Can you believe that three years ago today I did my first blog?!?!?
I look back at where I was in my life then and it's hard to believe how much has changed in a matter of three years.
Back then I only had one child to care for, a husband who was home at night and I thought my life was chaotic. "Oh, Beth of three years ago, you are so funny. You are very naive, child. Sweety, you need to get a grip and brace yourself." Funny thing is...I will probably be saying the same thing in three years about my life today. God, I hope not...but just in case. **knock on wood**
The last three years brought....
1) Miss Lauren
2) Miss Ella
3) A burn accident
4) A flood
5) A very long RV road trip
6) A disasterous swing set construction
7) A basement remodel
8) Five trips to the emergency room
9) A new niece/cousin
10) A camper
My predictions for the next three years....
1) Dustin will obtain a full-time driver spot at UPS (Are those angels singing?)
2) I will pass the CPA exam
3) Josh will have finally lost his front tooth ;-)
4) Josh will be loving fourth grade
5) Lauren will be loving Kindergarten
6) Ella will be loving Preschool
7) Everyone in the house will be out of diapers (Woot! Woot!)
8) My weekly daycare bill will be under $300 (Triple Woot! Woot!)
9) The basement remodel will finally be finished
10) We will take a major family vacation
It's been a great three years - so many memories, photos, funny stories and special moments. To my readers: thanks for sharing in our lives the last few years. If we've brought you some smiles, some tears and some laughs...then it's all been worth it.
To my kids (a/k/a the best three kids in the universe): I may not be the type of mom who has time for dozens of photo albums for you to treasure for years to come, but this is the closest thing you'll get. ;-) Your mom tries her hardest to give you everything you need and all she asks for in return is a kiss and a smile from you.
A regular Animal Planet
It seems that lately our garage door has been hosting a weekly Animal Planet show. This morning's feature was a fuzzy caterpillar!
Like mother, like daughter
Lauren is home with me for the second day now. Last night I thought for sure we'd be back to normal but this morning she still has a fever and a nasty cough. She's my puker anyways, so when she has these coughing fits it usually ends up in a mess. ;-(
Her and I are cuddled up in the recliner and I was checking my email for work. She ran over to the toys and brought over the toy laptop.
Too funny!
Her and I are cuddled up in the recliner and I was checking my email for work. She ran over to the toys and brought over the toy laptop.
Too funny!
Hangin' on by a thread
Both can be said about myself...and Josh's front tooth.
Each night I put him to bed and tell him I can't believe it hung on another day. And tonight, it's still here.
Maybe it is just a strong tooth with one strong root. Or maybe the Tooth Fairy knows that I don't have any cash on me and she's holding out for payday.
Hold strong, little tooth.
Each night I put him to bed and tell him I can't believe it hung on another day. And tonight, it's still here.
Maybe it is just a strong tooth with one strong root. Or maybe the Tooth Fairy knows that I don't have any cash on me and she's holding out for payday.
Hold strong, little tooth.
The good ol' days
Being home all day with Lauren today reminded me of what it was like working part-time. And tonight when all the laundry is put away, the house is clean, the kids had a healthy meal for super, they are bathed and playing on the family room floor - and it's only 6:30 - it makes me kind of miss those days.
Lauren had helped so much with making all the apple pies, and since the one we baked over the weekend while Dad, Thomas and Joel were here is already gone, her and I threw another one in the oven today!
I bet you wish you were here to taste all that goodness, don't ya?
Like I said before, tonight was bath night and no bath is complete without a little splish splashing in the bath tub.
And after all these years of having children, I had another first: Ella peed on me. I guess from now on I will have the water ready to go BEFORE I strip her naked again.
Oh, the kids had a good laugh over that one.
Ella had a good laugh, too.
With all of Lauren's new found independent abilities, the bath time rituals have become a bit simpler for me. She now insists on picking out her own pajamas and will get herself completely ready for bed on her own. And while she is able to physically dress herself, the concept of coordinating outfits is something still yet to be learned.
Tonight she picked out a striped cotton t-shirt and flowered satin pajama pants. I will give her props for having the colors match. So close, sweety!
Lauren had helped so much with making all the apple pies, and since the one we baked over the weekend while Dad, Thomas and Joel were here is already gone, her and I threw another one in the oven today!
I bet you wish you were here to taste all that goodness, don't ya?
Like I said before, tonight was bath night and no bath is complete without a little splish splashing in the bath tub.
And after all these years of having children, I had another first: Ella peed on me. I guess from now on I will have the water ready to go BEFORE I strip her naked again.
Oh, the kids had a good laugh over that one.
Ella had a good laugh, too.
With all of Lauren's new found independent abilities, the bath time rituals have become a bit simpler for me. She now insists on picking out her own pajamas and will get herself completely ready for bed on her own. And while she is able to physically dress herself, the concept of coordinating outfits is something still yet to be learned.
Tonight she picked out a striped cotton t-shirt and flowered satin pajama pants. I will give her props for having the colors match. So close, sweety!
What's Ella thinking?
My guess...
"I don't know what this fool is smiling about...I just crapped my pants."
Apple Pickers
Fall is here and so is the sickness that always seems to come with it. Lauren started coughing in the night on Saturday and I had a feeling it was going to get worse before it got better. She has a nasty little cough, running nose, high fever and just began saying, "My tummy hurts, mommy". It's always pretty easy to tell when she doesn't feel well as all she wants to do today is sit in my lap and cuddle. That's sign #1. I'm hoping it's just a 24 hour bug thing and that she'll be feeling better tomorrow. Until then, I'm enjoying some "cuddle time" with my non-cuddler. ;-)
This weekend Dad and Thomas came down for a visit. I had planned a day trip to a local orchard for us with a side trip to the Amanas and BOY did we have a great day!! Honey Creek Acres was purchased by a family a few years ago and they have done a ton of work to bring it back to what it once was.
When we got there we all went into the store to pick out our apple pickers and baskets. But as we were all looking what rows had the McIntosh apples Josh and Lauren found the bees!!
It really was pretty neat to see a working beehive. They kids even found the Queen bee. Josh is pretty scared of bees and he seemed thrilled to be able to see them close up from the safety of being behind glass.
Once we found a good tree we all went to work!
And while Miss Ella didn't get to pick any apples herself...she sure did try and get her hands on a few!
After we paid for all 28 pounds of apples (YOWZERS!) we headed over to the Ox Yoke Inn for a little (or big) lunch.
Lauren's face says it all. It was good. Very good.
After lunch we walked around a bit and scared the kids a bit with some stuffed animals.
Dad told Josh that if the moose head scared him, he should see what's on the other side of the wall. Josh was mortified and giddy at the thought.
No trip to the Amanas is complete without a stop at the Chocolate Haus. So while mommy bought caramel and button candy, Papa Adam and Ella enjoyed the beautiful day.
Once we got home we made four delicious apple pies and a TON of applesauce for Miss Ella. Good thing she likes it!!
This weekend Dad and Thomas came down for a visit. I had planned a day trip to a local orchard for us with a side trip to the Amanas and BOY did we have a great day!! Honey Creek Acres was purchased by a family a few years ago and they have done a ton of work to bring it back to what it once was.
When we got there we all went into the store to pick out our apple pickers and baskets. But as we were all looking what rows had the McIntosh apples Josh and Lauren found the bees!!
It really was pretty neat to see a working beehive. They kids even found the Queen bee. Josh is pretty scared of bees and he seemed thrilled to be able to see them close up from the safety of being behind glass.
Once we found a good tree we all went to work!
And while Miss Ella didn't get to pick any apples herself...she sure did try and get her hands on a few!
After we paid for all 28 pounds of apples (YOWZERS!) we headed over to the Ox Yoke Inn for a little (or big) lunch.
Lauren's face says it all. It was good. Very good.
After lunch we walked around a bit and scared the kids a bit with some stuffed animals.
Dad told Josh that if the moose head scared him, he should see what's on the other side of the wall. Josh was mortified and giddy at the thought.
No trip to the Amanas is complete without a stop at the Chocolate Haus. So while mommy bought caramel and button candy, Papa Adam and Ella enjoyed the beautiful day.
Once we got home we made four delicious apple pies and a TON of applesauce for Miss Ella. Good thing she likes it!!
What a day!
Lately, I've been doing a lot of litigation work for expert witness testimonies and for bankruptcies. I love these special projects and I'm the only one in the office who does this type of work.
That being said, I've never been to court to see my work come up for discussion; however, my boss has testified to it on several occasions.
Well, today I was there to witness it all!!!
This is an extremely large case and there are several people financially involved. So today I watched twenty plus, high price attorneys with my work in their hands! All of them, referring to the exhibit in their examinations and discussing my analysis. WOW!
Talk about a nerve wracking, exhilarating, prideful moment for me. I have always been one to take pride in my work. And it means a lot to me when people say I do good job. And I genuinely appreciate the opportunity Jim gave me to be able to see my work's importance. The opportunity to see my work stand up to the test of all those attorneys without errors/argument/etc...now THAT was a pat on the back.
All the stress, Tums, Advil and tears were worth it for that moment.
Today was a good day.
That being said, I've never been to court to see my work come up for discussion; however, my boss has testified to it on several occasions.
Well, today I was there to witness it all!!!
This is an extremely large case and there are several people financially involved. So today I watched twenty plus, high price attorneys with my work in their hands! All of them, referring to the exhibit in their examinations and discussing my analysis. WOW!
Talk about a nerve wracking, exhilarating, prideful moment for me. I have always been one to take pride in my work. And it means a lot to me when people say I do good job. And I genuinely appreciate the opportunity Jim gave me to be able to see my work's importance. The opportunity to see my work stand up to the test of all those attorneys without errors/argument/etc...now THAT was a pat on the back.
All the stress, Tums, Advil and tears were worth it for that moment.
Today was a good day.
Growin' like a weed
Yesterday, was Ella's six month check-up. I had scheduled it thinking that I would just pick the girls up early and take Lauren with me so she could get her annual flu shot. Well, you know what they say about well laid plans.
Things have been crazy at work. I am in the early stages of one of the biggest bankruptcies in the state. I have been assigned to lead the project and it is taking up about 95% of my time right now. (Who would of thought I'd have overtime in September?) Nonetheless, tomorrow is a court hearing and the cash analysis work I've been doing for about three to four weeks now will be picked apart tomorrow - and I get to watch. No stress, huh?
Anyway, instead of taking the girls to their doctor appointment, I was in meeting with lawyers and Dustin had to go with them instead. Let's just say, he expected the worse. As did I. I knew Ella was going to get four shots but I also knew that she would be the easy one. It was Lauren I worried about. I envisioned her screaming so loud that everyone would think she was being beaten. I envisioned her crying so hard she would make herself puke. I envisioned a fit beyond any fit we'd seen before. Funny thing is...Dustin envisioned all that, too.
And what did our little drama queen do? Nothing. Not even a tear. Uh, what? I was shocked. About as shocked as I was that Ella is already six months old.
Where does the time go?
She now weighs 20 pounds, 7 ounces (97th percentile). She is 27.5 inches long (95th percentile). And has a head circumference of 45 centimeters (96th percentile). It's at this point I thank God for having a c-section.
Things have been crazy at work. I am in the early stages of one of the biggest bankruptcies in the state. I have been assigned to lead the project and it is taking up about 95% of my time right now. (Who would of thought I'd have overtime in September?) Nonetheless, tomorrow is a court hearing and the cash analysis work I've been doing for about three to four weeks now will be picked apart tomorrow - and I get to watch. No stress, huh?
Anyway, instead of taking the girls to their doctor appointment, I was in meeting with lawyers and Dustin had to go with them instead. Let's just say, he expected the worse. As did I. I knew Ella was going to get four shots but I also knew that she would be the easy one. It was Lauren I worried about. I envisioned her screaming so loud that everyone would think she was being beaten. I envisioned her crying so hard she would make herself puke. I envisioned a fit beyond any fit we'd seen before. Funny thing is...Dustin envisioned all that, too.
And what did our little drama queen do? Nothing. Not even a tear. Uh, what? I was shocked. About as shocked as I was that Ella is already six months old.
Where does the time go?
She now weighs 20 pounds, 7 ounces (97th percentile). She is 27.5 inches long (95th percentile). And has a head circumference of 45 centimeters (96th percentile). It's at this point I thank God for having a c-section.
What is Ella thinking?
My guess...
"Bored.to.death. Wait...are they serving funnel cakes over there?"
TOUCHDOWN!!!
Tonight was Josh's first official football game and guess who brought in the first touchdown?!?!?!? JOSHIE DID!!!!
He had a bunch of people there to cheer him on: me and the girls, Grandma Cathy, Ti-ti and Grandma and Grandpa Bricker. We all just screamed and cheered him on. Of course Grandma Cathy was holding Ella and gave her poor little heart a scare with all the screaming, but it was all worth it!
Daddy is devastated to have had to miss it. But Josh got to talk to him as soon as we got home tonight and tell him all about the game.
He had a bunch of people there to cheer him on: me and the girls, Grandma Cathy, Ti-ti and Grandma and Grandpa Bricker. We all just screamed and cheered him on. Of course Grandma Cathy was holding Ella and gave her poor little heart a scare with all the screaming, but it was all worth it!
Daddy is devastated to have had to miss it. But Josh got to talk to him as soon as we got home tonight and tell him all about the game.
Good times.
A six month check-up with four shots plus teething is not the greatest combination.
I'll have to update tomorrow.
I'll have to update tomorrow.
Regular visits
I can say that, until we moved to our current home, I had never seen a praying mantis before. Now, every year I see one. Maybe it's the same one. And if that's the case he must make a permanent residence near us. One year he was on the back storm door and dang near gave me a heart attack when I opened the door to let the dog out. A few years ago he was on our bedroom window.
And this year...he was on our garage door.
And this year...he was on our garage door.
Flag Football
Josh's first full week of flag football practice is over. (Now only five more weeks to go!! Does that make me a bad parent?)
He absolutely loves, loves, loves it!! I told Dustin he would be proud of him because he listens very well and does as his coach tells him. It's just such a change from two years ago. Remember that disaster? Well, he's come a long way in two years!
What a stud, huh?
Uncle Joel came to practice last night. The Wilkin's Elementary Open House was last night so he watched the girls for me while Josh and I went to see his room and go to the book fair after practice.
Uncle Joel is always good at entertaining the kids and last night was no exception. Lauren gave him a little workout by making him lift her up over and over and over again.
And this was Miss Ella...
In this pictures she's saying, "Did you see my big brother make that great play?!"
"Yeah...he's the man!"
He absolutely loves, loves, loves it!! I told Dustin he would be proud of him because he listens very well and does as his coach tells him. It's just such a change from two years ago. Remember that disaster? Well, he's come a long way in two years!
What a stud, huh?
Uncle Joel came to practice last night. The Wilkin's Elementary Open House was last night so he watched the girls for me while Josh and I went to see his room and go to the book fair after practice.
Uncle Joel is always good at entertaining the kids and last night was no exception. Lauren gave him a little workout by making him lift her up over and over and over again.
And this was Miss Ella...
In this pictures she's saying, "Did you see my big brother make that great play?!"
"Yeah...he's the man!"
My daycare report today....
"Ella is getting quite the personality these days! I just LOVE how she lights up when she sees someone! She gets herself so excited and grins from ear to ear! We had a great morning making our apple pie and enjoyed the gorgeous weather outside on a long walk this morning."
And then this....
"I just have to share this with you about Lauren today...nothing bad, just funny! All, I mean ALL, during lunchtime, she kept telling me you were naked! Constantly, non stop, she was saying, "Mommy naked, Jaime" and then would giggle. LOL Oh, too funny! At first, I didn’t know what she was saying, so I would ask her to repeat it, then I thought she was saying this, but then replaced naked with other words, just in case she was saying something else...but she wasn’t. Every time I would say somethign else, she would tell me NO. Oh, ya gotta love those two year olds! LOL"
And then this....
"I just have to share this with you about Lauren today...nothing bad, just funny! All, I mean ALL, during lunchtime, she kept telling me you were naked! Constantly, non stop, she was saying, "Mommy naked, Jaime" and then would giggle. LOL Oh, too funny! At first, I didn’t know what she was saying, so I would ask her to repeat it, then I thought she was saying this, but then replaced naked with other words, just in case she was saying something else...but she wasn’t. Every time I would say somethign else, she would tell me NO. Oh, ya gotta love those two year olds! LOL"
What is Ella thinking?
My guess -
If that dog can figure out how to crawl (and she drinks out of the toilet)...I should be able to figure this out!
On the move
With the start of school I am finding that our schedules are getting pretty full. Each weekend is filled with trips, appointments and parties; each weekday is filled with doctor's appointments, practices and school meetings.
With all this activity my calendar is filled with reminders so that each morning I am reminded of things I need to do the following day. Even with all these systems in place, I have forgotten a thing or two. Like, last Friday we received a call reminding us that we had signed Josh up for Flag Football. Whoops.
I had Dustin call and find out when it was because, for the life of me, I completely forgot that I had even signed him up. Uh, yeah...six weeks of flag football on Tuesdays and Thursdays at 5:30. WTH?!? I must have scheduled this during tax season when I had "pregnancy brain" and my only focus was on finishing tax returns. Because I obviously wasn't thinking of the logistics of all this - what with having the girls with me right during our normal dinner time.
Should be fun. I keep hoping that he'll hate it and beg to quit. Knowing my luck he'll love it and want to take another session.
After a very successful garage sale on Saturday, mom, Ti-ti and I took the kids down to Iowa City to finish my shopping for the family photo session this weekend. Dustin was thrilled to have the house to himself during the biggest game of the season: Iowa vs. Iowa State. (GO HAWKS!)
Unfortunately, I think he had dreams of his one and only son staying with him to watch the football game. And when Josh said he would rather go with the girls shopping...he was a little crushed.
I kept telling him it was because he wanted to ride the carousel. But I don't think it helped.
Shopping with three kids is never fun. It's exhausting. It takes five times as long. And by the end you just want to stick a "For Sale" sign on each of your children and hope for a good offer.
Each time I am reminded why I do 80% of my shopping online.
As eager as I was to get Ella's nursery started I still haven't even finished it. I have been looking for something to inspire me and I finally found a couple cute little additions: birdies.
I saw these birds and immediately thought of my little Ella - adorable, fun and sweet.
They fit in nicely with her "nature" theme.
Each day Ella is getting closer to figuring out how to crawl forward. Right now she just rocks back and forth really fast and then thrusts herself forward in a belly flop style motion. It's pretty funny to watch, actually, but watching her back herself into a corner is pretty funny, too.
Tonight I caught her mid-thrust!
With all this activity my calendar is filled with reminders so that each morning I am reminded of things I need to do the following day. Even with all these systems in place, I have forgotten a thing or two. Like, last Friday we received a call reminding us that we had signed Josh up for Flag Football. Whoops.
I had Dustin call and find out when it was because, for the life of me, I completely forgot that I had even signed him up. Uh, yeah...six weeks of flag football on Tuesdays and Thursdays at 5:30. WTH?!? I must have scheduled this during tax season when I had "pregnancy brain" and my only focus was on finishing tax returns. Because I obviously wasn't thinking of the logistics of all this - what with having the girls with me right during our normal dinner time.
Should be fun. I keep hoping that he'll hate it and beg to quit. Knowing my luck he'll love it and want to take another session.
After a very successful garage sale on Saturday, mom, Ti-ti and I took the kids down to Iowa City to finish my shopping for the family photo session this weekend. Dustin was thrilled to have the house to himself during the biggest game of the season: Iowa vs. Iowa State. (GO HAWKS!)
Unfortunately, I think he had dreams of his one and only son staying with him to watch the football game. And when Josh said he would rather go with the girls shopping...he was a little crushed.
I kept telling him it was because he wanted to ride the carousel. But I don't think it helped.
Shopping with three kids is never fun. It's exhausting. It takes five times as long. And by the end you just want to stick a "For Sale" sign on each of your children and hope for a good offer.
Each time I am reminded why I do 80% of my shopping online.
As eager as I was to get Ella's nursery started I still haven't even finished it. I have been looking for something to inspire me and I finally found a couple cute little additions: birdies.
I saw these birds and immediately thought of my little Ella - adorable, fun and sweet.
They fit in nicely with her "nature" theme.
Each day Ella is getting closer to figuring out how to crawl forward. Right now she just rocks back and forth really fast and then thrusts herself forward in a belly flop style motion. It's pretty funny to watch, actually, but watching her back herself into a corner is pretty funny, too.
Tonight I caught her mid-thrust!
Miss Independent
I'm sure that when Lauren is 30 years old and the head of some multi-billion dollar company I will look back at these days and say, "I knew it was all going to be worth it!" But right now...when I'm in a hurry and I have a list of fifty things to accomplish before I can go to bed...this independence phase is getting real old.
"I DO IT, MOMMY!!"
"NO!!!! I DO IT!!"
"MOMMY, NO!! LAUREN DO IT!"
"NOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOO!!!!"
Those are the typical phrases I hear from the time Lauren wakes up to the time she goes to bed right now. For instance, this morning I took a Pull-Up out of the package while she was going potty. Just that simple task set her into full-on freak out session. After five minutes of screaming, I had to put the Pull-Up back in the package just so she could take it out again. And let me tell you...when you have a baby to feed and get dressed, make-up to put on, a boy to wake up and lunches to pack, I feel like having my own full-on freak out session.
Some of her other new "fun" phrases are:
"I don't wike dis."
"I want gum, mommy."
"I take dat, ok?"
"No, you watch me."
and my favorite,
"No, mommy."
I just keep reminding myself that this is how she learns to do these things. And that in a few months or so, she will be able to do all these things by herself. I'm thinking that in the meantime I should just staple a Post-it note on my forehead that says, "Breathe. She's learning."
"I DO IT, MOMMY!!"
"NO!!!! I DO IT!!"
"MOMMY, NO!! LAUREN DO IT!"
"NOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOO!!!!"
Those are the typical phrases I hear from the time Lauren wakes up to the time she goes to bed right now. For instance, this morning I took a Pull-Up out of the package while she was going potty. Just that simple task set her into full-on freak out session. After five minutes of screaming, I had to put the Pull-Up back in the package just so she could take it out again. And let me tell you...when you have a baby to feed and get dressed, make-up to put on, a boy to wake up and lunches to pack, I feel like having my own full-on freak out session.
Some of her other new "fun" phrases are:
"I don't wike dis."
"I want gum, mommy."
"I take dat, ok?"
"No, you watch me."
and my favorite,
"No, mommy."
I just keep reminding myself that this is how she learns to do these things. And that in a few months or so, she will be able to do all these things by herself. I'm thinking that in the meantime I should just staple a Post-it note on my forehead that says, "Breathe. She's learning."
Four on their way in and four on their way out!
Ella has been working on cutting some teeth for - what seems like a year - a few months now. She's been quite crabby and seems to find relief in the form of making others suffer with her. Each night has been a struggle to get her sleep and last night was no exception.
I was trying to soothe her back to sleep and Josh came in with a concerned look on his face. He asked why Ella was so upset. I told him that she has some teeth coming in and it can be a painful process for babies. Then I reminded him about his tooth aches when his molars came in recently.
Josh: Well, once my loose teeth fall out I'll have new teeth come in, too, right?
Me: Yeah! Wait...did you say loose teeth?
Josh: Yeah. **smiles**
Me: JOSH!!! Which ones?!?!?!?
Josh: This one, and this one, and this one and this one!!
Me: WHAT?!?!?!? When did you notice they were loose?!?!?
Josh: Remember when you gave me that apple at dinner?
Me: THAT WAS LIKE A WEEK AGO!!!
Josh: **giggles** I know!
Me: Josh!! Why didn't you tell me?!?!? This is so exciting!!!
Then I proceeded to wiggle each and every tooth to see just exactly how loose they all were. And yes, his two front teeth and bottom front teeth are loose. I kept asking to wiggle them and finally he said, "Jeez, mom. Enough already!"
I could tell he was a little nervous about it all so I asked him if he had any questions. I remembered when he was three I mentioned something about "when he loses his teeth" and he freaked!
Josh: Mom...do you have to tie a string to my tooth and slam the door?
Me: No! Mommy never did that when her teeth were loose. So, no, you don't have to do that.
Josh: Ummmm....mom? What if my teeth don't come in?
Me: Sweety, the reason your teeth are loose is because the new ones are pushing them out.
Josh: Ohhhhh.
Me: Anything else?
Josh: Will it bleed?
Me: It might. But it doesn't hurt like when you cut your finger. When you got your nose bleeds it didn't hurt, right?
Josh: Okay.
Me: Anything else?
Josh: Yeah...how much does the tooth fairy give you for each tooth?
He's already calculated what his mouth full of teeth is worth and I'm pretty sure he has every penny spent!
I, of course, tried to ease his mind and told him the story of when I lost my last tooth. I was jumping on my bed in my room and hit my head on the ceiling. I came down and realized my tooth was gone. And where was it? I don't know. Never found it. I'm quite certain I swallowed it and at eight years old...that was a disgusting thought. Josh thought that was hysterical.
So just as Ella is losing her toothless smile, Josh is about to get one!
I was trying to soothe her back to sleep and Josh came in with a concerned look on his face. He asked why Ella was so upset. I told him that she has some teeth coming in and it can be a painful process for babies. Then I reminded him about his tooth aches when his molars came in recently.
Josh: Well, once my loose teeth fall out I'll have new teeth come in, too, right?
Me: Yeah! Wait...did you say loose teeth?
Josh: Yeah. **smiles**
Me: JOSH!!! Which ones?!?!?!?
Josh: This one, and this one, and this one and this one!!
Me: WHAT?!?!?!? When did you notice they were loose?!?!?
Josh: Remember when you gave me that apple at dinner?
Me: THAT WAS LIKE A WEEK AGO!!!
Josh: **giggles** I know!
Me: Josh!! Why didn't you tell me?!?!? This is so exciting!!!
Then I proceeded to wiggle each and every tooth to see just exactly how loose they all were. And yes, his two front teeth and bottom front teeth are loose. I kept asking to wiggle them and finally he said, "Jeez, mom. Enough already!"
I could tell he was a little nervous about it all so I asked him if he had any questions. I remembered when he was three I mentioned something about "when he loses his teeth" and he freaked!
Josh: Mom...do you have to tie a string to my tooth and slam the door?
Me: No! Mommy never did that when her teeth were loose. So, no, you don't have to do that.
Josh: Ummmm....mom? What if my teeth don't come in?
Me: Sweety, the reason your teeth are loose is because the new ones are pushing them out.
Josh: Ohhhhh.
Me: Anything else?
Josh: Will it bleed?
Me: It might. But it doesn't hurt like when you cut your finger. When you got your nose bleeds it didn't hurt, right?
Josh: Okay.
Me: Anything else?
Josh: Yeah...how much does the tooth fairy give you for each tooth?
He's already calculated what his mouth full of teeth is worth and I'm pretty sure he has every penny spent!
I, of course, tried to ease his mind and told him the story of when I lost my last tooth. I was jumping on my bed in my room and hit my head on the ceiling. I came down and realized my tooth was gone. And where was it? I don't know. Never found it. I'm quite certain I swallowed it and at eight years old...that was a disgusting thought. Josh thought that was hysterical.
So just as Ella is losing her toothless smile, Josh is about to get one!
Going out with a BANG!
Our camping trip with friends from Omaha has become something of an annual event. Amy and I worked together at Jim's for several years. Our lives have some sort of parallel universe quality with a six year delay; I was pregnant with Josh when she was pregnant with her last, she has a boy-girl-girl combo, her husband was gone a lot for work and so she is the ONE person who truly knows the struggles that come along with basically being a single, working parent to three children.
Camping with them is always a blast and we always come away from it with good memories, funny stories and one time we even came away with a baby on the way! ;-)
Nonetheless, preparing for such a trip always tends to be last minute (due to my poor planning) and extremely chaotic. I left work at noon to do my grocery shopping sans children and Dustin loaded the camper with twenty loads of clothes, toys and random crap you never use while camping.
We decided to pick the girls up from daycare on our way out of town and as soon as I picked Josh up from school we finished up some last minute things and were off!
As any good pet owners do, we brought along with us both Miss Mattie and Fishy Fish. However, about two minutes into our endeavor Fishy Fish came dangerously close to "sloshing" right out of his bowl. **phew** I quick called Jaime, our daycare provider, and asked if she was registered to care for fish as well as children. After I assured her that all Beta fish look the same and if by some odd chance something were to happen...we would never have to know.
A quick exchange of two girls for one fish and we were officially on our way.
We normally camp at Saylorville Lake near Des Moines; however, they were under some re-modeling projects so we headed to Lake Ahquabi State Park in Indianola, IA. I don't know if I completely lost track of time or merely didn't do the math, but we didn't end up pulling into the campground until 8:15...in the dark.
Let's just say that when you combine a campground you've never been to before with complete darkness on Labor Day weekend you have a recipe for disaster. There were children running around everywhere and while Dustin was trying to keep an eye out for random people I was frantically trying to locate the water spicket.
I filled the tank with water while Dustin headed out on foot to find our campsite. He came back and said, "It ain't gonna be pretty."
Why, you ask?
Our spot was at a very odd angle so backing in would be tricky (even if it were daylight), we were also at the bottom of a slight hill and the rain had washed away the soil from next to the road so there was about a eight inch drop off the edge of the road so we had a small margin for error. On top of that we had no flash light and Lauren was done sitting in the car.
As I normally do, I got out of the truck to try and help Dustin see where to go. There I stood with my cell phone in one hand and my iPod in the other like some air traffic controller trying to direct aircraft with a couple of lit matches. He couldn't see me at all, he couldn't hear me because Lauren was screaming and I was cursing everything that had to do with camping.
About 45 minutes into it I realized that we were giving the rest of the campground quite the show. Not only were people looking over at us, but they had literally turned their chairs around to watch. Nothing like having an audience to make any situation more stressful.
After a little over an hour we were all backed in and only another twenty minutes and we were level. I'm sweating again just thinking about it.
The next morning we got up, made breakfast and headed into town to pick up the several things I inadvertently left off my list. By the time we got back to the campground our friends were there!
Once they got settled we headed off to the lake with the entire group - four adults, six kids and two dogs.
Mattie was more than happy to get in the water and even loved swimming in the moss and muck! **shakes head**
Saturday night involved burgers, campfires and beer. And of course any good campfire includes smores.
Everything was going great and then Lauren had one of her tantrums. Oh, Lord. I have no idea what set that child off but it was bad. Dustin had her inside and she was getting ready for bed, I walked in the camper to get something and she was crying and he was yelling for paper towels.
She made herself puke and got it all over her bed. Oh, yes. Then she came running to me and puked on Josh's bed. I carried her into the bathroom and she puked all over the bath mat. I moved her out into the hallway and she puked right into the air register. Ohhh...my. It's about that time when I usually walk away from the situation because mommy needs some time to count to ten. I put her in the shower and listened to her scream bloody murder and imagined other campers whipping out their cell phones to call 911. I helped Dustin clean up all the puke and returned to find her completely normal.
As I got her to bed and looked all around to see puke stained sheets and clothing, I had to laugh that of all nights to have strawberries I chose the wrong one.
I left her to fall asleep, returned to my beer and left Dustin to clean out the vent. Yum, yum.
When we woke up the next morning I realized we had missed the puke on the walls and doors and that thanks to the strawberries, it looks like someone was beaten with a baseball bat in our camper.
Ahhh....good times.
We also awoke to find that some raccoons had searched our campsite high and low for some scraps.
The rest of the weekend was filled with card games, Smirnoff Tuscan Lemonade and relaxation.
Before we knew it it was time to say good-bye and head home.
Thanks again, Yardleys!!! See ya next year! (If you'll have us. ;-) )
Camping with them is always a blast and we always come away from it with good memories, funny stories and one time we even came away with a baby on the way! ;-)
Nonetheless, preparing for such a trip always tends to be last minute (due to my poor planning) and extremely chaotic. I left work at noon to do my grocery shopping sans children and Dustin loaded the camper with twenty loads of clothes, toys and random crap you never use while camping.
We decided to pick the girls up from daycare on our way out of town and as soon as I picked Josh up from school we finished up some last minute things and were off!
As any good pet owners do, we brought along with us both Miss Mattie and Fishy Fish. However, about two minutes into our endeavor Fishy Fish came dangerously close to "sloshing" right out of his bowl. **phew** I quick called Jaime, our daycare provider, and asked if she was registered to care for fish as well as children. After I assured her that all Beta fish look the same and if by some odd chance something were to happen...we would never have to know.
A quick exchange of two girls for one fish and we were officially on our way.
We normally camp at Saylorville Lake near Des Moines; however, they were under some re-modeling projects so we headed to Lake Ahquabi State Park in Indianola, IA. I don't know if I completely lost track of time or merely didn't do the math, but we didn't end up pulling into the campground until 8:15...in the dark.
Let's just say that when you combine a campground you've never been to before with complete darkness on Labor Day weekend you have a recipe for disaster. There were children running around everywhere and while Dustin was trying to keep an eye out for random people I was frantically trying to locate the water spicket.
I filled the tank with water while Dustin headed out on foot to find our campsite. He came back and said, "It ain't gonna be pretty."
Why, you ask?
Our spot was at a very odd angle so backing in would be tricky (even if it were daylight), we were also at the bottom of a slight hill and the rain had washed away the soil from next to the road so there was about a eight inch drop off the edge of the road so we had a small margin for error. On top of that we had no flash light and Lauren was done sitting in the car.
As I normally do, I got out of the truck to try and help Dustin see where to go. There I stood with my cell phone in one hand and my iPod in the other like some air traffic controller trying to direct aircraft with a couple of lit matches. He couldn't see me at all, he couldn't hear me because Lauren was screaming and I was cursing everything that had to do with camping.
About 45 minutes into it I realized that we were giving the rest of the campground quite the show. Not only were people looking over at us, but they had literally turned their chairs around to watch. Nothing like having an audience to make any situation more stressful.
After a little over an hour we were all backed in and only another twenty minutes and we were level. I'm sweating again just thinking about it.
The next morning we got up, made breakfast and headed into town to pick up the several things I inadvertently left off my list. By the time we got back to the campground our friends were there!
Once they got settled we headed off to the lake with the entire group - four adults, six kids and two dogs.
Mattie was more than happy to get in the water and even loved swimming in the moss and muck! **shakes head**
Saturday night involved burgers, campfires and beer. And of course any good campfire includes smores.
Everything was going great and then Lauren had one of her tantrums. Oh, Lord. I have no idea what set that child off but it was bad. Dustin had her inside and she was getting ready for bed, I walked in the camper to get something and she was crying and he was yelling for paper towels.
She made herself puke and got it all over her bed. Oh, yes. Then she came running to me and puked on Josh's bed. I carried her into the bathroom and she puked all over the bath mat. I moved her out into the hallway and she puked right into the air register. Ohhh...my. It's about that time when I usually walk away from the situation because mommy needs some time to count to ten. I put her in the shower and listened to her scream bloody murder and imagined other campers whipping out their cell phones to call 911. I helped Dustin clean up all the puke and returned to find her completely normal.
As I got her to bed and looked all around to see puke stained sheets and clothing, I had to laugh that of all nights to have strawberries I chose the wrong one.
I left her to fall asleep, returned to my beer and left Dustin to clean out the vent. Yum, yum.
When we woke up the next morning I realized we had missed the puke on the walls and doors and that thanks to the strawberries, it looks like someone was beaten with a baseball bat in our camper.
Ahhh....good times.
We also awoke to find that some raccoons had searched our campsite high and low for some scraps.
The rest of the weekend was filled with card games, Smirnoff Tuscan Lemonade and relaxation.
Before we knew it it was time to say good-bye and head home.
Thanks again, Yardleys!!! See ya next year! (If you'll have us. ;-) )
