Woke up, got out of bed. Dragged a comb across my head. Found my way downstairs and drank a cup, And looking up I noticed I was late....
Sorry, when I wrote the title of this post I of course thought of this song. And, of course, this is not how my day started because I have not yet combed my hair and when you have no life you're never late for anything!
But I have already made a trip to Africa (Acticra if you want to talk like Owen) to go on a safari and eat bubble gum ice cream. So, it has been a pretty exciting day after all. It went a little something like this...
6am- Both kids woke up early after an agonizing night of continuously waking up with Sutton (combination of new teeth, a cold and sore throat, and forgetting his baby pillow in Tucson)
6:02-7:00- I have to admit that I was a grumpy bear this morning and spent most of the first hour nagging at Colin. Mostly for "always" leaving the syrup out and "never" doing the dishes (two words I know I shouldn't use)... to which he replied that he only uses syrup once a month. I muttered something about how he must then just get it out to torment me. (don't I sound pleasant). Owen and Colin took a shower and ate breakfast while I fed and played with Sutton. Colin left for work at 7.
7:00- Made coffee. Poured coffee. Had to reheat coffee numerous times before I had the time to actually drink it while it was still hot. Also played with the boys, did dishes, and sang songs with Owen for Sutton. Owen ate a grapefruit, which he for some reason kept accidently calling a lemon, which made us both laugh.
8:00- Owen decided he wanted to go for a trip. So, we packed our bags (which ended up being filled with only play food) and left on an airplane/laundry basket for Africa. While in Africa we ate all the food we brought along, went on a jeep ride and saw lots of animals, and ran into baby Sutton. Owen said his favorite part of the trip was eating bubble gum ice cream (how has he ever heard of such a thing???). We then "flew" home and put all the food back in Owen's kitchen. Lately, in order to get Owen to help clean up we play riddly, riddly, ree and he has to pick up whatever it is that I see after he guesses it. This takes way longer than if he would just clean up, but at least we have fun, kind of learn, and get his room sort of picked up. :)
(Don't worry... Sutton wasn't just being ignored during this whole time)
8:45- Sutton went down for his morning nap. He was VERY tired from waking up too early, but I didn't want to get him too far off schedule, so I kep him up until as close to the normal 9:00 as possible. I then caved into Owen's plea to watch one of his shows. I think it was Clifford. Then we "had" to watch Curious George. OK, Owen. By this time I was already exhausted and used this time to peacefully check emails. The person who I interviewed with wants to know if I am available to relocate to Florida. Am I? I don't even know.
10:00- Owen and I take turns "sneaking up" on eachother to do dinosaur tickles. This is his favorite thing to do right now. This then turns into a game of hide-and-seek.
10:45- Yeah! Sutton took a really long morning nap and wakes up happy! I feed him while Owen colors on his doodle pro.
11:15- We go to McDonalds (Hey you, stop judging me!!!) and bring chicken nuggets and a cheeseburger to the park to have a picnic. Thanks to the new $1 4 pack, you can now get 8 nuggets for less than 6. This puzzles me. While we were at the park Owen plays with a 4 year old and a 5 year old boy (Owen was by far the biggest). They play hide and seek. Side note: this 5 year old was hilarious! He was so bossy, but Owen totally didn't mind. He told me that he just turned "the big 5", that his sister is 20 and "she's getting really old", and that his mom is "oh wait, let me go ask her...... she says she's 46. That's REALLY old." After playing hide-and-seek, they pretend to be firemen. Pretty cute stuff. Sutton seemed to really enjoy the fresh air and watching the kids play. He also enjoyed spitting up all over himself, my pants, and my camera.
12:45- We came home, read a story, and now.... wait for it.... I think I actually have two sleeping children! I'm not sure, Owen's pretty good at faking it, but I haven't heard a peep and it's now 1:30!
So, I know that I haven't posted pictures for a while. But I've been feeling pretty lazy. Not that it's hard to just plug the camera into the computer. We'll see if I'm up for it later. Maybe I'll edit them into this post. And, i guess "A Day in the Life" isn't really accurate since I only described a morning. But it seems like it's been at least a week since I woke up this morning. My mom is coming tonight and she's a pretty big sucker for her grandkids, so maybe I'll get some sleep tonight. Here's hoping!
Wednesday, February 20, 2008
Tuesday, February 19, 2008
Thank You Prunes!!!!
Warning: this post falls under the category of "Way too much information"
Some of you may already know (only because I complain to anyone who will listen) that Owen has had a HUGE problem with pooping for a really long time. We're talking once a week! How he held it this long... I don't know. Basically it started to hurt him to go, which caused him to hold it in as long as possible, which of course then continued the cycle. And when he would finally go the sheer size and density of his poop would clog the toilet. EVERY TIME! I expressed concern to his doctor many times; he would just tell me that it was normal and that I should have him sit on the toilet more often. Aagghhhhh! Didn't he know that I already had to physically force him onto the toilet and hold him there and it wasn't helping?
So, I printed out some more of our old potty charts, this time with specific ones for #1 and #2. Five #1 stickers and he gets to paint, 5 #2 stickers and he gets to go to Blockbuster. And I started bribing him onto the toilet with lollipops (all this bribery can't be good parenting, but I didn't know what else to do!). Well, a week and 7 lollipops later, the #2 chart was still empty. We've been giving him prune juice for months, which hasn't helped at all. Finally I bought actual prunes.... and SUCCESS!!! He loves them and eats 4-5 a day. It worked immediately. This was almost 12 days ago and he's gone 5 times. Which for him is a miracle. Yesterday we went and rented Land Before Time.
If you haven't noticed the tone of my recent posts... let me tell you that this has elevated the mood of our entire household! Before this miracle, days 3-6 of Owen not pooping would be unbearable and Owen would spend half of them crying (this might be a bit of an exaggeration, but it is how I remember it) and now sitting on the toilet is no big deal and we are all so much happier for it!
I have no idea why I felt the need to share all this, but I think some day maybe I'll want to remember that dealing with poop consumed at least a third of my daily life for a little while.
Some of you may already know (only because I complain to anyone who will listen) that Owen has had a HUGE problem with pooping for a really long time. We're talking once a week! How he held it this long... I don't know. Basically it started to hurt him to go, which caused him to hold it in as long as possible, which of course then continued the cycle. And when he would finally go the sheer size and density of his poop would clog the toilet. EVERY TIME! I expressed concern to his doctor many times; he would just tell me that it was normal and that I should have him sit on the toilet more often. Aagghhhhh! Didn't he know that I already had to physically force him onto the toilet and hold him there and it wasn't helping?
So, I printed out some more of our old potty charts, this time with specific ones for #1 and #2. Five #1 stickers and he gets to paint, 5 #2 stickers and he gets to go to Blockbuster. And I started bribing him onto the toilet with lollipops (all this bribery can't be good parenting, but I didn't know what else to do!). Well, a week and 7 lollipops later, the #2 chart was still empty. We've been giving him prune juice for months, which hasn't helped at all. Finally I bought actual prunes.... and SUCCESS!!! He loves them and eats 4-5 a day. It worked immediately. This was almost 12 days ago and he's gone 5 times. Which for him is a miracle. Yesterday we went and rented Land Before Time.
If you haven't noticed the tone of my recent posts... let me tell you that this has elevated the mood of our entire household! Before this miracle, days 3-6 of Owen not pooping would be unbearable and Owen would spend half of them crying (this might be a bit of an exaggeration, but it is how I remember it) and now sitting on the toilet is no big deal and we are all so much happier for it!
I have no idea why I felt the need to share all this, but I think some day maybe I'll want to remember that dealing with poop consumed at least a third of my daily life for a little while.
Sunday, February 17, 2008
An absolutely wonderful, positively perfect, especially terrific day
When I made my Valentine's post I didn't have time to go into detail about how absolutely wonderful, positively perfect, especially terrific our day was (fyi: that description is from one of our favorite bedtime stories, Owen). So, I feel the need to describe it now. We all woke up in great moods and I made breakfast for me and Owen (Colin leaves for work too early and the poor guy never gets a hot breakfast). I had volunteered to stay at Owen's preschool to help with the Valentines Day party; so Sutton and I were there for the whole class from 9-11:30. I got to watch Owen interact with all the other kids, see him be more independent than he ever is at home, and help out with various art activities. Playing outside with the kids was my favorite. Their teacher is great at getting the kids to listen and participate in learning activities, but is anything but playful; so, I think all the kids were really surprised and excited to have a few moms there that actually played with them on the playground and encouraged them to run around like a bunch of crazy kids. Owen's favorite part, of course, was getting Valentines and candy from all the other kids. They had made huge pink and red envelopes to put all their valentines in, and Owen was really proud of his.
Some friends were supposed to come over after school to make cupcakes with us, but we got the bad news on the way home that they were sick. We were sad they couldn't make it, but mostly just felt bad for Jami who was home with 3 sick kids. I can't even imagine. Owen was bummed to not get to see his friends. But, as you saw in the pictures, was still pretty excited to make cupcakes. We baked them and then let them cool while we had quiet time. For the record, since I changed nap time's title to "quiet time" and started telling Owen he just has to rest, he has taken way more naps than during the last two months. Anyway, we decorated them with pink frosting and heart sprinkles. I ruined the cake we baked by taking it out of the pan too early. So I decided to act like I did it on purpose and I cut the cake into various sized hearts and wrote a message for Colin. I thought this was very creative of me. We sent some cupcakes to the sick Richardsons and saved some for Owen to decorate with his friend Alana. Now that the weather is nicer, Owen and I usually play outside during Sutton's late afternoon nap. Lately I get ditched to play with the neighbor girls. This is so cute!!! There are a couple of girls who are about 5 years old and when they play together, it's basically just Owen copying everything they do. We made meatball subs for dinner and Kylie, Zack, Alana, and Grayson came over. It's always fun to get together with them and share/vent about the miracle/headache that comes with parenthood.
Thursday and Friday were both really fun because Owen, Sutton, and I just really enjoyed being together. Not that I don't always enjoy being with them; but I think Owen particularly appreciated having me around on these days. Which felt nice.
Colin took off early on Friday so that we could go to Tucson and celebrate my birthday. His parents watched the kids (thank you, thank you, thank you) and we got to go out for sushi. We both really like sushi and rarely get to eat it. It was such a delicious treat. We went out for a drink afterward and on our late night out were home by 9:30. We were just too exhausted, but we gave it the old college try. Saturday the Heiseys had a little birthday party for me (another thank you), which was a lot of fun and full of more yummy food. Owen got to help decorate the cake that Colin's grandma made. I would post pictures, but I think I left my camera in Tucson. I would know for sure, but I've been too lazy to unpack.
Some friends were supposed to come over after school to make cupcakes with us, but we got the bad news on the way home that they were sick. We were sad they couldn't make it, but mostly just felt bad for Jami who was home with 3 sick kids. I can't even imagine. Owen was bummed to not get to see his friends. But, as you saw in the pictures, was still pretty excited to make cupcakes. We baked them and then let them cool while we had quiet time. For the record, since I changed nap time's title to "quiet time" and started telling Owen he just has to rest, he has taken way more naps than during the last two months. Anyway, we decorated them with pink frosting and heart sprinkles. I ruined the cake we baked by taking it out of the pan too early. So I decided to act like I did it on purpose and I cut the cake into various sized hearts and wrote a message for Colin. I thought this was very creative of me. We sent some cupcakes to the sick Richardsons and saved some for Owen to decorate with his friend Alana. Now that the weather is nicer, Owen and I usually play outside during Sutton's late afternoon nap. Lately I get ditched to play with the neighbor girls. This is so cute!!! There are a couple of girls who are about 5 years old and when they play together, it's basically just Owen copying everything they do. We made meatball subs for dinner and Kylie, Zack, Alana, and Grayson came over. It's always fun to get together with them and share/vent about the miracle/headache that comes with parenthood.
Thursday and Friday were both really fun because Owen, Sutton, and I just really enjoyed being together. Not that I don't always enjoy being with them; but I think Owen particularly appreciated having me around on these days. Which felt nice.
Colin took off early on Friday so that we could go to Tucson and celebrate my birthday. His parents watched the kids (thank you, thank you, thank you) and we got to go out for sushi. We both really like sushi and rarely get to eat it. It was such a delicious treat. We went out for a drink afterward and on our late night out were home by 9:30. We were just too exhausted, but we gave it the old college try. Saturday the Heiseys had a little birthday party for me (another thank you), which was a lot of fun and full of more yummy food. Owen got to help decorate the cake that Colin's grandma made. I would post pictures, but I think I left my camera in Tucson. I would know for sure, but I've been too lazy to unpack.
Friday, February 15, 2008
Happy Valentines
I hope everyone's Valentines Day was full of lots of love. Or, at the very least, lots of chocolate. I was one of the lucky ones who got to enjoy both.
Saturday, February 9, 2008
Blogger's Note
Note: Although the list in my last post was enumerated, the entries in the list were in no particular order. Colin sent Owen out to me the other night to tell me that "Daddy was sad because he didn't make the top 5 on the happy list." I of course know that Colin is the #1 reason for my happiness! And I make this note so that he won't be such a baby about it! :)
Thursday, February 7, 2008
My 100 Things
My friend Jami made a list of 100 things that made her happy and challenged everybody else to do the same. I feel like I’ve been complaining in a lot of my posts lately (you know, “blah, blah, blah, I’m so tired”), so it will probably do me some good to sit back and think about all the wonderful things in my life that make me happy. So, here we go…
1. Family cuddles
2. Owen Tackles
3. Hearing my kids laugh
4. Watching my babies sleep
5. My 3 o’clock cup of coffee
6. The 100 calorie Oreo pack I eat with my 3 o’clock coffee (nothing like the real Oreos, but oh so good any way)
7. Owen running like a bear
8. The smell of Christmas trees and the fact that my dad used to cut a piece of the trunk for each of us to keep in our rooms
9. Shopping by myself
10. The fact that Colin thinks that we have to celebrate for an entire birthday week (and that next week is all mine!)
11. Taking pictures
12. Actually printing the million pictures I take (rare)
13. A scolding hot shower
14. Deep tissue massages
15. A really good kiss
16. A date with Colin
17. Owen saying crococicle instead of crocodile
18. Freshly washed sheets
19. When my house is clean
20. Somebody else doing my dishes for me
21. Putting Owen to bed and realizing that we made it through the whole day with no tantrums
22. Listening to Owen pray
23. Hearing the garage door opening and knowing that Colin is finally home
24. Welcome home kisses
25. Getting to wake up on my own terms (rare but glorious)
26. Talking to Colin in bed after the kids go to sleep
27. The relief after a job interview is done (this is a new found happiness that I hope I will feel again soon)
28. Feeding my baby
29. The happy sigh/squeak of relief Sutton makes immediately before he begins nursing
30. Sutton’s excitement after Owen wakes up in the morning and Owen’s excitement when he hears Sutton wake up from a nap
31. Rainy days
32. Learning something new
33. Holding the remote and getting to watch what Colin calls “crap TV”
34. Tickling my kids
35. Wide, open-mouthed baby smiles
36. Going to the movies
37. Giving presents
38. Sour Patch Kids, Redvines, and Laffy Taffy
39. Nonfat Latte with one shot of peppermint
40. The feeling of a job well done
41. Owen telling me my hair is not pretty yet and “fixing” it for me
42. Dr. Pepper
43. Colin’s cooking
44. Witnessing Owen learning something new
45. When Owen trusts me enough to take a bite of something I’m feeding him without inspecting it (almost never happens…he insists I feed him grapefruit and checks every bite for seeds)
46. Hearing a bit of gossip before Colin (he usually knows everything before me, even stuff on my side of the family)
47. When Owen says “I love you this much”
48. Doing calculus (weird, huh?)
49. Baking
50. Other people’s baked goods
51. When a visiting Grandma wakes up with my kids
52. Checking other people’s blogs
53. When someone leaves a comment on my blog
54. New baby clothes
55. Organizing my kids rooms
56. Colin asking me to marry him (still happens at least once a week)
57. Watching one of my favorite movies: It’s A Wonderful Life, Simon Birch, or Life is Beautiful (although, the last one makes me sad before it makes me happy)
58. Cookies and Cream ice cream
59. Vacations
60. Manicures and Pedicures
61. Telling my mom thank you
62. Playing board games (I’m borderline obsessed)
63. Playing Pepper with the Heiseys
64. Hanging out with my sister when neither of us is feeling stressed
65. Getting to buy new clothes
66. Using a word I know Owen hasn’t heard before
67. Feeling appreciated
68. Helping others feel appreciated
69. Getting my haircut
70. Laughing so hard that I cry and seeing the satisfaction it gives Colin to know that he caused it
71. Holding hands
72. When the whole family’s laundry is done
73. Genuinely laughing with my kids
74. Owen saying “Oh I have an idea”
75. Slowing down to enjoy bath time
76. Actually having time to put on some makeup
77. Having time to do my makeup, but choosing to relax with Colin instead
78. The sound of the Xbox being turned off
79. Owen telling other kids to be gentle with Sutton
80. Hearing Owen talk about when he gets bigger
81. Going out to eat and getting to pick the restaurant
82. Posting on my blog
83. Having lots of family together
84. 70 degree days
85. Seeing or hearing about an old friend
86. Going to weddings
87. Getting one of Owen’s very few kisses
88. Playing at the park
89. Weekends with nothing to get done
90. Weekends that we actually get everything done
91. When Sutton fake cries for attention and then laughs hysterically when I look at him
92. Dancing with my kids in the living room
93. Dancing with Colin anywhere
94. Book stores
95. When Sutton’s clothes stay dry for more than an hour
96. When Owen plays a trick on me or hides something (when he realizes that he can hide stuff other places than just under my pillow, this will no longer be funny)
97. A song that gets me
98. When Colin comes to bed after I’m asleep and kisses and cuddles me even though he knows I’m sleeping
99. Making people so happy they smile with their whole face
100. Reading over this list and smiling with my whole face at each one!
1. Family cuddles
2. Owen Tackles
3. Hearing my kids laugh
4. Watching my babies sleep
5. My 3 o’clock cup of coffee
6. The 100 calorie Oreo pack I eat with my 3 o’clock coffee (nothing like the real Oreos, but oh so good any way)
7. Owen running like a bear
8. The smell of Christmas trees and the fact that my dad used to cut a piece of the trunk for each of us to keep in our rooms
9. Shopping by myself
10. The fact that Colin thinks that we have to celebrate for an entire birthday week (and that next week is all mine!)
11. Taking pictures
12. Actually printing the million pictures I take (rare)
13. A scolding hot shower
14. Deep tissue massages
15. A really good kiss
16. A date with Colin
17. Owen saying crococicle instead of crocodile
18. Freshly washed sheets
19. When my house is clean
20. Somebody else doing my dishes for me
21. Putting Owen to bed and realizing that we made it through the whole day with no tantrums
22. Listening to Owen pray
23. Hearing the garage door opening and knowing that Colin is finally home
24. Welcome home kisses
25. Getting to wake up on my own terms (rare but glorious)
26. Talking to Colin in bed after the kids go to sleep
27. The relief after a job interview is done (this is a new found happiness that I hope I will feel again soon)
28. Feeding my baby
29. The happy sigh/squeak of relief Sutton makes immediately before he begins nursing
30. Sutton’s excitement after Owen wakes up in the morning and Owen’s excitement when he hears Sutton wake up from a nap
31. Rainy days
32. Learning something new
33. Holding the remote and getting to watch what Colin calls “crap TV”
34. Tickling my kids
35. Wide, open-mouthed baby smiles
36. Going to the movies
37. Giving presents
38. Sour Patch Kids, Redvines, and Laffy Taffy
39. Nonfat Latte with one shot of peppermint
40. The feeling of a job well done
41. Owen telling me my hair is not pretty yet and “fixing” it for me
42. Dr. Pepper
43. Colin’s cooking
44. Witnessing Owen learning something new
45. When Owen trusts me enough to take a bite of something I’m feeding him without inspecting it (almost never happens…he insists I feed him grapefruit and checks every bite for seeds)
46. Hearing a bit of gossip before Colin (he usually knows everything before me, even stuff on my side of the family)
47. When Owen says “I love you this much”
48. Doing calculus (weird, huh?)
49. Baking
50. Other people’s baked goods
51. When a visiting Grandma wakes up with my kids
52. Checking other people’s blogs
53. When someone leaves a comment on my blog
54. New baby clothes
55. Organizing my kids rooms
56. Colin asking me to marry him (still happens at least once a week)
57. Watching one of my favorite movies: It’s A Wonderful Life, Simon Birch, or Life is Beautiful (although, the last one makes me sad before it makes me happy)
58. Cookies and Cream ice cream
59. Vacations
60. Manicures and Pedicures
61. Telling my mom thank you
62. Playing board games (I’m borderline obsessed)
63. Playing Pepper with the Heiseys
64. Hanging out with my sister when neither of us is feeling stressed
65. Getting to buy new clothes
66. Using a word I know Owen hasn’t heard before
67. Feeling appreciated
68. Helping others feel appreciated
69. Getting my haircut
70. Laughing so hard that I cry and seeing the satisfaction it gives Colin to know that he caused it
71. Holding hands
72. When the whole family’s laundry is done
73. Genuinely laughing with my kids
74. Owen saying “Oh I have an idea”
75. Slowing down to enjoy bath time
76. Actually having time to put on some makeup
77. Having time to do my makeup, but choosing to relax with Colin instead
78. The sound of the Xbox being turned off
79. Owen telling other kids to be gentle with Sutton
80. Hearing Owen talk about when he gets bigger
81. Going out to eat and getting to pick the restaurant
82. Posting on my blog
83. Having lots of family together
84. 70 degree days
85. Seeing or hearing about an old friend
86. Going to weddings
87. Getting one of Owen’s very few kisses
88. Playing at the park
89. Weekends with nothing to get done
90. Weekends that we actually get everything done
91. When Sutton fake cries for attention and then laughs hysterically when I look at him
92. Dancing with my kids in the living room
93. Dancing with Colin anywhere
94. Book stores
95. When Sutton’s clothes stay dry for more than an hour
96. When Owen plays a trick on me or hides something (when he realizes that he can hide stuff other places than just under my pillow, this will no longer be funny)
97. A song that gets me
98. When Colin comes to bed after I’m asleep and kisses and cuddles me even though he knows I’m sleeping
99. Making people so happy they smile with their whole face
100. Reading over this list and smiling with my whole face at each one!
Wow... that was easy! And I do feel great and very blessed. These things may sound simple, but that's really all it takes!
Wednesday, February 6, 2008
February Updates
Sutton is now 4 and 1/2 months old! At 4 months he weighed 15lbs 11oz. (75th percentile) and was 26.5 inches tall (95%). This is the exact same height that Owen was and a pound and a half lighter. Last Thursday (Jan. 31st) he rolled over for the first time, both front to back and back to front. He loves putting everything in his mouth and isn't very happy when he drops whatever toy he's chewing on. He likes bouncing in the jumperoo (pictured below), watching Owen run around like the crazy person that he is, and sitting in his Bumbo-like chair that Kathy got for him. He recently started splashing around in the bath a lot so we finally had to move the baby bath into the regular bathtub to avoid a huge mess. Tonight Owen and Sutton took a bath together for the first time. It was pretty cute.
I just love the jeans and tennis shoes on this little guy!
Bath time fun!
Owen is 41 inches tall and 39 pounds. I don't know the exact percentages, but I can tell you it's huge! Obviously, not as many changes over the past month as the ever-changing Sutton, but he's still been very active. Below he is doing his new dinosaur puzzle with Colin. He LOVES this puzzle. Did it at least 15 times within the first two days we had it, and it takes him a long time to do. It's the size of our coffee table and according to Owen you better watch out, because the dinosaurs bite! He's been learning about dinosaurs at school and is also getting better at recognizing letters that he learns at school. He just doesn't like to learn from me... the reinforcement from a second souce definitely helps a lot. His favorite thing right now is playing on the computer. He has an I Spy game that my aunt gave him last year and is perfect for his age and computer ability right now. He also loves to use the Paint program. He's learning fast and getting suprisingly good at using the mouse and knowing what to do. He unfortunately has stopped taking naps, but we now have quiet time every day. My favorite recent owen anecdote: last week when it was raining I was struggling to carry Sutton under the umbrella and Owen told me that I needed to insteaed use the umbrella to keep his piece of candy dry. This really is his priorities!
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