A question was asked of me earlier this week at lunch about sacrifice. I was talking with a mentor of sorts about my career, where I see myself going short-term and long-term, and how I plan on getting there. Anyway, I think I have made it known on the blog, again, about my desire to start my MBA this fall. I told him about my MBA plans, since I am 4 days a week and may have a bit more spare time now, and how I don't have plans to work a full 5 days/week until Evan is in school, at least :-) I also told him of my continuous Mom guilt/internal conflicts and the constant questions of if I am doing the right thing. I don't want to sacrifice my time with the kids now just to work. Sure, maybe I won't climb as high on the corporate ladder as fast or make VP or whatever it is I decide to go for, but I love spending time with my kids and I don't want to trade anything for that.
He kind of threw that back and me and spoke about regrets. Would I regret my decisions now, say 10 years from now, if I am not as far in my career as I thought. Am I looking at sacrifice the right way?? Sure, I am sacrificing time with my kids at working four days a week, but what are the additional costs? Isn't being a successful business woman a great example for the kids? Would they understand the full sacrifice of what I did for them in the long run? He constantly tells me I can do more, should be farther than I am, and has more faith in my work and abilities than I do. Needless to say, it was a very thought provoking conversation. I came away from that with more questions and no more answers, which I hate. I hate making decisions.. especially ones this huge.
I really thought I was doing the right thing and still think I am, but now... just more questions. Just more nagging thoughts in my head. However, after having this meeting on Wednesday, I can honestly say Thursday morning, I knew the decisions I made are the rights ones. I get to work from home on Thursdays, so I get to see the kids before they go to daycare. I get to cuddle with Emma when she comes into our room after she wakes up and I get to pick up the sleepy Ev, rubbing his eyes and reaching for his blanket and pointing to our room. I love seeing the kids in the morning. That is one of the sacrifices I am making by working so damn early... I don't get to see them before I leave for work. Morning calls with Tim at 8 to get the lowdown on when they woke up, how they were, moods, etc, aren't the same as being home to help. Plus, Fridays are just us (and usually the neighbors)! We do fun things on Fridays like weird craft projects, sledding, making fires and roasting hotdogs when it is cold out, field trips, anything. It is an extra day to teach, share, laugh and make memories. I don't want to sacrifice that.
But, it is what it is. I do want to work, I don't thing I want to stay home full time, so this is the best arrangement for both. Maybe I am sacrificing some aspects of my career, but isn't that what being a parent is supposed to be about? Giving your kids everything you can and sacrificing to make it happen? No answers, just thoughts. This Mom stuff isn't easy.
Sunday, February 28, 2010
King of the Mountain
I love it that my kiddo's love the outdoors. Granted, I think most kids love the outdoors, but mine REALLY enjoy it. If I tell Evan we are going outside, his eyes get huge and he toddles into the laundry room and attempts to put on his outdoor gear. Emma is a pro at that by now and can get ready all by herself. Much of our time this weekend was spent outside and it was awesome... but... backing up....
This week went great. Work was busy, as usual, but we were rewarded with some time out with my coworkers on Wednesday night. We went to an Irish Pub and had some great snacks & drinks while Tim was here with the kids. Wednesday nights are gymnastic/dance nights, so he had a plate full. Emma can get herself ready and knows the routine by now, but not the Ev. I was told that while Emma was enjoying herself at class, Evan was having fun watching her and wishing he could be in their also playing along... ie. banging on the glass windows, running around, and just being a handful.
Thursday, I took a half day off, and took my two little ones and Miss Kaylee down to the farm for a quick vacation. They were all going to spend two nights visiting with Nana and Papa. The car ride down was interesting as the two little girls were SO excited about their mini vacation. They kept talking about where they would sleep, what they would play, and if they could share a bed at night. Constant chatter, constant laughter, and constant "Girls - keep it down, Evan is sleeping!"
Tim and I enjoyed our few nights here without the kids. We went out for an anniversary of sorts to a favorite restaurant and then went out with my co-workers again on Friday night to celebrate a new opportunity for a friend of ours. Friday, daytime, was lovely for me. I totally cleaned the house and then I enjoyed coffee, shopping, yummy lunch in Stillwater and quality sister bonding time. Much needed for both.
Saturday was the best day. After a slow start on my part, we made it to the farm around 11 and were reunited with the kids. There is nothing better than seeing the kids, after being away for a bit, and have them so excited to see you!! Evan and Emma could barely contain themselves. It was awesome. Both Tim and I were excited also, as it was said many times Thursday and Friday.. "I miss the kids!" Alone time is always nice, but I definitely do miss the kids a lot when they are gone. Saturday was a sledding party for cousin Aubrie and it was so much fun! It was on the same hill that we used to sled on a lot when we were kids, so it was very nice to have my kids enjoy it just like we used too. Emma wasn't scared and went down right away with Kristen, Kaylee, and I piled on a tube. She went down a lot for awhile, until a small mishap (a slight bump at the bottom of the hill) scared her for awhile. Not long after that, she bounced right back and was back at it. The best part about our sledding adventures?? The snowmobiles to bring you back up :-) Those were definitely a kid favorite, as they went for rides in a little sled that rides behind the snowmobile. Evan, especially, is a big fan of the snowmobile. He would usually ride on that with Tim when the other kids were going down the hill. I have many wonderful memories of sledding on that hill when I was little and I am sure my kiddos will have the same.
Today, finally, was a low-key quiet day. Sunday School started us off, then not much of anything. We colored, played play dough, cars, took naps (me too!!) and then went outside again. After a quick walk, I showed Emma how to play King of the Hill on a small snowbank in the front of our house. She definitely wasn't shy trying to keep me from the top and loved it when I would roll down the hill and then pummel her with snowballs. Yes, I was being gentle with the snowballs, but it was really fun to play with her like that. She would run away, hollering, and then would taunt me "You can't reach me, you can't reach me!!" until I would chase her. It was really a lot of fun.
Anyway, this week continues to get busier with the addition of swimming lessons on Thursday - Evan too - which he will really like.
Staying at home and relaxing is over-rated, right??
This week went great. Work was busy, as usual, but we were rewarded with some time out with my coworkers on Wednesday night. We went to an Irish Pub and had some great snacks & drinks while Tim was here with the kids. Wednesday nights are gymnastic/dance nights, so he had a plate full. Emma can get herself ready and knows the routine by now, but not the Ev. I was told that while Emma was enjoying herself at class, Evan was having fun watching her and wishing he could be in their also playing along... ie. banging on the glass windows, running around, and just being a handful.
Thursday, I took a half day off, and took my two little ones and Miss Kaylee down to the farm for a quick vacation. They were all going to spend two nights visiting with Nana and Papa. The car ride down was interesting as the two little girls were SO excited about their mini vacation. They kept talking about where they would sleep, what they would play, and if they could share a bed at night. Constant chatter, constant laughter, and constant "Girls - keep it down, Evan is sleeping!"
Tim and I enjoyed our few nights here without the kids. We went out for an anniversary of sorts to a favorite restaurant and then went out with my co-workers again on Friday night to celebrate a new opportunity for a friend of ours. Friday, daytime, was lovely for me. I totally cleaned the house and then I enjoyed coffee, shopping, yummy lunch in Stillwater and quality sister bonding time. Much needed for both.
Saturday was the best day. After a slow start on my part, we made it to the farm around 11 and were reunited with the kids. There is nothing better than seeing the kids, after being away for a bit, and have them so excited to see you!! Evan and Emma could barely contain themselves. It was awesome. Both Tim and I were excited also, as it was said many times Thursday and Friday.. "I miss the kids!" Alone time is always nice, but I definitely do miss the kids a lot when they are gone. Saturday was a sledding party for cousin Aubrie and it was so much fun! It was on the same hill that we used to sled on a lot when we were kids, so it was very nice to have my kids enjoy it just like we used too. Emma wasn't scared and went down right away with Kristen, Kaylee, and I piled on a tube. She went down a lot for awhile, until a small mishap (a slight bump at the bottom of the hill) scared her for awhile. Not long after that, she bounced right back and was back at it. The best part about our sledding adventures?? The snowmobiles to bring you back up :-) Those were definitely a kid favorite, as they went for rides in a little sled that rides behind the snowmobile. Evan, especially, is a big fan of the snowmobile. He would usually ride on that with Tim when the other kids were going down the hill. I have many wonderful memories of sledding on that hill when I was little and I am sure my kiddos will have the same.
Today, finally, was a low-key quiet day. Sunday School started us off, then not much of anything. We colored, played play dough, cars, took naps (me too!!) and then went outside again. After a quick walk, I showed Emma how to play King of the Hill on a small snowbank in the front of our house. She definitely wasn't shy trying to keep me from the top and loved it when I would roll down the hill and then pummel her with snowballs. Yes, I was being gentle with the snowballs, but it was really fun to play with her like that. She would run away, hollering, and then would taunt me "You can't reach me, you can't reach me!!" until I would chase her. It was really a lot of fun.
Anyway, this week continues to get busier with the addition of swimming lessons on Thursday - Evan too - which he will really like.
Staying at home and relaxing is over-rated, right??
Monday, February 22, 2010
alone time
I was and will be again blessed with a little alone time. Tim, this past weekend, took the kids to the cabin on Friday night thru Saturday and I stayed home. Well, I didn't really stay home, but I was here sans children. It was very nice! I went out with friends, slept in (until 7:15 - wahoo!), did some shopping and just had time to recuperate. It was much needed and great. It isn't often that I get to be by myself and I tried to take advantage of it. Luckily, it is going on this week also. Wednesday night my coworkers and I are going out, then Thursday I am taking the children to the farm for a few days. So, then Tim and I get some time. Yea! We don't often go on vacation, even though we need too, so it is nice that my parents have graciously agreed to take the kids for 2 nights so we can go out to eat and just relax.
The kids are great; nothing going on with them. Evan is still getting into everything and Emma is talking a mile a minute. Lately, she really enjoys coloring, doing her homework, and bothering her brother. I saw her today throw one of the toys that he was playing with across the room. It doesn't phase him, he gets up, walks over to it, and comes back to play as though it didn't bother him at all. I, however, had a little chat with Emma about appropriate playing behavior. She calmly looks at me and says, "Mama, you are making a scene." Yes, I know, that is not appropriate behavior! Either was what she was playing the other day. She was feeding her baby a bottle and I hear her say, "Come on Baby - drink your bottle! It is just HoneyWeiss" Ummm.. what??? That makes me turn my head and say "Ummm - what was that Emma? What are you feeding your baby?" Emma, nonchalantly says, "Honeyweiss. It is just beer. It tastes YUCKY!" Nice. Where she gets this stuff, I have no idea. Okay, fine, yes, I AM the HoneyWeiss drinker in the house. But, I don't drink it that often. Really, I don't :-)
Evan is the same terror. He has a new nickname: "The Running Man." If we try to pick him up and he doesn't want to be picked up, he starts yelling and kicking his legs back and forth - or - running in the air. He also has a new word "NO!" and this one comes out a lot. It also amazes me how much this kid enjoys fruit. He will pass up candy/cookies for blueberries or strawberries. Tim just bought a pint of blueberries at the grocery store and they were gone in a day. Mostly, from Evan.
Tim and I are the same. I had a bad day at work... well, just a bad instance, so I needed some comfort food. I did a bad thing and went grocery shopping when I was crabby/hungry, so my cart was not a healthy choice ad. Well, I did have more blueberries and strawberries for Evan. But, then came the Cheetos, Chocolate Chip Ice Cream, Corn Chips, etc. Our supper tonight consisted of hamburgers, french fries, and chocolate chip malts. Mother of the Year - sign me up. But, it was damn good and much needed.
That's all. I have nothing else.
The kids are great; nothing going on with them. Evan is still getting into everything and Emma is talking a mile a minute. Lately, she really enjoys coloring, doing her homework, and bothering her brother. I saw her today throw one of the toys that he was playing with across the room. It doesn't phase him, he gets up, walks over to it, and comes back to play as though it didn't bother him at all. I, however, had a little chat with Emma about appropriate playing behavior. She calmly looks at me and says, "Mama, you are making a scene." Yes, I know, that is not appropriate behavior! Either was what she was playing the other day. She was feeding her baby a bottle and I hear her say, "Come on Baby - drink your bottle! It is just HoneyWeiss" Ummm.. what??? That makes me turn my head and say "Ummm - what was that Emma? What are you feeding your baby?" Emma, nonchalantly says, "Honeyweiss. It is just beer. It tastes YUCKY!" Nice. Where she gets this stuff, I have no idea. Okay, fine, yes, I AM the HoneyWeiss drinker in the house. But, I don't drink it that often. Really, I don't :-)
Evan is the same terror. He has a new nickname: "The Running Man." If we try to pick him up and he doesn't want to be picked up, he starts yelling and kicking his legs back and forth - or - running in the air. He also has a new word "NO!" and this one comes out a lot. It also amazes me how much this kid enjoys fruit. He will pass up candy/cookies for blueberries or strawberries. Tim just bought a pint of blueberries at the grocery store and they were gone in a day. Mostly, from Evan.
Tim and I are the same. I had a bad day at work... well, just a bad instance, so I needed some comfort food. I did a bad thing and went grocery shopping when I was crabby/hungry, so my cart was not a healthy choice ad. Well, I did have more blueberries and strawberries for Evan. But, then came the Cheetos, Chocolate Chip Ice Cream, Corn Chips, etc. Our supper tonight consisted of hamburgers, french fries, and chocolate chip malts. Mother of the Year - sign me up. But, it was damn good and much needed.
That's all. I have nothing else.
Tuesday, February 16, 2010
Having a case of the Mondays - ergh. Tuesdays....
Emma had one of her meltdowns this morning. Lovely, I know. What a way to start the day. She didn't want to get dressed, she didn't want to get ready, she didn't want to brush her teeth... nothing...nada.. zilch. I was working from home today, so I was witness to it. It is mornings like this where I feel guilty for working - shocking I know :-) She got over it, she always does, and finally got ready and left somewhat smiling with Tim and Evan. It was their Valentine's party, so I figured she would be so excited, but not so much. Evan was ready to go - he is never a problem yet.
Then, I kept losing my internet connection today. Not good when a person works from home. Luckily that stopped or the frequency did anyway.
After that, I had a pretty good day. We were all coming off a long weekend at the cabin which was much needed and relaxing. We left Thursday night and came home Monday afternoon. We fished, snowmobiled, watched movies, and hung out. We discovered that the kids love snowmobiling. . . more than we thought before. Evan got so frustrated one day when we quit that he marched over to the snowmobile and attempted to pull-start it on his own. No success on that one but it was pretty cute! Tim hooked up a little sled behind it so we could pull the kids around on the lake and Emma really liked that one.
Emma loves being pulled behind the snowmobile!
They tolerated ice fishing. Evan managed to drop one fishing pole down the hole when he was "ishing" once. (Tim was luckily able to snag it and pull it back up.) Emma can sit for awhile and watch the bobber but she loses interest in that pretty quickly also. Their favorite activity is still torturing the poor minnows by scooping them up from the bucket, dropping them on the ground, you name it. Evan just can't get enough of the fish. He knows where we put the minnows, so in the morning, the first thing he does is is slide down the stairs and head straight for the minnows. "ISH!! ISH!!" all the way down the steps. He runs as fast as his little legs can carry directly to the minnow buckets so he can get there before we can stop him.
Evan torturing the minnows
Emma fishing
Tim's big catch! (along with the fishing pole that was dropped down the hole)
Emma had an interesting question for me while we were at the cabin. She whips up her shirt one night, points to something on her chest and says "Mama, what are these?" I explain what they are and she ponders it for a moment and then asks, "Well, when do I get rings in them?" Completely shocked I stumble a "WHAT?!" and try to hide my smiles and total astonishment. she sighs like I am an incredibly naive Mom ... "When do they get rings??" So, I try to explain that they do not get rings in them, but she is pretty sure they do as she saw that at daycare. Lovely. Not sure what she was watching there, but "they have some 'splaining to do!!"
Someone else that had some explaining to do.. apparently Emma thought that Evan needed something sparkly to wear. Tim wasn't too pleased.
I think I finally have Tim signed up for, or at least in agreeement upon, that we need someway to harness Evan at times during the day. Thursday before we left for the cabin, he took a tumble down the stairs. A long.... tumble.... all the way down. I swear that was the slowest 3 seconds of my life! He was "packing" for the cabin and whenever he needs something downstairs, he throws it down the stairs. On this particular Thursday, he threw his beloved blanket down the stairs - sort of. I saw the accident waiting to happen and tried to grab the blanket before he could but I was too late. He reached for it and started the long fall down the stairs. Luckily he wasn't hurt, just shook up a bit. But, not 5 minutes after that, I was packing the cooler and he was trying to climb up a chair and he fell off of that- Seriously!! That kid is going to give me a heart attack!! I feel as though I cannot turn my back because he is always getting into something. My biggest fear is that something serious is going to happen to him because he is constantly climbing on something.
We have some very busy days coming up with classes for the kids and outings for Tim and I. It will be good and fun, but very busy.
Then, I kept losing my internet connection today. Not good when a person works from home. Luckily that stopped or the frequency did anyway.
After that, I had a pretty good day. We were all coming off a long weekend at the cabin which was much needed and relaxing. We left Thursday night and came home Monday afternoon. We fished, snowmobiled, watched movies, and hung out. We discovered that the kids love snowmobiling. . . more than we thought before. Evan got so frustrated one day when we quit that he marched over to the snowmobile and attempted to pull-start it on his own. No success on that one but it was pretty cute! Tim hooked up a little sled behind it so we could pull the kids around on the lake and Emma really liked that one.
Emma loves being pulled behind the snowmobile!
They tolerated ice fishing. Evan managed to drop one fishing pole down the hole when he was "ishing" once. (Tim was luckily able to snag it and pull it back up.) Emma can sit for awhile and watch the bobber but she loses interest in that pretty quickly also. Their favorite activity is still torturing the poor minnows by scooping them up from the bucket, dropping them on the ground, you name it. Evan just can't get enough of the fish. He knows where we put the minnows, so in the morning, the first thing he does is is slide down the stairs and head straight for the minnows. "ISH!! ISH!!" all the way down the steps. He runs as fast as his little legs can carry directly to the minnow buckets so he can get there before we can stop him.
Evan torturing the minnows
Emma fishing
Tim's big catch! (along with the fishing pole that was dropped down the hole)
Emma had an interesting question for me while we were at the cabin. She whips up her shirt one night, points to something on her chest and says "Mama, what are these?" I explain what they are and she ponders it for a moment and then asks, "Well, when do I get rings in them?" Completely shocked I stumble a "WHAT?!" and try to hide my smiles and total astonishment. she sighs like I am an incredibly naive Mom ... "When do they get rings??" So, I try to explain that they do not get rings in them, but she is pretty sure they do as she saw that at daycare. Lovely. Not sure what she was watching there, but "they have some 'splaining to do!!"
Someone else that had some explaining to do.. apparently Emma thought that Evan needed something sparkly to wear. Tim wasn't too pleased.
I think I finally have Tim signed up for, or at least in agreeement upon, that we need someway to harness Evan at times during the day. Thursday before we left for the cabin, he took a tumble down the stairs. A long.... tumble.... all the way down. I swear that was the slowest 3 seconds of my life! He was "packing" for the cabin and whenever he needs something downstairs, he throws it down the stairs. On this particular Thursday, he threw his beloved blanket down the stairs - sort of. I saw the accident waiting to happen and tried to grab the blanket before he could but I was too late. He reached for it and started the long fall down the stairs. Luckily he wasn't hurt, just shook up a bit. But, not 5 minutes after that, I was packing the cooler and he was trying to climb up a chair and he fell off of that- Seriously!! That kid is going to give me a heart attack!! I feel as though I cannot turn my back because he is always getting into something. My biggest fear is that something serious is going to happen to him because he is constantly climbing on something.
We have some very busy days coming up with classes for the kids and outings for Tim and I. It will be good and fun, but very busy.
Sunday, February 7, 2010
Battle of the Wills
First, I want to say thank you to all the comments about my last post. It is nice to see that I am not the only one that loses her mind at times and forgets the obvious. Yes, Tim did stop in after work (about an hour or so later) to pick up the groceries that I could not pay for. I still feel embarrassed, but it happens. . . I honestly don't think Tim enjoyed being known as the husband to the crazy lady her forgot her money, but it is what it is.
Emma has been a bit of a challenge lately. This past week she has had meltdowns of astronomical proportions every night. NO FUN! It started out slowly on Monday - I asked her to pick up her room as it was a horrible mess. It usually is, but we are getting into a routine every night to clean it up. That is the problem with her changing clothes 8 times a day - too many clothes on the floor! Anyway, she didn't want to pick them up. I tried the cheery "Come on, Emma, it won't take too long" plus many other pep talks, but none of them worked. Finally, I look in after getting Evan ready for bath and she is on the floor and the room is clean! I start to praise her a bit for picking up until I notice the guilty look on her face and the position of her body on the floor. Oh no, she wasn't cleaning up her room, she was shoving all of her clothes under her bed! That little stinker!! How would she think of that at 3.5 years old? I get pissed (but of course, can't show it!) and eventually get her to clean up her room.
Anyway, it has been something every night. Getting ready for bed, curling her hair for dance class, going to bed, reading stories, etc. She has to have one battle a night and I am sick of it. Finally, Tim and I realize that it works better for her to give her options. Maybe being a first-born she has to feel in control of her situation, so it isn't "Emma, let's go upstairs to bed" It is "Emma - it is time for bed, do you want Daddy to carry you up or Mommy?" Now, mind you, I hate playing the little games. It is bed time, dammit, so go to bed :-) But, if that is what it takes for no battles, I guess I can do it.
Emma had her Sunday School preschool concert today at Church. All the 3 and 4 year old classes sang 4 songs and did sign language and then ate cookies and drank punch! My class did pretty well - They all did their signs and sang okay. Emma enjoyed it. She looked pretty proud at the front of the church and enjoyed the attention of the day! I wish I could have taken pictures, but I was up front with my Sunday School class singing and doing the signs with them (but down low, so the parents couldn't see us :-) Tim tried as best he could with a squirmy Evan on his lap. We do have some movies, but pretty blurry pictures.
Evan should be now called dare devil, fate-tempter or something like that. Tim and I have witnessed him jumping off the couch, belly first, to the floor. Not quite sure what the little man is thinking with that one. Luckily, Tim was right there, so he was able to grab him. We are not sure if we trying to jump on Tim and wrestle with him or what, but he seriously crouched down on the couch and leaped off. This, a day after he mysteriously got a big bump on his head after playing in Emma's room. No one knows what happened for that one. He seems to go missing fairly often in our house. One minute he is playing with Emma and the next, he is gone. One time I found him in the bathroom, sitting on the toilet (lid down, thank goodness!) eating from a big bag of snacks and hanging on to some wet toilet paper. Now that I mention it, he has had a thing with toilets lately (precursor to potty training maybe?) as today he was missing (of course) and we found him with his little fishing pole playing in the toilet. And no, I don't think he caught anything. HA!
This little guy is all boy. I know that probably sounds funny, but he is all about cars "CAW!" balls "BAH" and chasing/bothering his sister. The other day he was just getting out of the tub. He shrugs off his towel and is strutting around naked. Seriously strutting... baby tummy out, arms behind his back, just walking around like he is the stud. He struts into the bathroom, where I just got Emma out of the tub, and sticks his tummy out a bit and pees. . . all over the bathroom floor. "EVAN- NO!!" I yell and Emma screws up her face "EWWWW!!! I don't want to step in EVAN PEE!" and Evan just smiles and scurries out.... Just another day....
I am now doing some physical therapy for my wonky hip. I finally went to the doctor (at Tim's urging) and it turns out I have a tighter than normal LT band, or something like that, and it has affected my range of motion and the muscles surrounding my hip. The good news - running isn't bad for it. The bad news, the weirdness of my "hip coming out" will always happen. I have a few exercises to do at home to build up the muscles, but nothing more serious than that. So, maybe I will attempt a longer run than a 10K. Anyone interested?? Or, another triathlon?? Let me know... strength in numbers.
Not much on the agenda for this week. A night out with the ladies! YEA!! and more-snow. Sounds like maybe 9 - 12 inches. That will be fun for the commute.
Emma has been a bit of a challenge lately. This past week she has had meltdowns of astronomical proportions every night. NO FUN! It started out slowly on Monday - I asked her to pick up her room as it was a horrible mess. It usually is, but we are getting into a routine every night to clean it up. That is the problem with her changing clothes 8 times a day - too many clothes on the floor! Anyway, she didn't want to pick them up. I tried the cheery "Come on, Emma, it won't take too long" plus many other pep talks, but none of them worked. Finally, I look in after getting Evan ready for bath and she is on the floor and the room is clean! I start to praise her a bit for picking up until I notice the guilty look on her face and the position of her body on the floor. Oh no, she wasn't cleaning up her room, she was shoving all of her clothes under her bed! That little stinker!! How would she think of that at 3.5 years old? I get pissed (but of course, can't show it!) and eventually get her to clean up her room.
Anyway, it has been something every night. Getting ready for bed, curling her hair for dance class, going to bed, reading stories, etc. She has to have one battle a night and I am sick of it. Finally, Tim and I realize that it works better for her to give her options. Maybe being a first-born she has to feel in control of her situation, so it isn't "Emma, let's go upstairs to bed" It is "Emma - it is time for bed, do you want Daddy to carry you up or Mommy?" Now, mind you, I hate playing the little games. It is bed time, dammit, so go to bed :-) But, if that is what it takes for no battles, I guess I can do it.
Emma had her Sunday School preschool concert today at Church. All the 3 and 4 year old classes sang 4 songs and did sign language and then ate cookies and drank punch! My class did pretty well - They all did their signs and sang okay. Emma enjoyed it. She looked pretty proud at the front of the church and enjoyed the attention of the day! I wish I could have taken pictures, but I was up front with my Sunday School class singing and doing the signs with them (but down low, so the parents couldn't see us :-) Tim tried as best he could with a squirmy Evan on his lap. We do have some movies, but pretty blurry pictures.
Evan should be now called dare devil, fate-tempter or something like that. Tim and I have witnessed him jumping off the couch, belly first, to the floor. Not quite sure what the little man is thinking with that one. Luckily, Tim was right there, so he was able to grab him. We are not sure if we trying to jump on Tim and wrestle with him or what, but he seriously crouched down on the couch and leaped off. This, a day after he mysteriously got a big bump on his head after playing in Emma's room. No one knows what happened for that one. He seems to go missing fairly often in our house. One minute he is playing with Emma and the next, he is gone. One time I found him in the bathroom, sitting on the toilet (lid down, thank goodness!) eating from a big bag of snacks and hanging on to some wet toilet paper. Now that I mention it, he has had a thing with toilets lately (precursor to potty training maybe?) as today he was missing (of course) and we found him with his little fishing pole playing in the toilet. And no, I don't think he caught anything. HA!
This little guy is all boy. I know that probably sounds funny, but he is all about cars "CAW!" balls "BAH" and chasing/bothering his sister. The other day he was just getting out of the tub. He shrugs off his towel and is strutting around naked. Seriously strutting... baby tummy out, arms behind his back, just walking around like he is the stud. He struts into the bathroom, where I just got Emma out of the tub, and sticks his tummy out a bit and pees. . . all over the bathroom floor. "EVAN- NO!!" I yell and Emma screws up her face "EWWWW!!! I don't want to step in EVAN PEE!" and Evan just smiles and scurries out.... Just another day....
I am now doing some physical therapy for my wonky hip. I finally went to the doctor (at Tim's urging) and it turns out I have a tighter than normal LT band, or something like that, and it has affected my range of motion and the muscles surrounding my hip. The good news - running isn't bad for it. The bad news, the weirdness of my "hip coming out" will always happen. I have a few exercises to do at home to build up the muscles, but nothing more serious than that. So, maybe I will attempt a longer run than a 10K. Anyone interested?? Or, another triathlon?? Let me know... strength in numbers.
Not much on the agenda for this week. A night out with the ladies! YEA!! and more-snow. Sounds like maybe 9 - 12 inches. That will be fun for the commute.
Thursday, February 4, 2010
Not my proudest moment
Picture this...
I am out grocery shopping before picking the kids up from daycare today. It had been a hectic day with work because my computer wasn't working and I was on the phone with the Helpless Desk ( I mean help desk) for an hour and half trying to get it fixed. So, after that it was rush, rush to get everything done. Anyway, I am at Cub, at the checkout, watching my grocery total increase. I feel in my purse to get my wallet out and feel around a bit... a bit more... open a pocket and feel around. I take the purse off of my shoulder to do some serious digging when I realize... I don't have my wallet. Which means, I have no money. I don't carry a checkbook, I didn't have a lost card or cash in my purse. I ... Have..... Nothing. I am sure I am red faced at this point and I look up at the cashier and explain meekly "I don't have my wallet." She looks up at me after scanning my items and I say "I don't have money. I am the biggest moron around." She smiles and says "it happens" while I panic and look through my purse again. Still, nothing. I keep mumbling over and over again, "I am such an idiot. How can I not have money? I am so sorry! I am so so sorry!" She offers to put my groceries at the customer service counter so I, or my husband, can pick them up in a bit. I think I apologize about 50 times and I leave, embarrassed. Seriously... how can I go grocery shopping and not have my money?
I am out grocery shopping before picking the kids up from daycare today. It had been a hectic day with work because my computer wasn't working and I was on the phone with the Helpless Desk ( I mean help desk) for an hour and half trying to get it fixed. So, after that it was rush, rush to get everything done. Anyway, I am at Cub, at the checkout, watching my grocery total increase. I feel in my purse to get my wallet out and feel around a bit... a bit more... open a pocket and feel around. I take the purse off of my shoulder to do some serious digging when I realize... I don't have my wallet. Which means, I have no money. I don't carry a checkbook, I didn't have a lost card or cash in my purse. I ... Have..... Nothing. I am sure I am red faced at this point and I look up at the cashier and explain meekly "I don't have my wallet." She looks up at me after scanning my items and I say "I don't have money. I am the biggest moron around." She smiles and says "it happens" while I panic and look through my purse again. Still, nothing. I keep mumbling over and over again, "I am such an idiot. How can I not have money? I am so sorry! I am so so sorry!" She offers to put my groceries at the customer service counter so I, or my husband, can pick them up in a bit. I think I apologize about 50 times and I leave, embarrassed. Seriously... how can I go grocery shopping and not have my money?
Sunday, January 31, 2010
Wisconsin Dells
For Christmas this year, instead of presents for the kids and us, my parents decided to take us all on a little vacation. All of us, which means sisters/husbands, nieces/nephews... everyone. They booked 2 condos at the Wilderness Water Park in WI Dells for a weekend of fun. The chaos/craziness began on Friday. We all got there around 4:00 or so and it was immediately a collage of towels/water/swimsuits. Emma was so excited she would have worn her swimming suit the entire way down if we would have let her. I can't say I blame her though. A whole weekend geared towards her and her little cousins & brother. What can be better than that?
The condos were very nice. They had 2 full bathrooms, 2 huge bedrooms, 2 fireplaces, full kitchen with everything you need to cook there. Which we did... a lot. Leave it to the Brunners to have enough food to feed an entire army. But, it was nice. There was no dressing kids up to go out to eat, entertaining them while the restaurant made the food, it was just casual, somewhat lazy, and nice.
Of course, the waterpark was a HUGE hit with everyone. Emma and Evan had a great time on the rides and stuff geared towards little kids. Evan would have climbed up and slid down in this one area the whole day if I would have let him. Emma had a great time also on the littler water slides. She didn't want any part of the family rides or tube rides this time. Mostly, I think, because they were all in the dark. She is not a huge fan of the dark and to ride an entire ride twisting & turning in the dark is not her idea of fun. However, she loved everything else and told us on the way back that she wants to go back again soon. The nice thing about Wilderness is that they have an indoor climbing park for the kids too. Something that allowed all of us to be dry for a little while, which was a nice change. Emma loved chasing after her cousins in the climbing area. Evan was literally in HEAVEN there also, as they had an indoor play area with tons and tons of little spongy balls. For the big kids, the spongy balls were to be used in the air guns and stuff they had. For the little guy, aka Evan, they were to be used for carrying around. I don't think I have ever seen his eyes get that big as he exclaimed "BALL!" then he would point at another one "BALL" and then run forward to play. It was fun to see how excited he got there. Literally hundreds of balls to be played with. He would walk around carrying as many as his little arms could carry and then would see one more that he just had to have. AS he tried to pick that one up, of course, the others would fall. It was this over and over... it was fun.
The adults had fun too, although I have to admit, being at a waterpark is exhausting. Exhaustion not just from trekking up the stairs to the slides, but from the over-stimulated state that one must be in to parent in a place like that. The constant watching and guarding and jumping in too lift a little one up when he falls and the "okay, Emma is over there with Kristen, wait a minute, where is Kaylee going?" exhaustion from making sure everyone is safe and accounted for - constantly. Fun, but tiring. It was nice that Dad, Kristen, and I got out to ride some more of the big rides after the kids were in bed one night.
Otherwise, we are all good. It seems as though we are going through another batch of colds as Emma is pretty congested and Tim now has what we all had about 2 weeks ago. I just want everyone to be healthy and sleeping good for a little while so I can feel rejuvenated. It has been awhile.
This week brings work, daycare, Emma's dance and gymnastics, and this weekend is Emma's Sunday School concert. Emma started dance and gymnastics at a place called The Little Gym in Woodbury. It is a half hour gymnastics class and a half hour dance class. So far, rave reviews from the little one. Her first lesson in gymnastics class? How to fall safely. She loved it. It basically involved lots of running, somersaults and swinging on the rings. Also, she has her small Sunday School Concert on Sunday. They will sing 4 songs and do sign language for the parents and will partake in cookies and lemonade afterwards. She is excited for that also.
Such a busy time, but such is life.
The condos were very nice. They had 2 full bathrooms, 2 huge bedrooms, 2 fireplaces, full kitchen with everything you need to cook there. Which we did... a lot. Leave it to the Brunners to have enough food to feed an entire army. But, it was nice. There was no dressing kids up to go out to eat, entertaining them while the restaurant made the food, it was just casual, somewhat lazy, and nice.
Of course, the waterpark was a HUGE hit with everyone. Emma and Evan had a great time on the rides and stuff geared towards little kids. Evan would have climbed up and slid down in this one area the whole day if I would have let him. Emma had a great time also on the littler water slides. She didn't want any part of the family rides or tube rides this time. Mostly, I think, because they were all in the dark. She is not a huge fan of the dark and to ride an entire ride twisting & turning in the dark is not her idea of fun. However, she loved everything else and told us on the way back that she wants to go back again soon. The nice thing about Wilderness is that they have an indoor climbing park for the kids too. Something that allowed all of us to be dry for a little while, which was a nice change. Emma loved chasing after her cousins in the climbing area. Evan was literally in HEAVEN there also, as they had an indoor play area with tons and tons of little spongy balls. For the big kids, the spongy balls were to be used in the air guns and stuff they had. For the little guy, aka Evan, they were to be used for carrying around. I don't think I have ever seen his eyes get that big as he exclaimed "BALL!" then he would point at another one "BALL" and then run forward to play. It was fun to see how excited he got there. Literally hundreds of balls to be played with. He would walk around carrying as many as his little arms could carry and then would see one more that he just had to have. AS he tried to pick that one up, of course, the others would fall. It was this over and over... it was fun.
The adults had fun too, although I have to admit, being at a waterpark is exhausting. Exhaustion not just from trekking up the stairs to the slides, but from the over-stimulated state that one must be in to parent in a place like that. The constant watching and guarding and jumping in too lift a little one up when he falls and the "okay, Emma is over there with Kristen, wait a minute, where is Kaylee going?" exhaustion from making sure everyone is safe and accounted for - constantly. Fun, but tiring. It was nice that Dad, Kristen, and I got out to ride some more of the big rides after the kids were in bed one night.
Otherwise, we are all good. It seems as though we are going through another batch of colds as Emma is pretty congested and Tim now has what we all had about 2 weeks ago. I just want everyone to be healthy and sleeping good for a little while so I can feel rejuvenated. It has been awhile.
This week brings work, daycare, Emma's dance and gymnastics, and this weekend is Emma's Sunday School concert. Emma started dance and gymnastics at a place called The Little Gym in Woodbury. It is a half hour gymnastics class and a half hour dance class. So far, rave reviews from the little one. Her first lesson in gymnastics class? How to fall safely. She loved it. It basically involved lots of running, somersaults and swinging on the rings. Also, she has her small Sunday School Concert on Sunday. They will sing 4 songs and do sign language for the parents and will partake in cookies and lemonade afterwards. She is excited for that also.
Such a busy time, but such is life.
Sunday, January 24, 2010
My Little Hippies
Peace, Love, and Tranquility.....
spoken many times by my Uncle Sam.
Don't you just love these shirts? I do. They were Christmas gifts from Nana & Papa.
All is good here, we had a great weekend at the cabin. Now, of course, the Vikings game is on. Tim is downstairs and I am upstairs. I thought distance would be good, especially after the fumbles the Vikings have been having. Craziness. I have to admit, I feel really bad for Favre - he has been taking a pounding today. Anyway...
I did make it to the Titanic exhibit. It was wonderful. Very sobering, very sad, but very good. It was almost eery reading about everything and seeing the pictures of the people, their belongings, but knowing that they don't survive. It was very much worth the money and I am glad I took a half day to go see it.
We were at the cabin this weekend. Tim took Friday off, so we went up Thursday night. We did some fishing, but nothing was biting unfortunately. Then, we just relaxed. It was really nice.
The kids are great. Emma starts dance/gymnastics this week. She is so incredibly excited and I think she will love it. Evan isn't signed up for anything yet, although we are thinking about swimming lessons the next go-round.
We got a letter in the mail that Emma can do kindergarten pre-screening this year. It seems pretty early to me, but they recommend the kids come in about 2 years prior to kindergarten, so I guess we will sign her up. She seems too little for that!! I am not ready for that yet! Although, I have to admit, after seeing how much my niece loves kindergarten, it has made it easier on me. I know Emma will have a great time as well.
We are all starting to feel a little better here. My throat and ears are still a little sore, but it goes away with the proper medication. Evan still has a slight cough, but nothing horrible.
I am thinking about signing up for grad school again. I know, I can't make up my mind, right? Well, I feel stagnate at work at the moment. I like my job, but I am sick of it. I have been there for about 2.5 years and that is about as long as I have lasted in any position so far in my short career. The problem? I am stuck between a rock and a hard place because I know I couldn't get hired for another position at 4 days a week or working from home. As much as I want to look for something new, I don't really want to, because I am not ready for 5 days a week. But, I need a challenge! So, I am thinking I bide my time at my current position, but start grad school. Ideally, I would like to keep my 4 day a week gig until Evan is in school. Anyway, that is how I am feeling today. Ask me tomorrow, it may be different.
Tim is good. He is very excited about our future puppy and has been reading books, finding breeders, and doing everything he needs to in order to be ready. We aren't getting one until May-June, but he will be ready when that time comes. Emma is pretty excited too. She has been saying how the puppy can sleep in her bed or the kennel can be in her room. Probably not, but I am glad she is excited.
Anyway - off to finish laundry, make lunches, shower, etc. 2 more minutes to go in the game. As much as I hate to admit it, I wouldn't mind seeing Brett win. Notice, I said Brett, not the Vikings.
have a wonderful week!
spoken many times by my Uncle Sam.
Don't you just love these shirts? I do. They were Christmas gifts from Nana & Papa.
All is good here, we had a great weekend at the cabin. Now, of course, the Vikings game is on. Tim is downstairs and I am upstairs. I thought distance would be good, especially after the fumbles the Vikings have been having. Craziness. I have to admit, I feel really bad for Favre - he has been taking a pounding today. Anyway...
I did make it to the Titanic exhibit. It was wonderful. Very sobering, very sad, but very good. It was almost eery reading about everything and seeing the pictures of the people, their belongings, but knowing that they don't survive. It was very much worth the money and I am glad I took a half day to go see it.
We were at the cabin this weekend. Tim took Friday off, so we went up Thursday night. We did some fishing, but nothing was biting unfortunately. Then, we just relaxed. It was really nice.
The kids are great. Emma starts dance/gymnastics this week. She is so incredibly excited and I think she will love it. Evan isn't signed up for anything yet, although we are thinking about swimming lessons the next go-round.
We got a letter in the mail that Emma can do kindergarten pre-screening this year. It seems pretty early to me, but they recommend the kids come in about 2 years prior to kindergarten, so I guess we will sign her up. She seems too little for that!! I am not ready for that yet! Although, I have to admit, after seeing how much my niece loves kindergarten, it has made it easier on me. I know Emma will have a great time as well.
We are all starting to feel a little better here. My throat and ears are still a little sore, but it goes away with the proper medication. Evan still has a slight cough, but nothing horrible.
I am thinking about signing up for grad school again. I know, I can't make up my mind, right? Well, I feel stagnate at work at the moment. I like my job, but I am sick of it. I have been there for about 2.5 years and that is about as long as I have lasted in any position so far in my short career. The problem? I am stuck between a rock and a hard place because I know I couldn't get hired for another position at 4 days a week or working from home. As much as I want to look for something new, I don't really want to, because I am not ready for 5 days a week. But, I need a challenge! So, I am thinking I bide my time at my current position, but start grad school. Ideally, I would like to keep my 4 day a week gig until Evan is in school. Anyway, that is how I am feeling today. Ask me tomorrow, it may be different.
Tim is good. He is very excited about our future puppy and has been reading books, finding breeders, and doing everything he needs to in order to be ready. We aren't getting one until May-June, but he will be ready when that time comes. Emma is pretty excited too. She has been saying how the puppy can sleep in her bed or the kennel can be in her room. Probably not, but I am glad she is excited.
Anyway - off to finish laundry, make lunches, shower, etc. 2 more minutes to go in the game. As much as I hate to admit it, I wouldn't mind seeing Brett win. Notice, I said Brett, not the Vikings.
have a wonderful week!
Wednesday, January 20, 2010
Green blood is yucky
Monday night, after I picked the kids up from daycare, I was listening to the radio. Lori & Julie to be exact, which I love to listen to. These ladies make my day a bit brighter and my commute seem like 15 minutes long... which it definitely is not! (107.1 from 3-6, they are awesome) Anyway, it is a woman's radio show, so they talk gossip, fashion, books, sex, etc. It is funny. Anyway, I digress.. So, I am listening to them after I pick up the kids and so far, it is a good conversation about a book. (sometimes I need to change the channel, as it is not always kid friendly discussion) Emma didn't want to talk about her day at the moment. She calmly told me after I cheerfully tried to engage her in some sort of conversation, "Mama, I don't feel like talking right now" and pop, the thumb goes back in the mouth. (Which, I don't mind. I keep telling her, if you don't want to talk, fine, just let me know.)
Anyway, so I am listening to the radio (gee, I thought this would be a short blog post) and the woman start talking about drinking brain blood. Why, I don't know, It was part of the book. After that comment, I calmly change the radio station (as I didn't want to answer any questions about it) and tune out. About a minute later, Emma says "Mama, those woman were talking about drinking green blood. That would be really yucky, like when my nose bleeds, red blood though, not green, and I can taste it and it is yucky. Mama, why would they drink green blood?" Ah crap.... So, I calmly tell her that those woman were being silly and no one drinks blood. They were just kidding. "Yeah, Mama, they were just being super silly. blood is yucky. I don't like drinking blood." So, I proceed to tell her how people don't drink blood and again say they were pretending. "Yeah mama, people don't drink blood. People drink milk and water. Blood tastes yucky!! Especially green blood!" Unfortunately, this conversation lasted the rest of the way home and I had to keep reiterating how people don't drink blood, they were pretending. This, of course, to Emma's "EWWW!! Gross!"
So, I am taking a half day of vacation tomorrow! I wanted to take a full day, but work is too crazy at the moment and a full day just isn't going to happen right now. But, a half day will be good; it will be therapeutic. I am meeting the sister for lunch and then going to see the Titanic exhibit at the Science Museum! yea! I am very excited to see that.
Evan continues to feel better and Emma's cold is basically gone. For some reason, Evan had a horrible night last night. He was crying from almost the time I brought him home from daycare, didn't want to eat or drink and fell asleep at 6:30. Then, he proceeded to wake up about every hour & half until the next morning. It was crazy. He wouldn't fall back to sleep without rocking/snuggling/something. I brought him in with us around 4:30 am, where he promptly fell asleep and then started to snore. Loudly, on my side of the bed where I had no room anyway. So, I let him sleep for awhile and hoped I would be able to fall asleep. No such luck, so I brought him back to his room and wouldn't you know it? My alarm clock went off like 5 minutes after that. Sleep last night was basically a lost cause. I think he is getting more teeth, but I am not totally sure.
So, as said before, a half day of vacation will be fabulous.
Here are some pics of us being home - all weeek - sick. Emma was milking it for all it was worth (just like when her Daddy is sick - ha!) and Evan, was well Evan.
Anyway, so I am listening to the radio (gee, I thought this would be a short blog post) and the woman start talking about drinking brain blood. Why, I don't know, It was part of the book. After that comment, I calmly change the radio station (as I didn't want to answer any questions about it) and tune out. About a minute later, Emma says "Mama, those woman were talking about drinking green blood. That would be really yucky, like when my nose bleeds, red blood though, not green, and I can taste it and it is yucky. Mama, why would they drink green blood?" Ah crap.... So, I calmly tell her that those woman were being silly and no one drinks blood. They were just kidding. "Yeah, Mama, they were just being super silly. blood is yucky. I don't like drinking blood." So, I proceed to tell her how people don't drink blood and again say they were pretending. "Yeah mama, people don't drink blood. People drink milk and water. Blood tastes yucky!! Especially green blood!" Unfortunately, this conversation lasted the rest of the way home and I had to keep reiterating how people don't drink blood, they were pretending. This, of course, to Emma's "EWWW!! Gross!"
So, I am taking a half day of vacation tomorrow! I wanted to take a full day, but work is too crazy at the moment and a full day just isn't going to happen right now. But, a half day will be good; it will be therapeutic. I am meeting the sister for lunch and then going to see the Titanic exhibit at the Science Museum! yea! I am very excited to see that.
Evan continues to feel better and Emma's cold is basically gone. For some reason, Evan had a horrible night last night. He was crying from almost the time I brought him home from daycare, didn't want to eat or drink and fell asleep at 6:30. Then, he proceeded to wake up about every hour & half until the next morning. It was crazy. He wouldn't fall back to sleep without rocking/snuggling/something. I brought him in with us around 4:30 am, where he promptly fell asleep and then started to snore. Loudly, on my side of the bed where I had no room anyway. So, I let him sleep for awhile and hoped I would be able to fall asleep. No such luck, so I brought him back to his room and wouldn't you know it? My alarm clock went off like 5 minutes after that. Sleep last night was basically a lost cause. I think he is getting more teeth, but I am not totally sure.
So, as said before, a half day of vacation will be fabulous.
Here are some pics of us being home - all weeek - sick. Emma was milking it for all it was worth (just like when her Daddy is sick - ha!) and Evan, was well Evan.
Monday, January 18, 2010
sickness update
Finally - kids are better :-) Happiness in the house. I finally got a full nights sleep last night. That has not happened for 3 weeks! It was a welcome change. Unfortunately, something that is not so happy, is now I have the cold. Go figure. It alwasy happens. Tim NEVER gets sick when the kids do, I always do. The caretaker of the house, the soul of the family, the maid/cook/servant/under-paid coworker always gets sick and never gets to sit and relax. Sad, but true :-) HaHa!
We had a great weekend! Sledding, shopping, book club, work Christmas party (which meant a date with my husband :-), Viking game... ergh.... and kids are healthy!
We had a great weekend! Sledding, shopping, book club, work Christmas party (which meant a date with my husband :-), Viking game... ergh.... and kids are healthy!
Thursday, January 14, 2010
Pneumonia and ear infection
My poor little kiddos. This was not a good week for them. I noticed they were getting colds on Sunday. Actually, Evan has had an on/off cold for about a month. The hard part is that he has been getting a lot of teeth lately also. They say that along with teeth comes running nose/cold like symptoms, so it was hard to tell with him. Anyway, Monday started off like normal. My alarm went off at 5:20am and my day started. My day however, took a turn for the worst at 8am when I saw my daycare providers number on my caller ID at work. That is never good.
So, Evan had a fever and was looking pretty droopy. After a call with Tim, It was decided that I would go and get Evan, bring him home, then Tim would come home in the afternoon so I could get some work done. It basically went downhill after that. Emma wanted to come home around 1:30 that same day as "I just can't breathe Mama!". Tuesday they were at home with us also as Tim and I juggled schedules again. Wednesday they were home with me. Emma still had a bad cold. Evan had a low-grade fever, bad cough, runny nose, etc. However, I thought they both had turned the corner. Emma, yes. Evan, no.
Today, I took Evan to the doctor and he was diagnosed with walking pneumonia and an ear infection. Seriously! My poor little guy! I feel so bad for the poor little one and I feel like a horrible Mom! I had a doctors appointment for him last week for his month-long cough (and yes, the Nurse line told me to wait about that long) but then I cancelled it because I thought he was doing better. I guess not. Anyway, he is now on medication and will hopefully turn the corner soon. The good thing is that this whole week, Evan was still acting pretty good. His eating habits had changed and he was droopy when the fever hit, but with Tylenol, he was his happy go-lucky self. Emma is already feeling better. No real concerns with her, which is good.
Other than this stressful week, everything is okay. I am playing with my new phone the Palm Pre!! Love it so far! I am really behind on work, but it is what it is, right? Luckily, some much needed girl time on Sunday with Book Club and my work Christmas party on Saturday. So, Tim and I will have a date, which is very nice and needed. This week has made us cranky... at each other :-) Never good.
So, Evan had a fever and was looking pretty droopy. After a call with Tim, It was decided that I would go and get Evan, bring him home, then Tim would come home in the afternoon so I could get some work done. It basically went downhill after that. Emma wanted to come home around 1:30 that same day as "I just can't breathe Mama!". Tuesday they were at home with us also as Tim and I juggled schedules again. Wednesday they were home with me. Emma still had a bad cold. Evan had a low-grade fever, bad cough, runny nose, etc. However, I thought they both had turned the corner. Emma, yes. Evan, no.
Today, I took Evan to the doctor and he was diagnosed with walking pneumonia and an ear infection. Seriously! My poor little guy! I feel so bad for the poor little one and I feel like a horrible Mom! I had a doctors appointment for him last week for his month-long cough (and yes, the Nurse line told me to wait about that long) but then I cancelled it because I thought he was doing better. I guess not. Anyway, he is now on medication and will hopefully turn the corner soon. The good thing is that this whole week, Evan was still acting pretty good. His eating habits had changed and he was droopy when the fever hit, but with Tylenol, he was his happy go-lucky self. Emma is already feeling better. No real concerns with her, which is good.
Other than this stressful week, everything is okay. I am playing with my new phone the Palm Pre!! Love it so far! I am really behind on work, but it is what it is, right? Luckily, some much needed girl time on Sunday with Book Club and my work Christmas party on Saturday. So, Tim and I will have a date, which is very nice and needed. This week has made us cranky... at each other :-) Never good.
Sunday, January 10, 2010
Here a Nuk, There a Nuk
everywhere a Nuk, Nuk!
Evan is at that age where we are starting to trim away the baby stuff and introduce big boy stuff. We are cutting back on bottles and giving him sippies,giving him bowls & spoons instead of letting him use his hands and what could potentially be the hardest: taking away his Nuk's (pacifiers for those who may not know.)
At his last doctors appointment (which, on a side note, Evan is tiny for his age. A whopping 23# for the 25% percentile, his height is the 25% too. Odd, I know since his parents are very tall), I asked the pediatrician if having the Nuk could delay his speech. The answer: yes, cut out if you can. So, I told Tim and told daycare and that is the plan. We won't cut it out totally, just during the day mostly. Evan is not so much on the band wagon on this one. It seems as though he has taken to storing them around the house so he knows where one is if needed. Most of the time he does well without Nuk's AND he has been talking a lot more. However, at the oddest places and times, Evan will come out sucking on a Nuk and smiling away. If he is mad at something or someone(Emma) he will walk away and come back sucking on a Nuk. I will be cleaning and will find Nuk's at the oddest places: toy box, tool bench, under chairs. The oddest spot: in a lamp shade. Yea... figure that one out?! Not sure how he planned to recover that one, but I am sure at the time of placement he thought, "Ah yeah, this one is golden!"
Speaking of improving speech, I was watching a certain football game today and towards the end, I was staring in disbelief at a play and just happened to yell out "AH - SHIT!" Emma looks at me and yells "MAMA! You are NOT supposed to say Shit. It is a bad word!" Tim is almost dying laughing. At this point, I am still rather upset over the football game, but still manage a smile. I needed it at that point :-) Tim and I are not sure how she knows that is a bad word, but she had to keep me in line.
We had a very busy weekend. Emma saw her first movie! I took her to Alvin & the Chipmunks on Saturday. She did well! Emma really liked the popcorn and sat okay for most of the movie. Towards the end she went from my lap, to the chair, so standing. Overall though, I call it a success. We went to a dog show in St. Paul to start researching our future dog. It turns out we will most likely be getting a puppy in the spring - A Chesapeake Bay Retriever. Tim wants another dog for hunting, which unfortunately doesn't sit too well with Emma. She loves dogs sometimes, but she tells me she is afraid of hunting dogs because of a computer game where the hunting dogs eyes are yellow. They scare her. I think that once we get a puppy, she will forget about that. Anyway, I am not so certain about getting a dog, but I do love puppies. Tim told me that these breeds are good hunters, very good with kids, and very trainable. AND, I can run with it, which would be nice :-)
Here are some random pics that I have been meaning to post.
Tim found this little pedal tractor up in our garage. Needless to say probably, but the kids loved it. Emma thought it was cool to hook it up and pull Evan around. Evan loved it too.
You have to admit, it is pretty cute! And of course, if Emma has to do something, Evan does too:
And Aunt Kristen, I guess:
Although, she doesn't appear to be the best driver. Here she is almost running into Emma. Evan thinks it is pretty funny though :-)
Here is Emma before we went to the Children's Theater.
And out getting our Christmas Tree
And decorating the tree
Off I go to work on my blog book. . . maybe.
Evan is at that age where we are starting to trim away the baby stuff and introduce big boy stuff. We are cutting back on bottles and giving him sippies,giving him bowls & spoons instead of letting him use his hands and what could potentially be the hardest: taking away his Nuk's (pacifiers for those who may not know.)
At his last doctors appointment (which, on a side note, Evan is tiny for his age. A whopping 23# for the 25% percentile, his height is the 25% too. Odd, I know since his parents are very tall), I asked the pediatrician if having the Nuk could delay his speech. The answer: yes, cut out if you can. So, I told Tim and told daycare and that is the plan. We won't cut it out totally, just during the day mostly. Evan is not so much on the band wagon on this one. It seems as though he has taken to storing them around the house so he knows where one is if needed. Most of the time he does well without Nuk's AND he has been talking a lot more. However, at the oddest places and times, Evan will come out sucking on a Nuk and smiling away. If he is mad at something or someone(Emma) he will walk away and come back sucking on a Nuk. I will be cleaning and will find Nuk's at the oddest places: toy box, tool bench, under chairs. The oddest spot: in a lamp shade. Yea... figure that one out?! Not sure how he planned to recover that one, but I am sure at the time of placement he thought, "Ah yeah, this one is golden!"
Speaking of improving speech, I was watching a certain football game today and towards the end, I was staring in disbelief at a play and just happened to yell out "AH - SHIT!" Emma looks at me and yells "MAMA! You are NOT supposed to say Shit. It is a bad word!" Tim is almost dying laughing. At this point, I am still rather upset over the football game, but still manage a smile. I needed it at that point :-) Tim and I are not sure how she knows that is a bad word, but she had to keep me in line.
We had a very busy weekend. Emma saw her first movie! I took her to Alvin & the Chipmunks on Saturday. She did well! Emma really liked the popcorn and sat okay for most of the movie. Towards the end she went from my lap, to the chair, so standing. Overall though, I call it a success. We went to a dog show in St. Paul to start researching our future dog. It turns out we will most likely be getting a puppy in the spring - A Chesapeake Bay Retriever. Tim wants another dog for hunting, which unfortunately doesn't sit too well with Emma. She loves dogs sometimes, but she tells me she is afraid of hunting dogs because of a computer game where the hunting dogs eyes are yellow. They scare her. I think that once we get a puppy, she will forget about that. Anyway, I am not so certain about getting a dog, but I do love puppies. Tim told me that these breeds are good hunters, very good with kids, and very trainable. AND, I can run with it, which would be nice :-)
Here are some random pics that I have been meaning to post.
Tim found this little pedal tractor up in our garage. Needless to say probably, but the kids loved it. Emma thought it was cool to hook it up and pull Evan around. Evan loved it too.
You have to admit, it is pretty cute! And of course, if Emma has to do something, Evan does too:
And Aunt Kristen, I guess:
Although, she doesn't appear to be the best driver. Here she is almost running into Emma. Evan thinks it is pretty funny though :-)
Here is Emma before we went to the Children's Theater.
And out getting our Christmas Tree
And decorating the tree
Off I go to work on my blog book. . . maybe.
Wednesday, January 6, 2010
The biker gang
This was my kids tonight after we came home from work/daycare:
Santa brought them the Fisher Price Smart Cycle to play & get some exercise on. Plus, their older sister gave Evan a little guy trike for Christmas. I joked at the time that they can start their own bike gang. Tonight - they did. Emma wanted to go for a ride tonight and of course whatever Emma does, Evan has to do. He jumped on his bike and took off also. It was pretty cute. It didn't last for too long, but they enjoyed it while it did.
Chee!! (That is Evan speak for cheese!)
The kids and hubby are great; I am great. I think we are all happy to be back in our normal routine. We love the holidays/the days off/the family time/cabin time/etc, but after awhile, it is nice to get back to the normal routine. I think it is easier on the kids, easier on me, easier on everyone. Sure, kind of sad because the hustle/bustle and excitement are over. However, sometimes hustle and bustle are over-rated. :-) Now, I am in the deep-freeze funk, probably BECAUSE the holidays are over.
New Years was fairly uneventful in the Heuer household. Tim and I celebrated with the kids early, because come on, if Tim and I cannot make it to midnight anymore, either can they. We decorated clock cakes (from the Nick Jr. Max & Ruby cartoon) had pizza for supper, and then watched Mickey Mouse and ate popcorn. Evan is pretty funny now. As soon as I get to the popcorn popper, he goes to our cupboard and grabs an ice cream bucket. He then runs over to me and lifts the ice-cream bucket in the air - just waiting for the popcorn! When kids went to bed, Tim and I made some fondue, drank some wine, ate a little lobster and just spent some much needed time together. It was fabulous. No, we didn't quite make it to midnight, but when you have kids that get up in the middle of the night and are usually awake by 6:30, midnight isn't that desirable.
some pics of the evening. Hats & noisemakers courtesy of daycare.
The rest of the weekend was spent with more family! We celebrated Christmas with my immediate family on New Years Day. The big surprise for the kids was the monkey pajamas AND a trip to Wisconsin Dells for a weekend in January! After that - the cabin. Once again, it was nice to relax there after holiday craziness. We played with new toys and did some ice fishing. Even Emma and Evan enjoyed the ice fishing! We all caught a fish and Evan caught many minnows. He loved sticking his little chubby hand in the minnow bucket and trying to catch them. "ISH! ISH!" (that is Evan speak for fish) He, along with Emma, would also take the ice scoop and catch them that way. I think the minnows were very happy when the little hands decided to leave them alone.
Other than that, it is back to life. A few of my New Years Resolutions:
1)Organize. My house, my mind, everything
2)Patience. With little kids, with husband, with work, with little kids (did I say that already?)
3)Blog book is a must!!
4) 10 mile or half/marathon??? At least a 10K.
5)try to sit back and enjoy the little things. Also,try to record them so I don't forget them. Life goes by so fast and I don't want to get to jumbled with the busy-ness of it all.
Have a great weekend everyone!
Santa brought them the Fisher Price Smart Cycle to play & get some exercise on. Plus, their older sister gave Evan a little guy trike for Christmas. I joked at the time that they can start their own bike gang. Tonight - they did. Emma wanted to go for a ride tonight and of course whatever Emma does, Evan has to do. He jumped on his bike and took off also. It was pretty cute. It didn't last for too long, but they enjoyed it while it did.
Chee!! (That is Evan speak for cheese!)
The kids and hubby are great; I am great. I think we are all happy to be back in our normal routine. We love the holidays/the days off/the family time/cabin time/etc, but after awhile, it is nice to get back to the normal routine. I think it is easier on the kids, easier on me, easier on everyone. Sure, kind of sad because the hustle/bustle and excitement are over. However, sometimes hustle and bustle are over-rated. :-) Now, I am in the deep-freeze funk, probably BECAUSE the holidays are over.
New Years was fairly uneventful in the Heuer household. Tim and I celebrated with the kids early, because come on, if Tim and I cannot make it to midnight anymore, either can they. We decorated clock cakes (from the Nick Jr. Max & Ruby cartoon) had pizza for supper, and then watched Mickey Mouse and ate popcorn. Evan is pretty funny now. As soon as I get to the popcorn popper, he goes to our cupboard and grabs an ice cream bucket. He then runs over to me and lifts the ice-cream bucket in the air - just waiting for the popcorn! When kids went to bed, Tim and I made some fondue, drank some wine, ate a little lobster and just spent some much needed time together. It was fabulous. No, we didn't quite make it to midnight, but when you have kids that get up in the middle of the night and are usually awake by 6:30, midnight isn't that desirable.
some pics of the evening. Hats & noisemakers courtesy of daycare.
The rest of the weekend was spent with more family! We celebrated Christmas with my immediate family on New Years Day. The big surprise for the kids was the monkey pajamas AND a trip to Wisconsin Dells for a weekend in January! After that - the cabin. Once again, it was nice to relax there after holiday craziness. We played with new toys and did some ice fishing. Even Emma and Evan enjoyed the ice fishing! We all caught a fish and Evan caught many minnows. He loved sticking his little chubby hand in the minnow bucket and trying to catch them. "ISH! ISH!" (that is Evan speak for fish) He, along with Emma, would also take the ice scoop and catch them that way. I think the minnows were very happy when the little hands decided to leave them alone.
Other than that, it is back to life. A few of my New Years Resolutions:
1)Organize. My house, my mind, everything
2)Patience. With little kids, with husband, with work, with little kids (did I say that already?)
3)Blog book is a must!!
4) 10 mile or half/marathon??? At least a 10K.
5)try to sit back and enjoy the little things. Also,try to record them so I don't forget them. Life goes by so fast and I don't want to get to jumbled with the busy-ness of it all.
Have a great weekend everyone!
Wednesday, December 30, 2009
The Christmas story
Where do I even begin? Christmas was a blur of sledding/family/great food/ and of course PRESENTS!!
Christmas Eve was great fun! The neighbors came over mid-morning to start the festivities. We played, decorated our yearly Christmas ornament, and then once the little guy woke up from his morning nap, we got everyone bundled up to go outside. What a great time for a storm! I LOVED IT! It was so pretty outside and really set the mood for a wonderful Christmas. We took full advantage by having a sledding party. I could not believe how much fun the kids had. They were taking turns really well sliding down our small hill by our house. (for pictures, view the neighbors blog... I didn't bring out my camera.) Emma and her cousins would jump on a sled or tube and slide right on down. Emma was pretty sure she should go skiing or snowboarding, but alas, we didn't have the equipment :-) Maybe next year. Even Evan had a great time and when put down on the ground, would waddle over to the tube or sled and want to go down. Eventually, we did let him go down by himself, but I was holding my breath the whole time :-)
Here are a few pics of our sliding party last week... not Christmas Eve, but a week earlier I think. I have been meaning to post them for awhile.
The Kiddos jammed on the sled:
Me and my little ones:
AFter the sledding party on Christmas Eve, we enjoyed some KFC with Nana & Papa who came up for the holiday and the littles enjoyed a much needed nap. After that was more sledding, opening up little presents from the kids and then another group of people came over to celebrate Christmas Eve! The Heuers dined on grilled steak (yes, Tim braved the elements to grill)/bread/wine/bread pudding and basically ate until we could eat no more! It was great :-) We got the little kids to bed pretty easily and then waited for Santa to come!
Here is a pic of the whole Heuer clan:
I wasn't quite sure what to expect on Christmas morning. Evan woke up first, around 6:45ish, and came into our room to watch a little Mickey Mouse Club. Emma rose around 7 and lazily came into our room, watched a little TV for about 10 minutes and says "Well Mom, should we go open presents now?" I laugh a bit to myself as this was not what I was expecting from my rambunctious 3 year old. "Well, Emma - what presents are you talking about?" She kind of rolls her eyes and says "MOM! Santa came last night!" I wasn't quite sure if she remembered that it was Christmas or not! After that, she ran downstairs to open presents. I was able to get there first to videotape the whole thing. Emma instantly looked through the presents trying to find her name. Evan started taking off bows and opening random presents. I think Emma was pretty amazed what Santa brought. Here are the pics:
The tree:
Opening presents:
More opening:
The two kids together on their extreme cycle that Santa brought:
Santa was also kind to me this year. He brought me a Sony Reader (yea! cannot WAIT to start downloading books!) and a nice pair of earrings.
After presents, we had a quick breakfast and headed up to the cabin. We had Christmas with Tim's family, ate a TON more, and then relaxed the next few days at the cabin. It was great. We brought up some presents for the kids, some movies, and we relaxed and fished. It was a wonderful Christmas.
Emma is a bit disappionted that it is all over. She really does not want us to take down the tree or any decorations. Luckily for her, we are celebrating Christmas this weekend with my family, so she does have a little more to look forward too.
Have a great New Year!
Christmas Eve was great fun! The neighbors came over mid-morning to start the festivities. We played, decorated our yearly Christmas ornament, and then once the little guy woke up from his morning nap, we got everyone bundled up to go outside. What a great time for a storm! I LOVED IT! It was so pretty outside and really set the mood for a wonderful Christmas. We took full advantage by having a sledding party. I could not believe how much fun the kids had. They were taking turns really well sliding down our small hill by our house. (for pictures, view the neighbors blog... I didn't bring out my camera.) Emma and her cousins would jump on a sled or tube and slide right on down. Emma was pretty sure she should go skiing or snowboarding, but alas, we didn't have the equipment :-) Maybe next year. Even Evan had a great time and when put down on the ground, would waddle over to the tube or sled and want to go down. Eventually, we did let him go down by himself, but I was holding my breath the whole time :-)
Here are a few pics of our sliding party last week... not Christmas Eve, but a week earlier I think. I have been meaning to post them for awhile.
The Kiddos jammed on the sled:
Me and my little ones:
AFter the sledding party on Christmas Eve, we enjoyed some KFC with Nana & Papa who came up for the holiday and the littles enjoyed a much needed nap. After that was more sledding, opening up little presents from the kids and then another group of people came over to celebrate Christmas Eve! The Heuers dined on grilled steak (yes, Tim braved the elements to grill)/bread/wine/bread pudding and basically ate until we could eat no more! It was great :-) We got the little kids to bed pretty easily and then waited for Santa to come!
Here is a pic of the whole Heuer clan:
I wasn't quite sure what to expect on Christmas morning. Evan woke up first, around 6:45ish, and came into our room to watch a little Mickey Mouse Club. Emma rose around 7 and lazily came into our room, watched a little TV for about 10 minutes and says "Well Mom, should we go open presents now?" I laugh a bit to myself as this was not what I was expecting from my rambunctious 3 year old. "Well, Emma - what presents are you talking about?" She kind of rolls her eyes and says "MOM! Santa came last night!" I wasn't quite sure if she remembered that it was Christmas or not! After that, she ran downstairs to open presents. I was able to get there first to videotape the whole thing. Emma instantly looked through the presents trying to find her name. Evan started taking off bows and opening random presents. I think Emma was pretty amazed what Santa brought. Here are the pics:
The tree:
Opening presents:
More opening:
The two kids together on their extreme cycle that Santa brought:
Santa was also kind to me this year. He brought me a Sony Reader (yea! cannot WAIT to start downloading books!) and a nice pair of earrings.
After presents, we had a quick breakfast and headed up to the cabin. We had Christmas with Tim's family, ate a TON more, and then relaxed the next few days at the cabin. It was great. We brought up some presents for the kids, some movies, and we relaxed and fished. It was a wonderful Christmas.
Emma is a bit disappionted that it is all over. She really does not want us to take down the tree or any decorations. Luckily for her, we are celebrating Christmas this weekend with my family, so she does have a little more to look forward too.
Have a great New Year!
Monday, December 28, 2009
Merry Christmas!
Merry Christmas everyone!
I wanted to post something short and quick to wish you all a Happy Holidays and to let you know that we are all doing well and had a wonderful holiday!
The kids had a great time on Christmas Eve and Christmas Day. It was filled with sledding, presents, great food, and family. It doesn't get any better than that.
We were lucky to be able to spend the weekend at the cabin to unwind and relax. It was a much needed break after another person in our house got the flu (me, unfortunately), Christmas shopping, wrapping, cleaning, and all the other excitment that comes with the holidays.
I have been horrible with pictures lately, but will post some soon, along with a better description of our holiday!
Have a great New Year!
I wanted to post something short and quick to wish you all a Happy Holidays and to let you know that we are all doing well and had a wonderful holiday!
The kids had a great time on Christmas Eve and Christmas Day. It was filled with sledding, presents, great food, and family. It doesn't get any better than that.
We were lucky to be able to spend the weekend at the cabin to unwind and relax. It was a much needed break after another person in our house got the flu (me, unfortunately), Christmas shopping, wrapping, cleaning, and all the other excitment that comes with the holidays.
I have been horrible with pictures lately, but will post some soon, along with a better description of our holiday!
Have a great New Year!
Thursday, December 17, 2009
Too much to do, too little time
I think that is going to be my rolling theme. Maybe I should change my blog name to that instead of "Just Another Day". I know I haven't posted for awhile, our lives have been crazy.
Last week was a trip to the water park. Great Wolf in WI Dells. Overall, we had a great time. If you ask Emma, she will chatter your ears off about the trip. Since it was non-peak time and they had many, many rooms un-booked, we were upgraded. We were upgraded to a loft suite, so we had two double beds, a pull-out couch, and a loft upstairs with a bed & TV. Well, the loft quickly became "Emma's room" and she was SO excited for that! She settled in and pulled everything out of her suitcase and proceeded to put clothes in the drawers and dolls on the bed and put her bathing suit on. It was pretty cute.
The water park was fun. It took awhile actually for Emma to get used to some of the rides. It kind of bums me out that kids cannot go down the slides with the parents anymore. It is hard to talk her into going on a big twisty-turvy slide by herself by watching Mama, who goes first and waits for her. She did go down a few, but it took a little convincing. Once she did it, she loved it, but it took a few tries. But, she is only 3, right??
Evan did pretty good. He liked the little baby section and was pretty proud to climb up the baby slide all by himself and slide down. He also thought it was pretty cool that we had a staircase in our room and was constantly going up and down, following his beloved sister. We are discovering his love of sports already as there was a pool that had 2 basketball nets and many balls floating around. He could have spent all day in there with one of us, hanging on to the balls and trying to make some baskets.
Tim and I decided to cut our trip a night short though. We checked in Thursday afternoon and were scheduled to check out Saturday. Due to absolutely no sleep Thursday night (because of colds, kids, etc) we left the dells Friday night so the kids could sleep on the way and we would all be in our own beds. It was wonderful. All-in-all it was a good time. I enjoyed the Shopping outlets next door and Tim enjoyed a nap, along with the rides of course.
Last weekend was jam-packed with Christmas tree buying, decorating, Christmas shopping, Sunday School, Birthday party, colds, and catching up on sleep. The Christmas tree is fun. I couldn't believe how excited Emma was to decorate it. Evan was too, but that usually was more trouble than anything. His favorite thing right now are the bulb ornaments on the tree. Everynight he takes at least two of them off the tree and throws them in the air - "BA! BA!"
This week was a long week with colds and a tummy bug of some sort. Evan has been suffering from a cold for about 2 weeks. It is not a horrible cold, just long lasting. His nose has been running and he has been coughing. I went out and bought a humidifier last night for him to ease the cough a bit. Emma also had a cold last weekend, plus a nice visit from a stomach bug. Now, I am here to tell you that there is nothing worse than waking up to a screaming kid at midnight "MOMMMY!!" and going into the room to find that they are having stomach problems. Enough said, I am sure. That is when the real parenting kicks in I think. Both Tim and I go into super drive to clean and calm her down. It is not something that I want to experience again for a long time. Hopefully whatever she had is not contagious and we do not get it.
This weekend we are around here with no huge plans. Finalize shopping, wrapping, plus a date night out. A much needed date night. For Christmas, the neighbor and I are swapping baby-sitting, which is great. I am thinking we should do that once a month :-)
That's all. I am tired and feeling really behind.
For anyone that wants to feel a little lift right now or wants to feel as though they are doing some good, think of donating to St. Jude's Research Hospital. One of the radio stations I listen to up here (K102) is doing their radio-a-thon for St. Jude's Children hospital. What a wonderful time to do it, in my mind. As I am running around, stressing about what to buy, what to cook, etc, it is great to be reminded of how LUCKY I am. They are trying to get people to become Partners-in-Hope, which is a $30/month commitment for a year, but honestly just want anything that someone can spare. $5, $10 whatever. There is nothing worse than hearing stories of 1 or 3 year old suffering from a horrible cancer/disease and really not having any hope. They go to St. Jude's and maybe their life is extended for a few months, or a few years, whatever. But all donations go to research and helping those families. Sometimes I feel as though I am in a rut and not doing any good, wish I was doing more, etc. I donated money on Wednesday and I instantly felt better. I was recently surprised with a raise at work and feel very happy that some of that raise money will be going to helping out some families that need a little lift themselves.
Anyway, I probably spent too much time on that, but I know I get so wrapped up in all the trivial things of the holiday.. the cards.. the cookies.. all the presents, that I needed to remember how fortunate I have it and that the important thing is family and health.
Last week was a trip to the water park. Great Wolf in WI Dells. Overall, we had a great time. If you ask Emma, she will chatter your ears off about the trip. Since it was non-peak time and they had many, many rooms un-booked, we were upgraded. We were upgraded to a loft suite, so we had two double beds, a pull-out couch, and a loft upstairs with a bed & TV. Well, the loft quickly became "Emma's room" and she was SO excited for that! She settled in and pulled everything out of her suitcase and proceeded to put clothes in the drawers and dolls on the bed and put her bathing suit on. It was pretty cute.
The water park was fun. It took awhile actually for Emma to get used to some of the rides. It kind of bums me out that kids cannot go down the slides with the parents anymore. It is hard to talk her into going on a big twisty-turvy slide by herself by watching Mama, who goes first and waits for her. She did go down a few, but it took a little convincing. Once she did it, she loved it, but it took a few tries. But, she is only 3, right??
Evan did pretty good. He liked the little baby section and was pretty proud to climb up the baby slide all by himself and slide down. He also thought it was pretty cool that we had a staircase in our room and was constantly going up and down, following his beloved sister. We are discovering his love of sports already as there was a pool that had 2 basketball nets and many balls floating around. He could have spent all day in there with one of us, hanging on to the balls and trying to make some baskets.
Tim and I decided to cut our trip a night short though. We checked in Thursday afternoon and were scheduled to check out Saturday. Due to absolutely no sleep Thursday night (because of colds, kids, etc) we left the dells Friday night so the kids could sleep on the way and we would all be in our own beds. It was wonderful. All-in-all it was a good time. I enjoyed the Shopping outlets next door and Tim enjoyed a nap, along with the rides of course.
Last weekend was jam-packed with Christmas tree buying, decorating, Christmas shopping, Sunday School, Birthday party, colds, and catching up on sleep. The Christmas tree is fun. I couldn't believe how excited Emma was to decorate it. Evan was too, but that usually was more trouble than anything. His favorite thing right now are the bulb ornaments on the tree. Everynight he takes at least two of them off the tree and throws them in the air - "BA! BA!"
This week was a long week with colds and a tummy bug of some sort. Evan has been suffering from a cold for about 2 weeks. It is not a horrible cold, just long lasting. His nose has been running and he has been coughing. I went out and bought a humidifier last night for him to ease the cough a bit. Emma also had a cold last weekend, plus a nice visit from a stomach bug. Now, I am here to tell you that there is nothing worse than waking up to a screaming kid at midnight "MOMMMY!!" and going into the room to find that they are having stomach problems. Enough said, I am sure. That is when the real parenting kicks in I think. Both Tim and I go into super drive to clean and calm her down. It is not something that I want to experience again for a long time. Hopefully whatever she had is not contagious and we do not get it.
This weekend we are around here with no huge plans. Finalize shopping, wrapping, plus a date night out. A much needed date night. For Christmas, the neighbor and I are swapping baby-sitting, which is great. I am thinking we should do that once a month :-)
That's all. I am tired and feeling really behind.
For anyone that wants to feel a little lift right now or wants to feel as though they are doing some good, think of donating to St. Jude's Research Hospital. One of the radio stations I listen to up here (K102) is doing their radio-a-thon for St. Jude's Children hospital. What a wonderful time to do it, in my mind. As I am running around, stressing about what to buy, what to cook, etc, it is great to be reminded of how LUCKY I am. They are trying to get people to become Partners-in-Hope, which is a $30/month commitment for a year, but honestly just want anything that someone can spare. $5, $10 whatever. There is nothing worse than hearing stories of 1 or 3 year old suffering from a horrible cancer/disease and really not having any hope. They go to St. Jude's and maybe their life is extended for a few months, or a few years, whatever. But all donations go to research and helping those families. Sometimes I feel as though I am in a rut and not doing any good, wish I was doing more, etc. I donated money on Wednesday and I instantly felt better. I was recently surprised with a raise at work and feel very happy that some of that raise money will be going to helping out some families that need a little lift themselves.
Anyway, I probably spent too much time on that, but I know I get so wrapped up in all the trivial things of the holiday.. the cards.. the cookies.. all the presents, that I needed to remember how fortunate I have it and that the important thing is family and health.
Friday, December 4, 2009
Bah Humbug
It is too bad when the innocence of a three year old is taken advantage of. So, I think I mentioned in my last post that the kids, my Mother, and I celebrated Dazzle Days (or some other catchy title) in Durand last weekend. It was full of holiday spirit... exotic petting zoo (reindeer, camel).... Christmas music... and carriage rides. So, kids and I are in line for the carriage ride. Behind us is a white trash family. Sad, I know, but true. Talking trash, talking loud, being obnoxious.. I am sorry, but stereotypes happen for a reason... Anyway, we are almost to the front when WTF (white trash family) start talking about Santa and have the AUDACITY to say something about how Santa is not real. WTF!! Emma, bright blue eyes wide, looks up at me and says slowly, "Mama... Santa is real, right?" SERIOUSLY!! WE ARE AT A HOLIDAY FUNCTION!! I look at her, almost feel like crying, and say, "Yes, Emma, of course Santa is real. You just sat on his lap, remember?" (which she did earlier at the Dazzle Day bake sale.) I shoot the family the worst possible look, kind of a "I would totally cardio-kick-box your ass if my two little kids were not here right now" and turn back around to reassure Emma. The mother of the WTF said some lame-ass thing like "okay kids, stop talking about Santa like that, you know he is real." Whatever.. damage done lady.
Emma hears everything. Even when I think she is not listening, she always is. She is so impressionable now and to have some punk-ass kids ruining Christmas fun for her makes me so mad. That night on the way home she brought it up again. We were driving home and she was watching some movie when out of the blue she says, "Mama, Santa is real, right?" Of course, pleading blue eyes searing into my soul. So, I try to think of some way to reassure her again. "Yes, Emma, Santa is real. You sat on his lap, saw Mrs Claus, and saw the reindeer. He is real. Those kids were just always on the naughty list and he never came to visit them." Damn punk-ass kids.
So, now I am on damage control. We wrote Santa a letter with Christmas lists this week and I have a feeling that the kids will be getting a letter back soon. Everything possible I can think of, I will do. Kids grow up too fast and to have something fun like this taken from her already just doesn't sit well with me.
Bah Humbug...
Emma hears everything. Even when I think she is not listening, she always is. She is so impressionable now and to have some punk-ass kids ruining Christmas fun for her makes me so mad. That night on the way home she brought it up again. We were driving home and she was watching some movie when out of the blue she says, "Mama, Santa is real, right?" Of course, pleading blue eyes searing into my soul. So, I try to think of some way to reassure her again. "Yes, Emma, Santa is real. You sat on his lap, saw Mrs Claus, and saw the reindeer. He is real. Those kids were just always on the naughty list and he never came to visit them." Damn punk-ass kids.
So, now I am on damage control. We wrote Santa a letter with Christmas lists this week and I have a feeling that the kids will be getting a letter back soon. Everything possible I can think of, I will do. Kids grow up too fast and to have something fun like this taken from her already just doesn't sit well with me.
Bah Humbug...
Sunday, November 29, 2009
Thankful
Every year, a little holiday called Thanksgiving comes around to remind us "little people" of what we have. For some people, it is the only time they see their family. For others, a big stres involving fights, chaos, pettiness, whatever. I am thankful that I look forward to all holidays. I have the best family. All - extended included- get along famously. I told my coworker when describing my family, that we are the "Cleaver family" and all get along incredibly well. She looks at me and says, "Oh - is that your maiden name?" Umm.. no... never mind. She is a few years younger than me and maybe hasn't heard of Leave it to Beaver?? Not sure.
Anyway - I have a lot to be thankful for:
**I have the best husband - hands down. I know our relationship to some may seem a bit unconventional, but I don't care. I never did about that kind of stuff. He treats me well (hunting aside :-) )and he loves me a lot. I can't ask for any more.
**My kids are adorable, smart, funny, and while they can be trying at times, are the best thing in the world. I feel so blessed that they are with me and that I was able to have them.
**My job, which I love. Stressful, busy, but good. While it will be a constant struggle with my work and personal life, right now, I think I made a good decision.
**My family - all of them. I have a great support system; nothing is more important than that. I bounce idea's off of all of them, act crazy sometimes, cry on their shoulders, laugh over a beer, whatever. They have supported me through all of my crazy/half brain idea's and it doesn't go unnoticed.
**And - for my new Glee CD - volume 1 - HAHA! I LOVE IT!
In these times with people losing jobs, not having enough food or a place to live, I know how extremely lucky I am. Emma and I pray every night together and I always say the same thing. "Thanks for our family, our health, and all the blessings you give us." Emma throws in many things from her fuzzy blanket, her glow-worm (or glower as she calls it now) and my personal favorite "Thank you God for Evan's baby gate so he doesn't get into everything."
Our Thanksgiving was good. It seemed as though this past week was just crazy. It was a blur of grocery shopping, fitting in cleaning, making pies, etc. But, it was good and worth it. We had brunch here Thanksgiving morning with Eric and Gaeb and then headed to Durand. Turkey and all the fixings was served there. Then, playing with the kids, visiting more family, then heading back here to get ready for Black Friday. Ugh... I may be over the early shopping of Black Friday. We got up at 5am and it seemed to me as though we almost got out to late. My sisters found most of what they wanted, but a lot of my items were already gone. Bummer. We still had a great time, but for some reason, I wasn't really feeling it this Friday. Part of it could have been sleep deprivation as I hadn't got a lot of sleep the earlier days. I don't know.
Then, back to Durand for more hunting. I am glad, now, to be home. We have been on the road a lot lately, so I am hoping this week will be much more relaxed and quiet.
Anyway - I have a lot to be thankful for:
**I have the best husband - hands down. I know our relationship to some may seem a bit unconventional, but I don't care. I never did about that kind of stuff. He treats me well (hunting aside :-) )and he loves me a lot. I can't ask for any more.
**My kids are adorable, smart, funny, and while they can be trying at times, are the best thing in the world. I feel so blessed that they are with me and that I was able to have them.
**My job, which I love. Stressful, busy, but good. While it will be a constant struggle with my work and personal life, right now, I think I made a good decision.
**My family - all of them. I have a great support system; nothing is more important than that. I bounce idea's off of all of them, act crazy sometimes, cry on their shoulders, laugh over a beer, whatever. They have supported me through all of my crazy/half brain idea's and it doesn't go unnoticed.
**And - for my new Glee CD - volume 1 - HAHA! I LOVE IT!
In these times with people losing jobs, not having enough food or a place to live, I know how extremely lucky I am. Emma and I pray every night together and I always say the same thing. "Thanks for our family, our health, and all the blessings you give us." Emma throws in many things from her fuzzy blanket, her glow-worm (or glower as she calls it now) and my personal favorite "Thank you God for Evan's baby gate so he doesn't get into everything."
Our Thanksgiving was good. It seemed as though this past week was just crazy. It was a blur of grocery shopping, fitting in cleaning, making pies, etc. But, it was good and worth it. We had brunch here Thanksgiving morning with Eric and Gaeb and then headed to Durand. Turkey and all the fixings was served there. Then, playing with the kids, visiting more family, then heading back here to get ready for Black Friday. Ugh... I may be over the early shopping of Black Friday. We got up at 5am and it seemed to me as though we almost got out to late. My sisters found most of what they wanted, but a lot of my items were already gone. Bummer. We still had a great time, but for some reason, I wasn't really feeling it this Friday. Part of it could have been sleep deprivation as I hadn't got a lot of sleep the earlier days. I don't know.
Then, back to Durand for more hunting. I am glad, now, to be home. We have been on the road a lot lately, so I am hoping this week will be much more relaxed and quiet.
Sunday, November 22, 2009
Growing up
My little boy had his first hair cut this week. I was dreading it in a way, as I knew and everyone told me, that after baby boy gets his first hair cut, they look like big boys. Or - Toddler boys... and he does. We went to Kid's Cuts on Friday and he did awesome. He was drinking a bottle for most of it and watching Dora on their little TV's (Emma got to pick the show as she was also getting her hair cut) and clutching onto a duck. If you know my little boy, he always needs to have something in his hands. Even from early on when he started crawling, he would be carrying a Little People Toy, a car, a plastic utensil, whatever. He apparently finds comfort scattering things all throughout my house. Anyway - he did very well. It amazed me how fast the woman cut his hair- and did a great job! She asked if it was his first one and how I wanted it cut. She said she could just trim bangs and cut a little in the back and still keep him looking like a baby or she could cut it and make him look like a big boy. Since I was paying $14 for this haircut, I figured she should cut it. Plus, I try not to be too sentimental about this stuff ( I know, I said TRY!) it is only a haircut, right??
Here are some pics, I tried to do a before and after...
Before:
During:
After and still unsure about the whole process:
After and eating so not caring:
We had a great weekend. It was deer hunting opener in Durand, so that is always fun. I hunted again this year after a somewhat difficult decision. If the licenses were only about $20, no big deal, but out-of-state licenses are much more than that.. much! And we buy two - one for Tim and I. So, that makes a deer pretty damn expensive. Plus, I don't hunt all the time as I feel guilty about not staying with the kids, so I am not sure if it is totally worth it. But, I really enjoy hunting. I really like getting out there with the family, being outside, getting exercise - plus, it is fun. That is why I do it. The kids do well with Nana, who watches them while we hunt, but still. After working for most of the week, I like to spend more time with the littles on the weekend.
Have a great Thanksgiving week! I know it will be really busy here, but a lot of fun. Plus - Shopping on Friday - YEA! My sister and I started this tradition about 4 years ago. Now, my Mom and other sister join in the fun and we get most of our shopping done in one day. It is fabulous!
Here are some pics, I tried to do a before and after...
Before:
During:
After and still unsure about the whole process:
After and eating so not caring:
We had a great weekend. It was deer hunting opener in Durand, so that is always fun. I hunted again this year after a somewhat difficult decision. If the licenses were only about $20, no big deal, but out-of-state licenses are much more than that.. much! And we buy two - one for Tim and I. So, that makes a deer pretty damn expensive. Plus, I don't hunt all the time as I feel guilty about not staying with the kids, so I am not sure if it is totally worth it. But, I really enjoy hunting. I really like getting out there with the family, being outside, getting exercise - plus, it is fun. That is why I do it. The kids do well with Nana, who watches them while we hunt, but still. After working for most of the week, I like to spend more time with the littles on the weekend.
Have a great Thanksgiving week! I know it will be really busy here, but a lot of fun. Plus - Shopping on Friday - YEA! My sister and I started this tradition about 4 years ago. Now, my Mom and other sister join in the fun and we get most of our shopping done in one day. It is fabulous!
Thursday, November 12, 2009
Wise beyond her years....
Oh - our little Emma lately has been on a roll. This kid loves taking the things that we say to her and twisting them back around and saying them to us. Tonight there was a whole string of them. After supper time, she is circling every toy in the Target Toy Advertisement we got in the Sunday paper and I tell her repeatedly "Emma, time for shower." "Emma - time to stop and take a shower." over and over. Finally after the fifth or sixth time she looks up from the advertisement, stares and me and says, "I KNOW Mama! How many times do you have to keep telling me!" I look at Tim- baffled - and say "Emma! You tell me - how many times until you do what I ask you to do?!" She rolls her eyes at me (yeah- love that) and gets up. Then, I turn away and burst out laughing.
Earlier, I was playfully arguing with Tim and I started cardio kickboxing him. Lightly punching him, sidekicking, etc. Tim says "Emma, Emma - stop your Mommy!" So, of course, Emma runs over and yells at me; "Mommy! Mommy! Stop hitting Daddy! We do NOT hit the people we love!"
We have been talking about hunting a lot lately (for obvious reasons) and she has been very interested in the whole process. She has been very curious about the deer and what Tim does and has been asking many questions. So, I come home from work yesterday after Tim was off with the kids and I get an insight into what her little mind is working on. First, she runs up to me and says right when I get home: "Mama, there is a dead deer hanging in our garage. It looks like this" ** then she flops over and hangs with her arms wide and her mouth open** "and we can't touch it, because it is yucky. It is dead." Nice, I know... What a thing for a three year old to know already! Then, as we are driving to the grocery store, she starts this conversation. "Mama, I am too little to go hunting, but when I get bigger and bigger, I want to go. With Daddy.. Hunting. But I don't have a gun- we need guns to shoot deer, right Mommy?" I sigh - not really enjoying where this conversation is going. I don't mind that she wants to hunt, obviously, everyone in my family hunts, I hunt, Tim hunts, no big deal. I just don't like her talking so much about guns. So, I casually say, "Yes, Emma, you will need a gun." and hope she drops the conversation. I am not so lucky: "Well, I want a gun." Me: "Well, you are way too little for guns. Guns are not toys. You can hunt with Daddy when you get bigger. And he has guns, so you can use his." Once again, hoping, this conversation is done. Emma: "Well, maybe I will put a gun on my Santa list to use when I get bigger so I can hunt with Daddy." Lovely.
Of course, she now enjoys eating deer too - as Tim shared that with her and Evan yesterday. We eat venison a lot, but Emma has never quite understood the wild game we partake in the Heuer Household. Now, at supper, I get to hear: "Mama - are we eating deer tonight?" tonight it was, "No, Emma, we are having lasagna." Emma: "But I like deer. Daddy shot a deer and we ate it. I don't like Besagna! (because some words she says, she starts with a "B" sound - Besagna for lasagna - Bewards instead of Menards, really any word at time in her mind starts with a B.) I try to tell her about venison and how we call deer meat venison- but she doesn't understand that yet.
That is all I can remember now! It seems as though she is constantly surprising me with the things she says and hears. Even when I don't think she listens, she is.
Earlier, I was playfully arguing with Tim and I started cardio kickboxing him. Lightly punching him, sidekicking, etc. Tim says "Emma, Emma - stop your Mommy!" So, of course, Emma runs over and yells at me; "Mommy! Mommy! Stop hitting Daddy! We do NOT hit the people we love!"
We have been talking about hunting a lot lately (for obvious reasons) and she has been very interested in the whole process. She has been very curious about the deer and what Tim does and has been asking many questions. So, I come home from work yesterday after Tim was off with the kids and I get an insight into what her little mind is working on. First, she runs up to me and says right when I get home: "Mama, there is a dead deer hanging in our garage. It looks like this" ** then she flops over and hangs with her arms wide and her mouth open** "and we can't touch it, because it is yucky. It is dead." Nice, I know... What a thing for a three year old to know already! Then, as we are driving to the grocery store, she starts this conversation. "Mama, I am too little to go hunting, but when I get bigger and bigger, I want to go. With Daddy.. Hunting. But I don't have a gun- we need guns to shoot deer, right Mommy?" I sigh - not really enjoying where this conversation is going. I don't mind that she wants to hunt, obviously, everyone in my family hunts, I hunt, Tim hunts, no big deal. I just don't like her talking so much about guns. So, I casually say, "Yes, Emma, you will need a gun." and hope she drops the conversation. I am not so lucky: "Well, I want a gun." Me: "Well, you are way too little for guns. Guns are not toys. You can hunt with Daddy when you get bigger. And he has guns, so you can use his." Once again, hoping, this conversation is done. Emma: "Well, maybe I will put a gun on my Santa list to use when I get bigger so I can hunt with Daddy." Lovely.
Of course, she now enjoys eating deer too - as Tim shared that with her and Evan yesterday. We eat venison a lot, but Emma has never quite understood the wild game we partake in the Heuer Household. Now, at supper, I get to hear: "Mama - are we eating deer tonight?" tonight it was, "No, Emma, we are having lasagna." Emma: "But I like deer. Daddy shot a deer and we ate it. I don't like Besagna! (because some words she says, she starts with a "B" sound - Besagna for lasagna - Bewards instead of Menards, really any word at time in her mind starts with a B.) I try to tell her about venison and how we call deer meat venison- but she doesn't understand that yet.
That is all I can remember now! It seems as though she is constantly surprising me with the things she says and hears. Even when I don't think she listens, she is.
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