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| We got Annie's first ever 'School Picture' back today -- turned out pretty cute, although it would've been nice if they'd made her smile a bit more for it :-) I may be biased, but she's one cute little Kindergartener! |
Wednesday, September 28, 2011
School Picture
Saturday, September 24, 2011
Update-ish
I have nothing new to add to the blog . . . no stories or anything. I just felt like I haven't updated in awhile. Life is just moving along, the kids are having fun in school (Kindergarten for Annie and Preschool for Ellie) and Isaac is talking up a storm (he happily squeals, 'Moothie!' everytime he hears me turn on the blender to make spinach smoothies in the morning. Today he asked me for a 'cah-cka' (cracker), then started to walk to his highchair, turned and added, 'an nana' (and banana). He knows how to get what he wants.)
I'm increasingly pregnant every day (as that is how these things tend to work), coming up on 26 weeks (holy cow . . . I'm already closing in on my third trimester!) I feel large and uncomfortable some of time, and perfectly normal other times. I feel especially old and falling-apartish when I wake up at three a.m., and hobble into the bathroom with a hand pressing firmly into my hips . . . I'm only 26 weeks! It does not seem like I should be having a hard time walking yet! Fortunately, this only happens after I've been sleeping on one side for half the night. The rest of the time I can walk fairly normally. Sometimes even with 20 lbs. of toddler on one hip, and 30 lbs. of preschooler on the other hip. (At this point, both are usually screaming and flailing, so it feels like even more). I'm wondering how long that'll be a possibility. :-) In fact, just going up and down the stairs with Isaac multiple times a day makes me wonder, "Um, should we be working more on him going down stairs on his own, in case I hit a point in pregnancy where I just can't do this anymore."
I've started volunteering in Annie's classroom, which is fun. I'm planning the Halloween classroom 'activity' (apparently, we aren't supposed to call them parties). Any fun suggestions that you've done? Or remember super fondly from your own Elementary School days?
Also, if anyone's had any experience with the ALPS program or any magnet schools in your own area, let me know what you think of it . . . is it worth taking your kid away from all their friends and driving much further multiple times a day to get them there? Especially if you have three other kids in carseats!?!
I'm increasingly pregnant every day (as that is how these things tend to work), coming up on 26 weeks (holy cow . . . I'm already closing in on my third trimester!) I feel large and uncomfortable some of time, and perfectly normal other times. I feel especially old and falling-apartish when I wake up at three a.m., and hobble into the bathroom with a hand pressing firmly into my hips . . . I'm only 26 weeks! It does not seem like I should be having a hard time walking yet! Fortunately, this only happens after I've been sleeping on one side for half the night. The rest of the time I can walk fairly normally. Sometimes even with 20 lbs. of toddler on one hip, and 30 lbs. of preschooler on the other hip. (At this point, both are usually screaming and flailing, so it feels like even more). I'm wondering how long that'll be a possibility. :-) In fact, just going up and down the stairs with Isaac multiple times a day makes me wonder, "Um, should we be working more on him going down stairs on his own, in case I hit a point in pregnancy where I just can't do this anymore."
I've started volunteering in Annie's classroom, which is fun. I'm planning the Halloween classroom 'activity' (apparently, we aren't supposed to call them parties). Any fun suggestions that you've done? Or remember super fondly from your own Elementary School days?
Also, if anyone's had any experience with the ALPS program or any magnet schools in your own area, let me know what you think of it . . . is it worth taking your kid away from all their friends and driving much further multiple times a day to get them there? Especially if you have three other kids in carseats!?!
Tuesday, September 13, 2011
Mommy Martyr Moments
There are some weeks you just feel dumped on. I had one such week a couple weeks ago, when Isaac was eating even more nonstop than normal (so I felt like I was preparing, feeding or cleaning up food all our waking hours), and the unfortunate bi-product of such an appetite was an astounding number of diapers that had to be changed. And, since he is self-feeding most meals, we are giving him lots of baths. And for a solid week, the kid pooped in the bathtub once TO TWICE A DAY. Every day. For a week. (And three or four times on the bathroom floor. This is on top of the many diapers I was changing. Usually right before I even put him in the stupid tub). I went through more bleach that week that I normally do in six months . . .
I was feeling a bit 'woe-is-me-ish,' a tad like I was stuck in a poop-filled Groundhogs Day that was leaving me feeling oddly, well, picked on. Which is silly. I chose the life of being a Mommy, I relish it, I'm thankful for it, it's a huge blessing and wonderful opportunity that I cherish. But cleaning up human bodily fluids and waste for hours a day does a number on you. And despite it being crazy, it was starting to feel like they were doing this on purpose (like right after Isaac pooped in the tub, Ellie would come in and sheepishly inform me she'd just had an accident on the carpet in the hall. The carpet I had SHAMPOOED TWO DAYS BEFORE.) But I snapped out of it, and life went back to normal amounts of food (which is still a ton for my tiny son, the kid ears nearly nonstop) and slightly more appropriate levels of human waste being dealt with in our home. And I got over my feelings of 'you have got to be kidding me/is this really my life?' that had been plaguing me for a few days, and things felt good again.
Then Ellie started coughing at night. She's fine all day. Happy, playful, energetic, and snot- and cough-free. Not the least bit sick. Then she falls asleep, and a couple hours later, she starts to cough. And cough, and cough so hard that she starts to throw up. And throw up. And throw up some more. I've done 6 loads of laundry in the last three days, just to keep up on the backlog of blankets/stuffed animals/pillows/towels/pajamas that she's puked on. It's most likely asthma, which is a bit depressing to me. Annie has this happen too, she's fine all day, then at night she starts to cough and will continue to cough until it makes her throw up. But, with Annie this usually doesn't happen until the weather is cold. We start her preventative inhalers twice a day sometime in October, and tend to keep using them until March, then the rest of the year she doesn't needs them. We're getting Ellie into a doctor soon, and hopefully we'll have some answers, but since the most likely answer is a steroid inhaler, I'm not too happy about it. The other night she woke up more times than I can count, and started throwing up repeatedly on five different occasions. Last night, it was fortunately only twice that she had puking fits, but it was after midnight before we got everyone back in bed, since she was so happily wired to be awake and running around after I'd cleaned her up when she threw up at 10:30. I finally fell asleep around 1AM. A third night of being up late and waking up repeatedly with a coughing child, so I was tired, and really sad that it was already 1AM. Then (and here's where I admit to feeling picked on, even though it's silly, 'cause it's not like there's an actual plot against my by conspiring children) Isaac woke up at 5:30 this morning. I was struck with such an overwhelming feeling of, "You have got to be freaking kidding me?!" I went in and took care of him, then we put him back to bed, hoping he'd (by some miracle) sleep again 'til 7AM. It didn't happen. He cried and fussed and yelled at me from his crib for most of an hour, before I finally admitted this wasn't gonna happen . . . then his sisters came wandering into my room at a quarter to seven. I looked at Ellie, who we'd just gotten to sleep a mere 7 hours ago, and thought again, "You have got to be kidding me?!" And despite being so tired he can barely function, Isaac fought me to go down for a nap from 9AM (where he complicated matters by having a blow out diaper in his crib . . . yay! More sheets to wash!), until 10:30AM, when I fed him a mid-morning snack and he finally fell asleep.
I am reminding myself today that motherhood isn't always easy, and it's often monotonous and less than fun when you focus on the jobs of changing diapers, washing dishes, doing laundry and cooking food. So, it's time to focus not on the chores, but the blessings. And I may be tired, beyond words to describe (being 24 weeks pregnant and hormonal are not helping any of this), but my children will only be this young for such a brief time. They're growing and developing at such astounding rates that I feel like I could blink and miss it. Life can be a bit overwhelming with three kids this young, and the reminder of one more on the way, but I wouldn't have it any other way. Isaac brought me a book today, and happily chattered, 'book, book!' while he opened it up to show me the animals. "Woof!" he exclaimed as he pointed at the llama. He loves to cuddle up and have me rub his back. Annie and I spent almost an hour yesterday afternoon, curled up in my bed reading a book. Ellie makes me laugh nearly constantly, and is coming up to me all the time now and asking for another page of 'homework'. (Usually worksheets where she traces letters). They are beyond amazing.
Yeah, if I focus on the lack of sleep, the poop in the tub and the endless kitchen chores, it gets overwhelming, and even a bit depressing. So, I'm working on not focusing on that . . . although, a good night's sleep would go a long ways in helping me refocus :-)
I was feeling a bit 'woe-is-me-ish,' a tad like I was stuck in a poop-filled Groundhogs Day that was leaving me feeling oddly, well, picked on. Which is silly. I chose the life of being a Mommy, I relish it, I'm thankful for it, it's a huge blessing and wonderful opportunity that I cherish. But cleaning up human bodily fluids and waste for hours a day does a number on you. And despite it being crazy, it was starting to feel like they were doing this on purpose (like right after Isaac pooped in the tub, Ellie would come in and sheepishly inform me she'd just had an accident on the carpet in the hall. The carpet I had SHAMPOOED TWO DAYS BEFORE.) But I snapped out of it, and life went back to normal amounts of food (which is still a ton for my tiny son, the kid ears nearly nonstop) and slightly more appropriate levels of human waste being dealt with in our home. And I got over my feelings of 'you have got to be kidding me/is this really my life?' that had been plaguing me for a few days, and things felt good again.
Then Ellie started coughing at night. She's fine all day. Happy, playful, energetic, and snot- and cough-free. Not the least bit sick. Then she falls asleep, and a couple hours later, she starts to cough. And cough, and cough so hard that she starts to throw up. And throw up. And throw up some more. I've done 6 loads of laundry in the last three days, just to keep up on the backlog of blankets/stuffed animals/pillows/towels/pajamas that she's puked on. It's most likely asthma, which is a bit depressing to me. Annie has this happen too, she's fine all day, then at night she starts to cough and will continue to cough until it makes her throw up. But, with Annie this usually doesn't happen until the weather is cold. We start her preventative inhalers twice a day sometime in October, and tend to keep using them until March, then the rest of the year she doesn't needs them. We're getting Ellie into a doctor soon, and hopefully we'll have some answers, but since the most likely answer is a steroid inhaler, I'm not too happy about it. The other night she woke up more times than I can count, and started throwing up repeatedly on five different occasions. Last night, it was fortunately only twice that she had puking fits, but it was after midnight before we got everyone back in bed, since she was so happily wired to be awake and running around after I'd cleaned her up when she threw up at 10:30. I finally fell asleep around 1AM. A third night of being up late and waking up repeatedly with a coughing child, so I was tired, and really sad that it was already 1AM. Then (and here's where I admit to feeling picked on, even though it's silly, 'cause it's not like there's an actual plot against my by conspiring children) Isaac woke up at 5:30 this morning. I was struck with such an overwhelming feeling of, "You have got to be freaking kidding me?!" I went in and took care of him, then we put him back to bed, hoping he'd (by some miracle) sleep again 'til 7AM. It didn't happen. He cried and fussed and yelled at me from his crib for most of an hour, before I finally admitted this wasn't gonna happen . . . then his sisters came wandering into my room at a quarter to seven. I looked at Ellie, who we'd just gotten to sleep a mere 7 hours ago, and thought again, "You have got to be kidding me?!" And despite being so tired he can barely function, Isaac fought me to go down for a nap from 9AM (where he complicated matters by having a blow out diaper in his crib . . . yay! More sheets to wash!), until 10:30AM, when I fed him a mid-morning snack and he finally fell asleep.
I am reminding myself today that motherhood isn't always easy, and it's often monotonous and less than fun when you focus on the jobs of changing diapers, washing dishes, doing laundry and cooking food. So, it's time to focus not on the chores, but the blessings. And I may be tired, beyond words to describe (being 24 weeks pregnant and hormonal are not helping any of this), but my children will only be this young for such a brief time. They're growing and developing at such astounding rates that I feel like I could blink and miss it. Life can be a bit overwhelming with three kids this young, and the reminder of one more on the way, but I wouldn't have it any other way. Isaac brought me a book today, and happily chattered, 'book, book!' while he opened it up to show me the animals. "Woof!" he exclaimed as he pointed at the llama. He loves to cuddle up and have me rub his back. Annie and I spent almost an hour yesterday afternoon, curled up in my bed reading a book. Ellie makes me laugh nearly constantly, and is coming up to me all the time now and asking for another page of 'homework'. (Usually worksheets where she traces letters). They are beyond amazing.
Yeah, if I focus on the lack of sleep, the poop in the tub and the endless kitchen chores, it gets overwhelming, and even a bit depressing. So, I'm working on not focusing on that . . . although, a good night's sleep would go a long ways in helping me refocus :-)
So today, I'm gonna focus on this:
Could they possibly be ANY cuter?!
Saturday, September 10, 2011
Utah State Fair 2011
We all met up with Aunt Talina and Uncle David at the Utah State Fair today.
The kids loved seeing the animals. Isaac especially, he happily 'mooed' at the cows, tried repeatedly to stick his fingers into goats' mouths, and he squealed happily whenever he heard the roosters. He also impressed us by busting out two new words, "Rooster" and "Feathers". The bird building was a big hit.
Annie and Isaac happily checked out all the animals. (Ellie's not in as many pictures, since for some reason she was in a less than happy mood.)
He could not get close enough to the goats and sheep.
Annie and Isaac thought the bunny rabbit was the softest thing ever, and two out of my three kids were happy to pose as bears in the cutouts.
Isaac checking out the Bison head with some help from Uncle David.
Annie measuring up to bears.
Isaac trying on a hat. Seconds later my sister Talina pointed out the 'please no pictures' sign in the vendors booth. Oops!
These pictures of Isaac were from a couple days ago.
Poor Isaac got an eye full of sand (that Ellie was haphazardly tossing around the sandbox) that for some reason made his whole face swell up and turn red. These pictures are after I'd bathed him, and Greg and I had tried to flush his eye out a few times with a squirt bottle of water. Which is why the poor kid got his very own sucker, 'cause his Mom felt so bad for pinning him down while prying his eye open while Dad sprayed water in it. Unfortunately, when we checked it again, his lower lid was still filled with sand, so we had to flush it a few more times, but fortunately it looked back to normal the next morning. I still don't know how Ellie got THAT much sand in such a tiny eye . . .
Monday, September 5, 2011
Random Pictures and Proud Mama Moment
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| Greg was working late last week, so I threw a towel down on our bed and let the kids have a 'picnic' for dinner while we watched a movie. Then they got to all take a bath together. They had so much fun! |
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| My little helper! He's LOVING to wash walls and vacuum anything! |
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| Mmmmm, cupcakes! The kids were pretty psyched about the brownies and cupcakes at our Labor Day celebration at Grandma's house! |
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| Isaac's becoming more of a bookworm by the day -- here he is reading on Labor Day with Aunt Talina and Uncle David. |
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| Isaac and Ellie got a hold of one of Uncle Cody's old helmets. Ellie is a tiny bit crazy. :-) |
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| Do NOT get between Ellie and her basketball -- she will take you DOWN! |
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| The girls LOVE going out in the garden with Grandma! |
Unrelated to our Labor Day festivities, this weekend has given me one of my great 'beaming with pride' motherhood moments. Annie gave a talk in Primary this last Sunday. We'd read through it a few times, she read it on her own, and we practiced it aloud. I was a bit nervous though about it taking too long, since she was reading it a bit slow and about the kids not being able to hear her 'cause she was speaking so softly. Primary came though, and with only one small stumble, my little girl read her talk from start to finish perfectly. She spoke right into the microphone, at a perfect tempo and volume. She's a born public speaker! She'll also be singing a small solo in Sacrament Meeting in a couple weeks. The confidence I saw in her as she got up and gave her talk was one of those things that made this Mom so happy I felt like I was gonna burst. :-)
And if you want to check out Annie reading the talk she gave in Primary last week, it's posted on youtube now . . . at over 3 1/2 minutes long though, I'm guessing Aunts and Grandmas are the only ones who'll make it through . . . :-) (While making the video she tried to do more from memory, which made her stumble a bit more, but it was so cute!)
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