Better luck next year

I took Josh to school the other day and when we got home we turned into the driveway and I was struck by the blooming tree in our front yard. The sun was hitting it just right and I couldn't believe that such a beautiful sign of summer's impending arrival was in my own front yard. Trust me...if you'd see my utter lack of a green thumb you'd understand. Anyways, Lauren kept yelling, "Mommy!! [p]Urple!!".




Lauren, Ella and I are enjoying our time together (although some times have been better than others). Lauren is tip-toeing into the world of "terrible 2's" and I have seen it rear it's ugly head more than once in the last eight weeks. And then there are other times she couldn't be sweeter little girl.



Dustin and I have compared here mood swings to a pendulum and if you've heard us say we're on the "upswing" you'll know what we are referring to now. I would by lying if I didn't admit that I'm already worried for her teen years.

However, she is always good with Ella and I could watch them interact with each other all day long.





Ella is growing like crazy and there are actually days when I can tell she's changed from just the day before. It's exciting and depressing all at the same time.




Against my better judgment, I agreed to go camping this weekend. I must be a glutton for punishment as we spent Mother's Day camping LAST year, too.

Friday night Dustin was at work and I knew it wasn't going to be a good camping weekend when I sent the kids outside to play only to have them come running back in because of rain.



Go figure. The weatherman had been reporting a beautiful weekend ALL week long... we set up the camper, Dustin leaves for the night and the stupid rain clouds come rolling in. Deja vu or what?

Thankfully, I had taken the kids to rent some movies earlier and they were still in my van. In the time it took me to set up the movie they had the camper ripped to shreds and me pulling at my hair.



It really didn't get any better from there. By the time Dustin got there it was almost 11:30 and I was exhausted. Lauren fell out of bed at 1:00, which Dustin slept through. Ella woke up to be fed at 2:30, which Dustin slept through. Lauren woke up for juice at 4:30, which Dustin slept through. And then Ella woke up to eat at 5:45 and about 15 minutes after that the kids were up and ready to eat too.

I was pretty much tired and irritated from the get go, which even I can admit, is not a good combo.

The wind was very cold so I spent most of the weekend cooped up with Ella and the dog. Dustin took the kids out as often as possible but three kids, one dog and two adults make even a large camper feel like a small tin can.

Saturday night was just more of the previous night except this time I woke Dustin up each time so that he could suffer with me. Unfortunately, it takes a freight train to wake the man up so each time I hollered at him the entire camper woke up. By Sunday morning...we were ALL in a great mood.



Hehehehe. (That was actually a shot from when Dad was here...but it still fits.)

Between that and Dustin's lack of Mother's Day plans...well, let's just say we left by mid-morning and by afternoon we were speaking again. Needless to say...I don't think we'll be camping on Mother's Day next year.

Smile!

Just thought I'd share a few of the many smiles Ella shares with us now!





**giggle** I just want to squeeze those cheeks all day long!

Get ready. Get set. GO!

This weekend we took advantage of the gorgeous weather and did a lot of outside chores. Josh and Dustin got up bright and early on Saturday and went to the tool rental center and picked up a thatcher...or de-thatcher. Honestly, I have no idea what it's called.

I made a great breakfast spread and after everyone was fed and Ella was down for a nap (don't worry...our baby monitor is cordless) we went out and raked up all the mess. I must admit the yard looks a lot better and I'd rather rake up dead grass than leaves ANY DAY!

After we were done working outside we went to Hy-vee to see all a bunch emergency vehicles. They were having a Kid's Safety Day and squad cars, an ambulance, the Cedar Rapids mobile command center, the St. Luke's helicopter and a fire truck. We thought Josh and Lauren would have fun and boy were we right!





To be honest, it was pretty neat for Dustin and me too! I think the last time I saw the inside of any emergency personnel vehicle I was on a Girl Scout's tour. And...that's been a few years. ;-)

Dustin and I had never seen the helicopter up close and that was amazing, too. We couldn't believe how compact it was and Josh couldn't get over the clear floor (up by the pilot).

It was just a nice reminder for us and the kids of how thankful we are to have all those people there if we ever need them.

The rest of Saturday was filled with a nap, dinner and playing outside. Not too shabby!

Sunday Dustin took the kids to get donuts. We played hooky from church so that we could head out to pick up the camper. Fortunately picking up the camper was much less eventful than dropping it off...unfortunately I forgot my camera.

We had a nice time at the timber, as usual. I drove the kids around on the Ranger and even Ella got to go along for one ride down the long drive. The kids got to see a snake, a lizard and some deer carcasses. Sounds appealing, right?

Lauren would run up to the snake, spin around and squeal with delight as she ran back me. She thought it was hysterical and Josh was content in keeping a safe distance from our slithering friend.

When we got home the camper got a nice bath. Josh and Dustin did all the dirty work outside and I worked on the dirty work inside (a/k/a changed diapers and laundry).

I have a feeling Dustin is preparing me for our first camping trip to be this next weekend. Boy...camping on Mother's Day again. Only THIS time I'll have three children. I must really love that man.

Me and the girls

I've been keeping Lauren home with me the last few weeks of my maternity leave so my days are filled with crying, screaming, tantrums...and a little fun sprinkled in between. Anyone with a toddler understands.

We have been having some fun, though. We play kitchen, we read books, we go on walks and we get to have lunch with Daddy EVERY day!! One day last week I was feeding Ella and she went and grabbed her baby, too! Luckily...the camera was close by.




It was too cute because she gave her baby a kiss on the head. I do this with Ella...a lot! I always kiss her before I set her down in her bouncy, or her swing or her car seat so I was touched that Lauren noticed that as well.



The other thing that I LOVE about Lauren is she always says Hi to Ella. She gets right up in her face and says, "Hi, Baby." It makes me laugh every time because it's just too darn cute.





I just love that little video clip! You can just see how much Lauren loves her little sister. Lauren will just sit and look at Ella and anxiously wait for me to say it's okay to touch her. I can't wait to watch these two grow up together!

On a side note....do you notice the dog stealing Lauren's mid-morning snack off the side table at the end of the video? Well...Lauren noticed it about two seconds after the video ended. You can imagine her response.

I know I've mentioned before that Ella has a fussy time every night. It usually starts around 7:00 and goes, some nights, till about 8:30. Well, I found one position that makes the screaming stop:



She LOVES it! It helps with all the gas and obviously it must be comfortable for her. Now that I've found the trick I lay down next to her on the bed and I get to enjoy some quiet time myself! If there was one piece of baby equipment I could not have lived without over these past almost six years...it would be that Boppy. All of my kids have loved that thing and I only wish I had thought of it before someone else did!!

Red hair

It has been a standing joke that I've been sleeping with the UPS guy and that's why Ella has red hair. So the other night at the dinner table Dustin said, "I wish I knew the name of that UPS guy you've been sleeping with."

Josh said, "His name is Bill."

And we all laughed hysterically.

Now tonight...

Dustin: So, Josh...how often does Bill come over?
Josh: Oh..I don't know.
Dustin: Does he come over twice a week?
Josh: Yup.
Dustin: Is he cute?
Josh: Nope.
Dustin: Is he nice?
Josh: He's a psycho.

Can't make this stuff up guys...well,...maybe Josh could.

On my own again

Dad is officially back home and I am on my own again. Right now I in the middle of Ella's "cranky time" (every night between 7 - 8:30 she's fussy and inconsolable which her pediatrician is totally normal) and twenty minutes ago Lauren walked into the family room with a poopy diaper in her hand. It was her own and she was showing it to me all proud because she had taken it off herself. HOWEVER, she had gotten poo all over her shirt, her leg, her pants, her sock and her hands. It is moments like these I miss that extra set of hands even more. Or at the very least...someone to laugh with after the disaster passes.

Thursday night Dad and I took the kids out to a park since it was such a beautiful night. They had a blast and Josh was quick to make friends with other kids but poor Lauren was devastated her big brother had found other friends to play with. I felt so bad for her because she kept running behind him yelling, "Josh! Josh!". Once mommy jumped in to play with her all was well with the world again.



We got some super cute pictures of Ella, too!




Then Sunday was Ella's baptism. What a day! It was so nice to get the families together, as always. Once we got past the cake disaster and fiasco at church we got to focus on the reason to celebrate: our little Ella!





We are extremely thankful that so many people traveled to be with us for her baptism. But I cannot thank one person enough; my Dad. He helped me get ready for the party all week and pretty much cleaned my house from top to bottom for me. He has always been so supportive and helpful and I cannot even begin to find a way to thank him enough.

Thanks again, Dad!!

Josh is doing well and unless I told you he had surgery you would never know otherwise. I swear we were home a matter of three hours and he was up jumping around like nothing had happened on Thursday. We are so thankful that everything went to smoothly and are grateful for the excellent care he received at Mercy Hospital.

I went to pick him up from school yesterday and needed to tell his daycare bus driver that he would not be going with her. As we waited a group of girls came up and waited by us.

Me: Josh, do these guys go to your daycare, too?
Josh: Mom, those aren't guys. Their women.
Me: Well...my mistake.

He kills me!

Then on Saturday we walked in the house and dad has just mopped the kitchen and foyer floors and the smell of Pine Sol filled the air.

Me: Boy, it smells good in here, huh?
Josh: Mom...that's the smell of cleanliness.

Seriously. I was both offended and impressed by his vocabulary at the same time.

Hope everyone has a great week ahead of them!!

First surgery

Well we are home from the hospital and Josh and Dustin are all cuddled up in his room watching Space Chimps. He did AWESOME!!!! I mean...AWESOME! The nurses were just ooing and awing over him and as we were getting ready to leave the main nurse came up to him and told him that he is the best little patient she's had in a very, very long time.

When we got there they brought us back to a room and ironically it was the exact same room I was in when I had my gall bladder out. Josh thought that was pretty cool. So we got him changed and opened up the goody bag Mercy gives all children patients and he immediately put his new hat on.



The nurse had to give him a nasal spray treatment before surgery and warned is that it was going to be pretty unpleasant. He took it like a trooper and acted like it was no big deal. They gave him some Versed and pretty soon we gave our kisses and he was off! No tears...from him or me!

Twenty minutes later we were talking with the doctor about how the surgery went and another twenty minutes later they brought us back to him. He was pretty sad and uncomfortable but the nice nurse set him up with a little more morphine and a healthy stash of popsicles and apple juice. That was honestly the worst part from a parent's perspective...just watching him cry and be in discomfort. Oh man...that was tough.




After 45 minutes he was more like his ol' self so out came the IV and a quick wagon ride out to the truck and we were heading home!

In preparation of the surgery Josh got to rent a ton of movies and pick where we went for dinner last night. He picked Chuck E. Cheese and reluctantly I agreed. I figured we can suffer for a few hours since he was going to suffer today. The kids had a ball...and Dad and I popped some Ibuprofen as soon as we got home.







Other than that not much else is going on. Ella is growing like a weed and becoming more and more interactive each day (which makes nap time that much more sweet). And she love, love, LOVES her mobile on her swing. It's too funny to watch her become mesmerized by those things!





Dad is here this week and helping me with the kids and preparing for the Baptism. It's been pretty hectic and I honestly feel like I may be losing my mind. I'm guessing that my recent memory problems are more due to the fact that I just have a lot on my mind this week.

Well, off to play mother/nurse/maid/chef!! Thanks again for all the prayers!!

Big Sister Lauren!!!

This was her FIRST time holding Ella!!! She did great!!! Although...when Ella started screaming she covered her ears and said, "Owie, Mommy!"

Too cute!

Easter

We started our Easter preparations on Friday. When Dustin got home from work on Friday we decided to sit down and dye our eggs. Boy, oh boy. That was a new experience for Lauren and she's lucky I'm not the kind of mother who is scared by a little permanent dye.





Josh had fun mixing the colors and seeing what different shades we could create. It's always fun to see his mind working and learning.

Then Saturday I went into work for awhile and then we met up with our friends from Omaha for an Easter egg hunt. Man did the kids have a blast!






The had three legged races, egg tosses and the traditional "Egg on a spoon" race. It was such a great afternoon activity and the weather was absolutely perfect. Then we had a nice lunch on the other side of town and came home for a nice nap. It was the perfect day!

Then Sunday morning we got up for church. You know me and dressing my kids for special holidays - I go all out. So I got the girls matching dresses, a new suit for Josh and a tie that matched the girls. Of course I love to document my achievements so I was hoping to get a nice picture of them all together.

Yeah...I'm not going to tell you who didn't cooperate. I let you see for yourself.

Take #1



Take #2



Take #3



So I finally said, "FORGET IT!" and settled for two out of three.



Church was absolutely wonderful. Can I tell you how much I love our new church!?!?! The music is always beautiful, the message is always applicable to our daily lives and it all contributes to this feeling of being spiritually fed. And that's something we had been missing for some time.

Then of course we joined everyone over at Larry & Toni's for Easter dinner. Yum-o!!!

After dinner we had the Annual Bricker Easter Egg Hunt and of course the kids had fun!






Of course we had to grab some photos of the kids and guess who wouldn't cooperate. I know...you're shocked, right?




We hope everyone had a blessed Easter because we certainly did!

I do want to put in a quick prayer request. Our little Joshie will be having his adenoids out and his nose cauterized on April 23rd. I know it is completely routine and I'm not really nervous about the procedure...I'm just worried about him. He will have to be put under general anesthetic but it will only be outpatient surgery. So if you could think of him in the next few weeks I'd really appreciate it. He's pretty excited at the thought of not having nose bleeds all the time...and so are we.