Happy Easter!

I will make sure I update the blog this weekend after all the festivities. Today we decorated easter eggs for the hunt tomorrow at the church. Tomorrow we go to the hunt and then Sunday we are up early to head to the church for early service and brunch afterwards. Then helping out at the other services. E is looking forward to wearing her new dress and so am I! :-)

Have a wonderful Easter!

Stubborn and Last Resort!

Okay starting a couple of days ago E was complaining about her butt...which means her front side if you know what I mean. Anyways, I thought it was due to rubbing to hard when wiping since we have been working on the potty training. Then yesterday morning it was screaming non stop when she needed to pee. Then when she finally went it was screaming the whole time. So call the dr and can't get in until 2pm.

Okay well that day was not fun let me tell you! I decided to go early so we could get pee in a cup like they wanted and I knew it would take awhile to do since she was holding it and not wanting to go. So we show up at 1:15. Sure enough I can not get her to go in the cup or anything for that matter! All she can do is scream at me that no she does not want to go and her butt hurts. So finally we see the dr at a little after 2 and she still refuses to go. So we talk about our options. They need a sample so they can make sure that the antibiotics (which is different then the stuff they give for other things) is the correct one to get rid of the infection. I guess they test it in the lab. Our options are wait around the office until we get her to go in the cup, take the cup home and hope she goes before 5pm or do a cathieder. (sp?) I decided lets do the last option b/c she is stubborn and I will be lucky if we get her to go in the cup and I don't want to hang around the office forever!

So fast forward about 15 minutes. Let's just say we barely had to stick the tube in and got some and it was a mess! I'm so glad the nurse and other helper were so nice!!! And I am glad it was over with! Sure enough within minutes the dr could tell it was an infection and just gave us the prescription that usually works the best.

Well last night while I was at work she tells daddy that it hurts but refuses to go. So when I get home at 10 she is in bed with him still awake and needs to go but won't. So I take her away and into the bathroom. Hang out for awhile and then finally tell her she is going or she is going to bed...she chose to go to bed. Well she didn't sleep the best last night either. Got up and came in sometime in the middle of the night and slept on our floor and then at some point put herself back in her bed. Then she still hadn't gone by 8 this morning. Then finally went a little after that.

Fast forward to 1pm we get home from errands (soccer and other things) and she is starting to complain big time. So have to listen to her for 1.5 hours and she won't listen to me about if she just would go it would be over and no more pain. Doesn't get it no matter which way I put it!!! Finally last resort for me. I take her pants and socks off. Stick her in the tub, take the pull up off and turn on the water. I know may sound cruel but only thing I could think of and I was tired of listening to screaming/crying for the last 1.5 hours. It worked! But now she is proud of herself b/c she went in the tub...have had to talk to her about that! LOL

Oh and this morning with the meds was not fun either. The meds must not taste very good b/c she usually will take meds no problem. But not this one. I told her she would need to take it the easy way with apple juice right there or take it the hard way (pin her down) b/c she needed this medicine to make the owies go away! Well she chose the pin down...after chasing her down. Well then I should have realized not to do it on the carpet b/c she spit half of it out. UGH!! Then had to give her a shower/bath...used the shower nozzle. Boy did she hate that and agreed this morning that she would then take the medicine the easy way b/c she didn't like the shower. LOL

M said it's a good thing I am as stubborn as she is. LOL

I am hoping that the meds kick in tonight...if not then we might be on the wrong stuff. But won't know unless the lab remembers to call us tomorrow or we have to wait until Monday morning when the dr checks the lab results.

Growth!

Okay my kids need to stop growing! I will especially E right now! I have noticed all her pants are getting short so thought it's been awhile since I measured them on their growth chart. So two days ago I measured them. Now the last time I measured them was a little less then 6 months ago. N grew 1/2". Now E on the other hand grew 1 1/4"!!! If you look at N's side at the height E is right now N was 4 years old. So she is about 1 year ahead of where he was. ugh! I have noticed mostly in dresses I have to buy E a size 5 b/c her long legs. Now N hasn't grown much and his long pants are finally starting to fit w/o turning over the waist band. :-) I need to stop by the 2nd hand store (where i have some credit) and see if I can find a couple pairs of pants for E b/c warm weather is just around the corner and then there is no way I will get her out of sundresses and shorts. :-)

New Toys and Life

Well I thought I would post this picture of M and E trying to get N with M's new toy. :-)

Life around here keeps going. :-) Right now E is just getting over a cough that she caught twice. The 2nd time with some asthma stuff going on so she was on the machine. Think she is allergic to albuetrol so took her off that and she is only on pulmacort. She is sounding much better! Then N is on 2 different nose sprays and nose flushing once a day. The first couple days of that was real fun! not! But now he is just fine with it. We don't feel like much is coming out but who knows. He has to do this b/c his sinuses are plugged and not draining. We go in the first week of April to check and see if this has all worked. If not then we might be doing some scans and in the long run it could be surgery...we just don't know at this point.

Oh and E got her tubes take out last week. Those tubes have been in there since she was 6 months old! 3 years was enough. Plus she has not had an ear infection for quite some time! So it was time to take them out! She is doing fine with it other then we had to cancel swimming lessons for the month since she can't get her ears totally wet for 2 weeks. Just when she was getting close to sticking her head back in the water. :-( Oh well we'll start again next month.

Soccer should be starting soon but so far have not heard anything which reminds me I need to call about it.

Matt and I have been busy with things going on all the time it seems. I work 3x a week and then we go workout atleast 3x a week, plus all the other things that happen in a family. :-) I am glad to see it staying lighter outside! Now if the wind would just quite blowing around here so we could go outside just a little more. :-)

I am pretty sure that there is more going on but I can't think of it right now. :-)

Happy Spring!

Update in our World

Well I realized it's been awhile since updating. I now have a little bit of time. E and N have a couple friends over right now and they are going to play until 4:30 and then meet their mom and we'll do a couple of errands and then head to the airport to pick up Aunt L! They are excited about that and so am I!

M left yesterday early evening for the Walk to Emmaus weekend. He has never experienced anything like it so he was excited and nervous all at the same time. Which I can totally understand. I remember when I went to Chyrsalis when I was a teenager. I now can't wait for Sunday afternoon. I will be there at the "reception" for all of the men. I was talking to my sister about it. It's not hard when M is gone but what is hard this weekend is that I don't even get to talk to him. Usually we atleast talk at night before I go to bed but don't even get that. So I am always sending him little thoughts during the day/night this weekend.

Last night was fun being a "single" mom for the weekend. E has been coughing and it's gotten worse the last 48 hours. So called yesterday to the dr office and got an appt for Friday at 9am. Well last night I moved E to my bed when she started coughing again. Then she was coughing so bad she was like choking (sounded like it) when she was coughing. So I thought okay this is not good and off we go...after trying to wake up N. Let me tell you once that boy is asleep it is SOOOO hard to wake him back up unless it's early morning! We get down there and I kid you not we were there maybe a total of 40 minutes. The dr pretty much tells me that he doesn't hear any wheezing and since she is not running a fever (which she rarely does anyways...the dr thought I was nuts about that) that she just has a viral thing. I kept asking him okay are you sure b/c she sure acts like she can't breath very well or choking when she is coughing. Oh yea that's normal. So we get home and I get the kids back into bed (E in mine and N on the floor) at about midnight. E slept okay atleast but she did wake a few times coughing so hard that she was crying b/c something hurt but she couldn't tell me what. So we went to the dr appt this morning. I tell the pedia all of what has happened and she starts listening very carefully plus asking me questions. She knows my kids really well. She decided that E doesn't have croup (which I knew b/c not much of a barky cough) and that she does have a upper respitory thing. So one dosage of steriod and albuetrol machine (which we have at home) every 4 hours. E has been much better this afternoon! I did all of that and gave her some runny nose meds and it has helped! Now to hope it helps tonight too! I just have to say that I am so glad we have such good doctors here! My kids love the pedia and you can tell that she really cares about them (and us as parents)!

So this weekend will be busy with Aunt L here and I have to work tomorrow night. Then before we know it it will be 2:30 on Sunday I will get to see M soon and participate in the reception. Then home for the kids to see him. They are both having a hard time too with not being able to talk to him. N is now counting down the days/nights. :-)

Oh and we got a Wii!!! Thanks to "ins" with someone we found out when a certain place got them in and were there w/in 15 minutes. Now to find a couple more things around town hopefully. Plus hoping that I can figure out how to set it up w/o M so we can play some this weekend. :-)

Have a wonderful weekend! The sun is shining here!

Things the Kids say

Okay I have been to write these things down somewhere so thought I would do it here so when I finally get around to scrapbooking it I will have a "record" of it.

Boom up = Blow up
I have the "bless yous" = I have the sneezes.
e gulls - sea gulls (mostly E)
where are the Jesus toys? - nativity scene (guess I need to have one of these down all the time for E)

"What's inside a carrot" (asked by E) - nothing...just a carrot...no mommy what is inside a carrot!!!


I am sure there are many more but those are the ones I can think of right now. :-)

We got about 2" of snow last night (sometime between 11pm-7am). Thought we would only get a light dusting but oh no...so M stayed home to work from home (roads bad) and then left at lunch to go in.

The kids started swimming lessons this week and N is loving it. E is doing her typical I am not going to do what you ask. Had to have a talk to and will again I am sure. Her friend is in there too so I thought for sure she would do everything she did but again E proves me wrong. E can not be bribed, caroled, or anything else into doing something she just doesn't want to do. I know this will be good in the long run but let me tell you it can be frustrating right now!

Oh and I got E signed up for preschool next year...maybe I wrote about this already...anyways she is ready and excited about it. She will be going 3x a week in the morning for 3 hours. We are excited she finally gets to go b/c she is so ready. Now what to do with my time?!!??? :-) I am actually looking into helping at another preschool during that time but not sure if the times will work out and such. Since E's starts at 9:15 and the other one starts at 9am. So we shall see.

Have a good rest of the week!!!

Snow! and more news

Well this is what our backyard looks like right now. Now this is with the snow we got a few days ago and then what we got starting yesterday at about 5pm - sometime in the middle of last night. Let's just say the roads were bad for commuters yesterday. Took M over an hour to get to my work (I was waiting there but couldn't clock in.) He was not a happy camper by the time he got there and then had to still drive home with the kids. They didn't expect that snow to hit the area until later I think plus I don't think they thought it would dump that much. The kids are excited they get to wear their snow boots today. I really need to get a new pair...the only pair I have are big clunky ones for really "playing" in the snow. I just can't believe how much snow we have gotten this year! M and I since we moved here have never remembered this much snow here in the valley.

Now for my news...I am officially now a store supervisor at my work. I had my first part of training last night. It's exciting and should be interesting and fun.

Okay so far doesn't look like school is delayed so guess we should get going this morning. :-)

BRRRRRRR!!!!!!

Okay it is cold here!!! The sun is out but I don't want to open the shades b/c of the cold and letting more cold air in through the windows! At 8:40 I looked at the thermostat and it said 3.7 degrees. Plus the lady that checked us out at the grocery store this morning said when she left for work at 5am it was around -5 degrees!!! Now we don't mind the cold too much but when it is this cold it is just way too cold for here!!! It's says that it's suppose to snow today but so far don't think so...we have clear sunny skies.

Hope you are warmer where ever you are! :-)

Waiting & Wierd things

Okay the first thing today is that I saw the weirdest thing while driving this morning. Now maybe other people have seen this before but I certainly hadn't. Now you have to understand that there is snow on the ground right now...not much but enough to cover places probably still an inch in some places. So there is some construction down the street and guess what they were laying down.....SOD!!! They were just laying it down right over the top of the snow. Now I guess the snow will melt and give the sod some water but still it just did not look right!

I hate waiting! I have a couple of things I am waiting to hear about. One is something that I can/will say something when/if it happens but it will be a good/nice thing. Then there is waiting to hear from the doctors office. I had blood work done a couple of weeks ago during a routine physical and I'm sure it has come back and is most likely fine but when you get a message saying for you to call the nurse back and you do. You are hoping that during their break...Like during lunch but oh no that can't happen. She called this morning right after we left to take N to school and left a message for me to call her so I did. Well still have not heard from her at all. ugh!

Another pondering thought....why is E so afraid to poop in the potty. I am coming up with the conclusion that for some reason is fine peeing in the potty but afraid to poop. We have tried every bribery we can know of!!! I even have jewelry that I bought her and she has seen her friends poop in the potty but of course doesn't work. Anyone got any suggestions??? I know she is only 3 but still she is smart and understands it all but just does not want to do that part!

Have a great afternoon! I actually have tonight off (usually I work) and so M and I actually get to workout tonight since it didn't work out last night.

The Cruise!

Okay to finally update everyone on the cruise. We had a wonderful time. It was the week before christmas. We got home on the 23rd. The kids were watching by S's parents and they all had a fun time. I think though that Nana and Papa were a little worn out. :-) Plus E had gotten a cough (which ended up being croup but was over it fast after seeing the dr).

Anyways, we went from San Deigo to Cabo San Lucas to Mazatlan and then to Puerto Vallarata. We had one day at sea on the way to Cabo and then on the way back from Puerto we had two days at sea. The one day down was just fine. We got to relax and check out the boat. I even got to see a whale off the side of the boat while I was walking the deck (M was running). Then in Cabo we went with J & C to their condo place. It was a great place and hope to be able to go back sometime with the kids in tow. We just sat around drinking, eating and talking at the pool. Then back at the ship M and I went shopping some. Found a silver bracelet I liked but the guy wouldn't bargain with me at all and I didn't think it was worth the cost (didn't find another one I liked the rest of the trip).

The following day we did a tour in Mazatlan of the Pacifico Brewery. It was alot of fun. Now I don't like beer but this was a fun tour. You got to see the brewery, the streets around it and the open air bus we were on did a side tour on the way back to the boat so we got to see some town and learn some things about the town. M loved the tour b/c at the end you got to drink Pacifico and/or Corona. And there was no limit. Whenever you were done you could ask for another. I had a pepsi and let me tell you it does taste different then the USA pepsi! It was little more "spicy". Plus on the ride back to the boat they were handing out beer too. We didn't get any time to shop in that town really. (that was one thing we would have liked ...two days at port - one for tours and one for shopping) We did stop at a "stop" on the way back and there was a stand there that we found a pirate ship for N.

The next day we were in Puerto Vallarata and we went on a boat tour to a fishing town called Yelapa. It was awesome. We saw dolphins and a mommy whale w/baby on the way there. Then when we were there we walked up through the town to the waterfall. Then got to walk back to the beach (sand is bigger there) and sit on the beach for about an hour. Then back to the boat and back to the city. Again we wish we would have had another day just to go shopping. The shopping was too far away (taxi ride) for us to go for an hour or so that we had. Then it was time to head back to San Diego.

Now after the first half day the water got rougher and the boat swayed alot. It was so rough that they had to close the pools b/c of the sloshing and such. It was fun to sit on deck and watch it do this. Plus it was too cold outside to sit and sunbath. I tried for about 10 minutes when everyone else was at a wine tasting thing. I went back inside and found a corner and read. Now unfortunately M found out he gets a little sea sick with this motion. Plus we aren't the time to party alot so it got kind of boring during the day on the ship. Now don't get me wrong...we loved relaxing but two days was a bit much for us.

We had a great time getting to see what a cruise was and having fun in the ports. Plus we got to hang out with M's half sister, brother-in-law, half brother and parents. Plus it was relaxing time for us to get to hang out together and no kids. We really do need this about once a year. (Get away as just adults.) :-)

2008!

Okay I know...everyone keeps bugging me! I have not updated in quite awhile!!! First thing I need to update on is the cruise, then christmas, then school starting and kids. Then I think I will be caught up. So by the end of today I atleast promise to have the update on the cruise done.

Santa & Christmas Party

Well last week on Weds we went to the Micron Children's Christmas Party. The kids loved it! It was the first year we did not have break down and neither one cried in Santa's lap! Even E went into the jump things w/o N. They got to play games in the toddler area, decorate a cookie, eat a snack, jump on blow up things, go down slides (E went with me as you can see in the picture), and have fun. It was fun for all of us and didn't seem as crowded this year but then again we didn't stay late either.

Well we have a week now before M & S leave on the cruise. Seems wierd to be going somewhere warm when it has snowed here some and is cold. We won't mind at all. The kids are looking forward to seeing Aunt L and Nana and Papa plus Cousin MA. They are going to be having so much fun and stuff that I don't think there will be time for them to think about us being gone...which I am glad of. It's nice not to have to stress about being away from the kids...we know they will have fun.

We have been busy around here just finishing up making some christmas presents, wrapping christmas presents and getting ready. I really need to get out my stuff and look at it to decide what I am going to bring. Where M just tells me oh I'll just pack the night before. I wish it was that easy for me!

The kids have been busy with school, friends over to play or meet at Burger King, dance (which E loves the ballet side of this), karate (which will be over in January and soon after that soccer will start), and just hanging out at home. They keep asking about snow...they really want to go sledding. We might be able to go up to the mtn on Friday and do this. We shall see. I wish we would get enough snow to drag them down the street but so far no such luck.

Well hope everyone has a wonderful Christmas! Will update when we get back...since I don't think I will get a chance this week.

13 years!

Well M and I celebrated 13 years of marriage yesterday! We actually both were reminded by a relative...so we both got the day right instead of the middle of the day realizing what day it was. :-) All I did was get M a card but M surprised me with roses and the movie "Jungle Book". So that made my day/week!

It's hard to believe that 13 years have gone. In those 13 years we have lived in 3 places (and loved each of them for different reasons), both of us graduated from different colleges, had kids, bought a house and many more things! Plus we know there are many more wonderful things to happen for/to us in the many years to come!

Thanksgiving

We had a great time for Thanksgiving. We had M's sister and her family come over from Seattle area. Then on Friday we had M's dad and B come over from Tri-cities. We got to hang out, go see a movie, meet cosmo, eat, and see the tree downtown. I have some great pictures that tell alot. :-) Also, the kids got to open their christmas presents from Auntie/Uncle/Cousins. N got the sonic game to the ninetendo and you can see what E got. :-) Comso was a great dog...we love those dogs.

Weather!

Well today we woke up to snow today! The kids were all excited. N's first words now it's Christmas!! Then he asked if we could open presents now (I have been wrapping and putting up presents). :-) He wants to go sledding and E wants to go skiing. Can you tell who will be M's ski buddy. :-)

The other picture is of a turkey hat N made at school. He loved wearing it around. Today is a Thanksgiving "dinner" at school were a bunch of parents are bringing in a certain food and all the kids get to sample each of them. I am bringing in the green bean casserole.

We have all been good and busy around here. N came down with a fever on Saturday and then he has just a cold now. I think I caught the cold (or hoping it's the shots M and I got yesterday for our trip) and M says he has a slight sore throat. So here's hoping that lots of sleep and meds help it go away fast!

Well off to get the kids in their snow boots, coats and gloves to take N to school.

Belle!

Well we have a new addition to our family. Now as my sister was asking...how did you guys decide on this, M and I couldn't really remember. :-) Other then the kids have been asking for a new pet but we don't want to get a new dog until they are both old enough to help out. So we decided this would be something that would help them learn how to take care of an animal. We got all the cage and other stuff this morning and put it together by noon. Then we ate lunch and went to the Y and then back out to look at hamsters. We watched how they acted with just us putting our hands up to them and stuff...not really petting b/c didn't want to scare them too bad. This is the one that I decided that was not very skittish and seemed active and interested in things. We were told (even though the book we got didn't say this) that we should keep her in the cage for 24-48 hours before handling so she can get use to all the "new" stuff. So we are doing that. Tomorrow night we will give her a few treats and let her get use to us....really just one of us handling her to begin with. We also picked out a purple sparkly exercise ball so she can run around the house in it. She will live in the kids room so this should be interesting to say the least, but fun. It's also funny she has a "house" down in the main part but it looks like she has decided that the green pod off to the side (right in the picture) of the tube is going to be her sleeping place...which will be nice b/c then we can still see her when she sleeps. I am sure I will have updates as the next few days go by.

Halloween

Well yesterday was alot of fun! N got to go to school dressed up b/c they were going down the street to the assisted living place and go trick or treating there. Then they got to have a party in their room. N had a chocolate cupcake which was very obvious b/c he had chocolate all over his nose and mouth. :-) Anyways, E wouldn't have it with her not being dressed...so we dressed her up with the clothes but not all the "extra" stuff. She had fun. Then they had to take off at lunch so we wouldn't get it all dirty. Then it was time for a short nap and off to dance class with daddy coming too. Then to the Y for us to workout. Then home for M to mow the lawn and then all of us eat dinner. We watched the old transformer movie (the one from when M and I were little). It was funny to see. N loved it...Matt and I remembered pieces but nothing special. :-) Then it was time to dress up and head out. This year was totally different in the fact that they went up to every door w/o us (we watched) and did it all and had fun. Never were they nervous...actually fighting over who's turn it was to ring the door bell. I do have to say that E remembered to say Thank you more then N. :-) We really didn't go to many houses...just the ones on our street up and down but they were totally fine with that...I know one of these years they will figure out hey we can go further. :-)

Pumpkin Patch & Maze

Well E and I "tagged' along on N's field trip to the pumpkin patch. It was alot of fun. I had a group of all boys (4 total) and E. They were all really good. One kept trying to get a big pumpkin but the rule was you had to carry it and it was a little walk back from the field. He finally found one that he could carry mostly. :-) Anyways, here are the pictures of that. The one of E is actually the pumpkin that E gave up on and N took. :-) The one E has is smaller. I need to get pictures of them just with their pumpkins...guess I didn't do it there. oops.


Then Tuesday night we went to the corn maze. I have been wanting to go with the kids. They had fun. N was mad b/c we didn't do anything else there but the other things cost more $ and didn't want to spend the $ on it. We let the kids take the lead until they got tired and then they decided to let us find the way out. I was trying to get a picture of E when she would get mad when we didn't go the way she wanted...she wanted to direct the whole time instead of N taking a turn. :-) I never got the picture...one of these days I will get that picture though.

First Homework

Now N's teacher doesn't believe in "homework" for the kids to bring home. Now there will be a few things and this was the first. There was a sheet of orange paper, green paper, black paper and a green pipe cleaner sent home in a white bag with a note saying that she needed some pumpkins in the room. The homework was to use the stuff plus whatever else we could find and as a family make a pumpkin. This is the pumpkin we came up with.

Tools & Kids

Here are a few pictures of the kids "fixing" the coffee table. The love to take their tools (play) and fix things. Lately the coffee table is their favorite thing. I just loved looking over and seeing two sets of legs sticking out. You should have heard the conversation too. :-)