Yes, there has been another giant gap between blogs lately, and I apologize. I should learn to take responsibility, but I have yet another excuse. We switched Internet carriers, and it took almost a full week for the new carrier to get in and hook us up. We are up and running now, so here is what you missed.
Last week after church it took forever for us to get out the door to go home because Lilly had to hug half a dozen different young men. Every few steps a boy would call her name and throw his arms open. These are all boys who love Lilly and think she thinks they are her #1. When we got in the car she was all smiles as she told me "those boys were fighting about me!" And so it begins.
Rachel had her second karate tournament on Saturday. She has been practicing and practicing for this one and was very excited. Until we got there. The turnout for this one was much higher than the last, and unlike the last one, the blackbelts got to compete first, which was a little intimidating. After a few of the blackbelts performed Rachel looked up at me with a slightly panicked expression and said "I need more practice!" Her and Shelby stepped out for some last minute practicing, but it was Rachel's turn pretty much right away. She outright, flat-out, emphatically refused to go on. No amount of reassurance, begging, coaxing, and bribing from us, or cheering from the audience would make her change her mind. Rachel cried and cried on the way out to the car. She wanted to perform, but just was too nervous. Her instructor offered to let her come back and compete in the sparring with another student about her age, and after much thought, and a little snack, she decided to give it a go. There were no nerves this time around, and considering that she was unprepared to spar, she did OK. The other girl she was sparring with won, but Rachel got a second place medal (out of two) that she is very proud of.
Carson is still working on his colors. When I ask him about colors he is unsure of he says "Umm...not green". As in, "I don't know what color it is, but I do know it isn't green." He is also full of surprises. I mean that in the sense of him hiding things from me and then yelling "surprise!" I keep telling people I am not potty training him yet because he is still pretty young. Someone asked me how old he was the other day and I said, "Two-and-a-half, but he will be three in February." As soon as I said it, I realized that is less than a month away. All of the sudden my two-year-old is a near three-year-old.
Speaking of kids getting older, you would not believe Emilia. Shelby observed yesterday that she is getting outright chunky. This is so pleasing to me I cannot even tell you. Yesterday she slept for about 3 hours. I was so paranoid that she might be starving to death I had to keep reminding myself that we are no longer needing to worry about her food intake. Now I get to relax and enjoy her!
We have a rule at our house about my shower time. My mom used to have the same rule when we were kids and I thought it was pretty intolerant as a child. I totally get it now. A hot shower all alone is sometimes the only peace I get in a day. So now nobody is allowed in my bathroom while I am in the shower, unless there is an emergency. What I consider an emergency and what the kids consider an emergency are very different. Lilly barged in yesterday and told me "Mom, this IS an emergency!" I said (insert sigh) "OK Lilly, what is the emergency." Hands on hips she said, "Carson is not eating his cereal!" We have now defined an emergency as someone bleeding or unconscious. We also have a "no touching the baby during sacrament meeting" rule. This is another one my mom had when I was a kid that I did not get until now. The problem is, when I am holding Emilia, everyone wants to be right in her face. She is fine with it but I feel totally mauled.
Tuesday, January 31, 2012
Tuesday, January 10, 2012
We got a call from our babysitters Saturday night telling us that Lilly was throwing up...again. It seems like we get such a call on date night every couple of months, always involving Lilly. We were just about done with dinner so we headed home. I assumed the incident was a result of Lilly getting over-excited at the prospect of having two of her favorite babysitters on the same night (Ashley O'Brien and Amanda Fackrell). Such things do seem to make her throw up on occasion. But coming home from dropping the sitters off I started feeling a little ill. Thus began our 3-day bout of the stomach flu. Quick riddle, what is to only thing worse than having the stomach flu? The answer is cleaning up kid throw up while you have the stomach flu. I can't complain too much. Shelby handled night duty since he felt fine, and Lilly throws up so frequently that she is a pro about making it to the toilet. Rachel came down with it last night and had some trouble getting to the toilet, but even then she only threw up on hard surfaces. This morning we all woke up feeling great, and I was sure we were out of the woods. I called Shelby on my way to take Rachel to school and guess who isn't feeling very good? Carson and Emilia have remained untouched by this stomach bug, knock on wood.
After Rachel threw up the first time I tucked her into my bed and told her about how much I hated throwing up when I was a kid. I remember coming upstairs to tell my parents that I felt sick. My dad would ask "Are you going to throw up?" Not wanting to admit that I might (because it was just so awful) I would say "No...." and seconds later I would puke anyway, usually all over the floor. Then my dad would say "Aw Katie! For Pete's sake!" I don't think I ever made it to the toilet until I was about ready to leave home. My dad is a good sport when it comes to the worst parts of parenting, but he hated cleaning up after sick kids. Another memory from being sick was that even if we felt we were dying my parents NEVER, EVER let us sleep in their bed. But if we really felt lousy enough, and they were feeling kind, they would let us sleep on the floor of the hall by their closed bedroom door.
Lilly is positively delightful when she is sick. In the midst of throwing up she is usually chipper and talkative. She does milk it though. I think she was over the worst of it by Sunday, but anytime she needed or wanted anything she would come out with "But I'm sick!" This morning while I was making oatmeal (Lilly's very least favorite breakfast) she told me she ought to choose the breakfast because she is sick. I told her if she was really all that sick she would not be able to go to the park with Elizabeth. She said "Well, I am not going to be sick when I am at the park, but I AM going to be sick when I am eating breakfast."
Speaking of Lilly, her fear of dogs has become quite the thing at our house. It does not matter what our destination is, she always asks if there is going to be a dog there. It could be that we are going to someone's house that she has been to a dozen times, or on our way to the grocery store, the question is always the same. "Do they have a dog?" She asks nearly every single time, no exaggeration. This is exactly the opposite of Rachel who wants to take home every dog we come across. Her argument always lies on two things. First, "If we don't take it home, who will take care of him?" Second, "Lilly is not afraid of this dog!"
After Rachel threw up the first time I tucked her into my bed and told her about how much I hated throwing up when I was a kid. I remember coming upstairs to tell my parents that I felt sick. My dad would ask "Are you going to throw up?" Not wanting to admit that I might (because it was just so awful) I would say "No...." and seconds later I would puke anyway, usually all over the floor. Then my dad would say "Aw Katie! For Pete's sake!" I don't think I ever made it to the toilet until I was about ready to leave home. My dad is a good sport when it comes to the worst parts of parenting, but he hated cleaning up after sick kids. Another memory from being sick was that even if we felt we were dying my parents NEVER, EVER let us sleep in their bed. But if we really felt lousy enough, and they were feeling kind, they would let us sleep on the floor of the hall by their closed bedroom door.
Lilly is positively delightful when she is sick. In the midst of throwing up she is usually chipper and talkative. She does milk it though. I think she was over the worst of it by Sunday, but anytime she needed or wanted anything she would come out with "But I'm sick!" This morning while I was making oatmeal (Lilly's very least favorite breakfast) she told me she ought to choose the breakfast because she is sick. I told her if she was really all that sick she would not be able to go to the park with Elizabeth. She said "Well, I am not going to be sick when I am at the park, but I AM going to be sick when I am eating breakfast."
Speaking of Lilly, her fear of dogs has become quite the thing at our house. It does not matter what our destination is, she always asks if there is going to be a dog there. It could be that we are going to someone's house that she has been to a dozen times, or on our way to the grocery store, the question is always the same. "Do they have a dog?" She asks nearly every single time, no exaggeration. This is exactly the opposite of Rachel who wants to take home every dog we come across. Her argument always lies on two things. First, "If we don't take it home, who will take care of him?" Second, "Lilly is not afraid of this dog!"
Friday, January 6, 2012
Family Vacation
We took our first family vacation last weekend as a group of six. It was only to Idaho Falls, but it was a good trial run. We have been incredibly lucky with our kids as far as traveling is concerned. They have all been excellent travelers...until Emilia. I actually can't complain too much. She did well for the first three hours, but lost patience in the final home stretch, both on the way there and the way back. The other kids did well traveling, but their understanding of time and distance was off. Every few minutes they would either ask if we were in Grandma and Grandpa's town or in ours. While we were in Idaho Falls they asked several times if we were home. Before we left IF we stopped at a gas station to fill up and they asked if we were home. Apparently the fact that it had taken hours and hours to get to IF escaped them. Our purpose for the visit was to see Grandpa Lynn and Grandma Cheri. They spoiled the kids rotten (and us too). If it were up to the kids we would have stayed forever. I would like to have stayed longer, but life you know. It is always getting in the way. Cody was there too. Rachel has been holding Emilia a lot, and is pretty good with her. However, if you have never seen her holding Emilia before it can be slightly unsettling. She walks around with her and holds her up to her face. She looks like she lacks control. I thought it was going to give Cody a heart attack. He followed her around with outstretched arms ready to rescue Emmy at any moment.
Carson is learning his colors right now. This is the first time he has been interested in the idea of a variety of colors. At first everything was "green". He has added blue to his list of guesses, and just this morning he proudly recognized orange. I love it when he says orange. It sounds like "urnge". I am also a big fan of the way he says burger. He says it phonetically correct, but draws out the "bur" part so it sounds like "buurerger". It has an almost Yoda-like quality to it. On the subject of Carson-speak, one of my other favorites is that he calls all balls "football soccers" except footballs, which he calls "Boise State".
Jackie Cat keeps pooping in our house, so she has been banished to the outdoors. Jackie sort of adopted us a couple of years ago when I left the basement door open for a couple of hours. It was a cold snowy night, and when we got home we discovered her in the basement. She was so stinking fat I thought she was pregnant. So was I, so I could not bear to make her leave. Now, three years later she is still fat and has yet to give birth to any kittens. Nothing cures me of loving an animal like having them poop in my house. Watching her be outside and wanting to come in is just about killing the girls. Especially Lilly. We have explained the problem to them both, but Lilly seems to need to give herself pep talks every now-and-then. When she sees Jackie waiting at the sliding glass door she usually says to nobody in particular, "Jackie wants to come in....but she can't because she poops on the floor."
Carson is learning his colors right now. This is the first time he has been interested in the idea of a variety of colors. At first everything was "green". He has added blue to his list of guesses, and just this morning he proudly recognized orange. I love it when he says orange. It sounds like "urnge". I am also a big fan of the way he says burger. He says it phonetically correct, but draws out the "bur" part so it sounds like "buurerger". It has an almost Yoda-like quality to it. On the subject of Carson-speak, one of my other favorites is that he calls all balls "football soccers" except footballs, which he calls "Boise State".
Jackie Cat keeps pooping in our house, so she has been banished to the outdoors. Jackie sort of adopted us a couple of years ago when I left the basement door open for a couple of hours. It was a cold snowy night, and when we got home we discovered her in the basement. She was so stinking fat I thought she was pregnant. So was I, so I could not bear to make her leave. Now, three years later she is still fat and has yet to give birth to any kittens. Nothing cures me of loving an animal like having them poop in my house. Watching her be outside and wanting to come in is just about killing the girls. Especially Lilly. We have explained the problem to them both, but Lilly seems to need to give herself pep talks every now-and-then. When she sees Jackie waiting at the sliding glass door she usually says to nobody in particular, "Jackie wants to come in....but she can't because she poops on the floor."
Subscribe to:
Posts (Atom)
