math!) you also like the football hold with me patting your butt, and sitting in my lap facing out so you can see the world. you dislike your car seat unless we're driving, and loud noises. like the electric stapler at the PTO meeting, or someone yelling, or chaos in general. i'm afraid you will have to get used to it, take one for the team, because i am incapable of making things quiet for you. zach and alex are the loudest boys ever created.

view from his toes :)

you are starting to smile and wave your legs and arms around, and when i sat you in the bumbo you hung out for a couple minutes, chilling. you looked kind of like a weeble wobble. we are giving you a formula bottle once a day or so, and you don't like it much, but i need a break and it might help your fussing. we also are going to try some zantac to help with your spitting up. at least we hope it helps.

it sounds way worse than it actually is. your smile just melts me, i love you so much, and you remind me of emma as a baby. which is so great.

7 weeks

2010-10-11T22:15:00.000-05:00

sawyer is seven weeks old today. hard to believe. overall he's a good baby. he's fussy for an hour or two each day, that sucks, but it could be worse. we know, we've lived through it. he's smiling more, and gooing and grinning and that's cool.

he was "running" today, and waving his arms around, starting to move those body parts and squirm around. he's gotten so fat, big rolls on his back and a huge double chin. it's awesome. his legs have chunked out too. it seems like overnight all his 0-3 month clothes are way too small. the pants are so short! amazing. he sleeps good at night, waking once, usually. jinx jinx jinx. now tonight he'll be up all night long, you watch.

the other kids are doing good too. emma and alex moved up to yellow belts in jujitsu, and are close to getting their orange belts. i watched them tonight and they looked so cute, punching and what not. all the people who work there seem great, it's kind of a different world to me so i'm not really sure what's going on yet. it's funny, when sawyer was a week old, i took him and emma to garnett to get her hair cut. there was a gal waiting to get her hair done, and she and i sat and talked while emma got beautified. and now, her son is in their class. so we get to sit and talk some more! she's really nice. sensai mandy usually works with the kids. they really seem to like it.

zach is still resisting learning his abcs. he can sing the song just fine, but point to a letter and he says he doesn't know it. but then, today at the library, he was putting together a puzzle that had letters spelling apple, and he said each one as he put them in the puzzle. so maybe he's just shy? he's a wild man lately, he pushed alex into emma's tv last friday and alex hit his jaw. it's still sore and swollen, and he can't open his mouth very far. so tomorrow i'm taking him into the doctor to have it checked out. i'm hoping he didn't do any damage to his teeth. it looks like he just bit his cheek really bad, but it's been 3 days and it's not much better.

the kids' birthday party is this saturday! carnival time!

zach turns three

2010-10-01T19:50:00.000-05:00

zach dylan is turning three today. he said he wanted an ernie cake, cause ernie is his favorite. everything is his favorite right now. green? yes, please, that's my favorite. yellow? my fave. i love dora cause dora's my favorite. i wish learning his abc's was his favorite. he says his name starts with L, and only seems to know O and Q. not A. not S. he's waaaay behind in that department.

he did make his first smiley face drawing though. we were getting him a bike but have now decided on a sandbox. which we had planned to make but there's never enough time. so a turtle it is. he loves playing in the sand with his cars, so he will have tons of fun in it.

we went on a field trip today with the school to peine's pumpkin patch. emma was excited to introduce sawyer to her teacher. they each picked out a pumpkin plus one for sawyer. loving this fall weather!

hey

2010-09-23T09:40:00.000-05:00

what we've been up to:

losing our first tooth!

except she swallowed it during a snack of ritz crackers with pb. so...

(the dots were from her counting the letters in her letter) we tucked the note into her tooth pillow pocket:

and the tooth fairy left her three dollars!

now alex wants to pull out a tooth so he can get some money.

the older kids started jujitsu last night, lil dragons for 4-8 year olds. they seemed like they had fun. it was hot in there, they were all sweaty! they learned their defense blocks, and the teacher said they listen really well. i don't know anything about jujitsu, but they teach them a lot about respect, and defending the weak and doing what's right. if they like it and it wears them out, great! plus you pay by the month and work at your own pace, so in the summer while tball's going on we can skip it. i can't wait to see them in their uniforms with their belts!

our tv got fried during the power outage and storm last week, so we will be buying a new one a little sooner than christmas. jade can get us one from the 2nd saturday store for a discount, and they have one of the samsung's troy was looking at. i want to find a dark grey couch set for downstairs and put our old stuff upstairs. right now the upstairs is a dumping ground for old furniture. it will be cool to finally have it finished up there. 4 years later. the baseboard is up and looks awesome!

we had a nice dinner at mom & dad's on tuesday, tom was in town and got to meet sawyer. the kids enjoyed having uncle tom to play with.

it's hard to believe zach's birthday is a week away. i need to get busy, october will be frantic, with birthdays and field trips and doctor appointments.

i can't leave without a pic of sawyer. hard to believe he's almost six weeks!

one month

2010-09-13T11:37:00.001-05:00

has already passed. and sawyer is so much a part of the family! he's doing really well, sleeping lots, eating constantly, and not fussing much at all. he's gotten huge. we don't see the doctor again until october, but according to our scale, he's almost 12 pounds. sheesh. so much for my lil' newborn.

he had his first bath - didn't much care for it either. but now i've been doing it in the regular tub instead of the sink, and he seems to enjoy stretching out.

look at that face!!

he's been to a fish fry already, and dinner out at the cafe and princeton too. he plays possum, sleeps the whole time, doesn't fuss or open his eyes. this weekend he went to his first greeley smoke off and schaffer ball tourney.

he's the first kid we've had where i can tell what his cries mean. he makes a bleating noise like a goat when his diaper is messy. "baaah, baaah" he doesn't fuss, just makes that noise until you change him. he cries if he's hungry or about to spit up. which he's starting to do a lot of. all of our kids have been spitters. and he's real good at missing the burp cloth and running it right down my front. on the flip side, he has only peed on me twice.

the kids still love him and line up to take turns holding him. but some of the novelty has worn off.

not for me though. he's such a sweetie. and yesterday, he gave me the first set of big open mouth smiles. melted me on the spot. and i've spent the rest of the time since then cooing and squeaking and making a fool of myself trying to get him to repeat it!

speak of the devil, he's crying for me now. i have more pics to post, i'll try to do it later today!

two weeks already?

2010-09-02T07:57:00.000-05:00

i have to admit, the last two weeks is a blur. i'm getting up waaaay earlier than i am used to. emma has to be ready for the bus by 6:40 AM - yes you read that right - 6:40 AM, as in, when the sun is still coming up. add in one sweet baby eating every two hours and two boys who still climb in bed with me every night, and you get a tired momma.

plus, we are refinancing the house (super low rates!) and so we had to have an appraisal done this week. which meant a lot of catchup cleaning and some painting and it still isn't finished. but our bedroom is sporting a new shade of taupe, called cottage stone, and i love it! it replaced the baby poop brown that's been in there since we moved in. i realized the other day that we still aren't done with all the fix-its from when the pipes burst and the house flooded back in january. the bathroom remodel was done around last memorial day, and i just now painted over the sheetrock repairs. what a long journey this house has been! and, as i said - still not finished. i have to paint the ceiling in the bathroom and laundry room, we still have baseboards and crown to paint and install. sigh.

but, the baby is doing so great! he's a good baby, really doesn't fuss and we're having fun with him. zach chewed a hole in the hospital paci the first day baby was home, and all i had were nuks, which sawyer gags on. so we made an emergency trip to walmart yesterday for new pacis and d batteries for the baby swing. i was ready to throw in the towel on the nursing thing, because he was constantly wanting to eat, and then spitting it all back up on me. so now he has a paci and can suck away without me losing my mind.

and by the way, there's been a dispute over how his name is pronounced. we say SOY-yer. mom was saying SAW-yer. i guess emma corrected her numerous times! so in case you were wondering how to say it, now you know.

we may soon be a pet free home though. the cats have lost their minds and are peeing on stuff. i don't know for sure if it's just isabelle, i've caught her in the act but it could very well be king too. it's so frustrating, between them and zach peeing in his pants every other day the house reeks. and while i was doing laundry this morning, i smelled cat pee on the dirty clothes too. so. it makes me maddest because we just spent $$ to get them both fixed to avoid them peeing on things! and the mouse cage reeks, i think i'd have to change it every day to avoid that. good thing they don't live very long.

wow, what an upbeat post! i'll leave you with something positive - i won these birth announcements in a giveaway from daylight designs on etsy!

the schaffer six!

2010-08-23T14:42:00.000-05:00

today was alex's first day of preschool! i had to take sawyer to the doctor, so mom came over to put him on the bus for me. we picked out his clothes before i left, and i "packed" him a lunch to eat with grandma that had special treats, like a pudding cup. they never get those - i think they're gross - but they always ask if we can buy them. anyways. emma will be riding home with him, and i hope he had fun! they'll be home in an hour or so.

would you look at my skinny mom?

sawyer and zach and i went to kc for the doc appt, and it was so much fun! zach is so big now. he has to "help" me carry the baby carrier, which means i have to walk slow and hold it down around my ankles so he can have his hands on the handle too. sawyer is doing fabulous, he's gained a full pound since we left the hospital last wednesday! he's 8 pounds eight ounces! crazy. he's even sleeping 3 1/2 hours a stretch at night for me, which i am hoping will lengthen out soon since he's more awake during the day now.

i know it sounds strange. but we had another kid, and life got a whole lot easier! the kids are excited about school and their new brother, they all want to hold him and pet him and give him stuff. zach tried to feed him a fruit snack this morning. he's been buried under stuffed animals. it's weird having older kids this time around - they ask a lot of questions about the baby, and notice a lot more. they are really intrigued by the whole nursing thing. zach - "he's really thirsty!" he also laughed and said the baby was kissing my boobies. emma keeps asking what it tastes like, and if she can try some. um, no. alex asked if he could hold my boob while the baby eats. just funny stuff like that.

saturday night, mom and dad took the older three for a sleepover and troy and i just hung out with the new kid, watched the chief's game and ate take out mexican food. it was so relaxing. troy asked me once if i was going to put that baby down at all that night, and i don't think i did. i just love snuggling him. and if troy is right, and we're done, he's my last chance at newborn snuggles! yeah, troy's pretty insistent that we're done. although, the schaffer seven has a nice ring to it...

he's here!

2010-08-18T21:09:00.000-05:00

sawyer daniel schaffer

still no baby!

2010-08-14T22:54:00.000-05:00

last wednesday i went up to kc to get emma and aj, they had a sleepover at aunt wendy's for claire's birthday. zach was so funny the night before, he said he was going outside to look for his friends emma and alex. he was going to wait for them. but he loved having the place to himself, i think we will have a lot of fun once school starts and he's the "only" kid for a few hours. anyways, we met up with wendy and the kids at chuck e. cheezits. and they ran around like mad and had a blast. zach kept forgetting where we were sitting, so he'd be wandering around crying and instantly stop and grin when he saw me.
we left there and ran a few errands, and came home for an hour or so before heading out to preschool enrollment. troy was going to meet me up there, and it's a good thing because i had a blowout on my back tire! i heard something but thought i kicked up a rock, or that a lawn chair fell over in the back of the van, i really wasn't paying attention. the kids were fighting over who sat in whose chair. we weren't too far from home, but it was so hot! anyways, troy came and switched cars with me, and we went on to school.

i started having pains about then, and was up all night with contractions ten to twenty minutes apart. troy called into work the next morning, and of course, the pains went away and i've only had random contractions since. i saw doc on friday and i'm only dilated to a one!! he thinks i just overworked myself on wednesday. he said he would induce me once i hit 39 weeks, which is the day emma starts school. i figure, if i have to wait til then i might as well let it happen on it's own. baby knows best, right?

emma is super excited. she has her first loose tooth! all day she's been saying "i can't believe i have a loose tooth! i'm getting so big!" and she's also been practicing her cartwheels. she can *almost* do one. she does handstands and tries to do walkovers and stuff all the time. she seems like she'll be a good tumbler. we watched some gymnasts on tv tonight and she wants to try it all. she asked troy to make her a balance beam.

alex will have 7 kids in his class, counting him. 3 girls and 4 boys. it's a small classroom, i hope he will enjoy it as much as he did at faith lutheran last year. i've heard wonderful things about his teacher, and i think riding the bus will be fun for him. and not having to take him to school is great for me! but i am worried about him handling himself ok in such a small setting. he's so loud!

zach is doing a little better potty training, but we're close to running out of diapers and i told him i wouldn't buy anymore. i still will for night time i guess. i have to start working with him on his letters. he knows them but half the time won't even pay attention when you ask him what something is. he'd rather be pushing a car around.

troy's been working on his tractor, it keeps overheating. he's got it all torn apart but thinks he knows what's up. i'm trying to finish up some projects before baby comes. i painted trim in our room today, and need to finish it up tomorrow. i finished baby's quilt, and sewed some buttons on a sweater for emma. little things like that. i still need to organize the shelves in the laundry room, maybe tomorrow.

any day now!!

2010-08-10T16:44:00.000-05:00

she thinks my tractor's sexy

2010-08-08T04:38:00.000-05:00

still, no baby. still, lots of contractions. i'm hoping for today, but trying to be patient since there are 17 days left.

his nose and lips look so huge! i can't wait to see this guy.

meanwhile, troy has been working with emma on riding her bike with no training wheels. she does great. she was really afraid, but is conquering that and was riding by herself the other night. she has a hard time starting though, so we're not there yet, but soon. and alex has been trying too.

i think alex will be reading soon. he's got such a good memory, and it's almost cheating because he's not sounding the words out, he's just recalling what he's been told. he reads the foot book all from memory! emma's doing pretty well too, i think she's going to love school.

zach is failing potty training. he just doesn't seem to care. we've tried charts and stickers, bribery with candy and a leapster, threats and shame, but he still has accidents all the time. i wouldn't even call them accidents, he really doesn't seem to care he's peeing down his leg. maybe the baby coming will spur him on to be a big boy. i sure hope so.

troy's planning to bush hog the fields tomorrow on his tractor. my sexy farmer man! i do love watching him drive around on it. i also love when it's all mowed up, you can really see the lake then. dad worked on the tractor for him a few weeks back, and they seem to have it fixed. knock on wood, it would sure be nice if nothing else broke around here for awhile.

what a month. the hot water heater was broken, the water in richmond turned brown for a couple weeks and still has that dirt taste, two flat tires on the van one week apart, zach dumped a bottle of nail polish (clear, thank goodness) on our living room carpet. there's more, but i'm trying to forget it all. that's life, right?

august

2010-08-04T22:15:00.000-05:00

wow! this month is sure going to fly by! we have a lot going on, enrollment for emma is tomorrow. bert is coming over to watch the kids so i can run in and take care of all that. friday i have another sono and doc appt. claire's birthday is next week, so we're trying to get the kids together for a sleepover before school starts. aj has his open house at preschool on the 11th, and then i have another doc appt on friday. ava & claire's birthday party, the ice cream social at school, emma's first day of school (sniff!), then alex's (hooray!), a fish fry to go to, and somewhere in all that i have to squeeze out a baby boy. sigh.

zach has grown so much. he looks like a kid now, and he's constantly telling me he's BIG. to which i reply, then why are you still pooping in a diaper? he is such a stinker. literally. he hides when he has to go. he's so funny though. i was walking towards the boys' room a few days ago, and heard "alex, watch this!" and got there just in time to see him take a jump off an overturned trash can and brain himself on the top bunk. he was trying to leap into the bottom bunk, but completely missed.

the boys fight over everything. alex likes to try to tell zach he's too little to do stuff, which drives zach nutso. or alex gets mad because zach is wearing "his" clothes that he's outgrown. he's completely fine with lincoln wearing his hand me downs, but not zach. and he got upset while i was putting away baby clothes upstairs, because he wanted to wear "his" robot shirt - it was a 6 months - and tried to put it on! i heard seams popping and turned around to find him with it around his neck. then he told me he wished he could be a baby and have a robot shirt! maybe i can find a robot shirt in his size and tell him it's a gift from the new baby.

the new kid needs to make his appearance soon. i'm so tired of having contractions all the time. it's annoying.

emma's been really pouty lately. she wants to go live somewhere else. we never let her do anything. she wants to go sleepover somewhere. why can't we go to chuck e. cheese. why doesn't she get to go to the pool. why can't she have a pony. you know. we're the meanest parents ever. i'm hoping once school starts it will get better.

waiting...

2010-07-29T21:55:00.000-05:00

as i get ready to write this, zach is shrieking in bed. for fun. he's turned into an ornery lil' turd this week. yesterday he was taking drinks of his chocolate milk and spitting them onto the couch, the floor, and as i realized at nite nite time, his bed. i wish he and alex didn't share a room, they egg each other on. we'll do something about that pretty soon, i think. if we could get some closets built in the guest room upstairs, i'd move emma up there. or if i could talk troy into my idea of making a bedroom on the west end of the upstairs...

every night i have pains, and every night goes by without baby making his arrival. i hate the waiting! the not knowing, the nervousness of what if troy is at work (35 miles away, the wrong direction) i know i am monitoring my pains obsessively. but i can't help it. it hurts! i never had braxton hicks with emma or even alex that i remember. a little with zach. a lot with this kid. sharp pains down my inner thighs, the kind that make you gasp involuntarily. my back pretty much aches all the time - so how will i know when labor actually starts? that's always been my clue. wah wah wah. mostly i'm ready for my hospital vacation to start. i have some knitting, two new mags, and i will be able to watch tv!

did i ever mention that we shut off our satellite? troy put up an antenna but he's having trouble with the cables that were run through the house, so even though it works, it's not hooked up yet. he's trying! i guess there's like fifteen splitters and a mess of cables, just like everything else in this house it was done all screwed up. so, we've been watching dvds alot. i think he's watched the hangover and shooter about 8 times each. i don't mind not having tv, i don't miss it because i didn't hardly watch it anyways. but some nights, i wish i could lay on the couch and watch the daily show or tosh.0 and veg.

jade's best friend

2010-07-25T17:55:00.000-05:00

crazy hair!

2010-07-24T20:25:00.000-05:00

here he comes!

2010-07-24T15:15:00.000-05:00

so i had a doc. appt. yesterday. baby is about 6 lbs, 5 oz. and is 76th%, or 37 weeks gestation. my doc doesn't change due dates, so he still has me at 35 weeks. but i am going with the 2 weeks earlier thing. one new development was increased amniotic fluid. he's probably fine. but there are things that can go wrong, so they will do weekly sonos now to keep an eye on the fluid level and possibly induce me early. he's head down, and i'm having some infrequent contractions, and i am starting to dilate. not that any of you wanted to know that, but there it is. baby will be here soon. we're just hoping for an easy delivery, no scary emergency c-sections or anything like that. and of course, a healthy happy little man to join our circus.

troy has, once again, taken the kids to go swim at slick's pond. they love it, and i have so enjoyed the peace and quiet! i finished painting the mudroom yesterday, and was going to try to do our bathroom ceiling, but i am so hot and tired today i think i will just rest. emma and alex finished up their week of swim lessons, and they really enjoyed it. next summer we will get a family pass and spend a lot of time at the garnett pool, i think.

big belly!

2010-07-24T15:03:00.000-05:00

more fun

2010-07-18T19:37:00.001-05:00

fun at uncle slick's pond

2010-07-18T19:28:00.000-05:00

belated 4th festivities

2010-07-11T17:39:00.000-05:00

i haven't talked much about the new kid. other than he's really big. but he's changed positions somehow, i don't know where he is exactly but my heartburn has lessened and i have a lot of energy again. all good stuff. at my dr. visit friday, he ordered another sono for the 23rd, and we'll see how big he is. after tuesday, if i go into labor, my doc says he'd let me have the baby. so tuesday night troy & i are going out for spicy mexican food, and if the van's a rocking, don't come knocking. just kidding! but i would be happy to have him arrive anytime after my new camera comes. he's due the week alex starts preschool, and a week after emma starts kindergarten.

last night we went to patty & paul's to watch the rescheduled fireworks. zach had never seen them before, and he decided they hurt his ears and wanted to go inside. but alex and emma thought they were totally cool. they especially loved the grand finale. emma and mia had fun playing together. zach and alex drove all around in mia's barbie bug. and for the first time, i realized i called baby #4 sawyer out loud. we're not 100% decided yet. we keep searching for something we love better. but. it felt pretty natural when it slipped out. the only thing i don't like about sawyer is there's nothing to shorten it to.

troy has been super busy around here, hanging trim and shelves, cleaning out the shed, building an antenna, and tonight, we're grilling steaks and having some of dad's sweet corn for dinner. yummo.

love this pic

2010-07-08T16:50:00.001-05:00

they're laughing because i kept coming up with silly things to say - this one was "daddy has stinky feet!" even though he doesn't. i just remembered an olan mills photographer saying that to me and my brothers and it cracked us up. because it was true.

their coach was so cool and got them trophies. they love them.

that's our new circle driveway in the background. i love it.

so glad we have embarq. or century link. or whatever we have.

2010-07-08T16:28:00.000-05:00

so don't mind me while i rant a little bit. dad just left - he came by to bring us some home grown goodies and to use our phone to call AT&T and report their phone isn't working. you see where this is going, don't you? after he tries twice to get through to a person, and make them understand he's not calling about my phone but his, and which number he's calling about, i try online. only we don't know his customer number or mom's social security number. which must be a guy thing, because i know troy's but he has no idea what mine is. so we can't do it online. so i call back again, and answer a gazillion questions to a computer. including this little exchange.

"what sort of problem are you calling to report? no dial tone, press one. unable to make or receive calls, press two."
i press two. the next question, i shit you not, is
"are you calling from your phone now? if yes, press one. if no, press two."
NO! two.
"are you able to make calls from your phone?"
grr. two.

and on and on. i never did get to talk to a person. but!! there is a person coming out tomorrow between 8am and 6pm. because everyone wants to wait all damn day for their phone to get fixed.

i did talk to mom earlier, she called to let me know that
1.)she couldn't reach dad and
2.) she made it to cancun.
ruth's getting married as i type this. congratulations, ruth!!

the land of ahhhs

2010-06-28T08:08:00.000-05:00

this weekend we took our trip to wichita. we left friday and headed to bill & brenda's for the night. brian came by, and we had a good time playing with the kids in their beautiful back yard.

we got up early the next morning to be at the zoo when it opened. i'm glad we did, it got pretty hot and we stayed til around 11:00. we met up with angie and the girls, and becky and the boys, and all the kids had a lot of fun. it's such a nice zoo!

we left and went by brian's house for a bit, and then on to the exploration place. that was a cool museum. they had a grossology exhibit, all about the human body, and a "castle" for the kids to explore. there was also a kansas in miniature room, with replicas of buildings all around the state. troy said he wished we could have spent more time there, because we didn't get to read much of the info on anything. the flight exhibit was great too - the kids tried to "fly" a plane in a simulator.

we checked into the hotel and swam a bit, then headed to natalie & john's house for dinner and some catching up. fifteen years! can you believe it? i don't feel that old, but that's how long it had been since we'd seen each other. the kids played while we sat and visited. it was really comfortable, if that makes sense. i wasn't sure what to expect, it could have been awkward, but it wasn't. they have the sweetest dog named henry - he was part chihuahua and part something else, i can't remember what she said. he was so gentle.

i was really pleased with the whole trip! the kids did awesome, especially considering how long a day we had on saturday. wichita exceeded our expectations and i'd love to go with just troy and hang out in old town, go to the art museum and botanica, and see some old friends.

gwen the mouse

2010-06-23T19:45:00.000-05:00

2010-06-23T19:43:00.000-05:00

hello summer!

2010-06-21T09:54:00.000-05:00

so today is the day that direct tv is getting shut off. the kids are watching sesame street right now - i'm bracing myself for the moment it's goes blank and they start freaking out!

we had a great weekend. tball friday night, then saturday we went to whitey and tiffanee's wedding reception. the kids had a lot of fun, and then bert offered to take them home for us so we could stay longer! we got to hang out and visit, which was great. sunday the kids let us stay in bed until 10:30, when they couldn't take it any longer. i guess they were hungry. it was super hot, so we hung out inside, and i made pies. one chocolate fudge, one sour cream raspberry. mmm. we went to mom and dad's to swim and have dinner. ribs and new potatoes. it was fun.

the kids are doing fantastic in the pool. alex was doing somersaults under water. emma's been braver, putting her face in the water and walk/swimming across. zach really doesn't like to get his head under the water - but he's totally happy just bouncing around. i think floating in the water helps my back too, i've been feeling the strain of this big belly.

oh! we had the 30 week sono on friday and mom went with me and the kids. the sonographer was so great with them, showing them things and even listened to their hearts after we were done! baby waved at the kids. she did say he has a big skull - like the other three - and that he was four pounds and then some. which, according to my baby book, a 30 week fetus averages 3 pounds. eeek! i better start eating salads! we did get the crib set up, and i'm still working on putting away clothes and toys for sawyer.

it's supposed to be hot all week, so it's a good thing i have lots of indoor stuff to keep me busy. troy cut the shelves for the linen closet, and i need to get it organized. he also hung three cabinets in the laundry room, and i've been painting the shelves for above the washer. we know when our current washer and dryer die, we want to get a stackable set, so i'm trying to plan ahead for that. i know i'd like a sink in there, so i'm thinking that a base cabinet with a sink will go where the dryer is now. and we'll probably have to rearrange the shelving at that point too, but for now it's going to be fine. i have so much cleaning to do!

greeley ball

2010-06-16T22:29:00.000-05:00

t-ball was rained out again tonight, but last night they played a game against a princeton team. mom and bert were both there, it was fun. cody's boy luke was on the other team, and emma and alex thought that was cool. luke was running the bases and alex was shouting across the field, "hi luke!!"

alex was a little crazy during the game last night.

he still did great!

emma did fantastic though. she was running with these really long strides, and stopped the ball, almost a catch at one point.

zach had fun going from grandma to grandma, asking for gum and candy and hiding under the bleachers.

then after the game we had hot dogs and nachos for dinner, and saw emma's friend samantha. they have another game friday, so i hope we get to play.

we went to mom and dad's to swim this morning. it was a lot of fun. the kids have gotten better each time, alex is fearless! i don't know if that's good or bad. but he loves doing dunk dives, and he was "swimming" underwater by the time we left. he's not very graceful yet, but he's moving his arms and legs and making his way across. emma can do it with the help of a pair of goggles and grandma's arm to hold her up. she's getting over her fear of putting her head underwater, and she even dove for the ball a few times. zach is just happy hanging on the side, or twirling in a tube. he got out first, actually, because the neighbors were "motoring" the yard and he wanted to watch. he loves that stuff. mom is so good with the kids, sometimes i feel bad, i'm just bobbing there and she's teaching them to swim. but they seem to learn better from others than they do with me.

troy is on nights this week, so the house is quiet and everyone else is asleep. i tried to sew a maternity top tonight but it just wasn't working out like i wanted, and it's hot upstairs. i may try again tomorrow night, but thought i would get some rest instead. i should be watching tv. we cancelled our satellite, effective monday! we're planning to take the money we save on that each month and stream in netflix or hulu or something like that. i was nervous to shut off the dvr service, but truth is, the kids watch too much tv anyways, and they are starting to want to watch shows like icarly and such. and those shows always seem to be calling somebody stupid or yelling at each other. even bob the sponge does it sometimes, and as much as i love him, he's gotta go. we get movies at the library and through netflix, and they should be reading more. so we signed up for the library summer reading program today.

summer boredom, already?

2010-06-15T11:08:00.001-05:00

it keeps raining, and that means the kids' tball games get rained out about once a week. which means moany groany emma has lots to complain about. she has been such a sourpuss this summer! she stayed a night at lyla and claire's, and i think she wants to move in with them. they do all sorts of fun stuff all the time, and she gets to sleep on the top bunk over there. i also think she misses school. around here she just gets told no all the time. she and the boys fight constantly. i want her to be happy, i'm getting really tired of her frowny face. it's not like we never do anything. they have a pool and a swingset, bikes and tons of games and movies. they're so deprived! troy's been teaching her to ride without training wheels, it's going ok. she's scared, but he said she's pretty much got it. she's also afraid to float on her back, but we're working on it.

making the transition from going to town every day to staying home every day has been awesome for me, but the kids are bored. i'm trying to keep them entertained, and plan an activity for each day, now that the remodeling is mostly finished. today was playdoh - they had a lot of fun making food. we rolled out cookies, made crabby patties, fried eggs in a skillet - all food themed. i think sponge bob has something to do with all that. i have some of those stepping stone kits but i am saving them until the baby comes - i want to make one for each kid with their handprints on it. aww, so sweet!

alex has been catching bugs this summer. troy said he's never seen anything like it. he just walked up and effortlessly snatched a lightning bug out of the air. he's been catching flies and bringing them to me. ugh, flies. since wendy's party, flies are everywhere. and the kids go in and out all day long, so i walk around, armed with my swatter, trying to keep it under control. and yelling at kids to close the door! the air is on! ah, the circle of life.

i have a sono on friday morning, and mom is going with me and the kids. troy's working nights this week, and that will let him sleep in that day. and the kids get to see their new bro swimming around in there! i am excited! zach tells me he has a baby in his belly. it's a boy, and it's name is zach.

he's such a funny kid. he has no concept of being in trouble, everything he does he has a good reason for, so why would it be bad? apparently he put a penny in troy's car's cigarette lighter, troy found it the other day while trying to figure out how come the radio quit working. yesterday i found him in the garage, putting all the popsicle fruit tubes from the freezer to a cooler. he was helping, you see? he's about fifty fifty on potty training. he'll do great for a couple times, and then poop his pants because "i want to." we got him a leapster - and he loves it, but as a bribe it's not working so well. plus it's a fancy new style and alex wants it for his own.

we're planning a trip to wichita - gonna do the zoo, and have dinner with my BFF from juco, and go to the twin's birthday party. it sounds exhausting but fun. only ten weeks to go - the baby countdown is on!

when it's too wet outside...

2010-06-15T09:40:00.000-05:00

mmm, krispy cremes!

2010-06-03T17:58:00.000-05:00

summer is here

2010-06-02T09:32:00.000-05:00

i love the way kids mispronounce stuff - alex is still saying things just a bit off. he's gotten better about adding a "b" to the beginning of words (bistructions, badelle) but he keeps asking about different kinds of dinosaurs and animals, and then asks if they are creditors (predators) troy said it's the same thing, really. there's been a lot of "i catched the ball!" said around here too.

they are supposed to have their first t-ball game tonight - it's already rained a little this morning, but i haven't looked to see what the rest of the day is like. i do have some gardening to do, so i hope it stays cool.

yesterday alex found some toads in emma's window well, and climbed in there, got them, and put them in his own window well. later he was watering the flowers inside it with the hose. he climbed in and couldn't get back out, because his feet were wet. i was cooking dinner and heard someone crying, and when i turned to go to the door i saw him through his bedroom door, beating on the window and screaming. he was freaked out! he didn't like being trapped in there! he actually got out with just a little help, he just needed to calm down a little. i did ask him to stay out of the window wells -- remember last year, when there was a copperhead in emma's? i think of it every time i pull weeds or gather leaves out of them.

home improvements continue, but we are down to the finishing stuff. hanging mirrors, shelves, organizing. some more painting. i wish i could wave a wand and finish it, so troy could take the summer off. he's been working so hard, and if i could, he'd spend the summer fishing, playing poker, and going to royal's games. and i'd spend it sewing, reading, and knitting! we need a nanny. it's hard to believe it, but the new kid will be here in 3 months! here's a pic of the bump.

this was taken by emma last weekend! we had a great time, ate too much, laughed a lot.

saturday in the sun

2010-05-29T18:21:00.000-05:00

michael's new do

2010-05-29T18:15:00.000-05:00

thank you alex!

2010-05-26T10:25:00.000-05:00

may update

2010-05-18T12:53:00.000-05:00

so lots has been going on. it's busy around here. last week the sheetrockers finished our walls in the bathrooms. then troy grouted the tile over the weekend. so this week we'll be painting and putting everything back together. at least, we'll be painting if we can agree on a color. i chose a beautiful apple green for the bath - benjamin moore's shadow green, it's a better homes and gardens editor's pick, and it matches the shower curtain perfectly. troy hates it. and i don't think i can convince him. so i may have to paint it when he's not home. the master bath is a pretty pale sagey-grey. and the laundry might end up being the green if i have to go with something else in the bath.

last friday, we took nana out for her 91st birthday! we went to el mezcal -yum! - and they stuck the huge sombrero on her head and sang to her. it was funny. what wasn't funny is that my camera was broken when i took it out to get a pic. i didn't realize it, but earlier in the dinner zach had knocked a chair over, and my purse was hanging on it, and it must have smashed the camera that was in my bag. the screen is cracked and you can't see what you're taking photos of. so i didn't get any pictures of nana with whipped cream on her nose and a silly hat. the kids thought it was great! they all shared her sopapillas and were really well behaved through the whole night out.

troy has a mix cd we've been listening to in the car. they love this song, she's country and it's hilarious seeing them try to sing along! alex especially. he gets pretty wound up when it comes on. they are pretty excited about their programs, alex seems to know all the words to the songs and it should be really cute. his is tonight and emma's is tomorrow.

the yard looks so good, and troy's liking his new mower. the grass all came up nice and thick, and the hostas are enormous this year! i even have two peonies in bloom right now, which i didn't think would make it. it is so nice to think about being done with a project or two. and we even watched a movie the other night! the blind side, it was good. i may have shed a tear.

mday 2010

2010-05-11T16:41:00.000-05:00

hope everyone either had a nice mother's day or made someone's mother's day nice! my sweet mom watched the kids for us (dad too) on saturday night so we could go to the hank jr. show. we had fun, although the last concert i went to sober was probably in high school. so that was different. people watching was funny though, we even saw a kid rock look alike in a bar in power & light. i tried to get troy to take my picture with him but he wouldn't do it - so lame. i would have framed it and hung it in the nursery.

i think i'm too old for concerts. i sat there thinking i'd really rather be out on our porch, watching the birds, with some good tunes playing. instead of flinching every time the loud drunk guys behind us moved, expecting a beer bath. we did have a good time though, we rode up on a party bus with jessi and her outlaws - a couple of them got in a fight with the stoners sitting in front of them, which made for an exciting end to the night! heehee.

the next day i woke up with the kids, and emma ran to give me the card she'd made at school. she wouldn't let me open it early, even though i pestered her about it constantly ever since she brought it home from school on friday. last year, she wanted me to open it as soon as we got home! so i open it, and it was a list of things about my mom. it said i was 93 years old! and that my favorite food was chicken and french fries, my favorite tv show was the news, and that i work on my computer. yep. all this work i do, it's exhausting. i will try to scan it in later but our crapola wireless printer hates me and only works when it wants to.

the kids are almost done with school for the year, which is both a relief and terrifying. glad i don't have to take them anywhere - until i realize they will be here with me 24/7! eek! of course, if they would always be as sweet as they were in that pic above, no sweat.

they also started t-ball. they play in june, three games a week, and practices every sunday until then. they did pretty good last week, even though only 2 other kids were there!

zach wasn't as excited about the game.

2010-05-07T09:01:00.000-05:00

parenting fail

2010-05-07T08:45:00.000-05:00

i may have made a mistake. last night, i was putting emma to bed, and king fluffy stripe was laying on her bed. he was on his back, legs spread wide, snoozing. and there they were, his balls, which grow bigger every day. i've been meaning to get those taken care of, but i had to get his shots first. so anyways, there they were, and i was talking out loud and said "we've got to get those cut off" as i scratched his belly. emma's ears perked up, and she said "cut what off? what are you cutting off?" so i flippantly waved at his manhood and said "see those two balls there? the vet's going to cut them off."

scene: the next morning. k fluff walks into the kitchen, which prompts emma to tell alex "king has to go to the vet to get his balls cut off. we have to cut those two balls off. he's going to have a sleepover there." and alex freaks out. because he knows what balls are. he has a pair himself. he ran crying to his room. and i'm sitting here, laughing everytime emma says balls. what am i, 13?

fast forward. i sat down with alex and explained that all boy cats and dogs get this done, it makes them nicer and that einstein and woody had had it done. he was worried that king wouldn't come back, but i reassured him. and i thought he was ok. then he went to his room and threw all his clothes in a pile on the floor. and i mean all. every pair of undies, all his hanging shirts, everything in his closet. and he said he was going to go somewhere else. what is with this kid wanting to run away?

anyways. watch your mouth parents! saying the wrong thing will always bite you in the ass.

good riddance.

2010-05-01T21:34:00.000-05:00

this week kind of sucked. we all got sick, with sore throats and hacking coughs. emma and zach both ran fevers for a day. since no one felt good, attitudes were up, lots of yelling and threats, troy even took a sick day thursday just to help referee. glad to put this week behind us, anyways.

troy has been hard at work on the bathrooms. so far he's redone the plumbing to both new baths and the laundry room. he installed our new bathtub/shower combo. he's rewired for new fixtures and framed in the new rooms and the new HUGE linen closet. instead of one big mishmosh bath/laundry room, we now will have two bathrooms and a separate laundry room, with a pocket door. and today, he tiled the "master bath" and started on the kid's bathroom floor. hopefully we can find someone to come tape and texture the sheetrock in the next two weeks.

he's been growing grass too. not THAT kind. he's been working on our yard, and we just got a nice soaking rain, so we should have some baby grass in the next few days. my flowers are coming along - i'm finding it hard to squat and pull weeds, or plant things, so i probably won't do anything new. if i bend over i feel like i'll throw up, and then i battle the reflux all night. good times.

we are worn out and tired and looking forward to the concert next weekend! hank williams jr. and jamey johnson, should be a good show. this afternoon we were listening to raunchy country songs (david allen coe, rodney carrington, roger alan wade) and laughing at the lyrics. then the kids came inside and we had to turn it off.

what we've been up to lately...

2010-04-26T10:59:00.000-05:00

lots of bike riding - even zach has learned to pedal, and zooms around on emma's bike! time to work with her on losing the training wheels. probably next weekend.

pillow piles are big too. i hate the mess it makes, but look how much fun they are having! how do you put a stop to those smiles? there's zach about to launch off the back of the loveseat - super safe.

what else is big news, zach can sing his entire alphabet song, and ride a bike, he's just so big these days.

alex loves working in his coloring/activity books, and is driving me crazy asking for help with the unscramble the word games. and the seek and finds. and the mazes. he's just looking for affirmation that he's doing it right, but he's relentless and sometimes i wish he would just color like a normal kid!

emma is working on tying her shoes, reading and adding. she made a bow two nights ago (with some assistance from mom) and that was a big boost to her confidence. then yesterday when lyla and claire were here, lyla tied some laces too!

high five

2010-04-17T11:58:00.001-05:00

it's a boy (and a girl!)

2010-04-16T23:00:00.000-05:00

today was my sono. i am 21 weeks, 3 days, according to the scan. the baby is a boy! he weighs about a pound. and everything looked pretty good, the fetal echo was good and everything was normal - except for the kidneys. measured 4mm, and anything over 3mm is too big at this stage. apparently, boys are more likely to have this. what does that mean? either there could be an obstruction, or it sometimes is a sign of down's syndrome. the perinatologist didn't seem overly concerned, just wants to check it in 6 weeks, but it does raise my risk to one in 150ish.

dr. google found this, which is reassuring!

"This is the most common "abnormal finding" of the 20 week ultrasound. It is found in girls but is much more common in boys. 4m and 6m millimeters is considered mild dialation. When it is over 10 that is when they really become alarmed. Most of the time it will resolve before the baby is born. When it doesn't, most cases will resolve the first year of life."

emma went with me, and watching her face when i said it was a boy - well, it fell. she had been very good about saying "if it's a girl" but she was really wanting it to be a girl. she's been drawing pictures of our family, with the baby included.

she only said once "i wish it would be a girl baby" and then she was ok. i told her she would be my only princess in a house full of princes. she kind of liked that.

then we went to the pet store and she got a girl mouse named gwen. or maybe della. she hadn't quite decided yet.

overachiever

2010-04-08T14:32:00.000-05:00

look at me, posting so soon after my last one. don't get used to it though.

i just had exciting news to share! last night at bedtime, emma wanted a story, so i chose a book mom had gotten her, a ready to read disney princess story. not the most exciting book, but i was hoping she could sound out a few words. guess what. she read the entire book to me! it was slow going, but she was such a trooper. i was afraid she might get frustrated and sulk when she couldn't say something right, and she showed a few glimmers of that, but she kept it together and i was just amazed. and can i just say that this ready to read book had a lot of bigger words? it wasn't see spot run, it was two and three syllable words, like happily and polite. and english doesn't make a lot of sense sometimes.

anyways, i knew it was coming, she's pointed our words to me at the store, but she is really sounding them out. she does it under her breath, using her finger to follow the letters, and i'm sorta glad she's not talking out loud, going "ttt, rrrr, eeee eeee" because i think that would drive me mad.

what else is going on. alex ran out in traffic THREE times today. twice he let himself out of the van, which means i can no longer trust him to stay in the car while i run emma to the preschool door. he did it at the park. zach hid from me under the jungle gym when i said it was time to go, so i put alex in the van and told him to drink his lemonade while i chased zach down. i was parked on the side of the road, and he climbed out the driver's door, probably not even looking to see if cars were coming. once he jumped out (we were in a parking lot) and ran to pick up a piece of trash someone had littered. (he's big on that lately) then at walmart, i was getting zach buckled in the cart and he walked through the parking spot in front of us, and there was a car turning in.

when you try to explain how dangerous it is, that he might get hit by a car, he just says "but i didn't." for him, end of story. why are you freaking, mom? i'm cool, no car's gonna get me. if anyone has any pointers for dealing with this, i'd love to hear them because i've pretty much decided i can't go anywhere with him for awhile.

zach is testing limits too. he's giving the terrible two tantrums a try. it's usually kind of funny. this afternoon, he wanted to play outside but it was super windy. so i told him to wait until i finished the dishes, and i would go upstairs with him. that way he could play in the shelter of the house, and out of the wind. so he went right upstairs, then shouted for me to come upstairs! scream yell yell holler. he missed the "when i finish the dishes" part. and then, nothing. so i go upstairs to check on him, and he's not there. i came downstairs, can't find him, go back upstairs to see if he'd opened the deadbolt and got out, and found him laying on his belly, sleeping, half under the bench by the door upstairs. he just passed out mid tantrum, i guess. he really fights taking a nap these days.

in a somewhat unrelated subject, i saw a tabloid headline about angelina jolie, that said "she laughs when her kids are crying" or something along those lines. it's been bugging me. i mean, so? i laugh sometimes too. not when they are hurt, or in a mean way, but sometimes, as a mom of several little kids, all you can do is laugh. and sometimes, it even makes the kids laugh too. someone is always crying about something. if i was all "poor baby" and whatever every time someone teared up i'd spend my entire day doing nothing but that. thoughts?

happy easter!

2010-04-04T21:14:00.001-05:00

so the bunny made his way to our house, eating all the carrots we left him and enjoying the note alex wrote him. love the way he spells his name xela, dyslexic maybe?

the kids were tired and fell asleep fast, and slept til 7 or so. we woke up to alex's voice. he is always the first one awake! he was so excited because the bunny ate all the carrots! he ran to wake up emma and zach - emma said he scared her a little, with all the shouting. then they started to look for their baskets, and found them in the bay window. last year, he hid them upstairs, so i wonder where he will leave them next year?

we made orange rolls for breakfast, and they had fun playing with the goodies in their baskets. they got swim goggles and bath toys, stickers and stampers, a jump rope, and mini gumball machines.

we got cleaned up and left for lunch at the hall. it was a beautiful day, a little windy but nice. the food was excellent as always, and someone brought a corn dip that i need to get the recipe for! so good, me and zach both really liked it. the kids ate lots and then we hid eggs for the hunt.

they all grabbed lots of loot - troy has plenty of peanut butter cups to keep him happy.

next was a game of kickball - our kids have never played, so it was pretty funny watching them do everything wrong! like, kick the ball, then run after the ball, wrestle it away from the pitcher, then run all the bases. or sit there and stare instead of running to second. i went to stand behind the base, to help emma and alex know what to do. and aj looked at me and said "mom, could you go stand over there? it's sorta dangerous, and i know what i'm doing." ok then!

zach was sad, he wanted to play too. but we sat and watched for awhile.

then he got distracted by his easter basket, and forgot all about the game.

we had a wonderful day. hope your easter was great too!

2010-04-02T23:18:00.000-05:00

geez, i never mean to go this long without writing things down. the kids are all doing good, they had their easter parties at school, which was cute. i forgot all about doing pictures with the easter bunny this year, if he'll be there tomorrow morning we will hit wallyworld and get some done.

a plumber friend came and helped troy put in the drains for the new toilet and bath tub, which means we are one step closer to having a bathroom on the main floor again, hooray! zach is potty training somewhat, meaning if we really worked on it he'd do great. but the bathroom is all the way upstairs, and so i'm not really in a hurry. troy asked him why he didn't go potty in the pot, and he told troy "because you took it out" which cracked me up.

zach is talking so much and so well, i love it! he gets mad if you call him little or a baby, he says i'm big! all the kids were sad when we got home from school thursday and cody had been here, spreading the rest of the gravel pile. they really had fun digging in the rocks all week.

but i am glad we can use both sides of the driveway now, and the new circle drive looks great! i planted some creeping phlox along the retaining wall, and we are talking about what to do with the landscaping in some other spots.

i got my booth set up at the sewing shop today, it's a bit bare and i should be sewing right now. but i'm tired, and fighting allergies or a cold or something, ugh. only two more weeks before they tell us we're having another boy!

18 weeks and counting!

2010-03-24T10:49:00.000-05:00

kindergarten roundup went really well. i probably creeped a few people out, since when i am in a new situation, meeting new people, i tend to smile incessantly. one gal i worked with at the library told me she didn't think she'd like me at first. she said she couldn't trust someone who smiled that much. anyways. i met a few of the other moms, which is probably most of them. it looks like she may have ten kids in her class. one of the boys is our neighbor, who lives in central heights but is going to greeley. her teacher's name is mrs. cubit. and it was so cute, emma had already made a friend, lacy, while they were doing the stations. emma scored 36 out of 36 on the readiness guidelines. the only thing she couldn't do is tie her shoes. which we've been working on.

alex was upset yesterday because he wants to go to kindergarten too. we shouldn't have said anything about maybe going to a new school, because i think i may want to keep him in ottawa. the preschool there is so great, and he would get to do all the fun field trips and stuff that he won't at greeley. i peeked in on the preschool, it's really small. but i've heard great things about it. we'll see.

i do know that one of the moms at preschool made a comment yesterday, that hurt my feelings. alex was being squirrely waiting in line, and i told him to calm down. she looked at us and said "and you're having another one?" and then said something about it being lucky alex was a second child, because if it were her she wouldn't have had anymore after him. i joked it off, and said he'd probably cure cancer someday. but inside i was thinking - really? i know he's a pain sometimes, but is he that bad? he seems pretty much like a boy to me. i see other boys act that way in line, he may be a little more exciteable than some, but at least he's happy and strong and healthy. she didn't say it like she was trying to be mean - but really? you would say that to someone? especially someone who's having another baby? oh well.

zach is making progress at potty training. if taking off your poopy diaper yourself to dump the turds in the toilet is "progress". he's been trying to sit up there, we're just working on recognizing when it's time to go. he's usually a few minutes too late. he's also been really ornery lately. he's grinning while he's doing it, so it's hard to stand firm, but he's definitely having some toddler tantrums. he's been skipping some of his naps, and that's usually when it happens.

so it's gwen evaline for a girl, and sawyer daniel for a boy. i'm feeling some little moves and am definitely showing. joy commented on my belly yesterday, it's really popped out in the last two weeks. feeling good though, just tired, and the heartburn is starting. i'm trying to enjoy it all - since i'll never get to experience this again. and i'm already 18 weeks - only 22 to go! crazy.

am i that old?

2010-03-22T23:59:00.000-05:00

wow. days just fly by lately. maybe because i spend so much time sleeping. jeez, am i tired. i've been napping - me, napping. not right. anyways.

had my prenatal checkup last friday, and the next visit will be the sono. and a fetal echo - because, due to my "advanced maternal age", they are suddenly concerned over the vsd that alex had as a newborn. not that they worried when i was having zach. pregnant after 35 makes a world of difference in how they treat you as a patient. i have to see a perinatologist for this sono, and that sort of screwed up our plans of letting the kids come along. because, if the sono or echo shows anything wrong, they want to do an amnio. i feel a little like this is bunch of fuss for nothing. i just want a normal sono, with my family, to find out if it's a boy or a girl, and then i want us all to go have lunch and celebrate! so anyways.

tomorrow is emma's kindergarten roundup! i have to take alex to preschool in ottawa, drop zach at mom and dad's, take emma to greeley, do the paperwork and all, then drive back to ottawa and get alex, stop by joy's, and go get zach. all between 9 and 11:30. i'm tired already.

at least the snow melted, we were stuck at home again! troy went to get water on sunday and had to turn around. i've been home since friday and i'm starting to get cabin fever. i did get emma and aj signed up for t-ball this summer. i left them in the van while i ran in the bank in greeley to turn in the forms, and when i came back out they wanted to know where their uniforms were! this should be so cute and hilarious.

troy's working nights this week, and has made good progress on the bathroom remodel. he's taken out the whirlpool tub, the ceiling, and moved the shower. he framed the new wall dividing the two rooms, and will probably get all the plumbing done by the weekend. i picked out a vanity online, and i need to get to the store to look at it in person. it's one of those ones that are skinny in the cabinet, but the sink rounds out in front. know what i mean? anyone know anything about them, yay or nay? we're trying to save a little walkway space and use a shallower vanity, but i'm afraid it won't be big or sturdy enough with three (someday, four) kids using it. thoughts?

whoops!

2010-03-16T21:43:00.002-05:00

it's been a little while, huh? well, let's catch up.

zach is so awesome. he's talking all the time, and today he pooped in the pot, hooray! it's the little things. he was so proud, he came running out to tell emma and alex. and as soon as troy walked in the door tonight, he was hanging on his legs telling him what he did. he has pretty much stopped napping during the day. no nap yesterday, but he did go to bed early, and asked to go to bed. he didn't even want to take a bath, just "go lay down in my room."

alex told his teachers that he was going to a new school soon. he thinks he'll be in kindergarten. i feel bad, i guess he's been saying things in class about "and after that, i will go to my new school!" which, of course, he may not get to, they have a limited number of spots and we'll see if he's accepted. i was telling him today that staying there will be fun, since he will get to go on field trips and stuff like emma did this year. i don't think he'd considered that part, so maybe it won't be too disappointing if he doesn't get to ride the bus. today we were at target and he declared himself the "emperor of the toys!" and wouldn't answer to alex anymore. so i had to say, hey emperor, get over here and stay with the cart. it was pretty funny. he's so good at his i-spy leapster game. i was trying to help him with one of the puzzles, and i gave up, and a few minutes later he figured it out. i felt sort of dumb.

emma is learning to spell. she's said a few words all on her own, like at the store she said "that says less!" pointing at the walmart sign and she said "bean" pointing at the word. it's wasn't even a can of beans, it was a manufacturer's name, so i know she actually read it. it's mildly annoying though, because she is constantly writing things down, and asking how to spell things, and there's usually two other kids talking and the tv making a racket and so she won't hear me say the next letter three times, and then when she realizes she's made a mistake, the world has ended and she will never learn to spell costume. or something along those lines.

i'm 17 weeks tomorrow! i have been feeling some little flips and flutters, and i have a checkup friday morning. no sono yet, three more weeks before we can see what this kid is going to be. troy's certain it's a girl. he won't even discuss boy names. her name is gwen. end of story. i still like sawyer daniel for a boy.

i am hoping for some warm weather the rest of the week. we got our new patio furniture, and i want to play in the garden and power wash the concrete. troy started to tear into the bathroom last weekend, and discovered that the plumbing under the whirlpool tub has been leaking for who knows how long. we are replacing the plumbing anyways, but if we hadn't decided to remodel it could have been that way for awhile, since it was under the tub.

we are going to go to the hank williams jr. and jamey johnson show on may 8th, happy mother's day to me! it's at sprint center, wish i could drink a beer but it should be fun. i still need to line up a sitter, i'm hoping the kids can stay with mom and dad. i need to check on that.

don't get pinched tomorrow!

don't stop believing

2010-03-04T13:11:00.000-06:00

so tomorrow is emma's class trip to the skating rink. the mother f'in skating rink, y'all. they still exist! and how come every time i tell someone emma and i are going skating, they say to me "you?? are going skating?" "don't fall!" or "you're scaring me." yep. apparently everyone's been under the assumption that momma can't skate. and let me tell you. i used to do some skating. i could spin in the center, skate backwards, couple skate, you know, all of it. all while singing along to journey. so. now i feel like i need to really show my skilz out there.

even though now i may not get to go, because troy may have to work and i don't have anyone to watch the boys. the preschool teacher said i could just bring them along too, to which i respectfully but adamantly refused. no way am i taking alex and zach there. i barely escape bodily injury now, but put them both on wheels and i'm sure to break an arm. i am a little disappointed. i was looking forward to getting my skate on. and the preschool rummage sale. i'm not taking them to it, either. hope the overtime pay is worth all the killer bargains i was sure to score.

decision made, i think

2010-02-24T08:35:00.000-06:00

every morning begins with a pile up on the bed. usually zach and/or alex is already in bed with me, along with assorted cats. this morning, zach rose before all of us so he could rummage in my purse for gum. emma took his place to snuggle for a bit. zach is so funny, he always says "where's MY (s)pot?!" when he comes back. then, once we get up, there's a race for the bathroom. we all stand in line. i can't wait to have two bathrooms down here! zach's getting into the idea of it, he sits but nothing happens yet. then we head to the kitchen for cereal and juice.

i didn't realize how much i will miss these lazy mornings, where the earliest we have to leave for school is 8:30. next year, emma and maybe alex will be boarding the bus at 6:45am. which still means troy will leave before them, but they may get to see him as he runs out the door. i know i will appreciate the snow days, that's for sure. the way it stands now, we are sending them to greeley. emma's signed up for kindergarten roundup, and alex will have a peer model screening the end of march. if he passes the screening, i hope he will get a spot in the morning class, which is 5 days a week and serves them breakfast. otherwise it's 4 days a week in the afternoons.

i got a phone call this morning, from the elementary questioning if we were in the district or not. it's so confusing. we live in franklin county but pay anderson county school taxes. we talked to our next door neighbors last week, who have one son in garnett and another at central heights. they said the central heights bus won't pick up past kirby's house. huh? that's literally three houses down. they drop their son off somewhere to get picked up by that bus. why does this have to be so difficult? if alex has to be taken somewhere to go to preschool there, i will forget it and send him to ottawa three mornings a week.

i sort of feel guilty that he'll miss all the fun of faith lutheran next year anyways. this friday emma's class is going to dairy queen. next week, they have a roller skating party! they've gone to the library and the pumkin patch. he won't get any of that at greeley. but i think it will help transition him to all day kindergarten better.

i wish i could shake this cold. and this morning i woke up to a giant zit between my eyebrows - the only time i break out is when i'm sick. now my forehead is throbbing, and last night my tailbone when wonky on me. i went to walk to the bedroom and i had sharp pains when i tried to step forward. strange for sure, probably pregnancy readjusting my body. i hate feeling so worn out.

lazy sunday

2010-02-21T20:52:00.000-06:00

so troy and i are hanging out on the couch with zach tonight. the other two kids didn't have naps, but he slept a long time, so he gets to stay up awhile. troy's reading him an ABC book. and i asked him if he was excited that he was going to be a big brother. he said "yeah!" encouraged, i said "what are you going to do to the new baby?" to which he replied, "umm, boom her!"

they've been soooo stir crazy, i can't wait for some nice weather and outside time. we didn't get all the snow and ice that kc did, just rain, but it's dreary.

troy was my own personal mechanic this weekend, changing the water pump and front brakes in my van. he's getting better at all this auto repair - but i don't think he enjoys it.

this week he's going ice fishing, and i'll be home with the kids all weekend. i feel like i'm coming down with something, hopefully it's gone before then. i had a check up on friday, heard the heartbeat! he said it's in the 140s, so place your bets now on the gender. we have to wait 7 weeks for the sono, he wants me at 20 weeks so we can be sure. i'm hoping for a girl, because i made the sweetest little quilt. i love it, but if we have a boy i'll probably put it in my etsy.