An interesting birthday for Evan

YEA!!! My Little boy is now three years old! It is AMAZING how fast time flies!

It goes so quickly from this:

To this:

A stubborn, rough-n-tumbling, heart-attack causing, thinks he knows better than he actually does, 32#, momma loving, worshiping his hero daddy, little boy.

The day started out like any other day. Tim took Evan to daycare (unfortunately I didn't get to take a vacation day from work and stay home with Evan this day. However, we now have every Friday together) I got Emma on the bus, and I worked from home. Since the bus drops off the girls now at 3:50, I left early to go buy some cupcakes and bring my little birthday boy home. I went to daycare first, as I thought Evan would want to help pick out his cupcakes, but he was still napping. So, I went to the grocery store quickly on my own and was back in maybe 20 minutes to pick him up and bring him home.

Our daycare woman met me hurriedly at the door with an "Evan is really sick. I am not sure what is wrong, he woke up from nap and he cannot breathe well and has a 103 degree temp." Worried, I quickly scoop up Evan from her and try to calm him down so he would hopefully stop wheezing and be able to breathe. I rocked him and held him for maybe five minutes while he tried to cry, try to breathe, and was intermittently coughing/barking at the same time. I felt completely helpless and had no idea how to help my little boy.

I then called our clinic to try and get him an appointment for this afternoon yet (in roughly a 2 hour window before they close) as I knew he needed some help. Unfortunately, all the pediatricians were booked, so I was connected to a triage nurse so she could try to help. While waiting on the line for roughly 3 minutes, I tried to still calm Evan as his symptoms had not changed. He still was crying/wheezing/coughing and was so hot to the touch it made me nervous. Finally the triage nurse came on the line and asked about him and I gave the run-down and my initial diagnosis: croup. Evan has had croup before and with his barky cough, high fever, and wheezing, it seemed to be the same. She could hear him struggling on the line and agreed he needed to come in, so double booked a doctor and told us to come on down.

After some quick phone calls with Tim to come home early as I wouldn't be able to get the girls off the bus, we stopped home quick to get shoes, water, and some diversion tactics and were off to the doctor. My poor little boy sick on his birthday :-(

The clinic got us in right away and our nice triage nurse from the phone had everything lined up when we got there. My initial diagnosis was correct; Evan did in fact have croup.

Luckily, by this time, the ibuprofen I gave Evan was starting to make him feel better and get his fever down. He was snacking on some Teddy Grahams, sipping water, and playing on my iPod, so he seemed to be doing better as well. After a quick trip to the pharmacy for some medicine and a Happy Birthday balloon, we made it back home so he could rest. Evan decided he still wanted steak and cake for supper, so I thought this was a good sign that the medicine was making him feel better.

We got home and he opened up his presents from us (a Lightning McQueen scooter and helmet) and from Emma (a Lightning McQueen playset) and we played a bit outside and then went in to put up his playsets. It was roughly 6:30 when Tim said, "Gee - that one sounds close" and then "Wow - guys! Come here!" and I walked to the front of the house and I saw it.

A hot-air balloon was landing right outside on the road in front of our house!!!

To say we were all excited would be an understatement. I rushed Emma outside, Evan outside, ran around and tried to find my camera (which I could not right away) and got outside myself. We didn't have a lot of time as it was almost on the ground. Evan's eyes were huge and he stayed pretty quiet for awhile just taking it all in.

A neighbor DID come over prepared and did snap some pictures with Evan and I and the balloon. I will post those once I get them. I believe it is the same balloon as the one I have in my header and it was a BIG basket - probably 12-16 people were in the basket.

I kept saying "Wow Evan! Look at that - they landed here on your birthday. How cool!" Over and over and he seemed to light up and then started talking a bit. It was so, so neat. I rushed back inside and got my camera and was able to take this one of it on the way down:

The driver of the balloon was chatting with us (and was the same guy who took Dad and I up last year in a smaller balloon) and overheard that it was Evan's birthday. He said that when the balloon was done, Evan and Emma could go and sit in the basket. They were both besides themselves excited!

We hoisted them up and in and were able to get a few pics.


Here they are peeking through the foot holes:

And Evan just happy:

Evan wanted to stay outside until everything was loaded up and it was on its way home.

Once again, to say it was exciting and amazing would be an understatement. After all the times that Evan looked up in the sky and wanted to will them to land, it was so neat that one landed in our lawn on his birthday, especially when he was sick. I keep kicking myself that I couldn't find my camera right away, but it is what it is. On a normal day, we would have been outside and probably tracking it and I would have had plenty of time to get everything together, but this was not a normal day. I still cannot believe it really. I remember a blog post a few weeks ago with pictures of Evan laying on the grass looking up at them and am so happy that it finally happened for him... and on his birthday.

And now what does Emma ask for? "Mom? Can a balloon land here on MY birthday too?!"

The first day of kindergarten!!

After much anticipation and talk, the first day of kindergarten was here!! She started on Tuesday, September 6: the day after Labor Day. The night before, I walked Emma through everything. She took a shower, carefully brushed her hair, and brushed her teeth. I set her alarm and talked her though how the morning was going to go. She seemed excited, nervous, but overall seemed happy to start kindergarten. She went to bed easily by 8pm with no complaints or trouble.

The next morning Emma woke up around 7:15 and got into my bed to snuggle a little bit and watch some cartoons before her cousins got there. Tim and Evan were at our house until roughly 7:30, when Tim left with a big hug for Emma and proceeded to take Evan to daycare.

The plan for this morning was that Kristen was to drop the girls off at my house for breakfast. She would then take the babies to daycare (their first day!) and then come back to have breakfast and see the girls on the bus. Then, her and I were going to enjoy our own day to shop, try on clothes, and relax without the kids. (and enjoy my birthday week!!) While Kristen was gone, I made a big breakfast for the kids... chocolate chip pancakes, bacon, raspberries, milk. They played, talked nervously and excitedly, and ran around trying to get rid of some of that nervous/excited energy.

The bus picks the kids up at 8:40, so we headed over to the neighbors around 8:30 to make sure we had enough time. Which, in hindsight, was a good thing. I assumed the bus would get there roughly 10 or so minutes late with it being the first day and all, but nope, it got there right on time. The girls were constantly chatting, dancing, singing, and having a good time. Kyra, especially, was incredibly excited and I think Emma picked up her cues which only made her more excited. We did get them to pose for a few pictures before the bus came :-)

Excitedly heading out to the end of the driveway.

And one with Mom (when Mom wasn't being emotional about this day.)

And... here it comes. There were quick goodbyes, good lucks, and I love yous from the Mom's - but the three little girls bounded up the stairs of the bus without a look back, a quick kiss, or a worried look. Their little pony tails were bouncing the whole way. It was reassuring and good that it happened this way. However, a small wave or something would have been nice!

Yes, I got emotional when the bus drove away and teared up a little bit. I couldn't help it, it is a whirlwind of different emotions: happiness, sadness, worry, nervousness, joy, relief.. just a whole range of emotions. But Emma was happy and excited and that is all that mattered.

Kristen and I enjoyed a nice day. We went to the Mall of America by ourselves! Evan was at daycare, twins were at daycare and I had to remind myself when I heard a child crying when we were there that it wasn't mine. It was nice to shop and take our time. We went out to eat and didn't have to worry about keeping kids occupied. It was nice, but on the back of our mind were the kids at school.

The bus drops the kids off at 3:50 and we were all there to watch the kids get off of it. I was hoping she would be just as excited as she was at the start of the day.

With that smile... it looks like she was.

Here are the 4 kids heading over to our house for snacks and more playtime.


(And a few pics of my little boy waiting for his big sister to get off the bus. We had a bit of a photo shoot.)

That night, Emma excitedly chatted about school. She had a good day, met her 5th grade buddy, picked pizza for lunch, but didn't have much time to eat it, didn't get to see the class Guinea Pig as it wasn't there yet, had fun and saw Kaylee at recess, colored many pictures, and had fun. I can tell that she doesn't quite grasp the concept of school yet because she asks how many days she has to go and when she will go to daycare again. As this past week went on, she still chatted quite happily about school and sang me the songs she learned and told me about the kids she met, but did do the "Augh, I have to go tomorrow too?" So, I am still feeling her out on what she really thinks about school. It will take a while for us to get in the routine, so hopefully each day and week will get better.

Visiting the Neighbors

With the start of kindergarten, Tim and I have been slowly allowing Emma to have a bit more freedom and do more things on her own. Some easy things, such as pouring milk, pouring cereal, helping more with the cooking, chores, and visiting neighbors at the cabin. She got in the habit this weekend of asking if she can walk to the neighbors (an adoptive Grandpa and Grandma of sorts) to visit.

The neighbors love it when she comes to visit and Emma feels so proud that we let her walk there, knock on the door, and spend some time up there.

Of course, with Emma doing some visiting, Evan feels like he should be able to do some visiting as well. At this point in time, I was working out in our basement and Tim was watching the kids. Emma had already walked up to the neighbors to say hi and Evan asked Tim if he could go and visit as well. Tim says yes, and our little blond-headed boy starts walking up our driveway to go and visit the neighbors. Now for those that don't know, our neighbors are very close, are just on the other end of our driveway, and no crossing streets needed, so relatively safe. I am downstairs working out and just finished when I think it was Dad that asks me "Is Evan down there?" Curiously, I say, "No. Why?"

"Well, we can't find him at the moment."

Silence...

And now my stomach is in knots and images of him going to the lake, of him playing hide-n-seek, of him coming to find me all swirl in my mind as I ask Dad what is going on. Nightmare #3.

I get the story that he wanted to go and visit the neighbors and be by Emma and he didn't make it there. I am probably near hysterics at this point when questions spew from my mouth like, "Where is Tim? Where have you looked? How did this happen? What is going on? etc." I run back into the cabin and call for Evan. Go to his room, look into his closet, etc, while continuously saying his name. No luck.

Luckily, Mom and Dad were sitting down by our lake, so we know he didn't go down there. Tim had seen Evan head towards the neighbors and assumed all was good. However when it took Evan longer to get to the front door than it should have, Tim went to investigate and couldn't find him. Eric is at the cabin as well (for Evan's birthday party) and is looking, as are the neighbors now, as are my parents. I run down the other driveway and down to the road to see if Evan is on the road. I don't see anything and everyone splits up. My parents stay by our cabin and look more there. One of the neighbors heads right on the road, I run down a driveway/back road towards Tim's sisters houses as I think maybe Evan walked there. We walk to Tim's sisters all the time, so he easily knows the way there.

As I am running down this driveway, I see Tim and Evan slowly heading back towards us. THANK GOD! I sprint now and scoop up Evan and of course, smother him with kisses while scolding him to NEVER do that again. This makes him start to cry and while I feel bad, once again, what was he thinking? He walked all the way down our driveway, crosses a road, and gets pretty far to his aunts house until Tim reaches him.

What the hell?? Of course this prompts the "Tim, why weren't you watching him" and he responds with "whatever, I knew where he was" and we share heated words back and forth.

I think I gained much gray hair from this weekend and have learned to keep a constant watch over my little guy. Not that I am standing over him, but I always keep one eye on what he is doing. His common sense just isn't there yet and I don't want gray hair or a heart attack.

The inevitable happens

At the cabin over the Labor Day weekend, we had one afternoon that we enjoyed in the water. The water is getting cooler, plus last weekend the air temperature was cool as well. So, Saturday afternoon was the one day we splashed and played in the water - for possibly the last time this year.

Evan always wants to do the water ski trainer. That is usually the first thing out of his mouth when we head down to the lake "Trainer! I want to do the trainer Mama!" So, of course, being potentially our last time in the lake, we say yes. We get his glasses on, life jacket on tight, and get him comfortable on the trainer and we take off.

The lake was very busy at this time with everyone enjoying the lake for maybe the last weekend. So, Tim was doing some weaving on the jet-ski and going over a lot of boat wakes so our little guy could have fun on the trainer. I, personally, think Tim was going a little fast and maybe weaving a bit too much on the jet-ski for our little boy. But, I don't say anything because I know I will get "the look" from Tim and the "Kelly, he is fine" speech. During the ride, I am trying to motion to Evan to sit down, I hit Tim occasionally to slow down, and try to keep everything easy for Evan.

So, we are at the other end of the lake near the resort, when Tim takes a turn and Evan sails outside the jetski wake. Then, the trainer comes back in and is teetering on the edge of the wake when all of a sudden it loses balance and Evan falls off the trainer into the water. At this point in time, my nightmare.

I shout "TIM! He's in! He's in" as I see my little Evan bobbing safely (and not crying) in the water. Emma is riding in front of the jetski and starts screaming. Tim slows down, tells Emma to be quiet, turns towards Evan and I jump in to start swimming towards him so he doesn't get scared. I start talking to Evan. "Good boy Evan! Good job - see how the life jacket is keeping you up? This is just like deep swimming, right Evan? Are you okay, Evan?" Over and over until I get to him so I can pull him in close and make sure he feels safe.

Evan right away says, "I fell in the water Mama. I fell off the trainer! I lost my sunglasses Mama." and keeps repeating those phrases over and over. I think his lip quivers a little bit, but overall, he is doing great. (while I am still nervous and a basket case on the inside while silently cursing Tim for going too fast.) We talk through it a bit more and Evan decides he wants to get back on the trainer. Good deal.. so we head back in. However, I can tell that he is getting a lot of water splashed in his eyes on the way back in without his sunglasses on.

Once we get back in, Evan decides he wants to go back out with goggles on. Good deal! I think to myself as I tell myself that the fall didn't affect him at all. Other than him being pretty sure that he is going to catch a fish that is wearing his sunglasses sometime. We get him settled again and head out. This time, he seems more nervous and doesn't stand on the trainer. He sits and looks more nervous. Then, not even a quarter of the way in that ride, I can see him mouthing or saying the words, "Mama" over and over. I tell Tim to stop, so he does and we circle back to Evan. "Mama, I almost fell in the water!" So, obviously, he is nervous. I talk him through it and we advance again, albeit slower. Shortly in this trip, he starts mouthing "mama" again repeatedly and Tim and I decide to pull him up on the jetski with us and take him back to the cabin.

The lake was so busy and the wind was blowing a little bit and the water was just rough. Yes, I knew it was inevitable that eventually he would fall in and he handled it great, he really did. Tim thinks I am a bit crazy for being so nervous about it, but seriously, my little guy was not even three!! How can I be crazy for being nervous? Plus, Tim was driving too fast :-)

The hide and go seek debacle

This past weekend we were able to make it up to the cabin on Friday morning, which was very nice. Our family got to enjoy a nice, quiet, relaxing four-day weekend before school started. Well, I was hoping to enjoy a nice, quiet, relaxing holiday. Evan, it seems, had different plans.

Friday night, Tim and I were making a seafood extravaganza for supper. Shrimp scampi, shrimp cocktail, white wine scallops, buttered parmesan noodles, and steak were on the menu. So, we were busy in the kitchen and the kids were playing hide-n-go seek. To translate in parent speak, Tim was cooking and I was constantly being tagged in with "MAMA! Come find us!" Anyway, all were having fun. Now for any of those out there with young kids or a lot of experience with young kids, you probably realize that a game of hide-n-go seek is really a no-brainer game. The kids are constantly hiding in the same spot and giggling. Emma is getting better at this game, but Evan is a dead give away every time with his "hee hee hee. Mama- find me!" banter the entire time. So, at the start of this particular game, I told the kids, "find new spots to hide and try to trick me!" to try and spark some real thought. But, they were playing in their room, so honestly, not too many places to hide.

Anyway....

The kids were having fun and I was in the kitchen with Tim, probably trying to enjoy a sip of wine. All of a sudden, we hear a giant "THUD!" followed by two kids screaming and hollering. I sprint into their bedroom and instantly start screaming myself "TIM! GET IN HERE!" as the scene I see is definitely not one I expected. The kids were both in their closet, the dresser was tipped over and leaning against the wall. Emma was pinned between the dresser and the wall and Evan was pinned behind the dresser against the other wall. Tim rushes in and tries to tip the dresser up as I am crying and trying to soothe the kids. I holler at Tim that he cannot do that as he hasn't noticed that Evan was behind it. Tim, by trying to tip the dresser up, was pressing the dresser against Evan. So, Tim slid Emma out with one arm, heaved Evan up and over with the other arm, and put them next to me so I could try to soothe both them and myself.

Not cool... not cool at all. This was easily one of the most scary things (at that particular moment anyway) that I have experienced. I say that because at that moment in time, I had no idea who was hurt, if they were hurt, or how bad. Both were screaming, both were scraped up, and I couldn't get either calm to get them to talk to me. In the end, both escaped with scrapes and bumps and were extremely lucky.

This is how the story has been pieced together:

Evan, in an attempt to find a new hiding spot, decided that the top of the dresser was a good idea. So, he pulled out the drawers and climbed up each one until he reached the top. As far as I can figure because the dresser is very light and was empty, the dresser got too heavy on the side Evan was on and tipped over against the wall where Emma was. While the dresser was falling over, Evan was thrown to the back and fell behind the dresser and was pinned against the wall, while Emma was pinned under the dresser against the wall because she was just standing in the closet.

Both kids were very shook up by this experience, Evan especially. Which yes, is a very, very good thing. He needed to be shook up by this, especially since he was so lucky and no one was seriously hurt. I was shook up as well and have done a run-through of every piece of furniture at the cabin and home so we don't have another experience like this. Evan was sternly spoken too about not climbing up furniture and I hope he got it. Honestly though, he has done this before and was as young as a year and a half (maybe) when he did this the first time.

And yes, we have plans to take the dresser out of their room. It was empty basically anyway, so why chance it? I guess I can just chalk this up to "boys will be boys" or something like that, but seriously, too scary for everyone involved. I cannot say it enough, they were both, very lucky.

Homework

At one of the kindergarten events that we attended, Emma was given homework. She had to create a collage, either with pictures, drawings, memento's or whatever creative thing she wanted of her summer. Her response when we sat down to do this was:

"Homework?? How can I have homework? I haven't been to kindergarten yet!"

In the end though, I think she like doing her homework. We set out all the markers, glue, and scissors, looked at summer pictures, and got everything ready. Of course, since she was doing homework, Evan had to as well. And, as he says, "Monkey see; Monkey do" Little does he know, that he is the monkey in the scenario.

Emma spent a lot of time working on it and ended up with this. It is a mixture of summer pictures and one drawing of her water skiing. She really wanted to have one of her and Evan at the cabin, which I liked, and she loves the picture of her and Evan with Dora and Diego.



And yes, the parents had some homework as well. This is what Tim and I came up with (with me as the scribe.)

These are now proudly displayed in her kindergarten room. She got to talk about her collage the first day of school.

The last hurrah

Late August, or the last Friday the Heuer's were around to spend with the Kellogg's, we did something special. Kristen and I took the 6 kids to Nickelodeon world at the Mall of America for our last hurrah. I had wanted to do something special with my two to celebrate my last Friday with Emma and my children always have more fun when their cousins are around.

So... at approximately 9:30 after a special breakfast of pancakes and bacon, we were off to the Mall and the kids were beyond excited. I was able to buy advanced unlimited ride wristbands for a discount at work, so we had all day to run and ride.

The first ride we went on was the flume or the log water ride thing. Kyra, Emma, Evan, and I decided to go and Kristen stayed back with an uncertain Kaylee and the babies. The park was not busy so the wait was not long. We got settled and all of a sudden, Emma was not so certain that she wanted to ride. She started to whimper a bit in the front with Kyra as I was in the back of the "log" with Evan. I had my arms around both kids as she voiced her concerns multiple times at the uncertainty of the ride. Finally, we made our way to the big drop and finally - a big smile and a " YAHHH!!! MOM! That was fun! I am glad I did that!" Evan and Kyra also had a blast.

From that point on, it was non-stop. "Let's go here. Let's try that one" "That was fun. I liked that" and on.. and on.. and on.

The girls were able to go on some of the bigger rides and did great. Kyra was a big help to the little ones with either buckling them in or calming their nerves. Evan did good and had a blast on the little rides and usually waited patiently on the rides he was too little to go on. He did attempt the "But Mama, I a big boy!" a few times, but Kristen and I were usually able to divert him to another ride or by entertaining the babies.

I think the biggest hit was the flume. We hit that ride the most by far. Plus, it was nice, that all the kids could ride at once. Lunch time was spent at McDonald's, which was also nice and convenient. The kids wolfed down their 6 McNugget meal, while the babies munched on applesauce and Kristen and I ate Italian food. We did a little shopping and stopped by the Disney Store and then went back to Nickelodeon World. I was really hoping that Evan would take a short nap as I could tell he was getting tired and while I rented a stroller to help the cause, in the end it didn't work. He was a champ however and kept up with the bigger kids well.

Here are some fun pics of our trip.

Kyra and Emma enjoying the Wonder Pet ride.

Evan was on it as well... just the other side. This was a drop ride where they rose up maybe a story or two high and then dropped... then bounced... and bounced... and bounced. The kids liked it so much, they hit this one twice in a row.

Charley and Kate did awesome! They sat in their stroller so well and enjoyed all the views and the attention from their sisters and cousins.

My kiddo's had to meet Dora and Diego! Both were pretty excited when they saw them and it made me think back to three years ago (almost to the day) when Emma had met Dora for the first time.

Big smiles from Emma when she got the big hug from Dora:

And my little man with Diego.

Emma and Kaylee got to ride on the kiddie bumper cars. They were the only two as Kyra was too big and Evan was too small. This was the one ride that Evan put up a bit bigger fuss that he couldn't ride. He really thought he was big enough for this one.

At first, Emma and Kaylee were a bit unsure how to make them go, but with a little coaxing and teaching from the adults, they were off driving and laughing in no time.

My kiddo's with Spongebob and some starfish.

And huge smiles from Evan when he got to drive a big rig.

In the end, it was a fantastic day. Overall, the day was fairly inexpensive with the unlimited ride tickets and the kids had SO MUCH FUN. They all got along very well, listened to each other and the adults, were patient, and overall did great. I would definitely do this again.

Getting ready for Kindergarten

We have been lucky to be able to go to Emma's school a few times before the big day. While she has been able to meet her teacher a few times and meet some new friends, I think it has made her more nervous as well... therefore, making me more nervous as well.


One of the events we went to was the Ice Cream Social last week. We got to meet her teacher, watch a movie from past kindergarten kids, meet other kids, and walk around the school. It was fun to be there, to see the other little nervous kids and of course, to play on the playground! While she was playing on the playground, I noticed a Mom there that looked a little familiar. So, I went over to her, she did the inquisitive look as I could tell she recognized me as well and it turns out, we both go to the same church. And luckily, wouldn't you know it, her daughter and Emma were in the same Sunday School class AND they both have the same kindergarten teacher. YEA! I am so happy that Emma will have somewhat of a familiar face in her classroom. Then the rest of the playdate they would be kind of shy, yet smiley around each other and it was all good! So, this school visit was definitely a success.


Today, was the Open House at the school. We got to go to her room, find her cubby, her hook for hanging her coat & backpack on, practice the walk from the bus to her room, etc. She seemed pretty nervous and shy for this meeting. There were a lot of kids around, many people in her room with parents and kids and I think it was a bit overwhelming for her. But, fun. . . I do think she had fun.

So, we got to her classroom and picked up her scavenger hunt sheet to figure out what her "to do" list was today. She got to draw a picture at the art station, she got to find her name on the birthday list and lunch list, she got to dance around the alphabet reading mat, play with puzzles, practice inputting her pin in the cafeteria, and introduce herself to some new friends. It was fun and I think it helped her, but made her nervous as well.

After handing in our homework, getting a hug from her teacher, we left the school hand-in-hand to this question:

"Mama... what if there are bullies in my class?"

Ahh... there it is. One clue of what she may be nervous about. So, I talk her though it as best as I know how. It is getting harder! These questions she is asking and these experiences she is going to be having are getting harder to talk through! I was talking to her about strangers and what to do around strangers, but then realized that EVERYONE in her school are strangers (for the most part of course). So I had to do the, "Umm.. let me get back to you" on the stranger bit until I knew how to frame it better.

I am getting nervous as well. What if the bus comes to pick her up and she just stares at the open door and says, "Yea, I am not going."? While I am so thankful she has Kyra and Kaylee to get on the bus with to help her out, she is still on her own of sorts. I know I shouldn't be nervous, but as it gets closer, I can't help it. My baby is going to be on her own for so long now! She is leaving the nest and while I am so excited, I am nervous and sad and I just don't know what else. I know she will do well and I know that she is ready... but am I ready? While she puts on a tough exterior, there are times where she still hides behind my legs and buries her face in my shirt. I don't know... I am nervous right along with her.

The terrible two's

Unfortunately the terrible two's are rearing their ugly head. And when I say "their" I mean his. And when I saw ugly head, I mean stubborn little blond headed boy. I am not sure a soon-to-be third birthday is going to help any either.

Evan has started having tantrums. Knock down, hitting, crying, screaming, tantrums. He has them in stores now (lovely) when he doesn't get his way, at home when he doesn't get his way, and pretty much anytime when he doesn't get his way. Not cool.

The first time that was really noticeable was at Target a few weeks back. I, unfortunately, was there to see a physicians assistant at the Target Clinic as I suspected I had an ear infection. And yes, lo and behold, I did. So, while I was already sick, I had to put up with two whiny children who didn't want to be there. While I was filling out the paperwork with my back turned for maybe a minute, Evan conveniently covered his body with hand sanitizer. Gross. So, I went to the bathroom and attempted to clean it up with the little boy running away from me and hollering that I wasn't being nice and "NO MAMA!" Great fun with a pounding headache and ear, let me tell you.

Once that debacle was done, we went back to see the P.A. in record time if you ask me. The receptionist gave the kids colors and paper to color on and make pictures. Great, right? Well, for maybe 2 minutes. While I was describing symptoms and answering more questions for a completely thorough pre-exam, the kids were whining that they were bored. Fine, so I get out my iPod and continuously apologize to the PA for the interruptions, while giving glaring looks to the children. The iPod works as a distraction for maybe 3 minutes while they fight over who has more room on their chair, what to watch, what to play, etc. I give warnings, threaten to take it away, give more glaring looks and finally take the damn thing away as it was not doing its purpose. Then, the tantrum. The PA (probably in horror at my children) looks in my ears hurriedly, writes the prescription and ushers us out, while Evan is screaming "No FAIR MAMA! I want the iPod MAMA! No FAIR!" Grrrr...

I rush to the pharmacy while receiving both horrified and sympathetic looks from people as they observe the obvious tantrum that is boiling out of my son. He stops in the aisle, cries, and screams "MAMA! MY iPOD. I want my iPOD." continuously... over and over and over. I am sure I am red-faced, I don't meet eyes, I am furious and embarrassed all at the same time. Emma is observing this as well and does the "Mom, I am not having a tantrum, I am being a good girl now, right?" AND of course the pharmacy is going to take 15-20 minutes to get my prescription. Evan is still in the midst of a tantrum (it has probably been about 10 minutes for the full-blown tantrum) and I have reached my maximum level of every kind of emotion. And still, I refuse to give him the iPod. I waiver on this at times, but I know that I cannot give in to this little creature at the moment. So, I call my husband and tell him to get the kids on his way home from work because I am done.

I take the kids outside to wait the long 10 minutes for Tim to get there and I usher them to him so I can have a few minutes to calm down. Evan had calmed down while outside however, which was a nice reprieve. They were climbing on the big red balls that Target now has in their entrance to the store, which was a treat for them as I never let them do that.

And, of course, Tim has to tell me later that night that as he was walking Evan to his car after they left me, Evan asked, "Daddy, why doesn't Mama love me anymore?" Of course, I start crying now (because by now my emotions have decided to come to the surface) and tell Evan that I do love him, etc. He looks at me like I am out of my mind and runs off to play

He has had a few tantrums since then as well. I do not give in and I walk away, but that doesn't make them any easier. I know we went through these with Emma, but definitely not as frequent. He can be so cute and loveable at times, but little crazy creature at other times. It makes for interesting days, that is for sure.

Not quite sleeping... and other pics from the weekend

We were up at the cabin this past weekend and on Saturday, the kids were supposed to be napping. Unfortunately, they were struggling with this. We didn't get up to the cabin until 10 or so on Friday night, so they had a late night previously and could really use a small rest. Me too as I still look forward to their naptimes so I can either read, nap, clean, work-out, whatever.

Anyway, this particular Saturday naptime was NOT going well. First, the kids were together in their room and were constantly talking, laughing, jumping on beds... definitely NOT napping. So, I separate them. Emma starts crying because she wants to lay in my bed, but I won't let her in case I need to use it for a nap. So, I put her in the spare bunk bed downstairs. She comes up once or twice, cries, whines, etc to avoid napping. Eventually, she falls asleep.

Evan quiets down and I think he is sleeping. However, when I take a peak (and a second glance) I see this:

Normally, this is a fun game I play with the kids. If they are in a room, or I am getting ready for something, we will stick our hands under the doors and talk, touch fingers, whatever. However, when it is naptime, I do not see this as a fun game. But, who can resist this? Seriously, how sweet, right? So, I go over there, touch his fingers and slowly open the door. He looks up at expectantly, so I pick him up and rock him a bit. He then, settled down for a nap.

Here are some other cute pics from our weekend. I hosted a very small, birthday party for my Dad. It was on my in-law's pontoons and we feasted on fabulous appetizers, had champagne cocktails, and had a great time. For the most part anyway. Evan, unfortunately, had a tantrum for roughly 20 minutes because he didn't want to wear a life jacket. ... sigh... more on his recent tantrums in a later post.... He doesn't win this battle and eventually gives up, thankfully.

ANYWAY, Uncle Dave later offers to stay with Evan to play in the sand and stay on land so the rest of us can spend a little more time on the pontoon. When we arrive back at their cabin, we go in the house to see both of them playing cribbage Fun, right? And, they were having fun. Taking a look at Evan though, I see he is naked. Buck naked sitting at the table without a care in the world! Dave felt bad that all Evan had to wear was his wet swimming trunks, so he took them off, laid a towel down, and let Evan be naked while they played cards. Aunt Jill fashioned this lovely ensemble for him on the ride home. LOVE IT! I didn't think though, I had to worry about him wearing a toga until college. He loved this look too.

Here was just a goofy picture of Emma wearing all the lei's I bought for the party. She looks like a preacher or something sharing the good word in this one.

"I have healing power!"

Biking

I have been trying to get the family out lately for family walks, soccer games, or anything to start building a habit of a healthy lifestyle. Yesterday, we went biking.

Tim was gone.. I think he want to the store for something, so we decided to bike. Well, the kids were biking and I was walking with them to make sure they were safe. Emma donned her ladybug helmet and excitedly got on her princess bike as "We are going right over there to that circle Mom!" By the circle, she means the cul-de-sac roughly 1/8 of a mile from our house.. if that. It is pretty close. Evan was excited as well as I normally don't let him bike on the road. He is unpredictable yet and it makes me nervous. However, that is why I was walking alongside of him and not biking myself. He decided to ride on his little blue trike. No helmet for him yet ( I know, the shock & horror of this! How dare I let him on the road? Funny, I survived never wearing one just fine...) however, I have a good feeling he may get one in the next few weeks.

Anyway, the kids take off down the driveway, pausing at the end of the driveway to look for cars, and proceed down the road. Emma is proud because I let her ride first because I can trust her to stay to the side of the road. Evan? Not so much; I am steering him to the side about every 10 feet.

We make it to the cul-de-sac, and it is free reign for my kiddo's. I let them go at their own pace, however, ensuring they still ride close to the side of the road. I am watching while standing at the beginning or top? of the cul-de-sac, so I can safely protect my children from any approaching car.

Emma is speeding around and around, waving periodically. Evan is more slowly making his way around, but still is so happy he is off of the driveway. The bike riding event ends after Emma takes a spill from her bike (her second actually) which drew blood from skinned knees and tears from my little girl. Thankfully, she could muster enough energy to walk back to the house (yes, that was sarcastic as the scrape wasn't all that bad) while I had to steer Evan to the side of the road and pull her bike as well.

It was fun, the kids had a great time (except for the fall) and I am sure they will be requesting it soon. As much as I wanted them to stay babies at the time they were, I must say, it is so much fun to watch them develop and see them do things like this. I know in a new months/years I will get to bike too and we can go for longer distances and I am excited for that.

"But Mama, that doesn't matter!"

Evan, being practically 3-years old, and mildly stubborn, loves dressing himself and doing everything himself. It is not unusual for him in the morning to come into our bedroom when he wakes up, say "Hi Mama" and then go change for the day. If I am lucky some mornings, I get a hug and a snuggle, then he is ready to get changed for the day.


Now it has to be said, he is not good at dressing himself. Many times shirts, shorts, undies, everything are inside out, backyards, upside down, you name it. When I point it out to him, he looks up "But Mama, that doesn't matter! It's okay!"


So, here is a picture of our little boy. It is a common site. Shoes backwards. But, as he says, "Mama, that doesn't matter!"



He has developed a small stutter lately and sometimes I feel so bad for him when he is trying to get a sentence out. Most kids go through it, I remember when Emma did as well, so I am not worried, it is just another characteristic of my little Evan now.

Water-skiing

Roughly two weeks ago after seeing me and her cousin water ski, Emma decided that she was ready to try water skiing. To say that I was excited is an understatement... so is saying that I was nervous. I was so happy that Emma finally was ready to try it. I realize that she is a little young yet, but to have the nerve to try it it pretty good for her. She had been making huge strides this year in the water: jumping off the dock, deep swimming, swimming lessons, tubing, everything in the water this year she has accomplished has been great.

So, back to water-skiing....

We get the skis on her little legs. While I am doing this, I am going through everything with her: hang on to the rope, keep skis up, keep your knees bent, hang on to the rope (again!) etc. She is listening, smiling nervously, and looks ready.

I get her in the water with her knees bent up to her chest and hanging on to the rope. Tim drives slowly and lets her pull a bit behind the jet ski. She does well with this and is being pulled with her knees up and her tips still out of the water.

Then, Tim guns it... albeit slowly ... to try to pull her out of the water. She struggles a bit and shifts from side-to-side and eventually does a dive into the water with her skis popping off. Then, the worst part? She doesn't let go of the rope and is being drug behind the jet-ski. So, I run down the dock yelling "EMMA! Let go of the rope! EMMA! LET GO!" Eventually (after what seemed like 5 minutes, but I am sure was only like 15 seconds) she let go. Sigh.... I forgot to tell her to let go of the rope.

Tim goes over to her and gets her sad face and "Daddy, I got a lot of water in my face!" And with that, her water-skiing experience was over. She didn't want to try again, even with my consoling "it happens to everyone" speech. Oh well, at least she tried. She did say this past weekend that she wanted to try again, but then changed her mind at the cabin. Hopefully we will get one more try in before the water cools.

AND, of course, since Emma tried water skiing, Evan had to try too. The water skis, even the kid ones, were just a little too big yet. His little legs couldn't control the skis when he was in the water. He did try and Tim did pull him slowly behind the jet-ski, but that literally lasted 5 seconds. And, with that, he was done too.

All-in-all, I am so proud of both of them. Water skiing is something that I have been excited for them to try, although, next year will probably be better.

Thinking a little harder

Emma, Evan, and I were driving to her swimming lessons tonight and we were talking about birthday presents. The fall is a busy time with birthdays around here - however the most excited person of all is Evan. He tells me a lot what he wants for his birthday and that he wants a Cars party with a big cake and all that stuff.

Anyway, Emma and I were talking presents.

Me: "Emma, what do you think Evan wants for his birthday?"

Emma: "probably cars."

Me: "Why do you say that?"

Emma: with a "duh" tone of voice, "Mom, he is always playing with Cars and he is a boy. I can't tell him what kind of car I will buy him, because he is right there." and she points to Evan "and then it won't be a surprise."

Me: "Right, make sense. So what do you think I want for my birthday? What am I always doing? Do I have any hobbies?"

Emma: "Well, you are always vacuuming or sweeping. So, maybe something to go along with that."

Me, just thinking to myself: "Perfect, how lovely. Of all the things I do for that kid, Vacumming and sweeping sticks out in her mind.

Although, kind of cute I thought.

More blog later. I have been suffering from an ear infection this week and don't have much energy after the kids go to bed to blog. But, I have some good cabin stories and terrible three stories to share.

Four more weeks to go

We are enjoying the last four weeks before school starts. I am hoping to do some fun things with the kids on the four Fridays we have left, maybe the Mall of America, State Fair, who knows. Emma, in preparation for Kindergarten, got to go to school on Monday to meet with her teacher for a half an hour. Tim and I had some paperwork to fill out and Emma was being tested of sorts to see what she knew.

Emma did great. Her teacher ran through numbers, letters, colors, shapes, sentences and all sorts of things. Yes, we have some things we could work with her on before school, but her teacher assured us that Emma was more than ready for kindergarten and that Emma has great self-confidence. So, what was my favorite thing about the meeting? Emma's teacher takes her in the little room and asks Emma to spell her name. Emma first, then Heuer. However, the teacher mispronounces Heuer. What does Emma do? "Actually, my name is Emma HEUER" and pronounces her name correctly for the teacher. Not a big thing, I realize, but I was proud of Emma for telling her teacher that. Plus, her teacher thanked Emma for correcting her and told us that was a good thing for Emma to do also.

Emma is also doing a 2-week free trial of Karate this week. Tim and I have both discussed the benefits of Karate and have decided we want the kids to try it and continue with it, if they like it. Emma so far is enjoying it and Evan really wishes he could try it also. He is really happy when Emma teaches him how to do it :-)

Evan has been a little spit-fire lately and we have been having to reign the little boy in a bit. He needs to learn that everything he does is not always cute and that if he is naughty, there will be consequences. If he is naughty, or I put him in time out, or even reprimand him, he looks down, will go limp or fall on the floor and will not do anything. For example, I was trying to get him to go up and take a bath yesterday. He said No approximately 3 times and I told him that wasn't okay. So, he kept saying No. I picked him up to put him in his room for a few minutes and he instantly went limp in my arms. He is complete dead weight as I am carrying him up the stairs and I put him on his bed and he folds over. I am not sure why he does that, but whenever he is getting a serious talking to, he slumps over and goes limp. Not fun.

This past weekend we had fun visitors up to the cabin - Kristen and the 4 kids! Emma and Evan just love it when little people are up there to play with them. It is constant jumping off the dock, swimming, splashing, and having fun. It is neat to watch the kids from year to year or even month to month with how much they explore and do in the lake.

Thankfully, after my last post, life is going much better here in the Heuer house. Thanks to all for reading/listening and to the thoughtful comments and emails I got from friends. It is great to have such a wonderful support system and to hear the "you are not alone! been there, done that" comments.

You take the good.... you take the bad

The day goes from:

stressing out about job transitions since the person who was training me quit yesterday
-to-
--being concerned that I am doing everything correctly so our P&L is accurate and I am off the hook
-to-
constantly wishing that I will receive a phone call from Tim that finally gives us the answer we are hoping for
-to-
picking up the kids and starting on supper and putting the little guy in time-out after his insistence that my giving Emma a pudding spoon to lick was "NOT FAIR! NOT FAIR MAMA!"
-to-
the bigger kid instantly saying she doesn't like my supper of bland chicken & potatoes & raspberries and the little guy instantly following suit
-to-
the little guy being banned from the big table and assigned to the small table for being naughty
-to-
the bigger kid refusing to eat, but wanting dessert (of course)
-to-
the little guy being put in time out AGAIN
-to-
me just telling Tim to go outside and mow the lawn already and I can do the dishes
-to-
me deciding that the kids need to run around outside and burn off whatever it is that is making them crazy & whiny
-to-
me being frustrated with our long-term guest because I cannot get our bikes out in an easy fashion
-to-
me deciding the playing outside idea wasn't good and bringing the kids inside
-to-
me finally snapping after water is flying everywhere and the kids are not listening
-to-
me throwing my magazine on the ground and announcing that bath time is over
-to-
Emma throwing her head back and sobbing because she feels bad because I was upset
-to-
Evan insisting that he is not a naughty boy and tearing up
-to-
me, just being done. I read stories, I kiss little heads, and I constantly feel guilt at the way this evening went
-to-
me making a dent on the dirty dishes and feeling relief that the pile of dishes is at least now a clean pile of dishes.
-to-
me, watching Design Star and decompressing

-and-
finally
-to-

me, quietly tip-toeing into the kids rooms and kissing foreheads and whispering I am sorry for not being a good Mom tonight. Then, praying that tomorrow is a better day.


There you have it... the facts of life.

It's not pretty. It's not cute stories of the little ones tonight. It is a story of frustration, whiny/over tired children, whiny/overwhelmed parents, and the wish that tomorrow will be better.