Midnight wakeups...

So last night at about 11:30, Monkey started crying. This isn't highly unusual. It's not common, but it's happened on occasion. Usually when she's teething or something like that. (Which she is. Two more molars to go.) So I went in and she already had her pacifier, and an immediate cuddle with her teddy bear wasn't doing it. So I picked her up and tried to soothe.

Not working.

After a few minutes of trying to walk her around, wake her up a little bit to get her out of her funk, the hubs walked in. He reached his hands towards her as an offering and she went to him. She stopped crying immediately.

Fine then.

I learned before I had children not to take this sort of thing personally. My sister had a daughter well before the rest of us were married. So I learned from her experiences. I remember when my niece decided she liked my bro-in-law and only him. Then the next day or next week, she would only want my sister. At first, my sis had a hard time with this, then eventually she learned it's just what kids do.

Moose did a bit of this, but not tons. He's never been the attachment type. He never went through separation anxiety. Ever, seriously. But Monkey is obviously different. Last night all she wanted to soothe her was a little cuddle time with Papa.

I must say that I absolutely adore the fact that my kids adore their father. I LOVE this. So I don't mind one bit that she wouldn't be calmed down by me. I'm just glad he was there to take a turn and put the little lady back to sleep.

Lazy Mom Syndrome...

I made up this term. But it's a feeling that I'm familiar with. I occasionally have a day when I am not motivated. Sometimes it's an entire day. Other times it's only part of a day. Like today, when naps were significantly shorter than usual for both kiddos. It just sucks the motivation from me and I desire to do nothing.

The thing about lazy mom syndrome is that I get away with it. Meaning, there's no way I would be that lazy if the hubs were home, or if other people were around. But when it's just me and the kids, I just don't care. Today, as I had this happen, I pondered why I don't care about it, but then feel slightly silly when thinking that if the hubs saw me being so lazy I'd feel guilty. (Does that even make sense?)

Anyhow, I came up with an answer to my poorly written question. My kids don't judge me. That's why. They don't care that I'm not cleaning, doing laundry, working on my to-do list, etc. If I so choose to watch a few episodes of something on Netflix Instant Watch, they don't really care, as long as I give them attention when they want it and don't completely ignore them. (It's not the most relaxing thing in the world, but I take what I can get.) But when it comes to other adults, I would feel judged and therefore not spend my afternoon doing mostly nothing.

So now I know. Kids don't judge. Yet. And that's what allows me to feel okay about being lazy when it's just me and the kids. I haven't come to any other startling revelations. Just that.

So now I know.

Vacuuming...

So today I had an itch to do some cleaning. Since the entire carpet was in dire need, that got my attention. My children tend to have a fascination with the vacuum. It might very well be due to the fact that when they were infants, I was known to turn it on just to quell their incessant crying. (It really does work. No joking.) Poor Moose was known to nap by it. I'm sure my neighbors thought our place was immaculate with how often the vacuum was on. I recall occasionally pushing it around and cleaning the floors since it was on anyway, but most often it just sat there, turned on, keeping my baby from screaming.

Anyhow, so I pulled out the vacuum, and as usual Monkey gets quite excited. She insisted on helping me. Now, I should say, she insisted on "helping", since really, what does does is not helpful. But since I was in no rush of any sort, I did my best to be patient and allow her to "help". Half the time she was literally hugging the vacuum, but most of the time, just making the work go really, really slowly. It was still semi-sweet I suppose. I'm all about letting the kids help out with the chores so they understand they will need to do them too, and hopefully they won't think of them as drudgery. (Like I did. For years.)

I realized today that there were so many chores I got in the habit of doing when Monkey was sleeping. When she was younger, she just wouldn't allow much to be done. She would either lose her patience with not being paid attention, or in the case of the dishwasher, she would attempt to climb it like Mt. Everest, putting the door of our dishwasher in serious peril. So many chores had to be done when she was sleeping or very well occupied.

However, Monkey is finally to the age where I can now do chores with her around. The last few days I've done the dishes in the morning. Always being careful to take anything sharp from the silverware holder first, I'll be left to put things away leisurely and she'll usually find something plastic to pay attention to. It's pretty nice.

She's still not a fan of letting me shower, unless she's being entertained by another person. I'm sure that'll get better in time as well.

Moose is quite wonderful at chores. A year ago when we moved into our apartment, we set up chores for him which included going potty when he woke up (we were also in the newly potty trained stage), making his bed, getting dressed, saying his morning prayer, combing his hair and brushing his teeth. Now I know for most people these are not chores, but things you just do, but for him they were chores. He now does them with relatively little pestering and nagging. And he's more than willing to help with chores around the house. Let's just hope I can help him maintain this "chores are so fun" attitude. (I can just hear my mom chuckling.)  :)

Siblings...

This morning, Moose was eventually brought home from his sleepover at the grandparents. It was so adorable to see Monkey with him. She was so excited to see him. (The hubs told me later she was really needy this morning adn he assumed she missed him and didn't know what to do without him around.) At one point, she had her arms wrapped around him, clinging to the backs of his shirt. He returned the hug with gusto and she was all smiles. It was absolutely adorable.

Tonight they're back to sleeping under the same roof, in the same bedroom even. All must be right with the world.

Good habits...

Last night I was chatting with the hubs and gave ourselves a little pat on the back. (I find this is a healthy practice as a parent, because not many other people see the work and even results of that work, so if no one else is patting your back, why shouldn't you? Makes you feel better every now and then. Totally healthy, I think.) Here's Monkey's nightly experience tonight to demonstrate my little back-patting behavior.

Monkey, do you want to go get your jammies on? *Uh-huh (Go and put jammies on.)
Monkey, let's go brush your teeth. (back patting occuring about here.) *Monkey runs to the bathroom door and we promptly brush her teeth. She loves this.

The rest of the bedtime routine is pretty standard. Book reading, song singing, baby laid down, etc. But I'm so pleased with myself that my 15 month old loves to have her teeth brushed. We do it every night. We're not yet in the habit of brushing hers every morning yet. Moose just started this habit about a year ago. But I'm just so glad to think that I'm doing something good for my kids, establishing a super-beneficial habit that will stick with them for years to come. (And possibly save us tons on dentists bills.)

Tonight Moose is sleeping over at the grandparents house. Monkey's already asleep. Me and the hubs are going to go splurge on some episodes of Alias. Here's to sleeping in tomorrow! Moose can wake up the grandparents tomorrow morning. :)

Uh-huh...

So Monkey has added a new "word" to her repertoire. It is "uh-huh". I remember when Moose went through this phase. I remember him being a bit older. I just love it though. Everytime she says it it sounds very sad. But she'll answer it for any question, if her response is in the affirmative. It seems like she's going to start slowly adding new words to her list now. I can only imagine what her vocab will be like in 6 months. I'm excited for the change. She's the slowest talker, by far, out of our two kids. But she understands so completely, I know she's just biding her time.

Today we had the finale to Moose's birthday celebration. A family party, with his grandparents, great grandma, and cousins who are all local. We finished the remnants of his cake (thanks for all the wonderful compliments!), ate ice cream and he opened even more presents. (To his wonder and amazement!) It was a great time spent with family, which we always enjoy.  I think the birthday festivities are finally done.

The next big day is our wedding anniversary! (Yay!!) August 7th is our 6th wedding anniversary. It's hard to believe it's been that long, but at the same time it feels like it's been only a fraction of that. By far some of the best six years of my life! (Thanks to my kiddos, but most certainly the hubs!) I can only imagine how wonderful (and equally challenging, but mostly wonderful) the next 6 years will be.

Let the next countdown begin... :)

Birthday Recovery...

Today (oh, how I love Sundays!) was a great Sunday full of naps and recooperating. Yesterday was such a busy day. The birthday party was a blast. It was a pretty intimate affair, with only a few friends, and a few cousins. The adults had a blast visiting, we were right on the edge of the park so the kids could easily play and be within eye sight. I couldn't have asked for more. Moose had a great time, and that's ultimately what I wanted.

Afterwards we had the joy of going to a wedding reception. It was great. I helped with some of the decorations (a ton of origami cranes) so it was nice to see how beautiful they looked on the white table cloths. The kids enjoyed more cake and running around. By the end, Monkey was so giddy just about anything sent her into a fit of giggles.

They finally napped from 3:30 til 5:30 when I woke them. It was great.

These past four years of being a Mama to Moose (and also Monkey) has gone by so quickly. Okay, not true. The first two years went by pretty slow. After that things sped up a bit. And since Monkey joined the fam, things have felt like lightning speed.

I know that this coming year will go by even faster. I'm glad for places like this to stop and remember, and enjoy the little moments. They're so easy to forget.

Happy 4th Birthday Moose!

As is the tradition, I wrote Moose his birthday letter yesterday. Here it is.

Dear Moose,

This last year has gone by so fast. We moved into our new apartment. I'm pretty sure you like it. It has a lot more room to play. As your little sister grew, you continued to be a great big brother, and because of that your sister adores you. I remember when you two started to sleep in the same room. You were so excited and you two have done so well together. I'm sure one of the reasons she sleeps so well is because of you. We started doing "school" this past year. You are so smart. We've been learning spanish, your letters, how to read and write. You can even do addition. I'm always amazed at how quickly you learn and how much you love learning. We've even started reading a book about Christopher Columbus. You're so smart. I want so much to help you learn, and to help you love learning. You still have a year before you will be officially starting school. I can't believe it's so soon. You have grown up so fast. But I know you are ready. You've always been so independent, so ready for every new challenge. You've started to make new friends here which makes me happy. I'm very excited for your first big birthday party tomorrow. I hope you enjoy it. I hope you feel loved. I can't express how much I love you. I know that sometimes I can be hard on you and that I expect too much of you. I'm going to work on that. But I hope you always know how much I love you. I couldn't have asked for a better son. I'm so glad that all of your younger siblings (however many that may be) will have you for an older brother. Happy Birthday Moose! I love you! I'm so proud of you!

Love, Your Mama

If I wanted a cat...

I would get one. But we can't have cats in our place without a deposit, and I'm sure we can't afford cat food, so we don't. However, sometimes I feel like we have a cat because I've now cleaned out bathtubs 3 times as if I was sifting a kitty litter. I really think Monkey is starting to enjoy pooping in the tub.

I made the cake today. Well, I made it yesterday. I frosted it today. It really looks great. I'm quite pleased. Moose accidentally saw it. He knew he wasn't allowed to look in the fridge because it was in there, but the hubs opened the fridge for pizza supplies and Moose just happened to be in the kitchen and caught a glimpse. He seemed excited enough. I think I have everything ready. Cake, treats, supplies. I even remembered candles and a lighter. Can't forget trash bags. (As I run in the kitchen to put them in my pile.)

In the beginning I was resisting the birthday hype. Mainly because we haven't done it in such a long time. When kids are little I don't see much fun in putting a ton of work and effort into a party they don't care about, nor will they remember. (Meaning spending lots of time and energy on games, decorations, etc.) But Moose knows, he's excited. There's anticipation in the air. It took me a while, but I eventually gave in. I don't think any holiday or birthday will be the same after this. But I'm okay with that. I can't wait to see his face tomorrow and see how much he enjoys all of it.

First on the agenda: Birthday Boy Breakfast. Per his request: A bowl of Honey Bunches of Oats and Banana Juice (one banana, milk, sugar and vanilla in the blender)

Happy 4th Birthday Sweety!

I'm Thankful For...

This evening Moose wanted me to play with him. We had a few balls out and I remembered (as me and Monkey and him were playing catch) an old game we used to play. It's called the Thankful Game. He got so excited, which made me happy, and we played.

We made it up last Thanksgiving time. We all sit in a circle and pass a ball between us, saying something we are thankful for. Back then he didn't really understand it, though he did well. Now he gets it and thinks of his very own ideas and things he's thankful for. It's so sweet. We played it for about 5 minutes before it was time to get ready for bed. That's easily one game I have no problem (or complaints) playing with him.

On the not so sweet side, but still cute - Monkey has this habit she's developed lately. When we ask her to leave a room, or do something that involves walking somewhere, she will do it, but the entire time she'll be half-stomping-half-running and making these disgrunted noises. I've coined it her "I'm doing it but I don't like it" walk. It's so hilarious. It really happens as if she's much older and does something because she knows she has to but she still doesn't want to. It cracks me up everytime. She did it to the hubs this evening and I couldn't help but laugh as I listened from the kitchen.

Girls. :)

Uh-oh...

When Moose was almost 1, he started the uh-oh thing. Whenever something fell down, he would repeat "uh-oh" until it was picked up. It wasn't his first word, but pretty close. It was a pretty cute phase. For a long time, I was waiting for Monkey to pick up "uh-oh". Good thing I didn't hold my breath.

But today, me and her were hanging out on my bed (for some reason, the parent's bed is such a cool place to be, as even I recall from my youth) and she tossed my teddy bear (Yes, I sleep with a teddy bear. Just like my mom.) over the side. I said uh-oh. Then she started repeating it too. She continued to throw over all 4 pillows, saying uh-oh each time. It was so darn cute. I was so pleased that Monkey has officially learned "uh-oh".

It's the simple pleasures.

Back Massage...

Today's funny and silly event was the kiddos walking all over my back. I love when I occasionally find something for them to do that keeps them busy at important times (the hubs was cleaning up from dinner) but involves little or no effort from me. Perfecto! This evening it was me lying on my back and the kiddos walking all over me. At first it was just me and Monkey. She thinks it's hilarious. She stands on my back and then does her best to jump off. Most of the time she was falling all over the place, but laughing the entire time.

When I first tried to get Moose to do it (knowing his weight ~around 42 lbs.~ would probably feel just right) he was totally scared and thought he would squish me or something. But eventually he started to do it too. I must admit, he did feel just right. Although I couldn't get him to just stand on my back and walk around. It was the stand-on-the-back-and-jump-off routine. But nonetheless, my back entertained the kiddos for over 5 minutes. Probably close to 10. Okay, maybe not that long. But we played for a good long time.

Long enough for the hubs to finish cleaning up and come over and put an ice cube in my shirt.

Yay for family time. :)

Jello...

So the other day the hubs made some red jello. Moose and Monkey really like it. We had some tonight (topped with whipped cream and chocolate chips) and Moose reminded me (for the second or third time) that jello was made out of red stuff and sticky stuff.  It's hard to argue with that.

Birthday Countdown...

So the last few days have been filled with finally planning out Moose's birthday party. The big 4. It's this coming Saturday, and he is now old enough to be completely aware of the existence of parties, games, cake, presents, etc.

We've never really been big on the celebrations. The hubs doesn't really care if he has a cake or not. I enjoy a little hullabaloo. But other than that, we're just not big on the celebrations. Too much work, maybe. But now that Moose is older, and excited, and anticipating, I just can't let him down.

So this Saturday we are planning a party at the park. Complete with his favorite lunch: PB&J. In my mind it's mostly a glorified play date. But I'm anticipating a little bit of work and preparation (okay, maybe a lot of work and preparation.) to make sure this day is happy for the little guy.

I already asked him what his favorite foods are so he can eat those all day. Here's the blessed menu:

Breakfast: Honey Bunches of Oats and banana juice (milk and banana blended with sugar and vanilla)
Lunch: PB&J, apples, orange cheese (with juice and chips as a special treat from me. Oh, and cake too.)
Dinner: Homemade alfredo, hot dogs and carrot sticks

What the Birthday Boy wants, the Birthday Boy gets... :)

The Swishy Dance...

Tonight I was helping Moose brush his teeth. Afterwards, he swishes flouride. He has come to call this swishy. At first, (we started doing this pretty regularly right before Christmas) he had the hardest time keeping it in for maybe 30 seconds. Eventually I came up with this song. It's changed a few times, but I call it the swishy song. I will dance and sing next to Moose as he swishes. He will start to dance a little bit, and spin around. It's so cute. After a few times of doing this I realized he'll keep it in his mouth much longer (how much swishing he's actually doing is questionable) because he's so distracted by his dancing. As I was doing the swishy song tonight, I looked at me and him in the mirror and just had to smile. It looked so silly and so cute. It was a really sweet moment.

Goofball...

Monkey was being a total goofball at dinner tonight. It was awesome. I sat back for one second and observed our family and was so happy with what I saw. Now this isn't a daily occurence or anything, all of us laughing together at dinner, but it does happen on occasion. I love those occasions.

She realized that she can blink her eyes whenever she wants to, and she would look at me and deliberately blink over and over. She thought she was so funny. Something else she did, which is a new thing she's been doing lately, is shaking her head back and forth. She would start to shake her head, and move her whole body back and forth. It was hilarious. A few times I was worried she'd somehow fall out of her high chair, but luckily she was secure. Me and the hubs and Moose were all laughing at her. It was really fun.

Outside of the kids, I had a super productive naptime. This isn't exactly rare, but I did things I don't normally do. I've been jumping back on the cleaning band wagon. (Yes, I've been off it for a while.) I finished a nice deep clean of the kitchen today. (Okay, minus the mopping. I hate mopping.) I even organized the medicine shelf, which was a total chaotic mess. Then I worked on some crafts, finishing one shirt, and making progress on another. After that I worked on a nice little quiet book I've made filled with pictures for the kids to look at when we're at church. I was really pleased with all of my productiveness. Oh yeah, I also did a batch of cookies. (The dough was in the freezer, I just baked a batch of it.) And started the pizza dough for tonight. (Which turned out heavenly.) Oh, and cleaned all the dishes and whatnot associated with all those tasks. As I like to say, boo-yah!  (I've got to give the hubs some credit too. He went to town in the bathroom and cleaned it like a mad man. After Moose's nap, he went in there and said, "What's that smell?" referring to the nice Pinesol scent. We told him, "That's the smell of clean.")

Really great day. We have quite a few errands to run tomorrow and I have dedicated myself to waking up at 7 tomorrow. I can do this. I can do this.

Allergies...

So today was a day of allergies for me. I'm used to seasonal allergies with hayfever and whatnot, but today was ridiculous. I took something in the early morning, but still wasn't sure I'd make it. I was sneezed 3 times in a row every 5 to 10 minutes. I went to take a shower, hoping it would help. However, the hubs was already at work, and Monkey doesn't generally handle my showers very well. So I enlisted Moose for help. I asked him to keep her happy while I showered and he could have a reward (a fun new word he learned today) after I was done. It worked wonderfully for a few minutes. However, after his second trip into the bathroom (once for her not letting him build the towers up all the way, the second time for throwing something) she followed him in and they spent the rest of my shower in the bathroom with me.

Moose's 4th birthday is coming up really soon. I haven't even really started planning. I found out today 2 of his buddies (siblings) won't be here, so that leaves about 2 kids. Which is really ideal, because a big group of kids just gets chaotic and stressful and that's not my idea of a good time. And as I learned in my house growing up, if Mom's not happy, nobody's happy. And I want Moose happy on his birthday.

He kept changing his idea for what he wants for his birthday cake. He's picked a dozen different things. I finally sat him down and told him he had to pick one thing. He decided he wanted Scooby Doo, however we were trying to discourage Scooby Doo because he's still a bit young for some of the scary elements. So he decided he wants a Stitch cake. (Lilo & Stitch) Yeah, that blue guy isn't the easiest thing to make into a cake. I'm considering making him change his mind again. We'll see.

At the beginning of the summer, things went on as usual. We weren't really doing anything differently because it was summer. However, it seems now that every day is something different and we're doing tons of stuff. This isn't bad, it's just new. Today I told Moose we were just going to stay home. This was such a radical idea to him. I knew we were going out tomorrow, and decided a day at home wouldn't be the worst thing in the world. We did end up playing outside infront of the apartment (which is pretty much equal to any other outing in my eyes.) and enjoyed the sunshine for a little bit. It will be strange when the summer is over and we go back to our old day to day routines.

The hubs is feeling impulsive tonight and wants to stay up all night (literally, no sleeping) watching old movies or something. (Thanks for the latest box Mom. It had Willow, Robin Hood, and Ghost. Classics.) I doubt I'll be convinced to do it. Although he might be able to coax me to stay up really late. But even that's only because I know he'll let me sleep in tomorrow morning. I'm such a wuss.

Boys and Girls...

So yesterday Moose was talking about this little girl he plays with occasionally. He was telling the hubs, "I don't like her really much. She talks to me very much and I tell her she's not allowed. I don't like talking to her." Who knew it started so early? Girls wanting to talk, talk, talk, and boys being totally uninterested. :)

Yesterday we had a great opportunity to go to a magic show. It was a local guy that my hub's family are using for an upcoming reunion. It was totally free (and they BBQ'd for us all after. Totally unexpected!) and such a good time. I don't know how much Moose was really understanding, as he sat in the front with the other kids. But they had the whole deal. He had 3 kid assistants. They were cut in half, shoved in tiny boxes, and constantly disappearing and reappearing in other places. They also had a huge tree house like area for the kids to play on, complete with a zip-line and big swinging bridge.

Today we were at the bro-in-law's house for a short bit, and I was practicing a duet with my niece for the upcoming family reunion talent show. I didn't know how Monkey would do while I was practicing, but apparently she went to my sis-in-law without hesitation (even leaning towards her) and eventually leaned towards my 10 year old niece to be held by her. This is quite unheard of. I was so jazzed. She played with my sis-in-law and her daughter while I was playing piano and she had a blast. It was so awesome to see her happily interacting and bonding with other people.

Monkey has been such a different kid than Moose. Moose never, to this day, had separation anxiety. Not as a baby, not ever. He'll miss us if we're gone for a while (like when he spends the night at his grandparents) but has never had anything close to classic separation anxiety. Monkey on the other hand, has had it in multiple forms. Uber-attachment to the hubs, uber-attachment to me, absolute disdain for anyone who is not me or the hubs. I so love watching her bond to our other family members. When my parents were visiting back in May, she was just starting to warm up to people other than me and the hubs. They were at our home for like 3 days. It wasn't until the last night that she happily sat on my mom's lap so I could take pics with her and my parents. She's still pretty wary of people, but it's so great to see her enjoying other people. The freedom for me isn't half bad either.  :)

Sunday...

As I hoped it would be, today was a calming day. Moose and Monkey both slept in, church was tantrum free, naps happened, and it was relaxing.  We have been working on a new rewards/incentive program for good behavior with Moose. He loves fruit snacks. So I bought a box and dumped them all out into one of my handy empty peanut butter jars. (wonderful for snacks/storage. LOVE them.)  Whenever we see him do something that is a "big boy" choice, or something unexpected which we appreciate, we give him a fruit snack. We tell him we recognized whatever it was he did and appreciate him making such a good choice all on his own. The first one was prompted when I saw him putting away his legos. The bag is starting to rip underneath the zipper and I caught him shoving them through the hole instead of putting them in the right way. I told him once the bag was broken we wouldn't have another one and I wouldn't know what to do with his legos. Anyhow, this particular day I asked him to put some legos away and he went, opened the bag by the zipper and put them away. I was so pleased that he did it the right way, and wanted to make sure he really knew I saw what he did, so I gave him a fruit snack. He knows he can't ask for them, or point out his "big boy" behaviors in hopes of getting a fruit snack.

Today he was making a lot of those big boy choices and I was so pleased. He got a tootsie roll at church and on the way home, he told the hubs that he wanted to cut it in two pieces so that Monkey could have some. We were so struck by his self-motivated sharing. It was very sweet and unprompted. It's so nice to have a day like this after a few days of not so great behavior. I guess it reminds me that he is growing and maturing, even though it doesn't show every day.

We're getting ready for a wedding in a few weeks. The hub's older brother is getting married. My sister in law found a dress for Monkey to wear that matches their colors. I tried it on first thing and it fit so great! (even though it's a 3T.)  I'm going to take it up in the shoulders about an inch and she'll be wedding-ready! Now I just have to find matching fabric to make Moose a bow tie. He's the ring bearer. He's going to be so darn cute. I can't wait. I was just telling the bride-to-be that I hope he doesn't do something weird down the aisle, like shake uncontrollably or stick his tongue out and wag it at everyone. But she reassured me that they like his silliness and wouldn't mind one bit. He's never been to a wedding, let alone be in one. I'm really excited for this wonderful family event. It's going to be awesome!

Tomorrow will prove to be busy, with a trip to a magic show on the schedule. I just know that after tomorrow, Moose will want to be a magician, or be a magician for Halloween, or start making things "disappear" all over the house. As long as he remembers to make them reappear, I'll try to be a nice Mom. :)

Normalcy...

Today was relatively normal. It felt nice, considering the total hulabaloo we had yesterday. We were able to hit up the local farmer's market, leaving with a pound of sugar snap peas, and head over to Moose's buddy's house for some play time which included a little kiddy pool and fun sprinkler. The kids had a ball, which was really fun. I enjoyed my chatting time as well. This was all followed by a nice nap, me going shopping sans kids, and a fun family BBQ with some extended family. (followed by a family reunion planning session, for a giganto reunion in about 3 weeks.)

Moose's knee has practically returned to normal. The smaller areas are pretty much holding no fluids. His knee still had some, but it's drastically reduced, for which we are all very glad.

Did I mention, Monkey now barks and meows? One of those fun little things. I love hearing her do it.

Tomorrow's Sunday. Perhaps we'll have one of those really nice and relaxing Sundays that come every now and then. Perhaps.

Super Mom...

That's what I felt like today. Yesterday we were gone all day playing at a reservoir, so by the time we got home after 9 and the comp wasn't even on, the blog had to take a break. We played on the "beach", went out on the canoe and played pirates, threw rocks from the island, tried fishing (for like 2 minutes since Moose's attention span for that is very limited), BBQ'd and had an overall busy day with no naps for either kiddo.

Now fast forward to today. This morning we were heading out to another "beach" with some friends. I spent an hour getting everything ready and the last thing to do is put sunblock on Moose's legs. I go for his first leg and his knee looks kinda big and bulbous. I thought maybe they're both that way and he's just getting big and gangly, but upon comparison, the knees are most definitely not the same size. Ultimately we went to the walk-in at the doctor's office, waited an hour, finally got in to find out he's got an allergic reaction, and I'm pretty sure she said it's infected too. He has a knee the size of a softball, and 3 other spots that are retaining fluids. So after maybe another hour getting all the doctor stuff done, we head over to our favorite super wal-mart and look for his antibiotics and other drugs he'll be needing for the next 7-10 days. At this point the kids were starving, we'd all been walking around in our swimsuits and smothered in sun block.

We finally got home, finished eating (which was mostly done in the car on our way home since it was all packed in the cooler for the beach) and got the kids to bed. Poor Moose (although he's really fine and seems so unaffected by all of this) has black lines drawn around all of his swelling and red spots for comparison tomorrow. If it's not better after 24 hours we're headed back. Ooh, and he's started to get a small rash (possibly) on his chest, which is a possible strong reaction to the antibiotic. If it's still there in the morning, we're headed back to the doctor. Yay. Holy cow, right?

So after naps, the house is a complete mess, I attempted to relax but was mostly bombarded by calls (they were all good calls and I didn't mind the talking, but I never get that many in such a small period of time) and we had Moose's buddy coming over for dinner while his parents went on a date. Ultimately that was great because he is such a sweety pie, but I felt flustered because the house was a complete disaster and I was rushing around trying to get waffles ready for dinner. The hubs came home about 2 hrs late (which was also good because we really need the hours) so I did most of the playdate solo. (Which again, wasn't bad because he's such an angel.)

Considering all that happened today, it all went surprisingly well. But I feel like I should be exhausted (while I think I am mentally exhausted by it all) and I feel like I should be less non-chalant about the whole thing. I guess it's a good thing I am though, or I'd be pulling hairs out right now, right?

The hubs told me he's so glad I've been rolling with it, because otherwise I'd be super stressed by now. I guess I'm glad I'm not super stressed either. That's no fun and really gets you nowhere. Here's to hoping the swelling goes down by 2 pm tomorrow so we don't have any more doctor's visits this week.

Bathtime...

So this event is so singular it will consume the blog today. But to put a sentence in for the rest of the day, it involved grocery shopping at the beautiful new Super Wal-Mart, a concert in the park with 70 and 80's cover songs, and a trip to grandma's to pick asparagus and spinach. Now, on to the real show stopper. (Prepare yourself. Those with semi-weak consistutions or easy gag reflexes [sister, you know who I'm referring to] should refrain. It's not really that bad, but gross nonetheless.)

I was giving sweet Monkey a bath tonight. It was going fine. No face plants or anything. I was sitting next to the tub. I heard one small grunt, look over and, you guessed it, the bath was over. The little miss totally poo'd in the bathtub. Fortunately it wasn't runny (I know it's TMI, but as a parent you quickly get over that when it comes to children's bodily functions.) so it was relatively easy to clean up. It all happened so fast, I didn't have a chance. Needless to say, her bath was over.

Now I have a collection of toys that need disinfecting. Joy. Guess I'll add that to my to-do list after the chocolate chip cookies. Just one of those things.

Book Day...

This morning was busy and full, with a trip to the park with some friends we haven't played with in a while. The afternoon consisted of my reading Catching Fire, book 2 of the Hunger Games Series. That pretty much took up the remaining 7 hours of my day.

A good day. Glad I was able to sit and read my book without insane fussiness or distraction. I'm sure I'll be a more attentive mom tomorrow.

Just call it a mom-sanity day. :)

Silly Moments...

Today was filled with silly moments. It had it's frustrating ones as well (crying fits before bed, over-fussiness before dinner) but was filled with laughter. Moose and Monkey are continually growing together and learning to really interact and play. I just love watching it. It's hilarious.

We had a fly in the apartment today and Moose got me obsessed with swatting it. This was over their lunch time. It was so much fun. He would shout out whenever he saw it and I would do my best to catch it. I called it a stinky fly at one point and of course he found that hilarious. From then on it was the stinky fly.

I realized today that Monkey tries to bark. She really likes animals and will point at any animal she sees. We have a Sandra Boynton book called Doggies. It is filled with pics of dogs. She brought it to me and was making her very soft "oof oof" sound. It was so darn cute. I put on 101 Dalmations (partially in an attempt to divert her attention elsewhere so I could cook.) and whenever she heard the dogs barking she would look at it and point.

In honor of the silly moments, I thought I'd share one with you from a few days ago. I actually took a pic, and since it involves no faces, I knew the hubs would be okay with me posting it on the web.

As I was getting breakfast for Monkey I noticed something non-organic or Cheerio-like in the container. So I decided to investigate.

Ta-da! Apparently Moose decided that we needed our own surprises in the cereal boxes! (Not really. He didn't know who put it in there. It was most likely him though.)

:)

Recovering still...

So I thought today would be mostly relaxing and recovering. Not quite. The kids both got up at 7:15, which is a little sleeping in for Moose and not sleeping in for Monkey. We went to church and ultimately Monkey was happy, but high maintenance and slightly goofy. Moose was a bit wild and not listening or being very obedient. Ultimately they ended up going home early, while I stayed to take care of other responsibilities. The hubs didn't really want to take them home (although I think in the end it was a good thing.) but he offered it as a consequence and then had to follow through when Moose very deliberately did not listen. They ended up going to bed at 11:30 (if they had stayed they wouldn't have gotten to bed until probably 1ish.) They were so tired still. We got them down just shortly after 7 tonight. Hopefully tomorrow can be slightly normal.

I feel like there have been dozens of funny/sweet moments that I've been meaning to blog but by the time I buckle down at night to write lately, they're completely gone. Perhaps as the days slow down this week (fingers crossed) I will be able to remember them more.

Right now I'm just looking forward to my nightly relax and cool down. And for getting my next book at the library tomorrow. Moose will be turning in his reading sheet for the Library's reading program. He got his first 5 hours finished, and has earned a prize. He wants candy. Big surprise. I just hope they have some left. As of last Tuesday they had raisinets.

It is so much fun to do fun things with your kids, but the repercussions of throwing their sleep and daily schedules off, for me, is often very borderline being worth it. When they were smaller, it was never worth it, and so we often didn't do things late, or very early because it was way too much work. We liked that our kids slept well and we worked really hard to keep them on that routine. As Moose has gotten older it's been more tempting to bend the bedtimes more often, but he can still only handle it once every blue moon, or it completely throws our family out of sync. It makes us not a whole lot of fun for family gatherings/late night fun, but for me it's much more worth having kids who sleep well, don't wake up in the middle of the night, aren't cranky during the day, take their naps, etc. The more regular we keep our schedule and sleeping routine, the better they do. Our kids are extreme creatures of habit, like the hubs, but we kinda like it that way.

Recovery...

Today was a day of partial recovery. We had one more family event early this morning, so it involved waking up Monkey early. (over an hour early) On the way back, shortly before 11, she fell asleep in the car and probably had a good 1 hour nap.  Moose was able to wake up on his own, even sleeping in a bit, at 7:15.

After a quick trip to the in-laws to feed the birds and pick some spinach and asparagus, we got caught in a huge 5 minute hail storm. Then we returned home for some warm quesadillas and a nap at around 2. I didn't know if Monkey would even nap with her weird day, but her body definitely still needed the recovery from 2 days of madness and she slept til almost 5.

After some nice baths and stories, the kids are now asleep. Now it's time for the parents to recover. Tomorrow, I'm hoping, will be a nice typical Sunday, with a busy morning of church meetings and then a really relaxing rest of the day. I'm hoping it has it's usual calming effect on the kiddos. The rest of our family is still out camping, so that might make it a bit quieter for them at church. (Which might be a good thing.)

Overall, a really busy past few days. Tons of fun, lots of exhaustion. Perhaps this next week will slow down a bit? Time will tell.

What a Circus...

Yesterday the computer was never even turned on. By the time I was home and ready to relax, I was so exhausted that we basically went to bed. Here's the run down:

*Day trip to National park.
*Lots of walking (Putting and keeping Miss Monkey asleep for her nap.)
*Drove home late last night, left Moose with the grandparents to camp out in their trailer. Hubs had work the next morning, so they kept Moose overnight and brought him back this morning.
*Throwing rocks in the lake.
*Marshmallows.

And to add to it, here's today:

*Moose came home. Yay!
*Monkey slept in til 10. She didn't go down til shortly after 9, so it fit.
*Still had an afternoon nap for the kiddos. Yay!
*Visit to the circus! We only saw the first half. It included lions, tigers, bears, hula hoops, tight rope, fire, swords, contortionists, and more. Moose enjoyed parts, although I know he didn't grasp the skills or death-defyingness of it all. But it was exciting to take him nonetheless. (I'd never seen a circus before, so honestly I was probably the most excited.) They got to see elephants and miniature ponies too. What a blast!

Tomorrow morning we're up early and back to the lake for a family event. So that's why we only saw half the circus. We're going to have to wake Monkey as it is. Heck, I'm going to have to get up early too. It really feels like we're in the throws of summer now. Late nights, tons of activities. I have to admit I'm enjoying it. It gets difficult when Moose starts whining or complaining. But when he's not, I'm totally enjoying it and the less he complains, the more I want to do. We've started a discussion (inspired by my sweet sister-in-law's comments.) about gratefulness. Whenever he starts whining about wanting more we talk about being grateful for the special/fun things we were able to do. Like when we left the circus early. He started to whine about playing with the hubs when we got home. I asked him which he'd rather do, play with papa or see a circus. Obvious answer was circus. So I reminded him that's what we did, so we aren't whining about not being able to play with him. We'll see if it helps or not. It's good to learn to be grateful from an early age. I'll be home in the early afternoon, so we'll definitely get a post in tomorrow. Sorry for the break yesterday. After the many miles of walking, I was so darn tired I just wanted to lay down and not move. So I did.