Wednesday, June 30, 2010

Double Trouble

Logan and Gabriel had their 9mos and 2.5yr check ups, respectively.

I forewarned Gabriel that he would have to take his shoes off at the doctor's office, but that he could keep his socks on. I was hoping to avoid the meltdown that would inevitably ensue for his weigh-in. He was cool with taking his shoes off when we got there, one tiny victory for me (he wants to wear his shoes ALL the time).

We got to the scale, which has fish stick-on's that he's supposed to step on. He. Freaked. Out. All the terrible two stereotypes rolled into one. He was crying, red faced, saying "no," going stiff, going limp and refusing to step on the scale. This behavior was repeated when they tried to measure his height.

He pulls the shy card when we get into the room. Standing as close to me as possible and trying to bury his head, ostrich-style, into my side. He was finally lured out with the "Pokey Little Puppy" book as the nurses were trying to warm him up a bit. He's calmed down and then we have to take his shirt/shorts off. Like the shoes, this kid loves to be clothed from head to toe. He would wear sweaters and long pants in the sweltering heat, if I would allow it. I was able to get the clothes off pretty easily, with minor complaints.

Our pediatrician came in with her big smile and Gabriel goes into red alert mode. He stiffens up and looks at her cautiously, being silent. Then she dared to listen to his heart/breathing with the stethoscope and he announced, "I want my shirt back on!" The crying ensued, quickly followed by the holding of breath, which created the red face. After checking Logan first, she was able to listen to Gabriel.

During these episodes, Logan sat in the stroller, grinning, drooling and baby-talking the entire time.

The rest of the appointment went smoothly, until the shots. She gave Gabriel his shot first. He tensed up and cried for about 1 minute, tops. Logan cried for about the same amount of time. They both did great and stopped crying relatively soon after the poke. Dramatic Gabriel had to draw out the pity, though. On the way out, he did a sort of leg-drag when he walked. Pulling his "shot" leg behind him as he walked slowly. It was pretty funny.

Otherwise, they are two healthy boys. They are both developing wonderfully and are a good weight/height for their ages. Every day is an adventure with these little guys!

Tuesday, June 29, 2010

Dude, Where's My Kid?

Krista is spending the night at Grandma's house and living it up as a princess (to be spoiled completely). It's weird how different it is with just one less child in the house. Dinner was quieter, only one child I had to keep telling to eat his food. Bedtime flew by, only one child to get in pj's and teeth brushed... the dynamic was completely different. It was easier, but very disconcerting.

Driving home after dropping her off, I got the feeling that I forgot a kid on accident. I had to keep reminding myself that she was gone on purpose. It gets so ingrained, this internal count and "tabs" that I keep. Heck, sometimes I do it when all the kids are in the car - did I remember the baby? Of course, I always do - it's just one of those things Mom's do when they worry about their kids. Or maybe I'm just weird, but I'm cool with that, too.

Thursday, June 24, 2010

Creepriel

Remember when I wrote a post about how Gabriel was creeping us out after he got up from his naps?

Well, yesterday I was snapping pictures of Krista with Logan when this happened...

Gabriel insisted that he wanted to get his picture taken with Krista and Logan, but refused to get next to them. The picture you just saw above is what actually happened, but below is what I perceived:

Really creepy, huh?

Well... maybe only Josh and I will think this is funny - but we had some good laughs tonight!

Monday, June 21, 2010

An Adjustment: Pros and Cons

My husband has a new job working in one of our fine, state-run facilities. He trained for 5 weeks, had a graduation and is now working his new schedule. Luckily, he got first shift, which runs from 6AM-2PM (with a working lunch). Our weekends are now Thursday and Friday, as he works from Saturday through Wednesday. This has been quite the adjustment that I'm still wrapping my head around.

Con: He has to get up at 4:50AM (it only took me 3 days to get used to this and now I pretty much sleep through him getting up).

Pro: He's off early in the afternoon and has more time to spend with the kids.

Con: He has to work holiday's if it's not one of his "weekend" days.

Pro: He gets paid a lot more on holiday's.

Con: Saturday now feels like Monday.

Pro: Our weekends are during the regular work week and it greatly reduces traffic and crowds when we do family activities outside our home.

Con: He is usually hungry for dinner at 3PM.

Pro: It's a lot easier to make dinner when he is home so early to help with the kids.

Con: We have to go to Mass on Saturday or Sunday night. It feels like we are going on a Monday Night, which really throws me off.

Pro: We will probably start a new family tradition of going out to eat after Mass.

Con: One day a week he usually crashes/falls asleep at 8PM, right after the kids are put to bed.

Pro: One day a week I have a night all to myself!

Sunday, June 20, 2010

Hot Diggity Dog

My Oscar Mayer Hot Dog Party was a big success - we had lots of yummy hot dogs, brownies and homemade ice cream, made from scratch!

Thanks to Oscar Mayer, HouseParty.com, and Kraft First Taste for the opportunity to be a host of the party!

Monday, June 14, 2010

Case of the Crabbies

It's been one of those days/weeks. Everyone is crabby and crabby...

Logan's got a few more teeth about to pop through and is either sitting on my lap, taking a short catnap or crying. Isn't teething fun?

Gabriel decided that he likes having temper tantrums. His version - covering his eyes with his hands, falling to the floor on his stomach, and going "Oooooooh!" Aren't the terrible two's fun?

Krista likes being bossy with her brother and trying to tell him what to do. If he doesn't do it, she gets mad and yells directions at him. This leads to a temper tantrum from Gabriel. Aren't Pre-schoolers fun?

I'm ready to get two boys down for naps and take a short break - hopefully!

Monday, June 7, 2010

The Vulture

We have taken on the daily care of a vulture. We feed him, but he seems to have an insatiable appetite. As soon as he finishes his food, he swoops down and hovers over the rest of us until our food is gone. If Krista gets up to go to the restroom during a meal, our vulture gets up and hovers around her plate, looking around the room. Our vulture will clean the scraps off of our plates and will finish any of Krista's meal that she does not eat.

What's our vulture's name? You probably already guessed it: Gabriel!

Sunday, June 6, 2010

Stones

Most of my family is already aware of the fact that I had a very painful episode with a Kidney Stone, but for those of you not already apprised of the situation - here's my story:

I was having a great evening on Monday, May 24th. I had gotten some Wii game from the library and enjoyed making a very silly character for Are You Smarter than a 5th Grader. Apparently, I am NOT smarter than a 5th grader... things started to go downhill during Crazy Golf. For one, the game itself was not great and did not use the Wii Remote to it's full advantage. Additionally, I began to get a dull pain in my side. I was so uncomfortable while we tried to play Family Feud on Facebook that I couldn't click any longer.

I decided to just lay down and go to sleep. The problem was that no matter which position I was in, I could not diminish the pain in my side. It was constant and seemed to only get worse the longer I tried to wait it out. I tried a warm bath and it was okay, but as soon as I got out, the pain was back and was not lessened at all.

I'll spare you all the gory details, but I did manage to make it to 1:15AM before I woke my slumbering spouse. I had self-diagnosed that it wasn't my appendix as my side was not tender to the touch, but I had no idea what was wrong.

As quick as we could, with 3 sleepy children, we headed out for a very expensive trip to the ER. They gave me some pain meds right away, but I still didn't feel much relief. They took a CAT scan and found the tiny stone that made it's way out of my kidney. Once they had determined that it was small enough to pass on it's own, they gave me a new medication and I FINALLY felt the pain go away (it was probably 3:30AM).

As quickly as it came, it was soon over. The next day I was still groggy and my head was in a cloud from the medication. No more pain in the side, I just had some major nausea. Thankfully, my parents came up the night before and stayed the whole next day to help with the kids - THANK YOU mom and dad!! I didn't even feel the stone pass, but I did have to catch it in a filtering funnel thing - which was an ultimate joy to use...

I'm just glad it all seems like a bad dream and I hope I don't have to go through it again anytime soon!

Saturday, June 5, 2010

She's Too Smart

After hearing Krista "dancing"/banging some toy pig on the window of the car, the conversation went as follows:

Josh: Krista, please stop hitting my windows.

Krista: I'm not hitting your window, I'm hitting MY window.

(Muffled laughter in the front seat)

J: Please stop hitting the car windows.

K: I'm not hitting the window, the pigs are DANCING.