Weekend of 3/26/10

This weekend we took it easy with the kids as a precaution with their tubes. We didn't travel to Troy (as I really wanted to) or go to Spencerville for Jim's family Easter (first holiday we've ever missed). We didn't do an Easter Egg Hunt for the first time - too cold and wet and didn't want to take ill kids out in it.

We did do some things though:

1) tried the Hot and Ready $5 large pizza from our local Little Ceaser's. It was "okay". Certainly a good value at $5 but we'd pay more for better quality pizza if we had the time to wait for it.

2) I stopped nursing Chris for a variety of reasons: a) he's an avid biter. So bad, in fact, that when Nicole was playing pretend with her dolls she scolded her angel for biting; b) he was taking an 8oz bottle consistently and in March moved to drinking anywhere between 1-8oz per meal. While this change probably marked an end to a growth spurt this fluctuation was physically a difficult for my production to keep up with; c) he gets very distracted now. Even if I take him to a quiet place that's just us he would break away every few seconds to look around. Oftentimes teeth were involved in breaking off.

I feel guilty though.... Nicole got another month (10 months) compared to him.... part of me thinks I should tough it out with the biting.... Chris hasn't tried to nurse since we stopped on Friday so I'm taking it that he's fine with it. I'm only in a little discomfort as my body's adjusting. I'm reminding myself I achieved my 6 month goal and then some. Jim's supportive either way and listened patiently while I lamented a bit last night.

3) I attended a bridal shower for my second cousin and a baby shower for my neighbor. I determined that fondant icing is not good to eat but is pretty to look at.

4) patio furniture shopping is in full swing. So far I've ruled out Furniture Fair, Home Depot, Wal-Mart, and Sam's. Costco hasn't gotten their full inventory in yet so I'll need to go back. Target, Lowes, Watson's, Menards, Garden Ridge, and the Frontgate outlet are next on the "to shop" list. If I can find the time I'd like to go to Pottery Barn and Patio & Hearth too.

5) we bought the honey-glazed ham for Easter!

Friday Friday

Tubes went well yesterday. We had to be at the hospital at 6:15am but Children's is like the pinnacle of efficiency so we never had any down-time to read the books or watch videos on the laptop we lugged there and back. Both kids woke up grumpy from anesthesia, slept for 2+ hours once they got home, but were back to their normal selves by the afternoon. They both DETEST the ear drops we have to put in 3X/day (doctor told us they would sting). This means that we're dispensing doses of medicine 14 times a day to one kid or another for one ailment or another.

Jim and I are watching LIFE on Discovery - fantastic!

I watched Hoarding: Buried Alive on TLC and one part of it almost made me gag. I'm not sure why watching other people's mental ailments intrigues me so..... I get wrapped up in Intervention too.

Jazzercise is sometimes killing me - I try to really push it and not slack so I'm a sweaty mess at the end of it. There are these ab things we have to do with leg bounces and then bicycles. OMG. I'll be sad when my Groupon ends mid-April but it's too expensive to keep up for just 1/week.

Nicole's big thing when she's upset is to tell me "that doesn't make me happy". It's funny to hear because she sounds all pathetic when she says it so I try really hard to not smile while she's clearly "traumatized" over my clothing suggestion, ear drop requirement, or turning off of Dora.

Chris - 9 month update

It's a month later already! WOW!

Most of Chris's developments have been physical in the last month. Here's some things he can do:

1) bop his mouth like an Indian
2) shake his head 'no'
3) give 5 and double 5
4) accurately use his pincer grasp
5) wave "bye"

Of course he does these things when he wants to, not when I ask him to show off to friends/family.

He's very nosey now that he fully grasps object permanence. He's constantly leaning out of my arms to grab at something.

He's so close (1 week away?) to crawling - he can get up on all fours and rock; he can push himself backwards or in a circle; but not actually move forward. It's a double-edged sword of wanting him to accomplish the milestone and dreading the added responsibility of a mobile child.

Nicole continues to love and dote on him. She fed him a sour cream and onion chip yesterday and proudly announced "Mommy, I shared with Chris!". Great....

Most fun purchase at the mother's sale

A new, in-box tent for $5.

The whole family (at times all four of us!) has been in this thing every day since I bought it Saturday morning.

4 Days since my last post- eh....

• How Nicole switches on a dime from full-blown tantrum to totally calm and pleasant is beyond me.
• I went to Jazzercise and really worked it. I was sweaty, drank a full bottle of water, and actually *gasp* felt refreshed at the end. What's happening with this working out thing is that I now feel guilty just doing it one day a week. I don't feel guilty while I'm sitting on the couch watching Cake Boss, I feel guilty when I'm at work thinking back about how I should be working out more.
• Both kids are cleared for tubes in their ears. Surgery is next Thursday.
• There's a mother's sale tomorrow at Lakota. It's at 7:30am. Are the deals worth getting on the road at 6:30am? hmmmmmmmmm
• A few nights ago I pulled out new clothes for Chris. My not-yet-9-month-old is comfortably wearing 18 month clothing now. *sigh*
• My neighbor is home from the hospital and I feel bad that I never went to see her while she was actually admitted.
• We bought granite for the kitchen! Next project: landscaping
• Chris is eating pureed spinach and it looks GROSS. He's gotten very good at dried puffs and Cheerios but still spits out any other solid food like scrambled eggs, pancake, etc.
• Today's Jim's last day of traing for his new job. LONG hours, lots more work than the last job, but so far so good.

Weekend of 3/12/10

• DVRed and watched "Parenthood" - good show. Good acting. Will be watching in the future. It makes me want to have four kids so they can grow up and be friends like the characters are....
• Went to the aquarium yesterday with the kids and mom - fun times! Nicole slept for 4.5 hours straight upon returning home; Chris slept 4.
• We upped Chris to the full-size car seat yesterday because he'd outgrown the pumpkin seat. He looks so cute in his new seat. I'm not even sad that he's outgrown the baby seat. :) Points for the mom with emotions in check!
• Met Karen C.'s new beau on Friday. REALLY liked him. Even more, I liked how much he obviously likes her.
• Greg and Jenna told us about the very conservative priest they met with at the church they wanted to be married at. I'm STILL shaking my head at the interaction and I didn't even experience it first-hand. I FULLY understand and respect why the church is clinging tight to the morals they value. I DO NOT understand why ANYONE needs to be rude in expressing their opinion.
• Nicole and I taught Chris to shake his head "no" while Jim was judging the science fair on Saturday morning. He's so funny when he does it and I think he makes himself a bit dizzy because he shakes so quickly. This means in the last three weeks he's learned to wave, give 5 and shake his head. No crawling yet though...
• I was in baby food making mode this weekend too - carrots, sweet potatoes, mango, tomato, banana, avocado, black beans, peas and a new one for me - spinach. Pureed spinach looks DISGUSTING- it's green/almost black in color which is just totally weird to see as baby food. It's so healthy though.... Anyway, I tried it out on him yesterday for dinner and ... HE LIKES IT!
• Nicole is wearing overalls today. I just love overalls on kids.

Geez, people

I got up at 11pm last night to throw up. It was pretty random, painfully acidic, and after another half hour of generic nauseousness, totally over. In fact, if my throat wasn't' burning this morning as a result I'd wonder if I dreamed the whole thing.

EVERY man I've mentioned this to has the same conclusion: "maybe you're pregnant". The women don't say this. They ask if I feel okay today. All the guys though say that and then just stare at me with this coy smile.

For the record, I'm not pregnant.

Happenings

Watching

• Jim and I watched LOST yesterday on DVR. I have no idea where that show is going....
• I still have the Olympics on DVR but with each passing day I consider more strongly just deleting it.
• My co-worker offered to lend me The Exorcism of Emily Rose which Jim has watched and claimed was one of the scariest movies he's ever seen. As I have 0 desire to watch a movie that's scary in the least (my mind is creative enough on it's own in a house that's still settling and full of noises), this will never enter my "to watch" list.

Nicole-isms

• "I'm sorry. I didn't mean to"
• Negotiating. Especially when it comes to how many books to read at night. We're all about making deals too - she gets one last drink before bed, I close the bedroom door before she goes to sleep is a common one.
• Saying numbers and showing me how many fingers that constitutes
• Dancing crazy and announcing (correctly) "I'm making Chris smile!"
• Saying things with a southern accent - where is this coming from!?
• Coming to our room to sleep at 1am

My World

• I have my midterm this week at school - class is more than half over already! wow!
• That Matt Nathanson song "Come On Get Higher" is stuck in my head all the time
• So many of my good friends are suddenly in relationships it's making ME feel "butterfly-y" for them
• We went to the home and garden show downtown this weekend - projects we're considering include landscape lighting all around the house, large-scale landscaping & granite countertops. I guess this is why we work....

Wednesday morning

Went to the ENT specialist today. Both kids are getting tubes in their ears. Though it's classified as "surgery" and both will be knocked out, I'm not really concerned. Whole thing is about 2 minutes per ear so not that involved obviously.

Jim's new job has led to some interesting conversations that when I retold them they had my coworker laughing so hard he was crying this morning. :)

We are officially locked and loaded for vacation this year. This is where we're staying. My boss told me though that with tubes in their ears neither kid can go swimming.... uh....

Is anyone else's week going slow?

Last Night's Antics

Nicole, as I've mentioned before, changes classrooms 5 times to get different subjects. Sometimes she gets on kicks from one of the teachers and (this makes me happy) they're often from previous months of lessons versus what she's immediately learning now.

Lately Nicole's kick is continents (which she can point to on a map):

(In February they learned about the body (muscles, bones, brain), the letters L-O-V-E, fractions, animals from around the world, and art projects using hearts.)

Chris LOVES bath time because of all the splashing.

Not sure how it happened but this morning when I came to wake him up he'd somehow worked one of his arms out of his PJs.... yes, they were still zipped all the way up with the snap zipper flap still fastened....