On Sunday night I told Rachel we had to go to bed early because she had school in the morning. She was adamant that she did not. "Trust me Rachel, you have school tomorrow!" I told her, very sure of myself. At dinner we even looked at her calendar to find out if she had P.E. I glanced at the day and told her that Monday was in fact a P.E. day. Shelby put her on the bus the next morning and on we all went with our day. A little before 8am the office called to inform me that Rachel did not in fact have school that day, and I needed to come pick her up. Rachel is on an A/B schedule where she has school M-W-F one week and T-Th the next week. She goes on A day, but I sent her on a B day. She said she knew as soon as she got on the bus and saw a Kindergartner she did not recognize. I knew it was a matter of time before I got mixed up.
Uncle Cody took Lilly to a birthday party last night for Annalise. This is the daughter of a friend of Cody's that Lilly likes very much. She came home with the symptoms of someone on crack! As soon as she walked in the door she started talking a million miles a minute. She gave us roughly the following information. (Enter Lilly) "Hehehehehehehe, heheheheh...they have a snake but I didn't get to hold it (insert excited jumping and crazy eyes). It was a big snake. My favorite part was opening presents. Hehehehehe! (Pause) I just licked my skin!" Nuts right? They say sugar has no effect on the energy levels of children. You be the judge.
We started casually potty training Carson. I say casually because that is all I have energy/desire for. So far, potty training is my least favorite part of parenting. Yesterday he peed in the toilet once, in his pants once, and during the second half of the day in his diaper exclusively. He hates having wet pants, which is good. But beyond that, he is just not that interested. I caught myself yelling at him to sit and go potty, which is not good for either of us, so I am backing off. This approach worked great with Lilly. We tried to train her for a couple of days and then gave it up. A couple of days later she decided on her own that she wanted to go potty in the toilet. We pushed Rachel and it was a nightmare.
So Emilia is rolling all the time now as a mode of transportation. She still hates to be on her stomach, but with some thought and care she can roll onto her back. She talks like crazy these days, and of course her favorite thing to say is "dadadada" which I think is completely unfair. Considering I carried her, gave birth to her, and now spend my days responding to her every need, her first word-like sounds should rightfully be "mama".
Tuesday, February 28, 2012
Friday, February 24, 2012
Birthday Week
As I have mentioned before, birthdays are a big deal at our house. We do not have birthdays, we have birthday weeks. This week has been full of celebrating for Carson and I, since our birthdays are only a day apart. My birthday was fabulous. I got to hang out with my favorite person in the whole world (shout out to Shelby) all day while we did whatever struck my fancy at any given time.Then in the evening my little family took me out for pizza. I got spoiled!
Carson was not totally clear on the whole birthday thing at first, but by the end of the day he got it. My neighbor Amber made us both breakfast, after which he got to play for a couple of hours with Ella and Cora and his friend Ian. I took him to Wal-Mart to spend some birthday money from his grandma and from Papa. Then we hit McDonald's for a whole Happy Meal (as opposed to the 1 cheeseburger I usually get each of my kids and the water I make them share) AND an ice cream cone. I almost never do one-on-one dates with Carson, and at first he was very confused. When we got in the car he got a little panicked and said "Mom! Lilly!" I told him Lilly was playing at a friend's house. A minute later he said "Mom! Baby!" I told him we weren't bringing Emmy. It was just going to be him and me today, that we were going on a date. I think it took him a minute to decide if he thought this was a good idea. In the end he and I had a great time together. He wanted to buy a train because that is his obsession right now but Wal-mart did not have them. He settled for a Toy Story car and a helicopter, along with a pack of Extra Wintergreen gum. I tried to get him to buy some kid gum instead, but he was adamant. Spending time with just him was delightful! For dinner he chose pancakes. While I was making them he watched a movie. When dinner was ready the movie was not over yet, so he insisted on eating downstairs. This upsets everything that I believe about family dinners and birthday dinners. I think we should eat as a family, but it wasn't my birthday. So, we all ate our pancakes upstairs while he ate his in front of the TV. He is still young enough that we do all of our birthday shopping at the dollar store. He got a ball and bat, a sand bucket filled with candy, a coloring book, pez dispensers, and a mini chalk and eraser set. He was a very happy boy. One more note about his birthday. He insists that he is still only two.
OK, that was a bonus blog about Carson. Here is one for the books. We ate lunch with the Lackeys at Carl's Jr. last week. The reason we went to this particular restaurant is because they have a toddler-friendly play area. Carson easily maneuvered his way up to the top of the jungle gym. And there he stayed for the entirety of our outing. He was too scared to come down, and I was too big to go up and get him. I sent Rachel up at one point to help him, but this was not what he wanted. It was getting close to time to go and I told Rachel if she could get him to come down with her, I would give her a surprise. She tried to talk him into letting her help, then she tried to bribe him. Finally, after she had exhausted all of her other options, she picked him up and carried him kicking and screaming to the slide and pushed him down. He was devastated, Rachel was proud, and the rest of us adults had a good laugh about it. At the McDonald's play area yesterday Carson stayed on level ground.
Lilly is so sweet. After pancakes last night Rachel was sticky and wanted to wash her hands but could not reach the sink. Lilly said "Oh, Rachel! Teamwork!" Then she got down on all fours and let Rachel stand on her back while she washed her hands. Lilly is always finding some way to help. She changed Emilia's diaper yesterday for me. She did a great job except that she put it on backwards. It occurred to me the other day that I expect a lot from Lilly because she has always acted so grown-up. She started talking so early and so well that I think I forgot she was still just a little kid. I am lucky to have her on my side. I love Lilly's fashion sense. She almost always wears a skirt, usually over her pants. On Monday she wore a dress with a fluffy skirt underneath, and two cardigans over her dress, along with her pink princess boots (which make the outfit of course).
If Rachel gets out of bed one more time because she thinks she heard a tornado, I may have to do something drastic. Every time she hears a plane or a jet overhead she stops whatever she is doing and listens. Once the sound is gone she says "Oh. Ha ha. I thought that was a tornado." She told me last night that she never wants to live anywhere where there are tornadoes, floods, volcanoes, hurricanes, earthquakes, or bad guys. She lucked out on five out of the six. She also needs frequent reassurance that neither Grandma or Grandpa lives in a place where any of these things exist.
Emilia is officially rolling over now. She is at that stage where she cannot figure how to roll back over yet, so she gets really mad, which I actually think is cute. I get a kick out of feeding her Cheerios for the same reason. She can see them, and wants to put them in her mouth but her hand-eye coordination is not quite good enough. She spends most of her time yelling at the Cheerios. I love her love her love her love her!
Carson was not totally clear on the whole birthday thing at first, but by the end of the day he got it. My neighbor Amber made us both breakfast, after which he got to play for a couple of hours with Ella and Cora and his friend Ian. I took him to Wal-Mart to spend some birthday money from his grandma and from Papa. Then we hit McDonald's for a whole Happy Meal (as opposed to the 1 cheeseburger I usually get each of my kids and the water I make them share) AND an ice cream cone. I almost never do one-on-one dates with Carson, and at first he was very confused. When we got in the car he got a little panicked and said "Mom! Lilly!" I told him Lilly was playing at a friend's house. A minute later he said "Mom! Baby!" I told him we weren't bringing Emmy. It was just going to be him and me today, that we were going on a date. I think it took him a minute to decide if he thought this was a good idea. In the end he and I had a great time together. He wanted to buy a train because that is his obsession right now but Wal-mart did not have them. He settled for a Toy Story car and a helicopter, along with a pack of Extra Wintergreen gum. I tried to get him to buy some kid gum instead, but he was adamant. Spending time with just him was delightful! For dinner he chose pancakes. While I was making them he watched a movie. When dinner was ready the movie was not over yet, so he insisted on eating downstairs. This upsets everything that I believe about family dinners and birthday dinners. I think we should eat as a family, but it wasn't my birthday. So, we all ate our pancakes upstairs while he ate his in front of the TV. He is still young enough that we do all of our birthday shopping at the dollar store. He got a ball and bat, a sand bucket filled with candy, a coloring book, pez dispensers, and a mini chalk and eraser set. He was a very happy boy. One more note about his birthday. He insists that he is still only two.
OK, that was a bonus blog about Carson. Here is one for the books. We ate lunch with the Lackeys at Carl's Jr. last week. The reason we went to this particular restaurant is because they have a toddler-friendly play area. Carson easily maneuvered his way up to the top of the jungle gym. And there he stayed for the entirety of our outing. He was too scared to come down, and I was too big to go up and get him. I sent Rachel up at one point to help him, but this was not what he wanted. It was getting close to time to go and I told Rachel if she could get him to come down with her, I would give her a surprise. She tried to talk him into letting her help, then she tried to bribe him. Finally, after she had exhausted all of her other options, she picked him up and carried him kicking and screaming to the slide and pushed him down. He was devastated, Rachel was proud, and the rest of us adults had a good laugh about it. At the McDonald's play area yesterday Carson stayed on level ground.
Lilly is so sweet. After pancakes last night Rachel was sticky and wanted to wash her hands but could not reach the sink. Lilly said "Oh, Rachel! Teamwork!" Then she got down on all fours and let Rachel stand on her back while she washed her hands. Lilly is always finding some way to help. She changed Emilia's diaper yesterday for me. She did a great job except that she put it on backwards. It occurred to me the other day that I expect a lot from Lilly because she has always acted so grown-up. She started talking so early and so well that I think I forgot she was still just a little kid. I am lucky to have her on my side. I love Lilly's fashion sense. She almost always wears a skirt, usually over her pants. On Monday she wore a dress with a fluffy skirt underneath, and two cardigans over her dress, along with her pink princess boots (which make the outfit of course).
If Rachel gets out of bed one more time because she thinks she heard a tornado, I may have to do something drastic. Every time she hears a plane or a jet overhead she stops whatever she is doing and listens. Once the sound is gone she says "Oh. Ha ha. I thought that was a tornado." She told me last night that she never wants to live anywhere where there are tornadoes, floods, volcanoes, hurricanes, earthquakes, or bad guys. She lucked out on five out of the six. She also needs frequent reassurance that neither Grandma or Grandpa lives in a place where any of these things exist.
Emilia is officially rolling over now. She is at that stage where she cannot figure how to roll back over yet, so she gets really mad, which I actually think is cute. I get a kick out of feeding her Cheerios for the same reason. She can see them, and wants to put them in her mouth but her hand-eye coordination is not quite good enough. She spends most of her time yelling at the Cheerios. I love her love her love her love her!
Tuesday, February 14, 2012
Ancient Times
Rachel had her 50th day of school last week. In honor of the event the kids were supposed to dress in 50's fashion. Of course me being who I am, I completely spaced it until that morning. Rachel was already dressed and I was doing her hair when I finally remembered. On short notice the best we could do was a pair of blue jeans rolled up, a white t-shirt, and a scarf for her hair. As I was putting the finishing touches on her outfit, I explained to her that Nonna was born in the 50's and this is how they dressed back then. She looked thoughtful for a moment and said, "Mom, did Nonna dress like this in ancient times?"
I don't buy a lot of snacks to have around the house. There are two reasons for this. The first is, I am cheap with a capital C. I don't like spending money, and this family of mine is hard enough to feed on a budget. The second reason is health related. It is hard to find portable, easy snacks that my kids will actually eat that don't contain a bunch of junk. This lack of snack food is taking its toll on all of us. Trying to come up with something besides sandwiches for my kids to eat when hungry is tricky. And my poor neighbor tells me the first thing my kids do when they come over to play is ask for snacks (apparently because they are so deprived of fun food to eat here). Last payday I finally broke down and bought a giant box of granola bars. They have been a huge hit with everyone, even Shelby. To illustrate how rarely we buy this sort of thing, nobody is sure what to call them. Lilly started with "gorilla bars" and after some correcting changed it to "gorolla bars". Carson just calls them "baarrs" and Rachel refers to them as "one of those bar things". They all start asking for them pretty much right after breakfast.
Emilia had her 6-month checkup which was once again very boring. I always get so nervous when he goes to listen to her heart. But he tells me she sounds perfect. She weighs 14lbs almost exactly and is 25 inches long. This puts her in the 10th percentile, which Dr. Hanks says is right considering mine and Shelby's size. Dr. Hanks is only about 5'2'' so I don't think he is super caught up in size, as long as she is growing. As far as the rest of her life, Emilia is starting to complain a little more when she wants something. She has learned that whole crying equals attention connection. She is still sweet as can be, but a little more bossy and demanding.
Speaking of manipulating the situation, Carson has a new thing. If he is asked to do something he does not want to do, he just tells me "I'm scared." He uses this technique for nap time, clean up time, get dressed time, and "go downstairs and watch cartoons because mom needs a break" time. It is really starting to lose its effectiveness. On the subject of Carson. He loves me. Every so often he brings me a Barbie and says it's "Mommy". Makes me feel so good! I must get fifty hugs and kisses from that boy every day. I know it is a phase, but I am enjoying every last second!
Lilly is a passionate little girl. She feels things very strongly and because of this, she can lash out if she thinks she is being wronged. This lashing out has been somewhat violent lately, which is so out of character for my sweet, ultra-loving little girl. We discussed it very rationally the other day. Since she loves animals, I tried to explain to her that all moms feel like their kids are their little kittens, and when someone is mean to their kittens it hurts the moms' feelings. It sunk in I think, and so we made a plan. If someone does something Lilly does not like, she closes her eyes, counts to five, and asks the person to stop doing said thing. If that does not work, she can come and tell me or another grown up. Watching her put this into practice is so cute!
Rachel is obsessed with natural disasters. For the last few weeks it has been tornadoes. She can never remember what to call them, but to her blizzards, volcanoes, tomatoes and potatoes are all code words for tornadoes. She asks me constantly if tornadoes will kill people, where they occur, and what exactly they can or cannot destroy. Rachel has made it very clear that she never wants to live or visit a place where tornadoes are a problem. She also needed serious reassurance that nobody she loves lives anywhere near tornado land. Yesterday her big concern shifted to floods and other water-related disasters. Again, for her own information she wanted to know how long a person can stay under water and survive, what to do if you drive into water, what to do if the water floods the streets while you are in your car, and what to do if you are at home during a flood. Also somehow she has decided that the number four is bad luck. She told me yesterday she does not like that number because "I see it everywhere and it freaks me out!" No more watching news for Rachel.
I don't buy a lot of snacks to have around the house. There are two reasons for this. The first is, I am cheap with a capital C. I don't like spending money, and this family of mine is hard enough to feed on a budget. The second reason is health related. It is hard to find portable, easy snacks that my kids will actually eat that don't contain a bunch of junk. This lack of snack food is taking its toll on all of us. Trying to come up with something besides sandwiches for my kids to eat when hungry is tricky. And my poor neighbor tells me the first thing my kids do when they come over to play is ask for snacks (apparently because they are so deprived of fun food to eat here). Last payday I finally broke down and bought a giant box of granola bars. They have been a huge hit with everyone, even Shelby. To illustrate how rarely we buy this sort of thing, nobody is sure what to call them. Lilly started with "gorilla bars" and after some correcting changed it to "gorolla bars". Carson just calls them "baarrs" and Rachel refers to them as "one of those bar things". They all start asking for them pretty much right after breakfast.
Emilia had her 6-month checkup which was once again very boring. I always get so nervous when he goes to listen to her heart. But he tells me she sounds perfect. She weighs 14lbs almost exactly and is 25 inches long. This puts her in the 10th percentile, which Dr. Hanks says is right considering mine and Shelby's size. Dr. Hanks is only about 5'2'' so I don't think he is super caught up in size, as long as she is growing. As far as the rest of her life, Emilia is starting to complain a little more when she wants something. She has learned that whole crying equals attention connection. She is still sweet as can be, but a little more bossy and demanding.
Speaking of manipulating the situation, Carson has a new thing. If he is asked to do something he does not want to do, he just tells me "I'm scared." He uses this technique for nap time, clean up time, get dressed time, and "go downstairs and watch cartoons because mom needs a break" time. It is really starting to lose its effectiveness. On the subject of Carson. He loves me. Every so often he brings me a Barbie and says it's "Mommy". Makes me feel so good! I must get fifty hugs and kisses from that boy every day. I know it is a phase, but I am enjoying every last second!
Lilly is a passionate little girl. She feels things very strongly and because of this, she can lash out if she thinks she is being wronged. This lashing out has been somewhat violent lately, which is so out of character for my sweet, ultra-loving little girl. We discussed it very rationally the other day. Since she loves animals, I tried to explain to her that all moms feel like their kids are their little kittens, and when someone is mean to their kittens it hurts the moms' feelings. It sunk in I think, and so we made a plan. If someone does something Lilly does not like, she closes her eyes, counts to five, and asks the person to stop doing said thing. If that does not work, she can come and tell me or another grown up. Watching her put this into practice is so cute!
Rachel is obsessed with natural disasters. For the last few weeks it has been tornadoes. She can never remember what to call them, but to her blizzards, volcanoes, tomatoes and potatoes are all code words for tornadoes. She asks me constantly if tornadoes will kill people, where they occur, and what exactly they can or cannot destroy. Rachel has made it very clear that she never wants to live or visit a place where tornadoes are a problem. She also needed serious reassurance that nobody she loves lives anywhere near tornado land. Yesterday her big concern shifted to floods and other water-related disasters. Again, for her own information she wanted to know how long a person can stay under water and survive, what to do if you drive into water, what to do if the water floods the streets while you are in your car, and what to do if you are at home during a flood. Also somehow she has decided that the number four is bad luck. She told me yesterday she does not like that number because "I see it everywhere and it freaks me out!" No more watching news for Rachel.
Tuesday, January 31, 2012
The Gap
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.
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 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."
Friday, December 30, 2011
Duck Duck Goose
We had Ian and Maya here for a couple of days. They just went home this evening. Earlier today I took all the kids, including the two of them with me to teach boot camp. When we pulled into the parking lot Maya asked, "Why are we at the church?" I told her "This is where we do boot camp." She looked a little unsure and asked, "Can I play duck duck goose?" I told her "yes." "Can I sing Twinkle Twinkle Little star?" I said she can sing it all she wants. She gave an enthusiastic "Yesss!" While we were there, Lilly took Maya in the nursery bathroom with her to keep her company while she (ahem) went poop. Having two kids in a locked bathroom is never a good idea, so when I discovered them I asked Maya to please unlock the door. I asked her why she was in there while Lilly was going to the bathroom. She looked like someone who had just been rescued. "I don't want to be in here anymore." I told her I didn't blame her and let her escape. Lilly told me she was keeping her in there because she (Lilly) was scared. They were fun to have.
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