Sick of Sick

So, this past weekend my baby girl got the stomach bug.  I must say that it is considerably more difficult to control the throw up of a very strong-willed 20-month-old than that of an OCD 3 year old, i.e. scrubbing the couch and chairs & my new living room rug.  Also, my son's sickness was really a 24 hour thing and he was back to normal within 48.  Poor little L had a relapse last night that was miserable.  She went through 3 sheet changes, a bath & 4 wardrobe changes in about an hour.

It really stinks when your kids are sick, but it really REALLY stinks when your little babies who can't communicate are sick like that.  She kept trying to tell her Daddy & I something, but of course it all just came out as garble to us.  I do have a few thoughts on what she might have been saying because I know what I would have been saying.  However, Mickey Mouse did the trick to calm her and she just laid on her Daddy's chest until we were finally able to put her back down without everything coming back up.

Wonder what today will hold for us??

Sick

Around here today we had some major sick for the little birthday boy.  He woke up around 3:30 a.m. crying and coughing.  My hubby headed in to check on him and I could tell from his words that my little boy was puking.  BLAH!!  Never really had the stomach bug since he was old enough to realize what was happening.  So, I get in the bathroom in time to see hubby cleaning him up and that meant only one thing: I got bed clean up.  Did you know that if you put the sheet straight into the washer you WILL have to clean the chunks out later?  I know that, but at 3:30 A.M. I didn't really care.  Of course, at that point my little man was running around his room jumping up and down saying he felt great and wanted to eat something . . . at 3:30 A.M. (if I hadn't already mentioned that)!!  This of course woke up my oldest daughter who wanted to check to see if everyone was okay.  Then neither one of them could go back to sleep.

An hour later at 4:30 A.M. I heard thumping on the other side of the wall, where my girls' room is.  I walk in and my oldest has her little lamp on over her bed and is reading.  In my mind I am like, "Really?".  So then I tell her to shut it down for the night (or morning, which ever is more appropriate) only to have the puker doing it again about 30 minutes later.  So, we skip church, shut the sick one in his room (gotta keep it contained), set up a mini movie theater in there, give him Ipad & toys galore and tell him he can't come out.  That sounds so mean, but do we really want the other 2 kids to go through this and lose the whole week, which is Spring Break BTW?!  He actually did really well and Daddy and I traded off going in and keeping him entertained.  He definitely wins the award for most times watching Aladdin in one day.  He seriously watched it over and over, nothing else.  In fact, I believe I am still listening to it now.

Girls played together all day, outside and in.  They played all real girly things like baby dolls and tea party.  They were so good!  

And now all three angels (and they truly were today) are sound asleep.  My little man is still running fever, but sleeping.  Oh, and did I mention that my baby girl has croup?  Hey, all in a day's work . . . right????

A Day in the Life

My son's birthday is on Thursday.  I can't believe he is going to be 3 cause it sure seems like he should be 15 by now.  He is a little ring-tailed tooter, probably much more like his father than his mother.  We went in this morning for his check-up and he's in the 25th-50th percentile for his weight at 30 lbs & in the 75th for height at 3'3".  However, he acted mostly like a neanderthal while in the office.  Both of my girls had to have follow ups for ear infections and he insisted that they go first.  He was very concerned about getting a shot, which he didn't.  Finally when it was his turn he screamed "no" and threw a play head of lettuce.  It was like watching one of those bad kid movies where you sit and say, "Wow that kid is terrible".  That was my baby today.  Other than that he is progressing at a completely normal rate.  My pediatrician thinks my kids are hilarious and perfect.  She tells me that she loves a strong will in a child.  However, she admits that she is glad she is not the one raising them.

Now my baby girl, on the other hand is just crazy.  We went in for her 18-month check up a couple of weeks ago.  She is in the 90th percentile at 29 lbs. 5oz. & 50th percentile for her height.  She is also "perfect", per the pediatrician.  Today, though, she decided she didn't want to leave the house and threw a temper tantrum when I turned Mickey Mouse off.  She threw her head back and clocked herself on the wooden arm of the couch.  I picked her up and took her to the car only to find blood on my hands.  She had cut her head open.  Luckily we were already on our way to see the Dr. and she said it didn't need stitches.  Whew!!  She, the little darlin, takes after her Mommy.  Poor child.  She is finally talking more.  My other 2 children talked very early so this has been difficult for me with her not being able to communicate.  In the past week, she has added a dozen or more words to her vocabulary.  So she is finally starting to use the words instead of babbling.  A little bit ago she walked in with a small football and said "throw ball".  Yeah baby girl!!

Tidbits

My son does this new little thing where when we ask him something he pauses, puts his finger on his chin and says "Hmm".  I guess he is really starting to have some deep thoughts.  Either that or he is super influenced by his indecisive mother or developing a politician's way early in life.  Maybe it is a 3-year-old thing and he is just getting ready to be 3.  Whatever the reason I can't help but smile when he does it.  Problem is that he does it a lot when he is getting in trouble.  Now tell me how I'm supposed to keep a straight face for that one!

My 19-month-old on the other hand continues to babble like she is talking.  However, not one of us can understand what she is saying.  I think that she is probably doing the Hmm thing in her head lots.  I took her to the Dr. the other day and she is in the 90th percentile for her weight.  It's funny to me how different my children are.  My first 2 were small, always a size or two behind their age.  In fact, my oldest still wears shoes that are 2-3 sizes smaller than her classmates.  My baby on the other hand is wearing a 3T.  She is killing my back!!  

Kindle

So, I went to my wonderful hubby before V-Day and told him that I decided I wanted a Kindle.  I wanted to catch him before he bought me something sparkly.  He said we weren't going to spend a lot on Valentine's this year, but if I wanted a Kindle he would get me one.  So we go out and buy one, pick out a light & a case and there you go!  Then I got home and start playing with it and soon realized something, I had NO IDEA what I wanted to read.  Now I love to read (not quite as much as my sister, though), I mean I am a librarian for heaven's sake.  When I started thinking about what I wanted to read though, I was lost. Then it occurred to me . . .  I hadn't really been reading for myself for the past 8 years or so.

In my former life I was an elementary school teacher.  Back in 2004 I changed professions.  I got emergency certified as a school librarian and started back to school to get my Masters of Library Science.  I was also engaged that year, planned a wedding & married.  At that point, I scrapped all personal reading for school books, youth literature and wedding guides/planners.

*Side note*  I LOVE children's & young adult literature.  There are so many great kids books that adults can enjoy.  So the next time you're in a library check out the children's section.

Anyway, I was busy reading for my profession and for grad school.  Then I got pregnant in 2005, only adding baby books to my repertoire.  2006 rolls along and I changed professions again, becoming a stay-at-home mom, thus adding only child-rearing & children's books.

Since then, I have thrown a "me" book in there occasionally, a couple of bible studies & a few self-help titles.  That brings me up to last week again being totally lost in the land of the literature.  Luckily after some late night searching I bought a few books that came out during my adult reading hiatus that I wanted to read, but never did.

Now I have a new problem!  I have so many books I want to read.  And, I have to work on staying awake at night long enough to read more than a few sentences!!  

Smoothie Heaven

A few weeks ago I decided to start having smoothies for breakfast.  Everyone always raves about them & I had just never made them at home.  Well it's a new year and I am inspired to try new things.  So I started lugging my blender out every morning and got hooked on them.  However, I don't have room on my countertops to leave it out all the time.  Enter the Magic Bullet!  Someone who works for my hubby had given him one for Christmas, but we hadn't made the time to get it out and play with it.  Now some background on this little piece of machinery must be inserted here.  For a few years my hubby and I, in order to save money living only on one income, had foregone cable.  So, we often found ourselves watching informercials.  He fell in love with the Magic Bullet at first sight.  I was always going to get him one for Christmas, but just never did.  Now back to a week ago.  Instead of complaining, which is usually my way, about dragging the big blender out every morning I finally decided to try out the MB.  This is what brings me to "Smoothie Heaven".  It really is so easy to use and . . .

Okay, I refuse to subject the few of you who read my blog to my own personal informercial.  However, if you want to join me in Smoothie Heaven you are probably just going to have to get a Magic Bullet for yourself.  

Potty Time

Recently I was inspired by an article about saving money (http://moneywatch.bnet.com/saving-money/article/parents-how-to-save-3000-a-year/492910/).  The money saving thing was nice, but it was the stats on potty training that got me.  Now I have gone through potty training with 2 of my 3 kids so far and both experiences have been very different.  Both times I said that I was going to take the slow route and just wait until they were ready.  However, my type A personality did not allow me to do that with my daughter & the whole experience was quite stressful for us both.  So, I really stuck to my guns with my son on just being patient and waiting.  See, here's the thing, the waiting until they are ready sounds so much more enjoyable to me that the pushing and fighting and forcing; and I am usually a person of force.  For the past month my son had been resisting, so I just continued to be patient until I read this article.  I don't know if I was looking for something to get me out of my slump or just ready to NOT have 2 in diapers, but I was going to get this potty thing moving come hell or high pee.

So last Monday morning I decided that my almost 3-year-old son will be potty trained and I must report that he has done wonderfully!  I am so proud of him.  All the mistakes that I made with my poor first child I made sure and didn't repeat.  For instance, I remember reading that you must let them empty the child potty into the big potty.  I never let poor J do that.  I was terrified that she would dump it all over the bathroom.  Anyway, it took him less than a day to master this task without ever spilling a drop.  I also never let poor J go by herself, I was always there to watch and make sure everything went alright.  It took 2 days before S could do it totally by himself (and he even washes his hands afterwards).  Here is my question then, was it all the little mistakes with J that made it so difficult or was it that I waited longer with S?  Guess I can truly make a determination when I potty train my 3rd.

January Slump

So, I am now officially going through my January slump.  Every year, without fail, I go through a period in the month of January where I am so completely unmotivated to do anything.  It's interesting, I identified this about myself quite a few years back; and, no matter what I do I can't seem to ward it off.  So, this year I have decided to embrace it!  I told my husband the other night that I was not motivated to do ANYTHING but eat, so that is what I have been doing.  Now I am thinking it should only last a few more days & I will be back to my normal self.  I guess it better or all that work I did last year to lose that last 10 lbs. will have been futile.

On another note, my 2 1/2 year old son tends to play with my hair while I am getting him dressed.  This morning he says "your hair is lovely & you are beautiful".  I am thinking he had to have seen that in a movie somewhere.  However, yesterday my Mom told me that when she was playing with that same little sweetie and exclaimed "darn it" he stopped and told her "it's damn it".  You know I guess he can't be perfect all the time, huh?  

Finally, the other night we were coming home from a rather chaotic family trip to Home Depot.  My 4 1/2 year daughter old hangs back with me and tells me, "Man, they (referring to her little brother & sister) just wear me out.  It's really hard being the oldest."  She takes her job as an older sibling so seriously.  

How safe are we, really?

So, I have many thoughts on the big buzz about the new carseat "rules" and it makes me ask "How safe can we really be?".  I feel rather dumb not knowing that I should not have been keeping my kids coats on them in their carseats all this time.  Guess I should have read that manual all the way through.  However, my hubby is the manual reader in this family, so I will simply blame it on him.  I guess some would call me a bad parent for not knowing about the rear-facing until 2 rule with my second child.  That wasn't even the rule, though, with my first.  I have noticed something about Moms, each of us has our own "thing" we choose to obsess over.  I remember having conversations with my sister-in-law about something I never let J do & she might say she never worried about that.  Then later she would talk about something she would never let her daughter do, and I would say I never worried about that.

We all have material things or activities we are willing to give up for the safety of our children.  On that same note, though, we all have ways in which we are not willing to bend.  If I could prove that a child would be 10 times less likely to ever use recreational drugs if said child's parents took them to church every Sunday, would all these parents obsessing about coats with carseats immediately start going to church?  I mean, that is a big life change that so many would not be willing to make.  How many of us would stop driving all together?  How many of us would start carrying our kids around in a bubble if someone proved it was safer for our lungs?  Now I am not passing judgement on anyone (that is God's job, not mine) or even suggesting that I won't take my coats off my kids in the car now.  It just seems to me that as soon as we prove one way is safe and we get everyone to start doing it, then someone else disproves that person.  I am simply posing the questions that come to my mind whenever I see and hear people becoming obsessed about some new research.

Reborn

So, yesterday I made homemade bread for a party we had last night.  I just have to say that I love making bread from scratch.  It is so easy and way yummier than store-bought.  Long ago, before I had kids I started making bread for Thanksgiving, but that was abandoned after my first, J, was born.  I must say though that I am newly inspired to start again.  My goal this year is to start making my own sandwich bread.

This new goal makes me think of something else "new" I am doing, clothes shopping for myself.  I haven't really shopped a lot for myself (except for maternity clothes) in almost 6 years.  I mean, I have flip flops (which are, by far my most favorite shoe) from Payless that are 10 years old.  I am basically back into the size of most of the clothes in my closet.  However, my body is shaped differently now & the fashions are all new.  Go figure!  So, I have gone a couple of times in the last couple of weeks, and I find myself at a complete & total loss.  6 years ago I could shop in the junior section, now . . . not so much.  So that leaves me with the "older" clothing section & I don't feel as if I quite fit in there either, hence the naming of this post.  I definitely am being reborn & rediscovering what it means to be a woman (albeit older now), not just a baby machine.  So, another goal for me is to rebuild my wardrobe with cute, trendy, age appropriate clothing . . . if that is possible.  Maybe the money I save on making my own bread will provide me with enough money to do this!  :-)

Scary Behavior

So I am a little scared of my kiddos right now.  I have a 4 1/2 year-old girl, a 2 1/2 year-old boy and a 17-month-old girl.  I am told constantly that they are so polite and well-behaved.  I am not sure who they are when I am not around because around me they argue, fight and generally reek havoc on the household.  However, yesterday & so far today they have been little angels.  I am in heaven, but a little afraid.  Is this just the calm before the storm?  Okay I was just called away from this post to clean up my son's room after his poopy diaper leaked right where they were all playing . . . havoc.  But still, they were very calm during the situation and did exactly what I told them to do.  Scary!  I put my son back into a diaper instead of a pull up because he is resisting the potty right now.  He tells me that he doesn't want to use the potty because "I want to be your sweet baby, Mommy".  How can I argue with that?  So, for now I am going to enjoy the pleasure of being with my well-behaved babies.  Stay tuned to see how long it lasts.

Beginning

So a friend of mine told me the other day that I should think about doing a blog.  I have been hesitant to do this because everyone is doing a blog these days and I am not usually one to jump on the bandwagon.  However, my life has been turned on its ear since I started having children 4 1/2 years ago & I thought that maybe this would be a way to record my daily thoughts (seeing as my memory seems to have taken a permanent hiatus).  Also, it's a new year full of great possibilities, right?  We all make crazy resolutions in the first few hours of every new year, right??  So, why not??  This will be my blog about my crazy life with my husband and 3 small children, under the age of 5.  My husband, of course, only fits mentally into that under 5 age category.