Yep, little Ethan has pneumonia. He had it two years ago as well. I worry about him... he's so susceptible to every cold that comes by and having pneumonia twice already doesn't seem good. I need to know how to keep him healthier. There has to be a way that he doesn't catch every little bug he comes across.
He's had that cough that everyone in Washington seems to have for a couple weeks. After school yesterday he came home and quickly developed a fever and was lethargic. We remembered that this was how it started last time so we didn't take any chances and took him to the walk-in clinic. His lungs sounded 'crackly', so they did a chest x-ray and sure enough, pneumonia. It was just a little spot though, not so bad. I'm glad we didn't wait another day. He's on antibiotics now and hopefully will be feeling better soon. Last night was really rough as he couldn't stop coughing. He slept with us and coughed so hard and long that he threw up at 2am and J had to change the sheets while I googled some tips on how to help him not to cough so much. After throwing up (and us propping him up into an almost sitting position), he was able to sleep.
After we took E to the walk-in clinic, we came home and my Mom graciously watched Ethan since she was in town while we kept our dinner date with April and her family. We went to Famous Dave's for BBQ and it was great! We'll definitely be going back.
Friday, February 27, 2009
Wednesday, February 25, 2009
A little catching up
Life has been running at a fast clip the last couple weeks.
The kids returned on the 16th from their trip to my Aunt Daralyn's house in Eastern Washington. They had a GREAT time. Thanks for hosting them Aunt Daralyn and Uncle Greg! Thanks too to my Mom and sister who drove them there and back and gave them the experience. They still are talking about it.
On Tuesday, Jason flew out to Cincinnati for some work stuff and was gone through Sunday. For the first two nights I stayed at home with the kids, and for the last three nights stayed with my Mom. It was a rough week. Gwen got sick and missed school, Elsa wasn't sleeping during the day OR night and I was feeling generally rotten. Staying at my Mom's was nice though, even though I was dreadfully sleep deprived the entire time.
While we were there, I took Elsa to her 9 month well-child visit. She's doing great...meeting or exceeding all of her milestones! Of course, she's still tiny little thing.
She weighs 15lbs, which puts her in the 5% and is 26 inches long... which puts her in the 10%. It appears that I make tiny girl babies, but as long as they are healthy and happy, that's totally fine with me!
On Saturday, the weather was very nice and warm. We all went outside to do yard work. Well, I carried the baby around and made meals, but everyone else worked very hard. Ben was over too and the big attraction was Grandpa running the log splitter
Gwen found trash somewhere and was very upset that the nearest trashcan was very far away. I have a feeling it never made it up there.
Ethan got to run the log splitter for awhile and took great enjoyment in doing so. If you click on the picture to see it larger, you can see his little tongue sticking out in concentration. Just like Mom!
Sunday we returned home and welcomed Jason home and that was so nice. We all had missed him so much, and I think he missed us a little too.
I'm still feeling rotten though. Emotionally speaking. I seem to be in a funk of some kind and can't break out of it. Its not unusual for me to have a bad day or two, but generally I snap out of it pretty fast. This time I'm not snapping out very fast. I feel a little better today. But underneath there is a feeling of... well, um, rage. I'm not a ragey person at all, but yeah, I would have to say that I feel immensely angry a lot of the time, just under the surface. Unfortunately, that sometimes spills out onto the family and then I feel just horrible. As to why I feel so angry, well, I don't know. Some of it is, to be honest, dealing with a baby that never sleeps during the day. At least she sleeps mostly through the night now, but all day, every day, she wants to be held constantly and I've never been good at that. I've never been one who can hold a baby for hours on end and enjoy it. I have slings and other things that make it easier to hold a baby, but its still holding a baby. For me, I need my personal space to a certain degree to remain sane. Its a constant frustration of her falling asleep in my arms, going to lay her down, and 5-10 minutes later her screaming. I will do this sometimes upwards of 10 times a day, no exaggeration. Its so frustrating because she is obviously tired and needs sleep, but cannot stay asleep during the day. I spoke to the pediatrician about it and they really had no advice other than maybe letting her self-soothe, which I guess is a code word for crying it out. But she's only 9 months old. And the few times I've had to walk away to calm down, she's kept on crying... sometimes as long as 30 minutes. She has an iron will!
So all I can do is pray and try to retain perspective and do the best I can with the situation.
On a lighter note, we've been throwing around ideas for Ethan's 5th birthday next month. He really wants to go to Chuck E Cheese's (though we've never been there before). Gwen, hilariously, calls it Chuck E Jesus. Even though we correct her, she says that Chuck E Jesus IS the correct pronunciation. Funny girl. We had told Ethan that he could invite his entire pre-school class if he wanted, but he told us he only wants to invite one person from his class of 12. I'm really surprised. He says that the other people are his friends, but he doesn't want them at his party. We aren't sure what to make of that, but I feel like I shouldn't make him invite his classmates if he doesn't want to.
The kids returned on the 16th from their trip to my Aunt Daralyn's house in Eastern Washington. They had a GREAT time. Thanks for hosting them Aunt Daralyn and Uncle Greg! Thanks too to my Mom and sister who drove them there and back and gave them the experience. They still are talking about it.
On Tuesday, Jason flew out to Cincinnati for some work stuff and was gone through Sunday. For the first two nights I stayed at home with the kids, and for the last three nights stayed with my Mom. It was a rough week. Gwen got sick and missed school, Elsa wasn't sleeping during the day OR night and I was feeling generally rotten. Staying at my Mom's was nice though, even though I was dreadfully sleep deprived the entire time.
While we were there, I took Elsa to her 9 month well-child visit. She's doing great...meeting or exceeding all of her milestones! Of course, she's still tiny little thing.
She weighs 15lbs, which puts her in the 5% and is 26 inches long... which puts her in the 10%. It appears that I make tiny girl babies, but as long as they are healthy and happy, that's totally fine with me!
On Saturday, the weather was very nice and warm. We all went outside to do yard work. Well, I carried the baby around and made meals, but everyone else worked very hard. Ben was over too and the big attraction was Grandpa running the log splitter
Gwen found trash somewhere and was very upset that the nearest trashcan was very far away. I have a feeling it never made it up there.
Ethan got to run the log splitter for awhile and took great enjoyment in doing so. If you click on the picture to see it larger, you can see his little tongue sticking out in concentration. Just like Mom!
Sunday we returned home and welcomed Jason home and that was so nice. We all had missed him so much, and I think he missed us a little too.
I'm still feeling rotten though. Emotionally speaking. I seem to be in a funk of some kind and can't break out of it. Its not unusual for me to have a bad day or two, but generally I snap out of it pretty fast. This time I'm not snapping out very fast. I feel a little better today. But underneath there is a feeling of... well, um, rage. I'm not a ragey person at all, but yeah, I would have to say that I feel immensely angry a lot of the time, just under the surface. Unfortunately, that sometimes spills out onto the family and then I feel just horrible. As to why I feel so angry, well, I don't know. Some of it is, to be honest, dealing with a baby that never sleeps during the day. At least she sleeps mostly through the night now, but all day, every day, she wants to be held constantly and I've never been good at that. I've never been one who can hold a baby for hours on end and enjoy it. I have slings and other things that make it easier to hold a baby, but its still holding a baby. For me, I need my personal space to a certain degree to remain sane. Its a constant frustration of her falling asleep in my arms, going to lay her down, and 5-10 minutes later her screaming. I will do this sometimes upwards of 10 times a day, no exaggeration. Its so frustrating because she is obviously tired and needs sleep, but cannot stay asleep during the day. I spoke to the pediatrician about it and they really had no advice other than maybe letting her self-soothe, which I guess is a code word for crying it out. But she's only 9 months old. And the few times I've had to walk away to calm down, she's kept on crying... sometimes as long as 30 minutes. She has an iron will!
So all I can do is pray and try to retain perspective and do the best I can with the situation.
On a lighter note, we've been throwing around ideas for Ethan's 5th birthday next month. He really wants to go to Chuck E Cheese's (though we've never been there before). Gwen, hilariously, calls it Chuck E Jesus. Even though we correct her, she says that Chuck E Jesus IS the correct pronunciation. Funny girl. We had told Ethan that he could invite his entire pre-school class if he wanted, but he told us he only wants to invite one person from his class of 12. I'm really surprised. He says that the other people are his friends, but he doesn't want them at his party. We aren't sure what to make of that, but I feel like I shouldn't make him invite his classmates if he doesn't want to.
Monday, February 23, 2009
A quick howdy-do
Hello, I am still alive!
Its been a long time since I last blogged. The children are back, Elsa isn't sleeping, and the past week we weren't at home. Hence my lack of blogging.
I will post more, with pictures, later tonight. Or, if not then, when the kids are in school tomorrow. I have much to say, but no time or energy to do it :)
Its been a long time since I last blogged. The children are back, Elsa isn't sleeping, and the past week we weren't at home. Hence my lack of blogging.
I will post more, with pictures, later tonight. Or, if not then, when the kids are in school tomorrow. I have much to say, but no time or energy to do it :)
Saturday, February 14, 2009
I think I'm missing them a little bit
because this picture made me tear up a little.
and for good measure, lil' E taking a bath this evening. She's almost too big for that sink!
and for good measure, lil' E taking a bath this evening. She's almost too big for that sink!
Kid-Free
Well, not quite... but close.
My Mom and Jenni took Ethan and Gwen with them to Eastern Washington to visit our family over there and to go hooky-bobbing. That means that just the wee babe is here. Its been oddly quiet and clean around here since they left. Its nice. But its strange too. Elsa definitely misses her brother and sister. She bored because there are no kids running around, no little voices to talk to her, no sibling to sit down and play with her.
Today we tackle the kid's rooms, which I'm NOT looking forward to. Its going to be a lot of work to get them back in order. But it must be done while they are gone so there is no getting around it.
The kids had Valentines Day party at school on Thursday and Ethan came home with this darling V-Day card. He wrote his first sentence in it. "I love you Mom and Dad". Oh man, its so sweet.
Jason and I went out later that night to Jak's Grill for dinner. After circling the block many times trying to find parking (there is almost none), we found some a few blocks away and got in. Then we had to wait 45 minutes for a table because they don't take reservations. Whew! But, the food was good (its one of the better steakhouses in Seattle, and well-priced too) and it was fun to get out. I love trying new restaurants. We often try new places for our nights out and really, I wouldn't want to change that. I love food, I love trying new dishes that I wouldn't try at home.
Oh! I called the kids last night to see how their trip over there went and Ethan lost a tooth! I'm a little worried because my Mom said it was one of the back ones and if its a molar, it could be very very bad. I'm praying that I misunderstood and its just an incisor. I'm rather stressed about it. I didn't worry until it was too late to call and double check what tooth fell out, so I'm going to call this morning and hopefully put my mind at ease. That kid isn't even 5 yet (next month) and is losing teeth. Geesh!
My Mom and Jenni took Ethan and Gwen with them to Eastern Washington to visit our family over there and to go hooky-bobbing. That means that just the wee babe is here. Its been oddly quiet and clean around here since they left. Its nice. But its strange too. Elsa definitely misses her brother and sister. She bored because there are no kids running around, no little voices to talk to her, no sibling to sit down and play with her.
Today we tackle the kid's rooms, which I'm NOT looking forward to. Its going to be a lot of work to get them back in order. But it must be done while they are gone so there is no getting around it.
The kids had Valentines Day party at school on Thursday and Ethan came home with this darling V-Day card. He wrote his first sentence in it. "I love you Mom and Dad". Oh man, its so sweet.
Jason and I went out later that night to Jak's Grill for dinner. After circling the block many times trying to find parking (there is almost none), we found some a few blocks away and got in. Then we had to wait 45 minutes for a table because they don't take reservations. Whew! But, the food was good (its one of the better steakhouses in Seattle, and well-priced too) and it was fun to get out. I love trying new restaurants. We often try new places for our nights out and really, I wouldn't want to change that. I love food, I love trying new dishes that I wouldn't try at home.
Oh! I called the kids last night to see how their trip over there went and Ethan lost a tooth! I'm a little worried because my Mom said it was one of the back ones and if its a molar, it could be very very bad. I'm praying that I misunderstood and its just an incisor. I'm rather stressed about it. I didn't worry until it was too late to call and double check what tooth fell out, so I'm going to call this morning and hopefully put my mind at ease. That kid isn't even 5 yet (next month) and is losing teeth. Geesh!
Wednesday, February 11, 2009
We've done well
I haven't blogged because there hasn't been time. Starting last weekend I've been in full on de-cluttering and re-organizing mode. Its consumed my every waking moment, pretty much. The changes have been GREAT.
Although my friend April reminded me, I did NOT take before and after shots because I was too focused on just getting started. Jason and I went through our clothes on Saturday and each of gave away 3 black garbage bags of clothes to Freecycle. It was a massive purge. We had to look at some hard truths and sort accordingly. But our closets are amazingly empty, our floors clear. Its awesome.
After getting that done, I started with our two bookshelves in the living room that have been a catch all since we moved here. We sold 28 movies that we no longer watched. Moved the rest that we thought we might want to watch later or are nicer boxed sets to plastic bins for garage storage. I have stacks and stacks of books that I weeded out. Some were grabbed by family. I went through all the children's books and took out the damaged ones, or ones that I thought were dull. Then I organized them all. Lovely.
Yesterday while the kids were in school I went to Walmart and got two 5x8 rugs. One for our area in front of the TV, and one for the toy area that I created. Everything has been moved around and I think once the other stuff finds its place it'll be awesome. Already Elsa adores the play area and happily plays by herself for quite a long time. Its not even been a whole day, but I can see that my hopes that giving a whole rug just to toys would encourage toys to stay there and not migrate to the rest of the house are holding true. I hope it stays that way!
There is still much to be done, namely the kid's room, which will be a serious headache. However, J and I plan on doing it while they are gone with my Mom at Aunt Daralyn's house this weekend and won't be around to complain about what is being kept or tossed :)
Sorry, I'm sure that my ramblings about my home improvement are not nearly as entertaining as I think they are!
So I will give you a picture that I think is quite entertaining. I present... Elsa's first hairstyle.
Can you see it? Its quite tiny.
This side shot shows it better
It was the tiniest ponytail ever, but it held all day!
Well, that's all for now. Back to trying to put some order into the chaos that I created when trying to make order.
EDIT:
I forgot to put in these two videos I took over the last couple days.
First, one of Ethan and Gwen being silly
And Elly crawling
Although my friend April reminded me, I did NOT take before and after shots because I was too focused on just getting started. Jason and I went through our clothes on Saturday and each of gave away 3 black garbage bags of clothes to Freecycle. It was a massive purge. We had to look at some hard truths and sort accordingly. But our closets are amazingly empty, our floors clear. Its awesome.
After getting that done, I started with our two bookshelves in the living room that have been a catch all since we moved here. We sold 28 movies that we no longer watched. Moved the rest that we thought we might want to watch later or are nicer boxed sets to plastic bins for garage storage. I have stacks and stacks of books that I weeded out. Some were grabbed by family. I went through all the children's books and took out the damaged ones, or ones that I thought were dull. Then I organized them all. Lovely.
Yesterday while the kids were in school I went to Walmart and got two 5x8 rugs. One for our area in front of the TV, and one for the toy area that I created. Everything has been moved around and I think once the other stuff finds its place it'll be awesome. Already Elsa adores the play area and happily plays by herself for quite a long time. Its not even been a whole day, but I can see that my hopes that giving a whole rug just to toys would encourage toys to stay there and not migrate to the rest of the house are holding true. I hope it stays that way!
There is still much to be done, namely the kid's room, which will be a serious headache. However, J and I plan on doing it while they are gone with my Mom at Aunt Daralyn's house this weekend and won't be around to complain about what is being kept or tossed :)
Sorry, I'm sure that my ramblings about my home improvement are not nearly as entertaining as I think they are!
So I will give you a picture that I think is quite entertaining. I present... Elsa's first hairstyle.
Can you see it? Its quite tiny.
This side shot shows it better
It was the tiniest ponytail ever, but it held all day!
Well, that's all for now. Back to trying to put some order into the chaos that I created when trying to make order.
EDIT:
I forgot to put in these two videos I took over the last couple days.
First, one of Ethan and Gwen being silly
And Elly crawling
Thursday, February 05, 2009
So tired
Ha. I'm blogging today. So there, once-a-week blogging habit. I've beaten you!
Ah hem.
Miss Elsa likes to wake early in the morning. Oh-so early. Jason usually brings her into bed before he gets ready for the day, so that's around 4:30-5am. Sometimes I can get her back to sleep, other times she's raring to go. This morning she was in bed with me at around 5:30 and then after nursing decided to scream and cry for 45 minutes for no apparent reason. Not fun! Finally I turned on the TV and that did the trick. She watched for a few minutes and then was happy as a clam. What is that about?
Last night, Ethan did something quite naughty. During nap he got up to use the bathroom and got into the hair shampoo. He made puddles of shampoo on the counters, over two clean baskets of laundry and left puddles all over the carpeting. My poor carpet. The small portion left in the entire house gets ALL the bad stuff. I was speechless with dismay when I saw it all. I got some tips on how to remove it, and today while the kids were in school I *think* I got most of it up by scraping it up first and then scraping off the foam from when I wet and blotted the spots on the carpet. I'm going to go back over it with my carpet cleaner as well and see if I can't suck the rest of it out of the carpet.
After school today we went over to Mom's house for our semi-regular Thursday visit. I guess her and Aunt Deanne have been seeing quite a few wild animals (bear, cougar and lynx) lately, so the kids did NOT venture outside alone.
Tonight for dinner, I'm making a recipe from one of my favorite food blogs, The Pioneer Woman. We're having her "My Most Favorite Burger Ever", except I just can't make patties that are 1lb each. That is WRONG. No one needs to eat a pound of beef. No one should want to either.
Ah hem.
Miss Elsa likes to wake early in the morning. Oh-so early. Jason usually brings her into bed before he gets ready for the day, so that's around 4:30-5am. Sometimes I can get her back to sleep, other times she's raring to go. This morning she was in bed with me at around 5:30 and then after nursing decided to scream and cry for 45 minutes for no apparent reason. Not fun! Finally I turned on the TV and that did the trick. She watched for a few minutes and then was happy as a clam. What is that about?
Last night, Ethan did something quite naughty. During nap he got up to use the bathroom and got into the hair shampoo. He made puddles of shampoo on the counters, over two clean baskets of laundry and left puddles all over the carpeting. My poor carpet. The small portion left in the entire house gets ALL the bad stuff. I was speechless with dismay when I saw it all. I got some tips on how to remove it, and today while the kids were in school I *think* I got most of it up by scraping it up first and then scraping off the foam from when I wet and blotted the spots on the carpet. I'm going to go back over it with my carpet cleaner as well and see if I can't suck the rest of it out of the carpet.
After school today we went over to Mom's house for our semi-regular Thursday visit. I guess her and Aunt Deanne have been seeing quite a few wild animals (bear, cougar and lynx) lately, so the kids did NOT venture outside alone.
Tonight for dinner, I'm making a recipe from one of my favorite food blogs, The Pioneer Woman. We're having her "My Most Favorite Burger Ever", except I just can't make patties that are 1lb each. That is WRONG. No one needs to eat a pound of beef. No one should want to either.
Wednesday, February 04, 2009
Lazy blogger
I want to do better people, I really really do. And its not like there has been a shortage of things to blog about... but, like keeping my house neat and tidy, it just doesn't get done most days.
Here's what I'm most excited about at the moment. I'm having my wisdom teeth removed. Yah, I'm excited about it. Weird, I know! After I saw my teeth on an x-ray and realized how impacted they were, it kinda clicked with me. Increasing frequency of migraine/severe headache over the past years. Often accompanied by neck, ear, and jaw pain... hmmm. I have high hopes that having them removed will decrease my headaches. I'm getting it done March 2nd. I only wish it could be sooner!
So guess who is a crawling machine? Elsa! She's doing amazing. Just last week she started doing the army crawl, much to the glee of her siblings. She is pretty swift at it too. The last few days she's been up on her knees and taking a few crawls before going back to the army style, so she's almost there. I have some video I need to edit and then will upload so you can see her in action.
I also feel some sharp nubs on her gums finally! I'm hoping that we'll have teeth here soon. She's also saying Dada, baba, Mama, and some other sounds... talking our ears off.
Ethan and Gwen are doing great in school and with soccer. Gwen is excelling in penmanship and consistently gets high marks in her class for her attentiveness and ability to follow rules and direction. She adores her teachers and never fails to give them great running hugs whenever she sees them (in school or otherwise).
Ethan is doing well also, though he struggles with writing. I'm practicing with him, but he frustrates easily. I'm not pushing him however. He's still young and I don't want to burn him out or make him feel like its hopeless. He's getting really good at picking words out and I think I may start working with him on reading soon. He is totally immersed with Lego, Star Wars and Indiana Jones right now. Its all he talks about, and his imaginative play revolves around those things. Sometimes I just have to ask him to stop talking for a little bit because I simply cannot answer another question about Star Wars, especially when I know next to nothing anyway. I should have him call an expert like Aunt Becki or Aunt Jenni. In fact, that's a very good idea.... ;)
Perhaps its the recent string of good weather, but I'm feeling weighed down by all the stuff in our house. I recently read a book on organization and de-cluttering and I'm inspired. I'm going to tackle a room at a time, put some thought and effort to making it easier to keep clean and organized, and weed out all the extras. Gwen and Elsa, in particular, have WAY too many clothes. Gwen does not need 20 pairs of leggings! One of the reasons that I'm never caught up with laundry is that there is always overflowing baskets for the girls and it takes me an hour to put away. I seldom have an hour free for that, so it never gets done. That's going to stop. I'm also weeding out our books, DVDs, CD's and what not. I'm tired of every surface being stacked with something. Enough!
Last night I attended a sewing class at Calvary Chapel and had fun. Right now its just me, another lady that I know from pre-school and MOPS, a young girl, and the teacher. I'm a little ahead of the others as far as knowledge and skills, but I'm still eager to pick up tips and tricks and learn what I can. Our next project will be making a pair of pajama pants (something I haven't done), and I really want to pick the teachers brain about how to modify patterns for individual bodies. I have things I want to make, but my measurements put me in three different sizes, thus the finished product is always too big somewhere and too small somewhere else. I think it'll be fun.
We just came in from a busy day of dropping E off at school, library, picking E up from school and then playing the park for a couple of hours. I'm worn out, and the house is a disaster. Jason just IM'd me that he's headed home, so I must get off the computer and make it look like I've been productive today :)
Here's to hoping that I can break my once-a-week blogging habit and post again soon!
Here's what I'm most excited about at the moment. I'm having my wisdom teeth removed. Yah, I'm excited about it. Weird, I know! After I saw my teeth on an x-ray and realized how impacted they were, it kinda clicked with me. Increasing frequency of migraine/severe headache over the past years. Often accompanied by neck, ear, and jaw pain... hmmm. I have high hopes that having them removed will decrease my headaches. I'm getting it done March 2nd. I only wish it could be sooner!
So guess who is a crawling machine? Elsa! She's doing amazing. Just last week she started doing the army crawl, much to the glee of her siblings. She is pretty swift at it too. The last few days she's been up on her knees and taking a few crawls before going back to the army style, so she's almost there. I have some video I need to edit and then will upload so you can see her in action.
I also feel some sharp nubs on her gums finally! I'm hoping that we'll have teeth here soon. She's also saying Dada, baba, Mama, and some other sounds... talking our ears off.
Ethan and Gwen are doing great in school and with soccer. Gwen is excelling in penmanship and consistently gets high marks in her class for her attentiveness and ability to follow rules and direction. She adores her teachers and never fails to give them great running hugs whenever she sees them (in school or otherwise).
Ethan is doing well also, though he struggles with writing. I'm practicing with him, but he frustrates easily. I'm not pushing him however. He's still young and I don't want to burn him out or make him feel like its hopeless. He's getting really good at picking words out and I think I may start working with him on reading soon. He is totally immersed with Lego, Star Wars and Indiana Jones right now. Its all he talks about, and his imaginative play revolves around those things. Sometimes I just have to ask him to stop talking for a little bit because I simply cannot answer another question about Star Wars, especially when I know next to nothing anyway. I should have him call an expert like Aunt Becki or Aunt Jenni. In fact, that's a very good idea.... ;)
Perhaps its the recent string of good weather, but I'm feeling weighed down by all the stuff in our house. I recently read a book on organization and de-cluttering and I'm inspired. I'm going to tackle a room at a time, put some thought and effort to making it easier to keep clean and organized, and weed out all the extras. Gwen and Elsa, in particular, have WAY too many clothes. Gwen does not need 20 pairs of leggings! One of the reasons that I'm never caught up with laundry is that there is always overflowing baskets for the girls and it takes me an hour to put away. I seldom have an hour free for that, so it never gets done. That's going to stop. I'm also weeding out our books, DVDs, CD's and what not. I'm tired of every surface being stacked with something. Enough!
Last night I attended a sewing class at Calvary Chapel and had fun. Right now its just me, another lady that I know from pre-school and MOPS, a young girl, and the teacher. I'm a little ahead of the others as far as knowledge and skills, but I'm still eager to pick up tips and tricks and learn what I can. Our next project will be making a pair of pajama pants (something I haven't done), and I really want to pick the teachers brain about how to modify patterns for individual bodies. I have things I want to make, but my measurements put me in three different sizes, thus the finished product is always too big somewhere and too small somewhere else. I think it'll be fun.
We just came in from a busy day of dropping E off at school, library, picking E up from school and then playing the park for a couple of hours. I'm worn out, and the house is a disaster. Jason just IM'd me that he's headed home, so I must get off the computer and make it look like I've been productive today :)
Here's to hoping that I can break my once-a-week blogging habit and post again soon!
Monday, January 26, 2009
"Later today" ends up meaning 4 days later
Funny how that works... best laid plans often get mussed up with 3 kids and what seems easy to do in a few hours gets put off 4 days!
So here are, without further ado, some recent pics.
Ethan lugging our diaper/entertainment bag from the hotel to the car. It was heavy, but he's a trooper
Cousin Tyler with Elly
Cousin Tyler and cousin Matthew
Gwen and Grandma
Some of the kids playing during the get-together
Aunt Christy with Elly
Elsa on my lap opening a present
Gwen and cousin Jamie playing with a princess cd player
They both found it fascinating
I thought I had more pictures of our get-together, but I guess not. Christy or Ang, if you have more send them to me!
These are from the kid's first soccer practice
Coach Rich instructing the kids on some ground rules
Whenever Coach says, "Orange line!", all the kids have to run over there and put their toes on the line. Helps him maintain order :)
Poor Elsa wasn't feeling well
Gwen making sure Coach Rich saw her mad soccer skillz
I really don't like how our camera takes pictures in fluorescent lighting. Bah. Anyway, they're up now!
Today I hauled everyone to the store for grocery shopping. Luckily, this time when I got home, a whole gallon of milk didn't spill out of my cargo area and break open on my feet and spread milk all over my pants and sidewalk like last week. That was not fun! And it happened right in front of a bunch of people too which only added to my embarrassment.
Baby has been sleeping a lot better, well, at night anyway. Thank you Lord!
So here are, without further ado, some recent pics.
Ethan lugging our diaper/entertainment bag from the hotel to the car. It was heavy, but he's a trooper
Cousin Tyler with Elly
Cousin Tyler and cousin Matthew
Gwen and Grandma
Some of the kids playing during the get-together
Aunt Christy with Elly
Elsa on my lap opening a present
Gwen and cousin Jamie playing with a princess cd player
They both found it fascinating
I thought I had more pictures of our get-together, but I guess not. Christy or Ang, if you have more send them to me!
These are from the kid's first soccer practice
Coach Rich instructing the kids on some ground rules
Whenever Coach says, "Orange line!", all the kids have to run over there and put their toes on the line. Helps him maintain order :)
Poor Elsa wasn't feeling well
Gwen making sure Coach Rich saw her mad soccer skillz
I really don't like how our camera takes pictures in fluorescent lighting. Bah. Anyway, they're up now!
Today I hauled everyone to the store for grocery shopping. Luckily, this time when I got home, a whole gallon of milk didn't spill out of my cargo area and break open on my feet and spread milk all over my pants and sidewalk like last week. That was not fun! And it happened right in front of a bunch of people too which only added to my embarrassment.
Baby has been sleeping a lot better, well, at night anyway. Thank you Lord!
Thursday, January 22, 2009
This posting once a week thing has to stop
It makes it hard for me to blog because I know that its going to take forever and a day!
I will work backwards through our last week. Friday we left for Spokane and the trip went fairly well. The kids were in quite a mood and fought most the way though. Elsa didn't help by crying the last hour or so either. The weather was fine, but very foggy in spots.
On our way in, we stopped by Josh & Amber's house (Holly was there too!) to visit and drop off clothes for Lindy. We'd never been to their house before and I'd never been to Fairchild AFB. We really enjoyed it and I was impressed with all the amenities that are on base. It was good seeing everyone and how much the babies have grown. And I got to meet Brooke too, the newest addition to the family at only 8 weeks old! Good times.
After that we headed over for a quick visit with Grandma, Aunt Angela and cousins Jamie and Matthew. The kids were so excited about seeing their cousins! After running around and playing, our very weary crew headed for our hotel and crashed for the night.
Saturday we ran a few errands around town and then had our (delayed) Christmas celebration at Grandma's house. I do have pictures, but my camera is in the car and I'm too lazy to go out and get it. Later today I'll try to put up the pictures.
We had such a good time visiting with our Spokane area family and seeing how much all the kids have grown. Our kids really love their cousins, even though they don't get to see them that often and everyone plays so well together.
After the festivities, we headed back to the hotel and had a pretty dreadful night. Elsa didn't sleep, Ethan fell out of the bed and banged his face on the nightstand, etc. etc. Its never good to get almost no sleep when you have a long drive the next day. Unfortunately, the kids were really naughty on the way home and by the time we arrived I was feeling quite rage-y and irritated with everyone! I hate that.
Monday, my Mom and Jenni, bless their hearts, came over to watch the kids while I grocery shopped. Oh, the pleasures of a fully stocked fridge and pantry. Love it!
The kids all came down with a cold though. Elsa has it the worst. The kids were mostly healed up after a day, but their noses are still a bit runny. Everyone had a fever the first day, along with cough and congestion, then the fever eases and so does the cough and the nose seems the last to go. Elsa is past the fever stage but the cough hasn't gone away and her nose is constantly running. She's right on the border of needing to see a doctor, but I'm not sure what they would do for her if we did bring her in. Most of the time it doesn't bother her (she breathes without issue), but like last night, she gets into a coughing fit for like 30 min and gets very upset (who wouldn't?). As you might imagine, her sleeping has been exceedingly poor.
Tuesday I made a recipe from the Top Chef cookbook (Top Chef is a GREAT competitive cooking show, way better than say Hells Kitchen which is barely about cooking at all). Most of the recipes are complicated and overly fussy for a home cook, but this one, Moroccan Cubanos, sounded good. The recipe I linked to has the stone fruit chutney which is NOT in the cookbook and I didn't make it, but I did make the pickled veggies, which are really very tasty. While everything tasted good, it wasn't exceedingly good and likely won't be repeated. I did like the instructions on doing a quick pickle though and may use that again. Tonight I'm making Red Curry Chicken from the same cookbook, with a few substitutions because its hard to find kaffir lime leaves and galangal in my suburban grocery stores :)
Wednesday the kids had their first soccer practice (yep, I have pics, but they're in the car....). There are only 4 kids in the class and the kids were all over the place, but I think they'll have fun. Ethan is the oldest of the 4 and he was cracking us up the whole time. He had the answer to everything. Coach asks, "What is the first rule of soccer?". Ethan says, "I know! Don't step on people". Coach says, "Well that is true too, but the first rule is not to use your hands". Ethan, "Ok, but don't step on people too". Later, he ripped his hangnail a bit and interrupted Coach to show him. Coach says, "Do you want to show your Mommy?". Ethan replied, "Oh, she already saw it and said it was ok". Then all the other kids had to come up to the Coach and tell him that they had a cold or an owie or whatever. Oh man, it was hilarious. I'm sure further weeks will bring more actual playing and less of these conversations, or maybe not. Either way, its good exercise and experience for them. We've noticed that Ethan is not terribly coordinated. Poor little guy was tripping all over the place, while Gwen could almost stand on her ball without falling. I sense that in a year or two we'll need to start separating them for sporting events (that'll happen naturally anyway I guess) because Ethan will be intimidated by Gwen's natural ability. Ethan is much better than Gwen at a lot of things, but physical grace and ability is full in Gwen's court.
Wee baby Elsa did NOT sleep well last night and so once again we are sleep deprived. She also does not want to be out of my arms. Yesterday I had to hold her for two hours while she napped because me even making a movement that could be construed by her as laying her down caused her to wake up crying. I'm not handling it well to be honest. I'm hard pressed to describe my feelings. Its frustration, irritation, even some anger. Because of no napping, my hobbies, things that bring me a lot of satisfaction, haven't been touched since Thanksgiving. I resent that. I resent that every day I'm unable to enjoy things but just want to lock myself in a dark room for some peace and quiet and alone time. These things shall pass, I know. But I'm really having a hard time with it right now. I did not expect that my youngest child would never sleep during the day.
I will work backwards through our last week. Friday we left for Spokane and the trip went fairly well. The kids were in quite a mood and fought most the way though. Elsa didn't help by crying the last hour or so either. The weather was fine, but very foggy in spots.
On our way in, we stopped by Josh & Amber's house (Holly was there too!) to visit and drop off clothes for Lindy. We'd never been to their house before and I'd never been to Fairchild AFB. We really enjoyed it and I was impressed with all the amenities that are on base. It was good seeing everyone and how much the babies have grown. And I got to meet Brooke too, the newest addition to the family at only 8 weeks old! Good times.
After that we headed over for a quick visit with Grandma, Aunt Angela and cousins Jamie and Matthew. The kids were so excited about seeing their cousins! After running around and playing, our very weary crew headed for our hotel and crashed for the night.
Saturday we ran a few errands around town and then had our (delayed) Christmas celebration at Grandma's house. I do have pictures, but my camera is in the car and I'm too lazy to go out and get it. Later today I'll try to put up the pictures.
We had such a good time visiting with our Spokane area family and seeing how much all the kids have grown. Our kids really love their cousins, even though they don't get to see them that often and everyone plays so well together.
After the festivities, we headed back to the hotel and had a pretty dreadful night. Elsa didn't sleep, Ethan fell out of the bed and banged his face on the nightstand, etc. etc. Its never good to get almost no sleep when you have a long drive the next day. Unfortunately, the kids were really naughty on the way home and by the time we arrived I was feeling quite rage-y and irritated with everyone! I hate that.
Monday, my Mom and Jenni, bless their hearts, came over to watch the kids while I grocery shopped. Oh, the pleasures of a fully stocked fridge and pantry. Love it!
The kids all came down with a cold though. Elsa has it the worst. The kids were mostly healed up after a day, but their noses are still a bit runny. Everyone had a fever the first day, along with cough and congestion, then the fever eases and so does the cough and the nose seems the last to go. Elsa is past the fever stage but the cough hasn't gone away and her nose is constantly running. She's right on the border of needing to see a doctor, but I'm not sure what they would do for her if we did bring her in. Most of the time it doesn't bother her (she breathes without issue), but like last night, she gets into a coughing fit for like 30 min and gets very upset (who wouldn't?). As you might imagine, her sleeping has been exceedingly poor.
Tuesday I made a recipe from the Top Chef cookbook (Top Chef is a GREAT competitive cooking show, way better than say Hells Kitchen which is barely about cooking at all). Most of the recipes are complicated and overly fussy for a home cook, but this one, Moroccan Cubanos, sounded good. The recipe I linked to has the stone fruit chutney which is NOT in the cookbook and I didn't make it, but I did make the pickled veggies, which are really very tasty. While everything tasted good, it wasn't exceedingly good and likely won't be repeated. I did like the instructions on doing a quick pickle though and may use that again. Tonight I'm making Red Curry Chicken from the same cookbook, with a few substitutions because its hard to find kaffir lime leaves and galangal in my suburban grocery stores :)
Wednesday the kids had their first soccer practice (yep, I have pics, but they're in the car....). There are only 4 kids in the class and the kids were all over the place, but I think they'll have fun. Ethan is the oldest of the 4 and he was cracking us up the whole time. He had the answer to everything. Coach asks, "What is the first rule of soccer?". Ethan says, "I know! Don't step on people". Coach says, "Well that is true too, but the first rule is not to use your hands". Ethan, "Ok, but don't step on people too". Later, he ripped his hangnail a bit and interrupted Coach to show him. Coach says, "Do you want to show your Mommy?". Ethan replied, "Oh, she already saw it and said it was ok". Then all the other kids had to come up to the Coach and tell him that they had a cold or an owie or whatever. Oh man, it was hilarious. I'm sure further weeks will bring more actual playing and less of these conversations, or maybe not. Either way, its good exercise and experience for them. We've noticed that Ethan is not terribly coordinated. Poor little guy was tripping all over the place, while Gwen could almost stand on her ball without falling. I sense that in a year or two we'll need to start separating them for sporting events (that'll happen naturally anyway I guess) because Ethan will be intimidated by Gwen's natural ability. Ethan is much better than Gwen at a lot of things, but physical grace and ability is full in Gwen's court.
Wee baby Elsa did NOT sleep well last night and so once again we are sleep deprived. She also does not want to be out of my arms. Yesterday I had to hold her for two hours while she napped because me even making a movement that could be construed by her as laying her down caused her to wake up crying. I'm not handling it well to be honest. I'm hard pressed to describe my feelings. Its frustration, irritation, even some anger. Because of no napping, my hobbies, things that bring me a lot of satisfaction, haven't been touched since Thanksgiving. I resent that. I resent that every day I'm unable to enjoy things but just want to lock myself in a dark room for some peace and quiet and alone time. These things shall pass, I know. But I'm really having a hard time with it right now. I did not expect that my youngest child would never sleep during the day.
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