Playing house

Alex and Claire have started playing house lately. Like all the time. Which is fine. Claire is the mommy and she has a doll baby. Alex is the baby and he also has a doll baby. Which is weird. Not sure how that works. He likes to carry his baby around in a fisher price barn. It fits just right. Or the "trunk" of the scooty car.
The really distressing thing is that he listens to her as the mommy more than he listens to me. And when we are sitting at the dinner table, he will ask her for more milk, which she obligingly pours. But when he asks her for more milk, he calls her mama. I've tried to assert that I am mama and she is sissy or DeeDee. He doesn't really listen. But it is cute watching them play house together.

Preschool, what?!?

So the elementary school system in town instituted a preschool program this year. They had one, than had to stop it (funding). They restarted it this year. Last I had heard, it was only for 4-5 year olds (one year before kindergarten). But the day before school started, I read an article and it stated that it was open to 3 year olds as well. We went in and registered but had to wait a bit before Claire could start. While we were waiting for her to start, she would tell us "you can drop me off and go away." She started last week. She LOVES it. Her teacher says she is very smart and loves to jump into the activities. She is also "so excited during circle time that she just can't sit still." I'm not really surprised by this revelation.
Poor Alex misses Claire every day. He has taught himself to wake up from his nap so that he can go with me to pick her up. And then she ignores him when we get there and runs to me and hugs me and the baby and acts like he isn't there. As soon as he wakes up, he asks me "go get dee-dee?" The first day I dropped her off, he really thought he was staying too. Even though I told him ahead of time that it was just Claire. But he seems to have accepted it now. The first few days, it was strange. For the most part, we have just a small amount of time together. We get back home from dropping her off, have lunch, then he goes down for a nap. I'm not sure I would have picked the afternoon session if I had a choice, but it seems to have worked out well for us. I end up with about 2 hours of free time if baby cooperates and sleeps. 
This whole situation stirs up some interesting feelings in me. For one, I wonder if I am doing the right thing. Sending her off all alone...so young... (Never mind that she loves it. And has not had a single problem with it.) I wonder if I should be homeschooling her. She has never been away from me. She is a pretty independent girl, but what if she needs something. (Never mind that I hire baby sitters often, and for 8-10 hours sometimes.) I somehow feel like a failure because I didn't even try to homeschool. (Never mind the fact that if we lived in Utah, this wouldn't even be an issue. I would send her to school without a second thought. I never even thought about homeschool until we came to MO.) Then I think about next year. What do I do next year? Alex would be eligible to go too. I heard that they hope to have a second class next year for each section. But if they don't, do I put them both in the same class? Or do I put one in the afternoon and one in the morning? My brain hurts just to think about it all. Of course, I can always homeschool later if I want to.

Life with 3

I can't believe that Elizabeth is already 7 weeks old. Time has just flown by. So many changes have already come around in her. Her stomach is MUCH improved. She is still fussy and gassy. She gets 2-4 doses of gas medicine a day, and that usually makes her happy. On really bad days, she also gets Catnip and Fennel, which is an herbal remedy for digestion. I think she is really starting to like it because it calms her down very quickly. She doesn't complain about taking it. It tastes VERY strongly like black licorice. Specifically, those little black licorice log things that have that hard outer shell and are softer inside. I don't know what they are called. They come in red or black, and possibly more colors. I want to say good and plenty, but I'm pretty sure that's wrong. I HATE the black ones. I always avoided them like the plague. Luckily, my mom liked them, so we always gave them to her. The first few times I gave the Catnip and Fennel to Elizabeth, she balked. But now she licks it off and seems to enjoy it. Or at least she has to work for the next few minutes to get the taste out of her mouth, so she is quiet. I know that I can eat any kind of product containing milk, I can eat cheese, I can probably eat yogurt. I can drink small quantities of milk. I can eat some chocolate. I'm starting to think that I need to avoid caffeine. It seems the days that I have caffeine are the nights that she has problems. That makes sense. I usually have soda at lunch. I don't drink it later than that because then I can't sleep. I also know it takes roughly 12 hours to metabolize, and it's usually her 3am-ish feedings that go awry when I have soda. But nothing else seems to bother her now. I think her earlier problems must have been a combination of smaller things that avoiding dairy for a month really helped improve. I think I mentioned it in her birth story, but she swallowed a lot of fluid during birth and had to have her stomach suctioned twice. That may have injured her stomach valve. I know it has a name. I know I know it's name. I cannot think of it's name. The valve that keeps her tummy closed. Anyway, that injury, plus the dairy that obviously affects her despite the pediatrician assuring me that it makes no difference, plus caffeine, plus her obvious gas issues (as evidenced by her seriously explosive poops), all combined to make a cranky baby. (I swear, I clean more poop off this kid's stomach than I do her bum.) But we turned a corner at about a month. I reintroduced dairy and learned to limit my liquid milk consumption. I've learned to avoid the caffeine, which isn't really difficult since we are not keeping soda in the house and I only have it when we go out to eat, if then. I've learned to keep up with her gas medicine. She gets it first thing in the morning, usually at lunch and at dinner. And sometimes in between those feedings. Her stomach has also grown and matured and she spits less. She still spits more than the other two ever did, but it is noticeably less than before.
At her one month check up, she weighed in at a whopping 12 pounds, which puts her in the 100%. I just wish that for every pound she gained, I lost a pound. Or two. I think that would be fair. I'm tired of people (doctors, nurses, random strangers, magazines) telling me that breastfeeding would help me lose baby weight. Hasn't worked yet, doubt it will work this time. Alann and I are trying to eat better though. We need to get in shape for the zombie apocalypse. (Our 5k trail run we are doing in October.) She is a good eater and is becoming more tolerant of the other two constantly being in her face. She also has started not napping, which I know is actually a place problem, not a sleep problem. I've been putting her down for naps in the living room, which worked during her sleepy newborn phase when she would sleep through everything. But ever since she started "waking up" to the world around her, she will fall asleep for a nap and here comes one of the other two and they shake her bed or yell in her face and wake her up. They always seems so proud of themselves too. Like "mom, the baby was sleeping, but now she's awake! Aren't I helpful?" Yeah, not so much kids. So I need to find a new place for her. I can move her into the guest room, but then I would need a monitor, so I might as well just take her upstairs, where the monitor already is set up. I'm just worried that if she is upstairs during nap/quiet time, and Claire and Alex are upstairs, that they will go in and wake her up anyway. How can my house be so big and I still don't have a good place to nap a baby??
On her 5th Saturday with us, Ella definitely "woke up". She started noticing things. She started cooing. She started smiling. She definitely smiles now, specifically at people. Today we were eating dinner and she would coo, so I would look at her, and she would smile at me. It was pretty cute. She even smiles at her siblings, at least until they start shaking her swing or yelling at her. Then she cries. Or gets that horrified baby look on her face. That "are you going to eat me?" look. She's following things with her eyes now. I love this. Having a newborn is nice and all, especially since they sleep so much, but I much prefer the slightly older baby that actually interacts. At least until they turn 2 and start pulling all the books and toys off the shelves. Or 3 and start back-talking and telling their younger brother to do things that they will get in trouble for, or walking by and randomly hitting. Not that I have any of those problems. I guess my favorite age is about a month old to about 2 years old. That's when my kids usually start talking and getting demanding.
We are in a very difficult stage with Claire and Alex. Alex listens to Claire more than he listens to me. Claire listens to nobody but herself. They have lost almost all of their toys, I've moved their bedtime earlier, I've started taking away cups if they leave their bedroom after being tucked in. They have gone days without watching TV. Claire is specifically disregarding my rules. She really does walk by me and hit me when she is mad or she doesn't get her way. Alex just throws a major fit- screaming, crying, yelling, stomping. I'm really hoping this is just a phase. I knew it would get worse when Grandma left. I just didn't realize it would be so bad. There are days that I feel so utterly discouraged. I know part of that is postpartum hormones. I worry that I have postpartum depression. I wonder if the rhetoric is true- if you ask yourself if you are crazy, you aren't, because only sane people ask that. Is it the same with depression? I feel a lot like I felt the January after we moved here. Discouraged, upset, irritated a lot, tired all the time. Running seems to help. But I don't know if it's the physical punishment or the fact that I have 30 minutes ALONE- utterly alone. No one to bother me, except people walking dogs or driving by in cars. No incessant "mom, mom mom mom mooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooom". No one tugging at me or yelling at me or crying at me. I get to do what I want without interruption. I do feel a lot worse when I don't get that. I've even been tempted to up my running to daily instead of every other. But I don't know. We will just have to wait and see how it goes. We are settling into a schedule. Things will get better, especially once bible study and storytime start up again. Right now, we have no where to go and no one to see. We get bored with each other I think. Anyway, off to bed I go. Can't lose too much time when the baby timer is already ticking.

Worst June ever

Not going to lie- I will be glad when this month is OVER! It has been just one thing after another it seems. On top of being 9 months pregnant, which I of course expected and anticipated, it's been ridiculously hot and humid. That makes it so much harder to do anything.
The month started with a bang. Or more like a slow leak. The bang came later. On the way out to St Louis one day, the "tire pressure warning light" thingie came on. Basically it tells me my tires aren't even. My tires are relatively new, and filled with nitrogen. Since I was going past the tire shop anyway, I thought I would stop and get them filled/checked. Well, it was Saturday and they weren't open.  I tried to stop at a gas station and fill them, but they didn't have an air compressor. Why don't gas stations have those anymore? So I kind of forgot and went on my merry way. We got home and all seemed well. Sunday, we start to leave for church, and hear this weird noise. The tire is utterly flat. We didn't even get to the end of the street and then back to the house, but by the time we got back, the damage was done. The tire was destroyed. That one was my fault. After a lot of drama, including ordering a tire from the east coast and trying to find a substitute, we got a new tire on Tuesday.
After that, I have just been rather irritable. Claire has been playing tee-ball, which she liked, but it was slightly tough on me. Just another random scheduled thing to throw in the mix. And it's been hot. Did I mention that I don't do heat well on a regular basis, let alone when pregnant? Claire has been exceedingly trying lately as well. She has just been pushing the boundaries often. And usually dragging Alex along with her.
And then last Friday, driving on the freeway, we hit some random junk and blew yet another tire! (That was the bang.) I just sat there and cried while Alann changed the tire to the spare. Again. At least we had some practice in the driveway from a few weeks ago. Then I called and they were able to get a new tire relatively quickly this time for some reason. I took the car in Monday to get the new tire and the poor guy was so confused. He kept looking for the tire and asking for some verification that I had called. Apparently, in the confusion of calling form the car on the side of the freeway, I had called the other shop, not the one I had used the first time. It wasn't too big of a deal, I just drove down to the other shop, and they changed my tire. And checked out the car. The power steering is leaking, probably from the belts blowing up a few months ago. Yay. Another repair. Ugh. So frustrating.
My OB appointments have been going well. She made it sound like she would induce me this last week- on the 18th. So we talked to Grandma and got her to come out a bit earlier so we would be covered. And then, I went in, and she had changed her mind. I was so distraught. Tuesday the 19th I had contractions starting at 3pm until about 10am the next day. And then they stopped. And haven't started again. Baby will likely be born on the 27th, when I go in for induction, or at the latest on the 28th when they give me a c-section. I'm okay with that, because I REFUSE to have a July baby. Nothing against July babies. I just refuse to still be pregnant come July.
And then there is Alex. My poor boy. I always thought Claire would be my emergency medicine kid. Nope. The score is currently Alex:3, Claire: 1. Thursday evening, Alex and Claire were jumping on the trampoline with Grandma and the neighbor girl. Grandma was sitting and the kids were running around and the neighbor girl got a little overly excited. She is 15, but often makes me think she is 5. She bounced very high and Alex got caught in the rebound. He flew about 2' in the air, landed on his feet and immediately fell onto his stomach. When he got up, he was crying and I thought he had bonked his nose. But he kept saying his leg hurt, his knee hurt. So I held him and got him some ice and figured he would be fine. But he refused to walk on it and just wanted me to hold him for about an hour. Then he started using it a little bit, but was still favoring it. This morning (Friday), he got up and was still not using it. I called the doctor and described the problem and she wanted us to come in. We made the trek out to the doctor. She said it was probably a toddler's fracture and referred us to an orthopedic surgeon who specializes in kids. Only problem: appointment was at 3pm, about 15 minutes away from where we were, and it was only 11am. So we came home and ate lunch and headed out yet again. It was a lot of driving! Alex did pretty well at the appointment. At the pediatrician's, he wanted me to hold his hand and wouldn't let me leave him. But at the orthopedist's, he let me leave the room while they did the x-ray. He was pretty interested in what the guy was doing anyway. After the x-ray, we talked to the nurse and then the doctor. He laid still and let them look at his leg. They couldn't see a fracture on the x-ray, but the bones are pretty soft so they tend to break and then line back up so you can't see them until they start healing. He recommended a cast, because these kinds of fractures are common in kids. So we let them put him in a cast. He will be in a cast for 3 weeks. The doc said that if it is a fracture, than just having the cast should make him feel better because it won't hurt anymore. And after the cast was put on, he did seem a bit happier. He's been understandably cranky today. He even came down the stairs without help (or asking, because he had already been put to bed). On the way home, we stopped for dinner since it was such a LONG day. We had Chick Fil-A and they played in the play place a bit. He is being really really needy too. He wants me to carry him and help him with everything. It's only the first day, but I am encouraging him to do things for himself. Sometimes, I have to just set him down and give him a toy and walk away. If he wants something else, he finds a way to get it. As far as his cast goes, we got the waterproof cast, so he can bathe and get wet. He will have it for 3 weeks, then they will x-ray again and take it off. We will know then if he had a fracture or just a sprain. The healing bone will show on the x-ray where the new fracture didn't. Alann is teasing me that I won't get to hold Elizabeth for the first few weeks of her life, because I will constantly be holding Alex. It's probably true. I'm trying not to be upset about the whole situation. Honestly, this week has not gone the way I planned. I wanted to have a baby, not a toddler in a full leg cast. It's been nice having Grandma around, but I always feel guilty about having her around without having the baby. Why can't my babies cooperate, just once in their lives?
Anyway, it's been a long day. I'm going to go to bed, and hope and pray that the baby will come soon.

Alex's checkup

Alex had his 2 year old check up today. He had his last weigh-in on the baby scale, which I'm glad for, because he weighed 28 pounds (60%). He also had his last length measurement, at 36". That is the last number on their baby scale. He is in the 90% for height. I thought he had grown some lately, and apparently he had. We finally put up our height measuring chart on the wall, and recorded the kids' heights at the beginning of April. I checked him over the weekend, and according to our chart, he had grown 3/4" in about 6 weeks. I wasn't too sure about the accuracy of our measurement, but it matches what the nurse got.

 The doctor also told me that if you take his 2 year old height, you can double it and be pretty close to his adult height. So 3' x 2 would be 6' tall. Yup, not surprised. He also impressed all the nurses and the doctor by being in his big boy undies. They were all surprised. I just told them "he wanted to potty train. I didn't push it", which is true. Then once the doctor came in he got all shy and sat on my lap with his face away from the doctor the whole time. He didn't really want her to touch him or talk to him. But he was cooperative nonetheless. She mentioned an "innocent" heart murmur- like Claire has had on and off.  He ended up getting one shot, and he didn't even cry about it. He was very concerned about getting his sucker. Claire told him if he was good at the doctor he would get a sucker, so that's what he kept asking about all morning. He did earn his sucker.

It was a pretty fast and painless appointment. Claire was more obnoxious than anything else because she kept trying to climb in my lap and get my attention. I can only imagine how difficult it will be with the three of them. Yikes. We will have to devise some sort of doctor's office rules/distraction so I can actually talk to the doctor. Not sure how that is going to work out.

Developments

Last week, Claire had her three year old check-up. A little late, but it snowed the day we were supposed to go. The ONLY day it snowed. Anyway, it was a really good doctor's visit. The doctor said she was really healthy. She talked to her a lot about different things and really evaluated her. Her weight is 34 pounds (75%) and her height is 38 3/4" (80%). So I guess she eats enough, even though it seems like she doesn't eat anything most days. She knows her shapes really well but doesn't recognize letters yet. She also got three shots. Poor kid. They really hurt her legs. She limped for the next few days. We've got her signed up for tee-ball this spring. It's only 6 weeks with one or two games depending on weather. But I think she is excited for it. Definitely signing her up for soccer in the fall. Also this week, she has discovered music. It started with her humming a tune- repeatedly, for about an hour. It was the theme song to one of her shows. Then later she started singing a song but changed the words. I was so proud. It had the right tune, but different words. I wish I remembered what it was she was singing about. Since then, she's been singing and humming and writing little ditties quite a bit. It's been a musical few days.

Alex this week has learned how to say "no". He's been able to indicate no for a long time. Usually it's a nnnnn sound and sometimes he shakes his head. But he has just learned how to say the actual word. Unfortunately, it's really hard to take him seriously because he says it in such a cute way. He has a little lilt to it and usually sounds like he is teasing more than he means actual no. It's a momentous day, since no was Claire's first word, it was really strange for me to go so long without hearing it from him. This morning he also lined up all of his cars and then told me what sound each one made. Usually it was a fire truck sound. He does a really good fire truck sound.

As for me, I've finally felt well enough to get back to running/walking. I can only run for about 2 minutes before I'm way out of breath, but that's ok. I know I will get better again once the baby is born. I've started taking Tanner with me because Alann commented that he is REALLY fat. He is so out of shape that the first day I took him, he couldn't keep up with me. I thought he was going to just lay down and wait for me at one point. But he's been a trooper and has gotten better about it in the few days I've taken him out. He's really excited when we first go out and then slows down as we go. We did almost two miles this morning. We walked a lot though. I was hurting from gardening yesterday so it wasn't one of my better runs. Now I'm wondering if I should alternate taking Nicki. Tanner is nice because I can let him off leash and I don't have to worry about it. Nicki isn't so well behaved. Plus she has an annoying tendency to go the wrong way around poles and trees, which there are a lot of on the way. So I don't know. Maybe I will walk one day and run the next. We'll see.

I had another doctor's appointment this week. The doctor commented that I gained a lot of weight this last month. I'm not too worried though. I've hit 200 with both the kids, so I figure that's my number. (I'm not there yet.) Otherwise, she measured my uterus at 27, and I'm only at 25 weeks, but she didn't really mention it. I just noticed the discrepancy. (Usually the measurement equals the week number.)  I have another ultrasound scheduled for next month and the glucose test. The doctor wanted more heart pictures, so that's why we are doing another ultrasound. And even though I did the glucose test early on for symptoms, I get to do it again just in case.
I had a really good day earlier this week. I got a lot of projects done, a lot of work done. I made my own tinted moisturizer which I am really liking and was a lot less expensive than buying tinted moisturizer. It's really easy. You basically mix equal parts foundation and moisturizer. Or less foundation. I think mine is closer to a 60-40 mix. I had a little jar left from a face lotion so I just mixed it in there. I love that I can look put together without trying hard, and it lasts all day. I wish I could remember what else I did that day, but I just ended up feeling like a genius when I went to bed. I haven't had a good day like that in a long time.

I've gotten my office cleaned up pretty well. It's nowhere near done, but it's done enough to be encouraging. I've also started working on my garden. I planted some starts for tomatoes and peppers last week. Friday, I hand-dug my tiny garden plot from last fall and planted some kale, radishes, green onions and peas. And strawberry plants. After my failed attempt at strawberry plants (where there were no plants in the package), I was at a better walmart and they had actual plants in a pot with green leaves. So I bought 6 pots. After we planted them, it ended up being 9 plants. Some had two in them. Okay, I specifically looked for the pots with two. I'm a savvy shopper, what can I say? I am way excited and hope they actually grow and produce. The label said they should produce 60 days after transplant. And today (Saturday), Alann decided to till my 'garden for me. We enlarged it quite a bit. I've got 2 more 3'x4' and 2 3'x6' plots now. I'm way excited. I always thought that gardening, like puppies and kitties, was just a way to put off the desire to have kids. But now I know that I really just enjoy it. Come spring, I just get antsy to get something green going. I love to look through and pick new things to try to grow. This year I am trying leeks. It was a lot of hard work, mostly on Alann's part, but it looks good. I'm so proud. I can't wait until Monday until I can plant some cool-weather things. Maybe some lettuce, definitely need to get beets and turnips and carrots going. And I won't have any trouble keeping it watered, as long as I remember to let the kids do it. They LOVE to water. I'm surprised they didn't drown our poor strawberry plants.

Dedicated to my sweet boy: Alex

Alex sure is growing up. He surprised me a week ago by counting to ten with me while we were playing hide and seek. He knows all the numbers. Then he started asking to pee on the potty. He only asks at night, but it's a start. And he actually goes. He also sometimes tells me when he pees in his diaper, and usually tells me when he poops, though whether or not he lets me change him right away depends on what he is doing.
He still has ridiculously sensitive skin. His contact dermatitis hasn't healed all the way since our Phoenix trip in January. It's mostly gone, but despite frequent and generous applications of cream, you can still see a red outline where it was. He also has had really dry skin this winter in general. Alann was teasing me the other day about how he needs lotion in one of the most humid states there is. I can't help it if he got my delicate skin.
He has also started pouting when he doesn't get what he wants. He just makes a pouty face and looks down to try to get what he wants. If that doesn't work, he goes into full-on tantrum. He throws himself on the floor and usually cries up a storm. If I leave him, he follows me, and throws himself down and screams some more. It's been frustrating trying to deal with it. I know I need to ignore it so he doesn't learn that it's an acceptable way to get what he wants. I'm trying to teach him other things instead. He has learned that he needs to say please if he wants to be picked up. He also has a really annoying habit of grabbing things off the counter. It started with bananas when he was hungry. That was okay, until he started just taking a bite or two and then throwing the rest away. Now it's everything he wants. He grabs constantly. Especially when he is hungry. If I am cooking dinner, nothing is safe. I used to be able to redirect Claire into setting the table or something for those last few minutes before dinner is ready, but he isn't fooled quite so easily. Sometimes he will just sit at the table and pound the dishes until I put food down.
He is talking quite a bit. His vocabulary really surprises me because he didn't start with small words. He started where Claire was. So he says granola bar and yogurt and other random harder words. He still calls the cats "naos" and cows are "moos". We were driving today and came over a hill and he saw a cow and called out so excitedly "MOOOO!!!" Like he had never seen one before. It was hilarious. He also LOVES construction equipment and trucks and cars. He still gets so excited to see the "doze" at the construction site near town. He also loves to point out the "wead" (library). Driving down the freeway, he points to everything he sees and talks about everything- construction equipment, buses, trucks, airplanes. He has really started to be quite the chatterbox. Claire finally has someone to talk over. He does call me Mama or Mom and Alann is Da. Claire is usually Dee (sissy). It's sweet how much they love each other. He is always looking for her if she isn't around. It's a lot like Nicki and Tanner actually. Claire and Tanner can function on their own, but Nicki and Alex don't know what to do by themselves.
We had our first big thunderstorm of the year. Alex woke up in the middle of the night and was scared. We talked a little bit and then I put him back to bed. The next morning it was still storming but was farther off and not nearly as loud or scary. Claire used to say that the "cows" were clapping and that made the "thumbder" (indicated by holding her thumb up). She has since learned to speak more clearly. After explaining again to Alex what the thunder was (clouds clapping) and the rain (water), I let the two of them go out on the porch for a minute. Alex came back in, insisted it was loud and that there were dinosaurs outside making the noise. He made the same Rawr noise and held up his hands in front of him that he usually makes when he sees dinosaurs on his shirts or his toys. So cute.
He is such an active boy. He loves to dance and move. But he also knows how to sit and be still, which is nice. He has decided that when he first wakes up from nap or bedtime, he needs to watch TV (thanks for teaching him that Daddy!). He loves to play by himself or with Claire, but also interacts well with Alann and me too. He is not into sweets. He will often take just a few bites of ice cream and then be done. Claire will eat ice cream until she throws up (if given the opportunity of course). I think he is going to be more of a salty snacker than a sweet guy. That's one of the few things that Alann and I cannot trace. Both of us love sweets. But he would rather have french fries or chips.
He is a sweet heart. He is very much still a mama's boy and often insists that I come sit with him for pre-bedtime activities. He loves to snuggle, so I won't argue with that. He does have a serious infatuation with my belly though. He wants to see it, often,  and will either blow raspberries on it or give kisses to the baby. Or try to lick it (which is really weird and I don't allow). Lately he's been comparing his belly to mine. I'm not sure if he really understands that there is a baby there or he just is starting to notice differences and has realized that mama's getting fat.
 I'm so glad he's here and I can't believe he will be two in May. Time sure flies. I'm not sure how to handle saying "I have a two year old and a three year old." Just having a two year old was hard enough. And soon enough we will have a third to add to the mix.

A quick recap

We've had so much going on lately with lots of visitors.
The Sunday before Thanksgiving, we had Craig and Sarah and Brooklyn drop in for a quick visit. Claire loved playing with Brooky.
For Thanksgiving, we had the missionaries over and Alann's boss and his family. It was a lot of fun. We smoked the turkey and the kids actually ate dinner with us this time. Last year they slept through it. We had some fun times hanging out with Mike and Tracy and Claire had fun playing with their kids.
Entirely too quickly after that, Mark and Debbie came to visit. We had a quick visit to Indianapolis to visit Alann's grandparents and we met up with Steph and Danny and their kids. Alann tried to take us to Chicago instead of Indianapolis, but we made it there eventually. Claire had a good time playing with Andrew, though I'm not sure he enjoyed it as much as she did. We went to the children's museum again and the kids had so much fun they were exhausted by the time we left. We drove home Sunday and Grandma and Grandpa stayed for the rest of the week and the kids just loved it. First thing in the morning, Claire would come see me and then immediately go downstairs to find Grandma and Grandpa.
While we had free babysitters, Alann and I decided to go on an anniversary overnight. We booked a hotel room in St. Louis and had a fun time. Our hotel was connected to a casino, so we spent some time over there. We came out about even. Alann was definitely the better player than me. The worst part was the smoke. Ugh. It was so thick in there. It was gross. I haven't had that much secondhand smoke in a LONG time. Then the next morning we ate at Cracker Barrel for breakfast and they had a smoking section too. It was awful. I hadn't worn my coat to the casino since everything was indoors, but I wore it to Cracker Barrel and it smelled awful too. I thought St. Louis had passed a new ordinance banning smoking but apparently we were in the wrong county or something.
After Grandma and Grandpa left, a short week later we had a visit from Aunt Amy. Claire was again so excited. She loves going to the airport. Every time we go, she reminds me that she doesn't have her suitcase. Then we have to talk about how we don't have tickets and can't get on the plane. Anyway, we didn't do anything too exciting while she was here, but we did make cookies. Claire keeps talking about that. Alex warmed up to Amy eventually, though he still wouldn't let her hold him. The day after she left, Claire painted her another picture to take home with her. She didn't quite understand that she wasn't coming back to our house.
I did get to book some tickets to Arizona. We are very excited. It's funny. I booked them so close to the travel dates that Southwest sent their normal "your trip is right around the corner" email the same day I booked them. I made the mistake of telling Claire as soon as I booked them. She has been asking constantly about going to see Aunt Amy and flying on the airplane. So I took a calendar and drew on the day that we are flying a little airplane. And I tried to explain that each day was a square and we would mark one off every day. She colored on all the days. So I took a highlighter and colored today. I told her when we colored the plane, we could go. She took the highlighter when I wasn't looking and colored the airplane. Then she tells me that we can't get on the airplane without our suitcases and we haven't packed our suitcases. Luckily, we can't get on the airplane at night, so she quits asking when the sun goes down. I tried to tell her we had to open presents first. She told me we didn't need presents. Oh the things she comes up with sometimes. She does tell me what we need to pack though- her panties, clothes, jammies, and snacks. We've got the important stuff covered.
So now we have Christmas coming up, and then we are going to Phoenix for a few weeks in January. I don't think I blogged about this. A few months ago I wanted to book tickets to Phoenix. Southwest was having a decent sale. I looked at Christmas or January flights and it just didn't work out. I almost forgot about the sale, got up to book flights, and my credit card wouldn't go through, despite having space. I was so upset. I prayed about it and it still didn't work. I took it as a sign that I must not be meant to go. It was really depressing. But I trusted that the Lord would take care of us no matter what. I got an email last week that Southwest was having a 50% off sale. I didn't book it. Then I got another 50% off sale notice this week. After talking to Alann, we decided that it must be right. I booked the flights for me and the kids. (Ok, kid. I only have to pay for Claire right now.) For $300, I got the same flights that would have cost me almost $700. I am quite grateful. We haven't been out to visit since March. I'm definitely looking forward, even if it's very quickly coming up.
Now that the kids' Christmas presents are taken care of, I'm hoping to make them some backpacks for the flight. Claire has one, but it's very small. It's actually a harness disguised as a backpack. But I can't fit too much stuff in it. Every time we fly I try to, but it just doesn't hold enough toys to keep her occupied. So I'm hoping I can get some backpacks made for them before the flight. It shouldn't be too difficult, I hope. I already had a backpack for alex planned, so I've got the pattern and all the hard thinking stuff done. It's just finding the time to actually make them.

"I'm so happy!"

On the way to the sitter's today, Claire saw that I had brought her blanket. She said "Mom, my blanket!" I said "Yes Claire, I thought you might want it, so I grabbed it for you." She said "Thank you Mom! I'm so happy you got my blanket!" I had to laugh. She has never used the phrase "I'm so happy" before.

Alex on the other hand was not thrilled about my leaving him at the sitter's. I thought he would be over this by now. That he would realize that I am coming back for him. But every time I leave him somewhere, he starts crying. Today, it was as soon as we walked into their house. This morning at Bible Study, he started crying as soon as we walked into the building. At nursery on Sunday, he sat on my lap and moaned for about 5 minutes, then I handed him off and left and he cried for I kid you not 5 seconds. I know he will calm down pretty quickly. I usually just treat it like a band-aid: rip him off and leave quickly. But it's making me a little anxious. I worry that people will think I'm a bad mom for leaving a crying one year old.

My silly kids

So, Claire is very insistent that she is a "big girl". Any time we ask her if she is any other adjective, she says no, I big girl. We can't call her baby girl, silly, funny, or anything else. She always corrects us. It's pretty silly. So tonight, she was pretty adamant about not going to bed. I started making cookies with the kids before bed, but it got so useless that I ended up just doing one tray, which we ate almost all of before they went to bed. I threw the rest of the dough in the fridge and got back to it after they went to bed. So I was working on that when she got up to ask for a snack. She wanted to "help mom?" She asked very nicely. But I most definitely did not want help, so she had to be content to watch. While we were finishing up, she asked what I was going to do. I said I would make the cookies and then I wanted her to go to bed so I could finish my movie. She started naming all the things big girls do- make cookies, watch movies, watch TV. It was pretty funny. So she went back to bed and came back down a bit later while we were watching our movie. She came over and said "Mom, I big girl. Big girls watch movie." I said no dear and took her back to bed. As we were walking up the stairs, she was telling me again about what big girls do. The fun part was that she was naming them off and counting on her fingers at the same time. According to Claire, big girls "watch TV, watch movie, eat cookie, no go bed". She is always surprising me with what she comes up with. 
Her other new phrases are "favorite", "I love (insert whatever we are talking about)", and "what do?" As in, what are you doing. The last one drives me nuts. She asks constantly. Sometimes she asks multiple times in a few minutes, while we are still doing the same thing. I understand she is just trying to gather information and learn about the world, but it makes me a little crazy some days. I guess I should just be grateful she hasn't learned "why" yet. The "I Love" makes me laugh because she says it about anything. The other day we were talking about the park and she said "I love big parks. I love little parks. I love the park. I love play". I also enjoy the way she says "Little". She can't say it very well, so it usually comes out as "wee". And to make her point completely clear, she usually crouches down and makes herself little and makes a little circle with her hands.
Claire has learned to pedal her tricycle. She loves to do that. The kids usually go out on the porch and ride the scooty car or the tricycle or the bike up and down and up and down. They love it.
Alex on the other hand seems to refuse to talk. He is picking up some words, but not too many. He did learn to sign "Blues Clues" with his hands up by his face and he says "boo". That seems to be his favorite TV show right now. He always asks for it when Claire asks for TV. And Alann taught him to say "oh man" like Swiper in Dora. And he tries to snap his fingers. It's pretty cute. He's starting to get into trains. We have some wooden trains that you can build up with blocks. He gets it out almost every day.
He also has become quite adamant about sitting on the potty. He wants to sit on it every time Claire does. He still hasn't done anything on it, but I'm not about to discourage it.
Alex is still sleeping in his crib. But whenever I put him to bed, I ask him which bed he wants to sleep in, the big boy bed or the crib. He asks for the big boy bed, and lays in it for a bit, then asks for the crib. We are up to about a second laying in the big boy bed. Today he let me cover him with his blanket as if I were putting him to sleep. Someday soon maybe he will switch. I can only hope. I want him to switch to his big bed so he can get used to sleeping in it so we can move him in with Claire at some point. I want him to be comfortable with it first. But sometimes I wonder. If I just took away the crib, would he adjust? If I just put the big bed in Claire's room, would he choose to sleep there? I never know how the boy is going to react. The other day he was doing something I told him not to. So I put him on time out. He did it again. So I put him on time out. He did it again and put himself on timeout. I don't know if he thought it was a game or what. Sometimes when I discipline him, he just screams like Mommy broke his little heart. And other times he is just fine with it. I guess it's just part of being 18 months. It's so hard to believe that he is really almost 18 months old. I think about when we moved here last year, he was such a tiny baby. It amazing how much they change in such a short time. Both him and Claire have really blossomed lately. It's getting to be a bit more fun. We can do things like fingerpaint and all color together. I'm enjoying it.

Funny kids

My kids just get cuter every day. I propose they are the best. But I'm probably biased.
Claire lately has started talking a whole lot. And singing along with songs. And she had her first major accident. We were at the grocery store and I told her to jump out of the van. She usually holds my hand and jumps out. That day, she insisted on holding the handle by the door. So I let her. She held the handle, jumped out, and instead of letting go of the handle, she swung around the pivot her hand made and smacked face first into the frame of the van. She chipped the corner of her front tooth off, and left a white mark on the frame of my van. She started crying, I was of course very worried, and called the dentist. They referred me to a pediatric dentist in Jefferson City- about an hour and a half from our house. So we made an emergency appointment and drove out there. Did I mention it was my birthday? Yeah. Not what I really wanted to do on my birthday. But that's ok. She did really well at her appointment. She sat in my lap at first while the nurse examined her teeth. Then she sat in the chair by herself so she could get the x-rays done. The doctor examined her tooth and told us to watch it. It isn't fractured, it's just chipped off. It doesn't seem to bother her very much. She hasn't complained about it too much since then. He didn't grind it either. He didn't want to scare her. But overall, the cleaning and everything went well. I totally blamed myself for the entire incident also. I often worry that Claire will bust her teeth, because she often smacks her mouth on this. This time she did. So I guess I can stop worrying about it now. =)
Alex is starting to use real words more often. He still uses his sound language a lot. He just makes sounds with his mouth. Instead of sucker or candy, he makes a sucking/clicking noise with his mouth. He also makes a slurping noise for drink. And the dogs are "barks". And his blanket is his "mimi". He has also started using that toddler gibberish that involves lots of b and g sounds. And so Claire has reverted to using it too. I sometimes wonder if she is actually talking to him in it, or just blabbering back at him. The other day, Claire and I were sitting on the couch and Alex was running around. I saw him grab the baby monitor which was out from his nap, but didn't think anything of it. Suddenly, out of nowhere, he hit me, probably as hard as he could, right over the eye with the monitor. It hurts so bad it made me sob. So I fall over and am crying and he starts in with the siren wail. So I have to stop myself to comfort him because he is so upset. It was ridiculous. I was afraid I would have a major bruise, but luckily it's more of a lump than a discoloration. For now anyway.
The kids also like to wrestle. It's still mostly gentle hugging and rolling around on the ground. I'm just waiting for the day it involves hitting and screaming.
Today at dinner, Alex leaned over and caressed Claire's cheek. She leaned in and he hugged her head and she said "wuv you too." It was quite darling. They repeated this for a good 3 minutes. I guess she sees me do that to him. he has started grabbing me by the hair and pulling me in for hugs, and I usually say "I love you too", because I figure that's what he means.
I know I had other stories to tell, but have forgotten them now that I sat down to write. Oh well, some other time.
Otherwise, I'm making myself crazy trying to get ready for the craft show I signed up for. I have lots to do and little time. But Alann has been generous is watching the kids so I can get some work done during the day. I'm hoping the rest of it will go quickly. I only have a giant stack of burp cloths to sew, and a handful of blankets. That's what I really want to get done. I think that will be enough.

I'm bored

I decided whenever I am bored and start aimlessly searching the internet, I should post something on my blog instead. That would be more creative and useful. Now I just need to think of something to write about. I guess I'll start with the hard stuff. I started going to a Bible Study group at another church in town. Two ladies from our ward go, and invited me to attend to. I'm actually really glad they did. For one, it's two hours of FREE child care. I can't argue with that. We are reading "Power of a Praying Woman" and the book is pretty good. But we hit a hard topic- for me anyway. Forgiveness. Starting Wednesday during class and into Weds night, I was feeling pretty beaten up about some unforgiveness and bitterness I've been harboring. I want to share the story, but it involves family members, so I'm not sure it's appropriate. I guess it's something to write somewhere in a journal no one but my great great great grandkids will ever read. Anyway, I was already dealing with that emotional rollar coaster and didn't sleep well Weds night. Then Thursday at playgroup, one of the two friends that I really have here told me she is probably moving. Most likely moving. Okay, they are really going to move. I'm having a hard time accepting this. See, the other of my two friends is moving at the end of this month. And now this one is moving probably in October sometime. So then I will have no one. And what hurts even more than knowing I will be alone, is knowing that poor Claire will be alone. These ladies happen to be the moms of Claire's favorite friends. Some days, sometimes several times a day, she asks if she can play with these two friends. We see them twice a week already with church and then playgroup. But she still asks. So my heart hurts knowing that she will be sad. One of the benefits of the kids getting older is that they can communicate more clearly. And Claire definitely knows when to use "sad" as a feeling description. She will be the oldest in the Nursery class. I was planning on asking the Primary to move her up after her birthday, so she would be with her two friends who will age out to sunbeams, instead of be in the nursery class for a whole second year as the oldest and only oldest, but now there is no reason to. She doesn't know anyone else in the sunbeam class. I don't even know if there is a sunbeam class actually. So Thursday was pretty hard. I'll admit, I've been very upset. I was just starting to get into the groove of things. We've been going to storytime on Tuesdays and Bible study on Weds and playgroup on Thurs. But now there will be no more playgroup because we are the only ones. Yet another reason I wish I had kept Grant around. At least he would be one more playmate. So finding a preschool is top of my list for her. She needs the socialization more than the academics. She just loves kids and being around people. I'm afraid I can't supply all that she needs in that respect.
But, something did bring me joy today, even in the midst of my heartache. We were in the car driving home and I turned on our Sesame Street DVD. The clip with "Elmo's song" came on and the kids immediately started singing. Alex was singing the "la la la" parts and Claire was singing the words and some of the la las. It was so cute and so funny. I don't know where they get their musical talent. Must be from Daddy's side. They also LOVE to dance. Alex has learned how to turn on my clock radio and he runs over first thing when he gets up and turns it on to start dancing. It's great.
Another new thing- Alex is starting to babble with new sounds. He started "reading" to himself too. He sits and turns the pages of the book and babbles the whole time. The funny thing is that his "Reading" voice is different than his talking voice. It is much softer and sing-songy, almost like he is imitating the way I read to him. Which I'm sure he is.
Claire has discovered her imagination. She has started really getting into pretending. The other day at dinner we were sitting there and she suddenly leaned over and started petting Alann's arm. Alann asked what she was doing and she said "Daddy Kitty. Nice Daddy". Alann said "I'm a kitty?" She said "Yes" and petted his arm a few times and then went back to eating. Alann looked at me and said "when did she start pretending?" Alex chimed in with blada blada blada in his new babble noises and I said "Oh, about two weeks ago when he started doing that."

At the Children's Museum in Indy.

Riding the "train" at the Children's Museum with her new BFF Shannon- Alann's cousin.

Being a transformer.

The water table.

Alex's FAVORITE spot. He loves water.

He really liked this box for some reason.

At Beth's Wedding

Me and the pretty bride.

Happy kids

"helping" make brownies

Funny face

I feel like not much has been going on, but a lot has happened lately.

After our trip to Indiana, things calmed down a bit. The next weekend my best friend from college got married, so we headed out to Columbia for that. That was a fun little date for us. We got a sitter. It was nice to have some time to ourselves. We always drive around Columbia when we are there, but so much has changed that it isn’t the same town anymore.

As far as job prospects go, I was working for Leapforce, and was quite happy. I enjoyed the work, I made some awesome Swagbucks (because I had lots of search terms and I could watch SBTV in the background, something I always forget to do when I am just surfing the web), and then my contract got terminated out of the blue.  They just sent me an email one day saying that my quality was too low and I wasn’t performing as they expected. This was a bit of a shock to me. I started in the beginning of June and got terminated in the beginning of August. I did 18 hours in June (my first month) and only about 9 in July because there was never any work. August was looking awesome, I was getting an hour a day, and then bam, terminated. I still don’t really understand why. Every way I had to measure my quality was good. My tasks per hour were fine. I didn’t have a lot of revisions, which meant that I agreed with the other raters as well. So I don’t really know. I sent them two emails asking for proof or records that show any secret tests they ran on me, and I haven’t even gotten a response. So, so much for that. If I recommended it to you, forget it. Not worth the time or possible sudden termination if it something you are counting on for income. I have to say, I was a bit adrift for a bit there. I’ve now been fired twice in my life. And I’ve only had 4 real jobs (jobs that didn’t end based on seasonality anyway). The first time it was a company layoff, and I was WELL paid for a receptionist. This time really hurt, especially because they haven’t responded at all. Plus I felt good doing something to help our family finances (other than manage the outflow of course). My etsy shop is more for fun than profit.

Now I have a new job. Alann hired me to be his Online Marketing Director. Basically, I’m in charge of keeping his online presence up for his company. I only get paid when Provident finishes a project, but that’s okay. It’s something. And if it brings in business for the Management side of it, than it’s good for us anyway.

As far as Alex goes, he had his 15 month checkup. He is 25 lbs, I don’t remember height but the nurse remarked he was tall. He is a lot like Claire. He doesn’t talk much, but he understands a lot. He says ow and loud and milk. He gives lots of kisses, and is in a biting phase which is not fun. He’s a very sensitive boy, and if he thinks he is in trouble, he starts crying. So I have to be careful in discipline with him. A sharp tone usually just makes him cry. He follows Claire everywhere, but is blissfully content to play by himself too. On the rare occasion that he is awake and she isn’t, he will happily play with toys by himself. He moves from toy to toy. He loves the kitchen set and loves to cook there or in the kitchen with my pots and pans. I’m glad my cast iron pans are nice and seasoned because my other non-sticks are getting a little scratched from being played with. I would buy some cheap thrift store pots for him to play with, but I don’t think he would go for it. He also loves cars and says “vroom!” I’ve got an awesome Christmas present in mind for him involving cars. I bought a set of hair clippers so I can cut Alex’s (and maybe Alann’s) hair. He hates the scissors, and won’t really sit still for it. But he did a good job with the clippers. Now I just need to perfect my method and lengths. I cut off all his curls and most of his summer blond. It made me a little sad, but I know it is still there. His hair has already lightened up a lot with the little we’ve been out this week. And the curls are getting going again too.

foos. It’s funny to hear her talk to the dogs. She calls them Nee and Ta-er. She tries to tell them to get off the stairs if we are going down to the basement. They don’t listen. She loves to open the door and let them in or out. She also loves to feed them. Alex is starting to get in on feeding animals too. I can see when they start getting regular chores, feeding the animals will be on there. She is starting to be a really good helper too. She helps me unload the dishwasher (not a problem since most of what we use is plastic these days). I usually remove the utensil drawer and anything heavy or breakable and then she pulls the rest of the dishes out and brings them to me. She helps set the table for meals and is working on clearing the table.  She of course still LOVES to help cook. Her favorite phrase is “by self!” meaning she wants to do something all by herself. Drives me insane sometimes, but that’s a two-year old for you. She often picks out her own clothes and dresses herself. She did a really good job sitting for her most recent hair cut and I was able to cut about an inch off. It looks like I cut a lot more, because it is lighter now and curls a lot more. Just like her mama. It curls like crazy when it is shorter. Or humid. She is currently in LOVE with princesses and My Little Ponies. I can’t decide which  she likes better. She has some princess posters in her room now. Today while we were at Sears she saw a Princess bed set on one of the little beds. She had to get in it and pretend to sleep with the princesses. But Alann started her watching My Little Ponies: Friendship is Magic series and she LOVES it. Pinkie Pie is her favorite. It’s an amusing enough show, and it doesn’t bother me any so I let her watch it. She already loved horses, and now it’s even more. She has started playing with the bucket of ponies that we have (most from when I was little). She has also started playing more imaginatively lately. She makes up stories for her games now. She was playing the other day with her princess castle and her princesses and some cars. I don’t know what the story was, but I did hear her talking, than I saw one of the cars kiss one of the princesses. When she plays ponies, she has a mommy pony and a daddy pony and a baby pony. I also taught her Red Rover at playdate last week, and she plays that with her animals now. She doesn’t really understand the rules, but has fun playing.

So that’s about it. As always I have 500 sewing projects and no time to do them. Someday the kids will be in school and I can sew to my hearts’ content, right? Yeah right. By then I’ll have other things to do I’m sure.

Trip to Indiana

I am ready for things to get back to normal- normal schedule, normal sleep, Alann being home. It's been a stressful few weeks.
Last week, the kids and I took a trip to Indiana with Grandma for her family reunion. Alann couldn't come with us because he had to work. I had fun when I was able to enjoy myself, but it was so stressful dealing with the kids that I wasn't able to enjoy myself too much. I started a conversation with one of Alann's aunts and never got to finish it. I just always felt like I was being pulled away from everything. It was good, but it was one of those vacations that was so short and yet SO incredibly long.
Tuesday we went to pick Grandma up at the airport. Claire was so excited. But the trip started out bad. Some days, the kids want to eat lunch at 11:30. This was not one of those days. So we left the house at noon with empty bellies. I gave them snacks en-route, which necessitated a stop at the rest stop 3 miles from town to wipe chocolate off of Alex (chocolate chip granola bar). As we were pulling into the pick up area the first time, Claire suddenly says "suitcase! I don't have my suitcase!" She apparently thought we were going on the airplane. It was pretty funny. We got to the garage and it was closed. Again. This is the second time I've been to the airport and the garage at the terminal is closed. They expect you to go park far away and ride the shuttle back. We did it when we were the ones leaving, but since we were just picking up, we drove down to the cell phone lot (like 10 minutes away!).  By then, the kids were getting cranky. Alex had about a 30 minute nap on the drive over, but that was it. So I looked up a close food place and went over and grabbed some lunch while we waited for Debbie. As we started heading back, she texted to say she had landed and was getting baggage, so we went back to the pick up area and got her. The kids still had only eaten a few fries. So Debbie fed them a little but Claire was too excited to eat and Alex was just cranky from lack of sleep. We got home and tried for naps. It was a failure. Alex flat out refused and since he was up, Claire decided she needed to be up. We also had a late night to bed because of the over-tiredness on Alex's part and excitedness on Claire's.
Wednesday, we had to go pick up the car. I dropped the van off to get the thermostat replaced because I figured a 5-hour car trip was probably a good reason for it to overheat. With the thermostat broken, it doesn't tell me when it overheats, it just does. So now that is fixed and I don't have to see "maintenance required" every time I get in the car. So we loaded up and left after lunch. I was hoping the kids would nap in the car. Ha. What a joke. Alex fell asleep shortly after we left, but we needed to get gas, so when we stopped, he woke up. And was up. Claire never fell asleep. (Day 2- bad or no naps). We drove out to Grandma Dodson's house and visited for a bit. The last part of the trip, Alex kept grabbing at his ear and crying. So we stopped to get some ibuprofen because this was the only trip I haven't packed medicine for, and of course wind up wanting it. I never actually gave it to him because it stopped bothering him after we got out of the car, but I was glad we had it when Claire got hurt. So we hung out with "GG" for a while and chatted. Claire made an instant friend with her cousin Shannon. Okay, technically, she's Alann's cousin, but she is closer to Claire's age. So the kids played and had fun for a while. Then we went over to Deb's cousin's house where we were staying. The kids were pretty tired, but hung in there while we got settled in. Our sleeping choices were a twin bed, a crib, a cot, and two pack and plays. The crib was set too high for either child, so I pulled the mattress out and made it up on the floor for Claire. I brought her pillow and sheet and of course her blanket. I hoped she would just lay down and pass out. Alex got the pack and play. We all went to bed at the same time (pretty late). Claire was up ALL NIGHT. She bounced around from her bed to Grandma to me. Finally she fell asleep in my bed in the wee hours of the morning. I'm pretty sure the sun was already up. It was a long long night.
Thursday we went to the Children's Museum. The kids had a ton of fun. Claire ran around with Shannon all day. Alex's favorite part was the water table in the "5 and under" room. He would have stayed there all day if I had let him. I pulled him away and took him to another part of the room so I wouldn't have to deal with the screams when we just left the room entirely. Then we rode the carousel. Claire was disappointed because the horse didn't jump. Only about a third of the animals jumped (went up and down), and they were all filled. And then we headed back to the house. I was hoping for naps in the car again. They were too wound up and stayed awake the whole drive back to the house. It was about 45 minutes or an hour I think (long enough for a decent nap). So we put them to bed late and thus commenced the trip to the hospital episode. (Claire's staples are doing pretty good. They actually feel loose, like I might brush them out when I wash her hair. We have an appt Monday to get them out.) So, day 3 without naps. The kids slept hard that night, thankfully. Claire wouldn't go to sleep in her bed again, so I let her sleep in my bed until we went to bed, and then I moved her to the pack and play (which was set farther from the dangerous object so if she climbed out, she wouldn't get hurt again). She looked a little confused when she woke up, but was okay with it.
Friday, we went to the "big pool!" It was a pretty nice pool actually. It had lots of slides and a great shallow area with lots of stuff to play with for little kids. (Much better than the Warrenton pool, that's for sure.) We spent a few hours there, and Claire didn't get sick this time. We were really careful about hydrating though. It helped that the lifeguards cleared the pool every hour or so, so we would go back to our stuff, get a snack, a drink. I gave her whatever she wanted- Capri Sun, gatorade, juice, water. And Alex didn't get a sunburn. So it was a win all around. We had a lot of fun there. Then we headed back to the house and cleaned up. We all showered and washed the nasty pool water off. Then finished packing up. The kids and I left to come home because Alann was leaving for Chicago on Monday and the kids get crazy if they don't see Daddy for too long. I knew it would be a disaster to try to be gone much longer and then have him leave. So I drove all the way home by myself. It wasn't too bad. The kids passed out in the car (thankfully!). They slept for about an hour and a half. I was getting sleepy, so I pulled over to nap a bit while they did. I only got about 10 minutes before Alex woke up, but it did help. Then we hit the road and drove for another half hour or so until Claire woke up. We stopped to get dinner and the kids would not eat. By the time dinner was over, I felt like a total failure mom. Looking back, there wasn't even anything really wrong with the dinner. The kids didn't want to sit. They had been sitting for several hours already. I knew that going in. I think what really got to me was this one lady in the restaurant. Claire ran into her several times, and each time I would tell her to say sorry and she wouldn't and she just kept running around and the lady just kept looking at me with this sympathetic smile and it just made me feel really down for some reason. Like I had the bad crazy kids and everyone felt sorry for me. So then we go out to the car (and it's a thousand degrees out there!) and try to get the kids buckled in and Claire starts swinging on the back of the driver's chair like a monkey. I tell her to get down, she doesn't, I tell her again, she doesn't, so I reach over (I'm trying to fight Alex into his seat) and swat her butt and she lets go and falls down. So then she looks at me with tears in her eyes and looks so sad and says "Mom, no hit me." And I just lose it and start crying and she's crying and Alex is crying. And I just felt awful. So I apologize and tell her I'm sorry and I shouldn't have hit her (it wasn't hard, just enough to get her attention), and we finally load up to go and then they decide they want milk and it was seriously a 20 minute endeavor just to leave the parking lot. So most of the rest of the trip home I'm feeling pretty awful. We stop at another rest stop and I let them run around and play a bit before we leave and I get two bug bites. I haven't had any all summer. It was just insult to injury. And we get home and it's late and the kids are excited and have a hard time falling asleep, again. (Day 4 of short naps and rocking Alex to sleep because he is overtired.)
Saturday, Alann and I ended up running errands with the kids. So no naps, again. Day 5. I'm trying to get my lesson ready and Alex will not got to sleep unless I hold him and I was just so frustrated. Then Sunday we get to church and at the end of Sacrament meeting, the Bishop announces that we are all meeting combined for the third hour, so I don't have to teach. Apparently, the other YW teacher didn't know either. Luckily, Alex napped in his stroller during Sunday School, so he wasn't terrible. What is it about Sundays that always make kids crazy?
Monday, Alann left for Chicago for a week. He's working a filler job for his dad's company. During naps I made a big mess getting ready for my lotion class on Tuesday. After naps, we went out to go shopping and eat out so we wouldn't have to deal with the mess. We were out really late. The kids were pretty good, but the last stop they were pretty out of control. So another night of holding Alex until he fell asleep. At least Grandma was here to read books to Claire.
Tuesday we took Grandma back to the airport. Luckily it was after naps. We left late and I was worried that Deb wouldn't make her flight. So I said a prayer. And her flight got delayed. And apparently later canceled. Sorry about that Debbie! I just didn't want you to miss it! After we dropped off Debbie, we hit the mall and I let the kids play in the play place for a while. It is still sweltering out here. So air-conditioned play area was great. Then we rode the elevator to go back up stairs. Claire really really really wanted to ride the escalator. But we had the stroller, so we couldn't unless we left the stroller and I didn't really like that idea. Every time we passed it she said "please mom, ride that. Me, Mom, Ai (Alex) please Mom." It was pretty cute. Next time we will have to ride the escalator. (She is starting to use sentences more, but when she does, she says the same thing several times. Usually it's along the line of "please mom have juice in see-cu (sippy cup) juice please mom please." I guess she's afraid I don't understand? Or maybe she is imitating the fact that I have to ask her 10 times to do something?) Then we hit the grocery store because we were out of things like milk and eggs and produce. And so another late night drew to a close with me holding Alex as he fell asleep.
Wednesday we actually got naps and to bed on time, and today has been good too. Of course tomorrow, we are going to playdate to pick blackberries and then swim. I'm guessing late or no naps. And Daddy should be home sometime tomorrow. So late to bed. Someday, the kids will catch up on their sleep and stop being so grouchy. So yeah, I am looking forward to a more normal schedule.