Squash and Size 9's

My kiddos are growing. They're growing up. Right before my very eyes. And there's nothing I can do about it.

Through a series of wierd circumstances, we found ourselves this morning without shoes for Kellen. His crocs (or alternative crocs, if you will), had been broken on the playground and were without straps; his tennis shoes had been inadvertently left at Uncle Eddie and Aunt Glenda's last weekend when I was too sick to pack things up and Grandma and Grandpa got the kids, me, and all of the stuff packed up and back to College Station - minus Kellen's tennis shoes, 1 pacifier, and a burp rag; and when Daddy had, again inadvertently, left the bag with the boots which Kellen had been wearing for the last week because of the lack of tennis shoes and broken crocs at Maw Maw and Paw Paw's yesterday when we left there. So anyway, we're trying to walk out of the door this morning and realized that we had to revert to the broken crocs.

We had to go shoe shopping today. Today- of all days. The first day of school.

So after work, I pick up the kids and it's off to Target we go to get Kellen some new shoes, because wearing broken crocs for two days in a row at school just won't work. They fall off of his feet when he's walking - I can't imagine what it was like for him to try and play on the playground in those today! We try tennis shoes on his feet. His previous tennis shoes were size 8 1/2 - but these....these are a size 9. And he says that they're comfortable. And his toes are in the correct spot.

Size 9. Yup. Size 9.

While at Target, I decide to put my ambitious goal for making homemade baby food on the shelf, at least for the time being, and buy baby food for my poor starving child who doesn't look like she's had a meal in ages.

****Ok, I'm picking myself back up off of the floor and I'll stop laughing now. ****

She's done very well on the sweet potatoes (both her and Kellen's first "real" food), so I get some squash, green beans, carrots, applesauce, and a butternut squash and corn mixture. Then she decides that she's had enough of this relatively short shopping trip. Seriously enough. And she's letting EVERYONE in screaming range know about it. And there's nothing Mommy can do.

Why did I decide to go shopping again on the first day of school when everyone was out? Oh yeah...Kellen didn't have any shoes to wear to school.

I digress.

We check out and walk outside, and to prove that she was telling me she was done with the shopping trip, she immediately stops screaming when we get outside. Yes, dear. I get your point.

Back home and time for dinner...and she loves the squash - at least until her teeth - or the places that there should be teeth on the bottom of her gums - start bothering her. Then she just wants me. But she ate almost the entire jar of squash and really did like it. When are these teeth going to come through so that they can stop hurting her?

And there is a note on her chart from school letting me know just how close she is to crawling. Yes, thank you. My not even 6 month old child is 2 seconds away from crawling. Somebody get me a baby yard. And quickly.

I'm in trouble over here.

Learning

We just got DVR a week or so ago, and I'm loving it (I knew that I would). Matt surprised me with it, since prior to this we had no way to record anything .

Well, Kellen is capable of using many of the various remotes that we have, he's familiar with the basic, most-used bottons; on/off, volume, & channels on the TV remote; play, stop and pause on the DVD remote, but we hadn't worked with him on the DVR stuff yet. It was just too new and we haven't had a chance.

Well, amidst the many episodes of Scrubs, House, and some random other movies that we've caught, I DVR'ed Hercules for him. Today as he was watching it, I showed him how to fast forward through commercials and then play when the commercials were over. He caught the hang of it really quickly, but then got upset when he didn't push play fast enough and didn't know how to rewind. So I talked him through that and then simply exclaimed,

"Now you know how to fast forward and if you go too far, you know how to go backwards and rewind!"

"Yup. I'm learning." was his reply.

I don't quite know why that struck me as funny, but I almost fell off of the couch laughing at the way he said that!

Milestone moments...

AHHHH!!!

Tatum's coming up on all 4's!! And is managing to "scoot" herself backwards!!! OH MY GOODNESS!!

She's too young to be getting ready to crawl...I'm not ready for this...seriously...I mean...It's good and all...but still...

And she found her feet and toes yesterday...it's too cute!!!

The first of many...little friends

So when Daddy was outside working yesterday, he came across a caterpillar and brought him inside for Kellen. We put a habitat together for him and put him inside Kellen's bug catcher...we've been watching him crawl around inside there and eat on the leaves, etc. We come back from church this morning and no caterpillar...come to find out, Kellen had left the door open for a WHILE, and "Hermie" had escaped.

Oh boy.

Surprisingly enough, Daddy found him while Kellen was taking a nap. Hermie was near the TV, so Daddy put him back in his home...and here we are...observing this really beautiful green caterpillar with some small orange spots on the sides.

Interesting to see how this will turn out! Kellen's excited to see if he'll turn into a butterfly.

How sweet...

Cuddle time with the kids...(Tatum was really enjoying this more that it appears...honest!)

House help with Daddy...Kellen's such a good helper!!!
So Kellen takes his screwdriver outside and tells Matt that he needs something to use it on. Matt tells him that they really aren't going to be screwing anything. Kellen's response,

"Well can I get my hammer and bam something then?"

I'm guessing that's a statement that would have made any Daddy proud.

Swimming scare...MawMaw to the rescue

What is it with us and scares lately?

We were out of town this weekend (Matt was at work on Sat) and went swimming at a pool of one of Matt's relatives...Maw Maw was watching Kellen and I had Tatum in the pool...Kellen was in the hot tub portion of the pool, which had a circle seating area around it and Tatum and I were on the other side of the pool in the shallower portion playing...Well, he was walking around the hot tub playing (like any kid would be in the pool, right?) and walked right off of the edge, into the actual tub part, which was unfortunately right about the height of the top of his head.

Maw Maw grabbed for him (she wasn't in the pool, but was on the edge close to him) but missed, and saw him trying to get back up to the surface - unsuccessfully, I might add - and at the time that I screamed "HELP HIM!" - she jumped in fully clothed to grab him. There were 3 other kids in the pool with him playing (all older and VERY good swimmers), but they were behind him and didn't realize that he was having trouble and couldn't get back up...

*sigh*

Luckily, he had done the things he had learned in swim lessons and didn't come back up with lungs full of water...grabbed onto Maw Maw, and then was ok...Not too scared or anything. (And we're talking he was only under for seconds really...it just felt so much longer to me!). I had Maw Maw take Tatum and then he and I played so that his lasting memory wouldn't be a scary one...by the end of the day he was begging not to leave the pool, so I don't think this experience has left any permanent "scars" on him...But boy it sure did scare me!

That's what I get for bringing the swim clothes and forgetting ALL of the floaties...I would be ok with no more scares for a little while over here...

But, Maw Maw to the rescue!

Baby kisses

Tatum started giving kisses this weekend...and it was GREAT! She actually started off with her Maw Maw, then her dad, and I finally was able to get in on the action on Sunday. It's so sweet! When I leaned in to kiss on her cheek, she grabbed my head with her hands, turned her head to me with her mouth wide open, and did this wierd mouth motion on my cheek.

Gotta love those baby kisses!!

My goodness...does it ever end?

Saturday:

Matt and Kellen went to the used furniture shop today and Kellen tripped over a couch and landed with his upper cheek (immediately below his eye) on the corner of a coffee table. So....Matt calls and tells me that he's taking him to the ER...took him to there to get it looked at - the doctor decided to glue it instead of getting stitches. Matt said the doc told him that either way (stitches or glue) it was going to scar. All-in-all, Kellen was quite the trooper!

Let me just say, when Matt called to tell me about this, my brain went ALL KINDS OF CRAZY because he mentioned that it was right below his eye. WHEW! It was SO MUCH worse in my head than what it really is! Not that it looks wonderful or anything, but my brain went to worst-case scenario there...

Afterwards we went to McD's for a post-ER treat...(Gotta' go and get me some of that Mederma for kids to work on that scar!!)

Sunday/Monday:
Kellen went with Daddy and daddy dropped him off at MawMaw and PawPaw's...He spent the night with them, and came back today with daddy after he got off of work. Straight to school...and to the start of a new classroom - kind of. He napped (rested is more like it) in his old classroom and then spend the rest of the day in his new classroom. He's officially a jellyfish now...no more seal.

Now Tatum is sick.

I got the call from daycare this afternoon and picked her up...she's alternating between her sweet and smiley self and just miserably coughing. Poor girl! She doesn't have much of an appetite and is running a low grade fever as well. When I listen to her chest, I can hear her rasping when she's breathing.

*sigh*

We're going in tomorrow morning to the dr...not our regular doctor because we couldn't get in to see him until late in the afternoon tomorrow, but another one at UPA...

Does it ever end?

Sunscreen Spray Scare

So last night, I sent Kellen to brush his teeth (he brushes them first, then I brush them) while I was putting some laundry in to wash. In the midst of doing that, I heard a bloodcurdling scream come from the direction of the bathroom - how it didn't wake Tatum in the next room is still a mystery to me. Anyway, I run to the bathroom to discover Kellen holding his eyes and screaming, and see the sunscreen spray laying out. After I ask what's wrong and what happened - yell really, to be heard above his screaming - Kellen tells me that he's sprayed sunscreen in his eyes.

Unfortunately, what I suspected, but OH MY!

I pick him up and carry him to our bathroom, put a towel down on the sink, flip him upside down and hold his head under the faucet in an attempt to rinse his eyes out. As I'm washing his face off, I can feel the sunscreen all over his face. I'm trying to calm him down, but what he's screaming most is that he wants a hug. (Insert breaking heart here...because I CANNOT stop trying to wash his eyes out). I'm talking him through this, "Sweetie, your eyes are burning because of the sunscreen and I have to put the water on your face and in your eyes to get the yucky sunscreen OUT of your eyes. Help Mommy and open your eyes for me under the water so we can get them rinsed out." I finally started making a dam-like contraption with one of my hands so that the water would pool around his eyes and then had him blink (as best he could and would).

After about 5 minutes of this, he begs me to get in the shower. At this point in time, I texted Matt with "Call home asap."

So we strip and hop into the shower...same kind of thing...head under the spray, blink lots and lots. Except that he wasn't really blinking much because the water and his eyes were hurting. Poor baby!

Matt calls a few minutes later, asking what's wrong. I give him the Cliff Note version. So, talking Kellen through it even more, I told him that I was going to open his eyes under the water - did he want me to do both at one time or one at a time? He opted for one at a time...I had him "hug" me with his arms and legs and then used my right hand to open up his left eye - got that under the water, and we did that for a few minutes, but it was getting painfully obvious that Kellen was so very DONE with this whole thing. He just kept begging to go to bed.

Then the door to the shower opened up. Matt had decided that enough was enough and he was so much more needed at home...and had come home from his workshop/class and went into EMT-mode. He took Kellen and had Kellen talk him through what had happened...did an informal eye exam to make sure that Kellen had full use of his vision, including peripheral, talked about whether or not Daddy looked fuzzy, etc. Then he took him into the other bathroom and had Kellen re-enact the spray (pointing down to the ground) so that we could actually see how much sunscreen Kellen had sprayed (not that much).

All told, I had been washing his eyes out for about 20 minutes by the time Matt had gotten home...Kellen told Matt that he only got it into 1 eye, and he told me that he got it into both. By looking at his eyes, I would say that he got some into both eyes - they were both red and bloodshot, but definitely the bulk was in his left eye...which was pretty swollen when we were all through.

Lots of cuddles, hugs, kisses, etc later, he went to bed.

This morning, he runs into my room, excited to tell me that his eye doesn't hurt or burn him. And that he's NOT going to do that again!

The kicker of this whole thing...it's totally OUR FAULT that this happened because the sunscreen was someplace that he was able to get it. Locked cabinets don't work, because he knows how to open them.

*Sigh*

The volcano erupted

So this morning as I was feeding Tatum, I noticed that she was doing her business. I stopped feeding her, sat her up, and started burping her...thinking that I would let her finish, change her diaper, then proceed with her breakfast.

Well, a minute or so passed when I felt something seeping through my jeans onto my leg...let me indicate now that I was already fully dressed for work at this point in time. I looked down, and see a volcano of poop seeping out of her clothes. Yes ladies and gentlemen, her poop was defying gravity -- going up her diaper back, halfway up her back, over the top of her cute little shorts, and then running over the top, and down onto my leg and onto our recliner, looking remarkably similar in consistency and texture to the oatmeal mixture that she has decided she loves and has been eating.

Oh my, oh my. How DOES poop defy gravity?

Weekend madness!!

My goodness!!!!

So.........

Matt went on Thursday and picked up our new (not brand new, but new to us) TV...a 55" one...According to Kellen, it's, "A big FAT TV!" It stayed in the back of my van for a few days until he and I were able to get it out and into the house yesterday (ok, mostly him...but I DID help some). TV is now a completely new experience over here!!

We traded in Matt's truck for an '03 Chevy Trailblazer on Saturday, then get back to Conroe to find out that Tatum had finally mastered rolling over from her back to her belly. She hasn't finished cutting the two teeth that she's working on, but I think she's getting pretty close!

Weighed her on Maw Maw and Paw Paw's scales this weekend and she's a whopping 16 pounds. We'll see what her "official" weight is tomorrow morning when I take her in for her 4 month check-up. Wow! She blew past Kellen's growth curve already...I think she's almost gained a full 2 pounds JUST in the month of JUNE!!! Amazing! Someone asked me what she was eating, and when I replied, "Nothing, she's just nursing," asked me what I was eating! LOL - My reply, "Anything I want!"

Kellen's asking for more swim lessons, and for a turtle (he got that from HigglyTown Heroes...but he's not letting it go). Swim lessons we can do...not to sure about the turtle.

16 weeks old...and quite a few accomplishments

Tatum is officially 16 weeks old today (not 4 months - that milestone occurs on July 3rd, but 16 weeks). And to celebrate this momentous occasion, she actually had quite a few accomplishments today....

*We got a jumperoo from a friend and she discovered that she REALLY likes it

*We discovered that she could sit up, assisted by the boppy - and that includes balancing herself when she was almost falling backwards to catch herself and picking herself back up to a sitting position...And that she does it quite well for quite a long period of time...and LOVES it!!!
















*She tried cereal today...just a little, and actually ate some!















It was a REALLY busy day...

I spy, with my eye...

Well, on his way home today, Matt taught Kellen how to play "I spy" and so Kellen taught me while we were driving home from school today. He was just so much fun!

I spy with my eye...
Mommy, is it my turn?...
Mommy, you can't give up...try to guess again...

He was just precious!!

Can she already be cutting a tooth??

So Tatum has been a little fussy at night, like she's hurting...she'll suck on her paci, then her hand (not fingers - her entire hand), just about anything she can get in her mouth...and HARD (nuff said, right?) - but so far I haven't been able to feel any nubs or see anything on her gums. However, today I thought I saw the beginning of a tooth nub on her lower gums...(you know, the white line underneath the gum area..)

Is that possible? I mean, she's a little wiggle-worm, so I can't really be sure (it's not like she's sitting still so that I can peek in her mouth or anything). Kellen didn't get his first tooth until ~ 6 months or so...
I gave her some Tylenol about 20 minutes ago and she's calmed down quite a bit...

*sigh*

I guess I need to add teething tablets to my grocery list?

Cleaning spree

Well, since Matt is at work and Kellen is at MawMaw and PawPaw's (story time is tomorrow), I decided (what a wild hair - LOL) to take a half day off, leave Tatum in the very capable hands of her daycare teachers, and come home to clean my house (something that I don't seem capable of juggling with work, the kids, and Matt's crazy schedule right now, despite my "routines" and best intentions). I'm tired of cleaning up only to have it get all messed up again as soon as someone (ok, so I can leave Tatum out of it...for now) walks through a room! I have spent half of the day cleaning and I'm still not done! *sigh* I have gotten quite a bit accomplished, though...so that's good...

Ahhh! I feel like signing up for clean sweep or something!

I like the quote that I've seen in a few places...I think I want it to be my new motto:

"Cleaning up while you still have children in the home is like shoveling the sidewalk while it's still snowing!"

That sounds about right, doesn't it?

ER Trip...and not for the kids

Matt was being a sweetie today. I didn't end up rolling out of bed until ~ 10:30 or so...he just brought Tatum in to me when she got hungry and then would take her when she was through. I CANNOT remember the last time I slept in that late. We're keeping the laundry going and are both in cleaning-spree mode (which works out really well, actually) and he was working on laundry and asked me not to put anything else in the washing machine because he knew what he wanted to wash next. I'm still not sure exactly how he managed to do it, but, he managed to cut his head on the metal thing holding up the shelf above the washing machine as he was loading or changing clothes over from the washing machine to the dryer. He ended up with a pretty good little cut there on his head. Using the mirrors, we positioned it so that he could try and see how bad it was, and we ended up deciding that he should go ahead and go into the ER to have them take a look and either steri-strip it or suture it up. I'm just glad it didn't knock him out and that we aren't dealing with a concussion, too. On the first trip to the ER, they decided to steri-strip it to see if that would be ok. They wanted him to come back in an hour or so for them to check on it to see if it needed stitches. So on the 2nd trip, (The benefits of working at the ER, right? *grin*) they decided that the steri-strip would be fine. The dr said that based on where it is, the stiches might actually make the scarring worse. And, he doesn't need antibiotics, he's just supposed to try and keep it dry. Another plus...his tetanus shot is up-to-date, so he doesn't have to worry about getting another one of those, either.

*sigh* and *whew*

What a day!

What a weekend!

Wow! Matt remarked to me on the way home this afternoon that it felt like we had been gone for 5 days. I have to agree.

We left on Friday to go to his high school reunion. And Friday afternoon was pretty crazy! I took the afternoon off so that he and I could go and find something for me to wear to the reunion...we managed to find something for both Friday night and a semi-formal dress for Saturday night in a relatively painless manner, which was great as far as I was concerned. I also managed to get my hair cut, he picked up both of the kids, then we took Kellen to swim lessons after eating dinner at the mall, and when he was finished with swim lessons, we headed out of town by 8 PM. *whew* I think I was tired by the time we left, actually.

Anyway, we went to the social and hung out there until late (at least in my book) - we left around midnight or a little after. Luckily, Maw Maw and Paw Paw were on kid duty, so we were really able to have a good time this weekend. Unfortunately, Tatum started running a fever on Saturday...not too high - 101.5 was the highest it got, and she did respond to Tylenol, so we continued with our plan to go to the formal portion of the reunion on Saturday night. She was a little fussy when the tylenol wore off, but once it was in her system again, she was acting almost like normal, just sleeping a little more than usual.

We got all ready to go, and made it to The Woodlands around 7:45 or so...then Maw Maw called and told me that Tatum's fever had broken and had really come down (so much so, it turns out, that they didn't even have to give her any more medicine before she went to bed - yay!). So, we're all dressed up - Matt in his suit and me in a new red dress and into the reunion we go. We ended up having a really good time, for a really long time. The reunion was supposed to last until midnight, but shortly before then, they announced that they had the room for another hour. So we stayed around until 1 AM, then decided to continue to hang out with some of Matt's friends even after that. At 3 AM, I think Matt finally decided it would be easier to leave while I was still somewhat awake then to have to carry me out, so we ended up leaving.

Today Tatums fever hasn't been that bad...it's been elevated, but just low-grade, not too bad. Kellen, on the other hand, apparently had a really bad night last night and is seeming to get progressively worse. He was awake off and on all night long, and was complaining of his head hurting him...not sure what that's about. Today he started running a fever..and it's now progressed to 102.9 - WITH Tylenol in his system for an hour. Hmm...we'll be alternating tylenol and ibuprofen, I believe, to get this under control tonight. He isn't acting like he feels bad, but he is complaining that his head hurts some. Not much else other than that.

So I guess we'll see how tomorrow goes with both of them. Keep your fingers crossed for us!

It's been a while...

Quick update...

Kellen still loves HIS Tatum...

Tatum is smiling, laughing, rolling over (lots) from tummy to back and almost making it from back to front, and it batting at and grabbing objects now.

Kellen started his swimming lessons on Tuesday, and is doing great so far...he didn't want to go under the water on the first day, but did it right off the bat yesterday (yay!) - he's so excited about these lessons!

Grandma and Grandpa Gerren came in for the day this past weekend for an early birthday celebration for Grandma Gerren...Kellen just LOVED helping to plan for her birthday party...he really got into it. We went and watched Shrek the Third (again...we saw it opening weekend, too) and Kellen had just as much fun the 2nd time around...Only this time he was cracking up the theatre with his comments.

We also got to visit with Jen & James Westling this weekend while they were visiting from New York...and it really seemed like Kellen and James remembered each other. We determined that GattiTown is just TOO much for the kiddos...so McDonald's playground was the alternative playdate area.

This upcoming weekend is a big one for us...Matt's 20 year high school reunion...(ok, pick yourselves off the ground now and stop laughing). There are activities Friday night, Saturday during the day, and then a semi-formal event Saturday night...MawMaw and Paw Paw get to watch the kids while we go to the various activities, so it should be a lot of fun. Matt's really excited about it.

That's all for now!

Bumbo seat

Ok, so apparently there is this *relatively* new thing called a bumbo seat for kiddos...I got one for Tatum today and she just LOVES it...and so do I! It's WONDERFUL! I can actually have her sitting up next to us...and don't have to worry about her rubbing a bald spot on her head (which I am trying so terribly hard to avoid)...

She had a good time in this seat this evening...She talked to us, smiled, and even squealed! It was her loudest non-crying sound yet (other than her loud burbs...but I won't count those)...And she officially found her hand today. Wow!!

Monday:

Kellen had a playdate with his friend Jake, who is 3 days older than him. They are two of a kind! If you didn't know better, you would think they were related...they have the same coloring, hair color, complexion, etc..and both LOVE the same things...Cars, Buzz Lightyear...you know, the normal stuff. This is both good and bad...as you can well imagine. During this playdate, we had several "issues" about sharing, but all-in-all, they had a great time. We stayed for dinner and he actually ate his dinner for a popcicle treat, which I knew that he would end up not wanting, but that's ok because it got him to eat his dinner. It ended up being a really late night. We got over to their house at a little before 3:15 and left shortly before 9...yes, 9 PM. He was exhausted! I actually had to go into his room the next morning and wake him up to get him ready for school. But he just had so much fun!

And today Julie came to visit Tatum and I...It was SO good to catch up with her! I feel like I haven't talked with her in ages...We'll have to schedule some trips to visit her this summer when Joshua makes his appearance...

He wanted to share

Kellen went to a birthday party yesterday with a Curious George theme. In the party favor bag was, among other things, a small, stuffed-animal monkey. For obvious reasons, Kellen named him George, and has been trying to take his shirt of him ever since - unsuccessfully, I might add. Anyway, he did already have a monkey that he called George, but it was a bright pink monkey with velcro hands...so he decided that he wanted to be a really good big brother and share his toy with his little sister.

This is the sight that I see when I walk into the living room to check on Tatum. Mind you...I didn't tell him to do this nor did I know that he actually had done this until afterwards.

When I asked him if he had done this, his reply to me was, "I wanted to share my monkey with Tatum, Mommy."

Now how can you argue with that?

Oh and by the way...the swing was actually moving when he managed to do this...

Well, I didn't get everything on my to-do list done, but then again, there was entirely too many things on that list...I did; however, take both of the kids with me grocery shopping...then back out to get the correct size of aluminum pans for freezing, then cooked a double back of a penne casserole; a double batch of a pizza pasta casserole; a double bactch (and then some) of lasagna; and a double batch (which actually makes at least 5 dinners with leftovers) of cheesy chicken spaghetti. I have completely rearranged my freezer, and officially have no room left for anything of any size...expressed milk I can still manage to fit in there, but not much else (and I've somehow got to find space for that extra pot roast...hmmm). I emptied the dishwasher, and have re-loaded it...will run it right before I go to bed. Both kids have been fed, put to bed, and are asleep...and I've even managed to keep some laundry going during the day. Now..if only I can get it folded and put away... Maybe I'll get the rest of the to-do list done after lunch tomorrow...

This may not be much to some of you...but I just feel like I've really gotten some things done today!

Such a big girl!

Well...she is certainly thriving!...


Tatum had her 2 month well check-up today and she's weighing in at 11 lbs 13 oz (75%). She's already 22 3/4 inches long (75%) and had a 39 cm head circumference (50%). I actually thought that she would hit the 12 lb mark on this one, so I wasn't off by much! No wonder my back is bothering me when I lug her around for too long!



Just look at all of those rolls!!!

Sleeping through the night

Ok..

*Sunday night she slept from ~ 9:45 until 2:30, then went back to sleep and I had to wake her up to eat

*Monday night she slept from ~ 9:45 until 4:20, then went back to sleep and I had to wake her up to eat

*Last night she slept from ~ 9:45 until ~ 5:30...which, in my book, and for all intents and purposes, is ALL NIGHT LONG!

Whoo hoo!

Now, the real question is will she keep this up? Kellen was doing this at her age...so I'm hopeful...

And here she is...2 months old..

Frogs, frogs and more frogs

Although I had such great intentions of doing all these fun things during my maternity leave, many of them never materialized...So...MawMaw and I decided to take the kids to the Frog Exhibit at the Houston Museum of Natural Science this afternoon. As in we decided when I was pulling into daycare at lunch to pick up Tatum for the day to take her home to feed her *grin* So instead of getting just her, I grabbed 'em both (luckily, Kellen hadn't fallen asleep yet), made it to the house, grabbed a quick sandwich, fed Tatum, changed clothes ('cause I did actually work today - another half day, which feels really odd by the way) and headed out to Conroe to pick up MawMaw. Got her and off we went. I made a deal with Kellen for him to nap on the way to Conroe, and he did (amazing how deals and seeing cool stuff works as incentives).

It wasn't quite as interesting to him as I thought it would be.....(Note: for those of you who don't know, frogs and the color green are just about Kellen's favorite things in the whole wide world...and have been since FOREVER). However, these frogs were in habitats as natural as possible, and some of them were quite small, so he got somewhat frustrated trying to actually see some of them. Overall, he did have a great time though!

Here is us entering the exhibit
Frogs...
More frogs...
Monkeying around with MawMawOutside the museum
AND...to top it all off...we ended up leaving the musuem about 5 minutes after 5. We were really concerned about the 5 o'clock traffic, and did hit a little bit on 59; however...we ended up making it back to Conroe and were sitting in the restaurant ordering our drinks shortly after 6. Yes, ladies and gentlemen...we made it from downtown Houston to Conroe at 5 PM in just under an hour...and I wasn't speeding, either!


So today was my 2nd day back to work and Tatum's 1st day at daycare. I guess she did ok...with me deciding to take them to the museum I just rushed in to get the kids in such a hurry that I really didn't have time to talk with her teachers about her day! Kellen did thoroughly enjoy helping me drop her off at school this morning, though...He felt like such a big boy walking into the baby room with me to drop her off! He was so excited, especially when he realized that when he's playing outside he can look into her classroom door!

The ground was closer than we thought

Ok...I bought my Grand Am in 2000 (it's a 1997)...and I just love that car! It truly has been a great car for me, and I had been determined to drive it until it could be driven no longer...just drive it on into the ground. I just thought that the ground was further away than what it actually was.

Let me explain...Last week, I got in the car to take Kellen to school and the wheel groaned at me...I called Matt, who was on his way back from work, who told me just to go home and that he would check on it when he got there. When he did, it looked like it was low on power steering fluid, so he put some in it - we thought that there might be a leak, but he continued to check that fluid level and it didn't go back down, so we thought that we were in the clear. A few hours later, I went to get into my car to run some errands only to see a river of unidentified fluids flowing out from underneath my car down my driveway. *sigh* After we made the decision that I shouldn't drive the vehicle anywhere (duh), we flip-flopped between taking it to someone here in town or back to Conroe to have Matt's mechanic look at it. We opted for the latter, thinking that it might be a repeat of a problem that we had fixed in January, which could mean that it was still covered.

So, on Tuesday, we fill up all of the fluids and drive both vehicles to Conroe. Matt's driving the Grand Am (just in case) and I have the kids in the truck. We make it to the shop about 10 minutes after they close - stinker - but Matt had already called them and left instructions about what was going wrong. We expected to hear something on Wednesday, but no. Thursday morning the shop calls asking what they're supposed to do with the car...communication break-down obviously. So, we explain the situation and they say they'll look at it...Well - they didn't get a chance to look at it until late on Thursday, and when they called it wasn't good news.

They had found two things wrong with it...1) the intact manifold and 2) the heater coil. Ok, #1 = ~ $500 and #2 = ~$400, so we have a couple of options. We can fork over the money and fix it, or fix the intact manifold and bypass the heater coil (like you really need a heater in Texas in the summer anyway, right) for the tune of the cost of the intact manifold + ~ $5.00. Or, another option is that we could just "patch it" and look for another vehicle and trade it in. So we're really thinking about the options here, and decide to patch it to give us some more time to think about what we want to do. We had already been contemplating getting me another vehicle, and these circumstances just moved up the time table for those discussions. Anyway, we called them on Friday morning and let them know to patch it, and they tell us that they don't think they can get to it until Monday. However, they called late on Friday afternoon and did have it ready. Much to my chagrin, when I went to pick it up, I was told that...

wait for it....
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they found something else wrong while they were patching...the power steering pump (if I remember correctly) had gone out and that would cost between $400 - 600 to fix. With this additional information, we're really leaning toward selling it and getting another vehicle. I point-blank asked the mechanic his opinion on this. His response, "Get rid of that car as quickly as possible."

Well I guess that settles that. Commence with vehicle searching.

We had already decided that we would be looking for a minivan...a used minivan, so I spent the next few days doing searches online. I finally found what I thought was "the car" at CarMax in Houston. It was a 2006 Dodge Grand Caravan and met all of our criteria...less than 30K miles, captain's seats in the middle row, third row of seating, etc. In fact, I had made a list of my "must haves" and my "would likes" - this one met ALL of the must have's and several of the would likes. Matt really wanted a vehicle with the stow-n-go - well, I did too, but it wasn't a deal-breaker for me, but I couldn't tell from the online listing if this one had it or not. We made an appointment for Tuesday afternoon to go and look at it. Come to find out, it did have the stow-n-go system, and he and I both really liked it. We had driven down there over the weekend, but didn't see it on the lot. We found out that it was a recent addition to the lot, it had been delivered after we had visited, and had only been on the lot for a few days. Lucky us! Well, it of course wasn't luck...God was really looking out for us on this one. Everything fell into place for us buying this minivan...it worked out beautifully and was a total God-thing.

So, this whole ordeal took place while we were in Conroe for what we thought would be a quick visit to MawMaw and PawPaw's house. Bless their hearts...Anyway, all of this to say that we are now the proud owners of this lovely 2006 Dodge Grand Caravan. It's hard to believe that I'm officially a minivan mom.

However, while we were there, we did take Kellen and Tatum to a kids fest thing on Saturday...and once we got Kellen started on the games and activities, he had a BLAST! They had water activities (which I didn't know about, so we ended up just letting him get into those with his shorts on....), art activities, a kiddo train ride, etc. It was so much fun! Unfortunately for me, I didn't think to put any sunscreen on, and am reaping the effects of the very nasty sunburn that ensued because of it...my shoulders and neck are now peeling, and I'm not sure if my arms will peel or not. We thought to put sunscreen on Kellen, and I even made Matt put some on his freshly shaven head, but none on me...What was I thinking?

Bath Time
I'm trying to figure out the best way to bathe two kiddos - effectiveness, effiiency, fun. I've tried to bathe them separately, which of course works, but Wednesday while giving Kellen a bath I decided to put a very fussy Tatum in the tub with him. The result: Tatum calmed down, enjoyed her bath, and Kellen LOVED having her in the bath with him! Other result: this method is VERY HARD on my back, because of course I have to hold her the entire time (the infant tub is quite a bit too large to fit in the tub with Kellen in there - it doesn't even fit on top of the tub securely). I can't wait for a certain bath item that was recently ordered online to come in...I certainly hope that it helps!

Anyway, Tatum just loves being in the water! As soon as her feet and legs touch the water, her face lights up and she starts smiling. I think I may have a water baby on my hands here!

Are you kidding me?

So, my car was leaking some sort of fluid yesterday, so we decided to take it in today...I get home from taking Kellen to school this morning, then am about to go run just a few errands before Matt and I go to drop the car off, and I come outside to a river of undetermined fluid running from my car. *Sigh*

This weekend was fun...we went to the Maroon and White game, and had so much fun!! BUT...we had to bundle up BIG TIME...It was so cold...And I'm not talking chilly shorts and short-sleeve weather...I'm talking layers with sweatshirts and blankets to cover up over weather. In April? Well, I guess in Texas you never know, right?

Kellen and Matt sure had fun playing on the field afterwards...


And Miss Tatum was very well behaved (of course, she has her days and nights mixed up...so she slept the entire time!)

Well, we'll see what's wrong with me car and hopefully it will be something simple (read: inexpensive)...I'll keep you all posted!

Relief possibly on its way

Well, as some of you may know...I have frequent migraines and was on a prevention medication prior to getting pregnant. When we were planning to TTC, I had to come off of that medication before doing so. Luckily, my body went into a self-preservation mode during pregnancy and I only had 3-4 migraines during that time, but now my body is revolting and trying to make up for lost time . For the past 2-3 weeks, I've been having to take acute medication ~ 5 days a week for my headaches *arg*. So, I finally called the dr about making an appointment to discuss getting back on the medication, but he doesn't have any openings this week or next . I left my info with the receptionist and the nurse just called me back...expained what was going on to her and she's going to talk with the dr about just calling in a prescription for me for a low dose of the meds to see 1) how the low dose impacts my milk supply and 2) whether I can deal with a low dose and if it helps with the frequency of my headaches. I'm SO hoping that the dr will just call in the meds so that I can get started on them!

Oh my...how time flies!

Ok...so it's been a little while since I've posted...and here are the quick updates...

Tatum was born on Saturday, March 3rd at 9:02 AM weighing in at 6 pounds 8.8 ounces and was 19 inches long. My ultrasound that week showed low levels of amniotic fluid, so the dr made the call at my appointment that Friday that we were havin' a baby...

It's been a little over a month now, and Kellen is loving life as a big brother. However, he's acting out a little bit at school, which I understand...that's completely normal. Arg. He LOVES his little sister...and still calls her HIS Tatum.

It's been a whirlwind month...and here's one of my favorite pictures of Tatum, compliments of her Uncle Michael...

Hmm...that's all for now...I hear someone that needs her mommy...

Goodness gracious

Where have I been? It's been ages since I've posted...so here are some quick updates

*have 5 weeks and 1 day *officially* left until Tatum is due to make her arrival
*we begin fetal activity monitoring tomorrow (once weekly ultrasounds and twice weekly nonstress test) - Why, you may ask? Just to double check that she doesn't have either of the cord issues that Kellen had (wrapped around neck AND the knot in the cord)
*I'm way behind on getting stuff done around the house, but oh well...
*Matt should be setting up the crib, changing table, etc. this week
*I'm still searching for the *perfect* coming home from the hospital outfit for Tatum - but so far, no luck yet
*Kellen is still SUPER excited about his little sister - he talks about how he'll teach her this or that, how he'll help mommy and daddy take care of her, and how he'll even share his toys with her...the big ones, because he doesn't want her to put the small ones in her mouth and swallow them...(Isn't that just adorable!)

You may remember me posting information about Matt's friend Tom and his battle with cancer. Well, his fight is now over. We attended his funeral a few weeks ago. I'm glad that he's not suffering anymore, but just cannot begin to imagine how hard things are and will be for his wife and daughter. Please keep them in your prayers...

Happy 2007

Ok...so I'm a little late here...but better late than never, right?

I have the day off today, Kellen went to MawMaw and PawPaw's and Matt's at work. Perfect recipe for resting, right? HA! Fat chance...I got up with them this morning and have been working ever since. What is with me? Oh wait...it's called nesting...and since we don't have a room for the nursery - the entire house is where I'm focusing my energy.

Let's see...so far today I've:
1) emptied the dishwasher so that Matt could reload and run it before he left;
2) cleaned out the vacuum cleaner;
3) vacuumed all of the carpets in the house;
4) cleaned out the pantry - every shelf, trashed old & expired food, cleaned each of the shelves, and reorganized it;
5) cleaned under the kitchen sink, getting rid of some the misc. cleaning supplies and various other oddities located there;
6) just put in my 4th load of laundry;
7) cleaned both bathroom toilets (remainder of the bathroom is to come);
8) braved the cold and swept leaves, etc. off of the front porch

Oh, and the only things that I've done so far that were actually on my to-do list were the laundry, dishes, and the pantry.

Still on the docket for me to work on...
1) sweep & mop the kitchen (contemplating getting a good scrub going here...rather than the swiffer - but we'll just have to wait and see);
2) go through the tupperware cabinet, make sure there are matching lids/bottoms, & purge some;
3) go through the green trunk in our bedroom - who knows what we've been storing in that thing...just bedding if I remember correctly;
4) dust (my least favorite cleaning task of ALL times);
5) clean all of the mirrors in the house;
6) finish cleaning both bathrooms;
7) get all of the trash ready for tomorrow's trash pick-up;
8) vacuum the futon

Oh, and I would like to actually rest sometime today, too...maybe give myself a facial and manicure????? We'll just see how much I'm actually able to accomplish...So far, I'm feeling pretty good about what I've gotten done so far, and it's not even 11 AM!

Whoo hoo!

Whew!

What a whirlwind holiday! We had the Gerren's over for lunch on Christmas Eve. Other than me forgetting to make the stuffing, everything turned out wonderfully! We were able to get a family picture, which is great, too. I don't know when the last time was that we were all together...Then we were on to Matt's Uncle Randy and Aunt Laurie's house...Christmas Eve there and then back to Maw Maw and Paw Paw's for Christmas Eve night and Christmas morning. Needless to say, Kellen had a BLAST, and was relatively well-behaved considering his lack of sleep. Later that day, we drove down to Houston to visit Matt's moms side of the family. Lots of food, games and naps took place there...and all-in-all, everyone had a great time.

We made it back home on Tuesday night, had a day home to recoup, then headed out again on Thursday morning for the Stephenville area...We were heading out to some friends of ours for a Holiday Bowl party. Gotta' love them Aggies! Highlight of the game - the first quarter - at least by the end of that we were tied...*sigh* Back here yesterday afternoon (lucikly making it through all of the horrible weather that was going on around here yesterday - whew! I was SO glad that Matt was driving!!)....today's just been a lazy day...the weather is still gloomy - dark, rainy, you know...the kind of weather you DON'T want to get out in, so Kellen has just been playing very nicely around here and we've been letting him watch some of the many DVD's he got over Christmas.

When I get a chance to download the pictures we took over the break, I'll try to upload them.

I'm not ready yet!

We're having Christmas lunch here at the house tomorrow with the Gerren's, and I just don't feel ready! Virtually all of the shopping is done, but I still have a few things to wrap - but despite working on the house for the last couple of days, I still have things on the "to-do" list that I just can't seem to get done.

It doesn't help that Tatum has decided to use the last couple of days and my internal organs to experiment with her strength, either. Wow! She's really moving and kicking! It's wearing me out...I told Kellen that he needed to tell his sister to knock it off...he told me he wouldn't say that to her because it was mean and he didn't want to be mean to his sister. Oh man...If only I could have recorded that for posterity.

Getting there!

Well, I passed my gestational diabetes 1-hr test today. Yay! For some reason, I was a little anxious about that one this go-round. All things are progressing well with Tatum...3 more months!

Getting ready

With Christmas a week away, it's a shame how much we still have to do to get ready around here! Yikes! Fortunately, I should get most of my Christmas letters in the mail tomorrow, and we'll just keep going from there.

Where did December go?....Where did this year go?

I guess he solved that issue with his recent comment

I'll preface this little story by saying that DH and I had been contemplating not putting up a Christmas tree or many decorations since we're trying to declutter and get our place ready to sell.

I pick Kellen up from school today, and today was the day that all the kids hung their handmade ornaments on the school Christmas tree. Kellen excitedly hangs up his green star, then we set off to come home. In the car, he tells me, "It's Merry Christmas at school, but not at home." A little surpised, I asked him why does he think that. His response, "There is a Christmas tree at school, but not one at our house."

Well that solved that debate. I believe we'll be getting the Christmas tree sometime this weekend.

**** Sweet big brother moment ****
Tatum was(is) really kicking this afternoon, so I asked Kellen if he wanted to feel her kick. He did, so he had his hand on my belly while she was kicking - with this really excited look on his face. Then he turned to me and said, "She's kicking because she's ready to come out of your tummy!"

While this was happening, I had my t-shirt pulled up over my belly...when he was finished feeling her kick, I started to pull my shirt back down and he told me to wait. He said that she needed a blanket to cover her up - then proceeded to go and get one of his blankets and "tuck-in" his sister - and my belly. Just adorable!!

And so it starts...

Kellen asked me this evening how the baby would get out of my tummy.

I thought I would have a little while longer (i.e. until he was OLDER) before I would begin having those kinds of conversations.... Anyway, we talked for a little while about it and at one point in time, he asked if the baby was going to break me when it came out. (It'll feel like it, buddy!) I think that I was able to explain it in a way that he understands, because after we were almost through talking, I asked him if he was scared that the baby would hurt mommy when it came out and he answered no.

Whew!

He was so cute about it! The innocence with his questions and his reactions to my reponses...just priceless!

Rough day

I'll make this a short post...but it's been a rough day. We had to put Bailey down today, and neither Matt nor I are doing very well with that. Then Matt lost his phone - *sigh* Just not a great day.

Matt had a talk with Kellen on the way home from school about Bailey and that he wouldn't be at our house anymore. He and I had talked about what each of us thought we should say to him, so Matt incorporated both of our thoughts into his talk. So, before bedtime, this is my conversation with Kellen:

Mommy: Kellen, do you want to talk about Bailey?

Kellen: Not right now. I don't want to talk about it.

Mommy: Ok, but I want to make sure you know that it's ok to be sad because Bailey isn't here.

Kellen: I'm not sad.

Mommy: You're not sad?

Kellen: No, Bailey is with Jesus. But Mommy and Daddy are sad, but not Kellen.

Mommy at this point in time is choking back tears. He's handling it so well...Too bad Mommy and Daddy aren't.

Updates...

Ok, it's been WAY too long since I've posted anything on here. I would like to say that I've been sitting around eating bon bons and getting massages and pedicures, but alas...no such luck - well, 1 pedicure to speak of, actually..

Let's see...to back up and try to recap...

Halloween...Kellen had a GREAT time as Buzz Lightyear.

The weekend prior to Halloween, Matt, Maw Maw and Paw Paw took him to an event at the MSC hosted by MSC Hospitality, and he had a blast. They had TONS of games to play, cookies to decorate, cupcakes, etc. He flirted with the girls and "pow powed" everyone with his Buzz Lightyear laser.

He was just adorable! (And really well behaved, too!)

He also experienced his first ever Aggie football game when we took him to watch A&M at Baylor stadium. Despite having virtually NO nap all day long, and thinking he was going to just sleep through the entire thing, he ended up coming alive during the second half and really getting into it! He just loves his Aggies! We went to a tailgate before the game, and he just had a great time playing with the rocks in the parking lot (surprise, surprise). This is a picture taken right at kick-off...

This is during the latter part of the game where he REALLY was getting into it...He was so adorable to watch!That particular weekend was REALLY full, as he had a birthday party to attend on Sunday...and it was a costume party! Yet another opportunity for him to become Buzz Lightyear...Incredible Pizza is really that...incredible! He had a blast playing the games and doing some of the little rides, and thotoughly enjoyed himself.

Then on Halloween day, his class had a party - costume of course. We didn't let him wear Buzz to school all day, but changed him into it right before the party. He was being quite the little camera ham...posing in various ways and asking me to take his picture. After the school party, we went to the mall and trick-or-treated at the mall (the ENTIRE mall) and ran into a "Bulls-eye" and another "Buzz Lightyear", then he was ready to go, only to tell me in the car that he wanted to go somewhere else. So, we went to sorority row and trick-or-treated at sorority row, where we ran into a "Woody" - he just loved it! Too bad the poor kid that was dressed up like Woody was shy...I think Kellen intimidated him a little bit! We were there for a little while when he tells me that he's through, go back to the car and, you guessed it! he wanted to go someplace else. So, we went to a local Halloween party/community carnival and he just HAD to play every single game there! He wore me out!!

We've also taken down the toddler bed and have switched Kellen to a real big-boy bed. It's a captains bed with drawers, etc., and he just loves it! Maw Maw bought him some Cars sheets, which of course were a HUGE hit.

Thanksgiving was good...We went to Minerva for the Gerren/Dyer Thanksgiving get-together and had a good time there. On Friday, we drove to Conroe to hang out with the Hapes, including Brenna, and watched the A&M vs tu game. Oh my goodness! I think I'm still in shock that we won that game! WHOOP! Stayed there until Saturday night, then came on back home.

Last Thursday, we took Kellen to the Veggie Tales Live Christmas show here in town, and he had a really good time. The weather had turned pretty cold, and the wind had really kicked up, so I'll have to include my "attack by the wind" story that resulted in a bumped noggin' and (not too bad) of a black eye later.

Whew!...In other news, we had an ultrasound a couple of weeks ago and found out that we're having a little girl. At the ultrasound, she measured 1 pound 3 ounces, which is larger than my book (you know, the week-by-week pregnancy books that estimate/generalize everything) indicate for the number of weeks at that time. We decided to find out because Kellen was SO adamant that this was a girl that if it turned out to be a boy, we figured that we would need some additional "adjustment" time for him to deal with it. When we told him it was a girl, it didn't faze him. My guess is that in his mind, he was thinking, 'duh...that's what I've been saying for months now.'

As of today, I'm 25 weeks. 3 1/2 more months to go! This pregnancy has just FLOWN by so far! I can't believe it! She's getting really active (surprise), and her movements are getting stronger. Matt and I have been doing the name game, and I think that we've settled on Tatum Elizabeth. She'll be here before we know it!

Laundry helper

I was putting a load of laundry in the washing machine after Kellen and I got home tonight...he was wearing something that needed to be washed with that load, so I took off his shoes and then his pants to throw them in the wash.

I then left the room, went to another room to find other clothes of the same color, when I hear this, "Mommy, mommy...I have more clothes for you to wash!" In runs my Kellen-boy butt naked...holding his undies for me to put in the washing machine. It was SO funny! I had to collect myself to tell him that I didn't need that color right now, but thank you for trying to help Mommy...and to put them back on.

Oh my goodness...it still makes me laugh!

***Will update with more pumpkin patch pictures and cutie-pie Halloween pictures as soon as I get a chance!**

Pumpkin patch fun

Kellen and I went to the pumpkin patch this afternoon to 1) get outside (it was a beautiful day) and 2) to try and get some fall pumpkin pictures. Here are some of the better ones taken this afternoon. He's such a ham!

I'm finally back!

Well, I'm back from Indianapolis...last week seemed like an eternity! I *think* that our dept review went well (I won't really know anything until I get back into the office tomorrow, since I missed their report on Wednesday), but our flight out on Wednesday...well, most of Wednesday all together, was a mess!

Our flight left CS late (fog & putting extra fuel into the plane because of potential turbulence) - and there were 6 of us that needed to catch a connecting (10:26 flight) out of IAH to Indianapolis that morning. Like good little girls, we asked our flight attendant about our connecting and if they would hold the flight for us if we were running a bit late. She assured us that they would check the missing passengers to see where they were coming from and when they realized that we were all on the same flight, hold it for us. Well, that didn't happen. We got off of that plane and high-tailed it to our connecting, only to be told at the gate that they had left minutes before. Literally minutes. Arg!

So, they confirmed us on a 4:43 pm flight out of IAH - yes, at this point in time it was barely 10:30 AM...and they put us on standby for an 1:15 flight as well. So, we all went and had a wonderful lunch (the highlight of that day, by the way), and waited to see if we would get on the 1:15. I called Matt and Judy (to check on Kellen) and my Judy, very concerned, indicated that she hoped we would get off of the ground before the weather hit Houston. Yikes! We hoped so, too.

Anyway...they begin boarding for the 1:15 flight and let us know that we all made it onto that flight. YAY! We get on the flight, get seated, then proceed to have one delay after another. Weather, taxing down into position, get the ok to take off (but we're 18th in line), then are told that they aren't leatting anyone take off due to weather, and so on and so forth. Between 4:30 - 4:45 PM (yes, I have the times correct), our flight FINALLY takes off. We had been waiting in the plane for 3 hours. *major sigh* The flight was horribly turbulent, I guess due to the weather...so it wasn't pleasant at all.

We finally arrive in Indianapolis around 7 PM...One of the ladies has reserved a rental car, so she checks on her car and upgrades to a larger one. We take a shuttle bus to the car and there is not a car in the numbered spot. So, she goes inside to check on it...they upgrade her (yay) to another, larger car and send her to a 2nd numbered spot...where...you guessed it...there is no car. She goes in again, gets another car number...no car. (I only wish I was making this up)...The third time, the lady behind the counter, in an incredibly apologetic manner, tells her to pick whatever kind of car she wants and she'll have someone find one like it in the lot and drive it to us...So we end up with an SUV and head out to the hotel.

At the hotel, we get checked in (luckily, no problems there) and then unload our stuff and meet back to head to dinner. By this time, we're all really glad that we had a good lunch...because it's almost 9 PM and we haven't had a bite since then, other than for the small snacks I had brought with me on the trip. We end up going to eat someplace fairly close to the hotel and I practically fell asleep during the meal!

BTW...because of all of the delays, we missed the Wednesday conference registration AND the Wednesday night plenary speaker.

Whew! The rest of the conference went really well...as did the flight home. However, once we walked into the door, we realized that Matt hadn't completely closed the refrigerator door when he left on Wednesday afternoon (he was interviewing in Houston Wednesday - Friday, then spent the night with his parents and brought Kellen straight to the airport to pick me up). So, needless to say, the ENTIRE contents of our refrigerator where thrown away except for Hershey's syrup and pancake syrup. On the bright side - Matt did a WONDERFUL job of cleaning the refrigerator out...and actually cleaned it...all of the shelves, drawers, etc. It looks so sparkly new! Ha Ha..

At any rate, I'm glad to be home...now I need to go and continue to be "domestic" and get the rest of the house cleaned up and the laundry done!

Rough day

So Kellen had a little bit of a rough day today. It was picture day at school, and for ONCE I actually got to be there when they took the pictures. I guess it kinda' went downhill behavior-wise after that. He didn't have an accident, but ended up biting someone and ignored his afternoon teacher. *Sigh* Apparently, he was pretending to be a puppy and bit his friend...what is that about?

We did get home and play a couple of games of Memory, so that was fun. Hopefully tomorrow will be better!

Outage

Oh boy...was last night a doozey! Kellen and I were unfortunate enough to be at the vet's office when electricity went out. Little did we know that it was the electricity for EVERYWHERE in the Brazos Valley. So, unbenownst to us, we drive home with Bailey from the vet's office, a trip that should take 7-12 minutes, depending on traffice, at 5:30 yesterday, but instead of ~ 10 minutes, it took us ~ 35-40 mintues to finally get home. When we did, we discovered that we had zero electricity....and we were with nothing (no surges, browouts, nothing) until after 10 PM last night.

Kellen was a good sport about it at first...we had peanut butter sandwiches in the table in his room - he was excited about having a picnic! When it got dark ~ 7:30, I put him to bed, but with the windows being open to try to get some air, the outside noises (people shooting off fireworks, loud vehicles, etc.) really bothered him, (he was crying, scared, etc.) so he and I snuggled in our recliner for a little while until I finally said enough of this and he and I both went to bed in Mommy's bed (which was a treat for him).

As he was going to sleep, Kellen kept saying, "Mommy, I think the electricity will be back on when I wake up, right?" He was so cute about it! And, it was kinda' difficult to explain electricity to a 3-yr old...I went with, 'You know how your toys need batteries? Well, the lights, TV, computer, refrigerator...all of those things need electricity to work. You know sometimes when the batteries don't work anymore that it makes the toy not work, well that's what going on right now. There is no electricity coming for anything in the house to work.' I think that kind of worked to help him understand, at least somewhat, what was going on...

When the electricity came on for good last night ~ 10 PM, it woke me up - so I went around the house closing all of the windows, turning off lights, etc. Man, it's amazing how dependent we are on the electricity!

Well...today I get to work and it felt like I was walking into a sauna. Apparently, there is a cool water outage - and the cool water helps the HVAC system cool. And it seems that it wasn't just my building that was impacted - it was most, or all, not quite sure about that, of West Campus. This morning the boss just told us if we couldn't take it to go home and come back after lunch...about half of the administrative office chose to do that, but I was really trying to get some stuff done and couldn't. After lunch, a little better, but not much, so at ~ 2:30 - we all left, with permission and blessings from the boss. Yay!

So, I had an afternoon to run errands! I went and looked at beds for Kellen, returned some things to a couple of stores, and then went movie crazy at Wal-Mart! Kellen got a new VeggieTales DVD and then I bought The Little Mermaid, which was released on DVD yesterday, Cinderella, and the new X-Men DVD (the one that Matt promised to take me to see in the movie theater, even though he went and watched it with someone else - can you tell that I never did get to see that in the movie theater?). I picked Kellen up early, we went for a sno-cone, and then back to the house. And he's getting to watch his new VeggieTales as a treat tonight.

Then he's getting in bed on time tonight, because the season premiere of LOST is on! Whoo hoo!!

Possible explanation

For still being so tired....despite being in my 2nd trimester.

The doctors watch my thyroid levels REALLY closely when I'm pregnant, and I just got back some numbers that MIGHT explain why I'm still SO TIRED! The TSH has an "normal" range; however, my body (and the doctors) like for me to be at the lower end of this range (~1.0). My levels are currently at 3.3 (high end of the normal range is 5.1) - I was a 0.2 the last time I went in. So, needless to say, the doctor upped my dosage of meds...During my pregnancy with Kellen, we ended up tripling the dosage, and this is the first increase of my meds with this pregnancy. He wants me to do a gradual increase - 2 different doses, 1 4X/wk; 1 3X/wk, for 4 weeks then go completely on the higher dose for another 2 weeks, then run more lab work. Keep your fingers crossed that this will help some with my energy level!

Not YET!

Well, we told Kellen on Saturday morning that he was going to be a big brother. It was actually rather anti-climactic.

Matt and I called him into the kitchen, I sat him on my lap and started off with, "You know how you've been wanting a baby sister or baby brother?"

Kellen: "Baby sister!"

Mommy: "Ok, I know, baby sister. Honey, Mommy and Daddy can't control that, ok? Well, Mommy and Daddy are going to have a baby and it's growing in Mommy's tummy, see?"

Daddy: "Kellen, this means that you're going to be a BIG BROTHER!"

Kellen: "Yay!" Slight pause..."I want to go and play with Woody and Buzz in my room."

He slides off of my lap and starts to walk away.

Daddy: "Wait Kellen. Do you understand what Mommy and Daddy are telling you? You're going to be a big brother, are you excited?"

Kellen: "Yes. Can I go and play now?"

****

This morning on the way to school, I asked him if he was excited about being a big brother. His response,

"I NOT a big brother YET! Not yet!"

Well alrighty then!

Tug at the heartstrings

Uhh....Kellen was so disobedient after I picked him up from school yesterday...For every 5 things I asked him to do/not do, he disobeyed 3-4...Before DH went to work, he went into his room and told me, "Go away please, Mommy" I was suspicious, since he's wanted to be around me all afternoon, so I asked him if he needed to go potty or poo poo. "No" was the reply (and I asked in a variety of ways). Ok, no big deal, so I left the room AFTER telling him that IF he needed to go poo poo or potty, remember to tell Mommy so we could go on the potty and not go poo poo in our pants. And I left it at that. (I'm trying really hard not to push this aspect too much, or to get upset/frustrated when accidents happen - SO difficult!!)

About 5 or 10 minutes later, while Matt was getting ready for work, I hear him say, "Well, you need to go tell your Mommy." So I go to find out what I'm now supposed to know...I asked him if he had poo poo'ed in his pants. "No." I asked him if he was lying to me (and in case you're wondering - he knows what lying is and that is isn't allowed or tolerated). "No." Well, I told him that I was going to check and we walked into the bathroom and, sure enough, Kellen had poo poo'ed in his underwear. After getting him on the potty and cleaning him up, I looked at him and told him that I was sad that he had lied to me and that he was not allowed to lie to Mommy or Daddy. (I'm ignoring the fact that we had JUST had a discussion about the potty, because I'm trying a new tactic of not focusing on accidents that occur). However, the lying is a no-no.

So, as a result, he went to bed early last night (~ 7 P.M. instead of his normal 8 P.M. bedtime). As I tucked him in, I put some of the smaller toys that I don't like him sleeping with on his bookshelf to "watch him sleep" - he likes for his toys to watch him sleep...just a thing that he does. Anyway, I told him that if I came into his room and any of those toys were in bed with him, that I was going to take them away from him and out of his room. "Ok, Mommy," was the reply. A little time passed and I hear a knock on the door and a voice calling out to me. I go into his room and he doesn't want the music on. Ok, no big deal - turn it off. A few minutes later, knock on the door and, "Mommy, I need to go potty." Ok, open the door and make a trip to the potty - take him and tuck him back into bed and loe and behold, there are two of the small toys that he's trying desperately to cover up. Uhhh...So I ask him what he has and he tells me. I thank him for telling me the truth and remind him what the consequence of bringing them to bed was...and proceed to walk out of the room with them. A few minutes later, "Mommy, I need a hug." I walk into his room and he's still in bed, with his bottom lip pushed out far enough for a plane to land on it...I go and sit on the side of his bed and give him a hug and a kiss and tell him how much I love him. "I love you too, Mommy." Then I tell him that I'm sad that he lied to me and that he has to go to bed early, but that I still love him. His response, "I am sad too...I'm sad that I disobeyed you and got Timone and Pumba off of the shelf."

Oh my gosh! That just made my heart melt! I sometimes get so frustrated with things, but this was (hopefully) verfication that he IS putting together action and consequence...What we're doing IS soaking in...He understands, but still makes poor choices, but then again, don't we all sometimes?

Hapes family update

Ok...I've been promising for a while to give a family update since I've been so bad at doing regular blogs...

Aside from the tumble down the stairs this morning on the way to school, and subsequent busted lip, bloody nose, and bumped noggin' on the concrete (final blow to the little guy), Kellen's doing great! I really feel like we're getting SO close to being fully potty trained (except for night time, when he still gets a pull-up). We're working on a reward system...and I really need to work up a sticker calendar or something so that he has a visual, but haven't taken the time to do that yet. So far, his rewards have been the rental of a movie after a week of no accidents. The first week this was implemented, we started on a Wednesday and he made it, but we haven't made any full weeks since then. I think we might need to rethink that particular reward system...doesn't seem to be working out well for him and if he has an accident at the beginning of the week, what's the incentive for the remainder of the week? Definitely needs some more thought...*grin* but we're getting there!

Matt has another two weeks (7 shifts, he reminded me as he went to work today) at the Med as a full-time employee. He's desperately missing being in the "field" and will be going back to EMT work. This change of schedule will actually help him finish up with his remaining paramedic rotations (OR and a few hours of ER, then he can begin his ambulance rotations), then on to the National Registry Exam. He's already signed up for it...and it's a November test date, so pray that all goes well as we are now really down to the last little bit of this. There are several companies hiring in the Houston area, so we're pretty optimistic about the prospects for a full time paramedic position.

Probably the biggest Hapes news, which some of you may already know, is that we're having another baby...with an expected arrival of March 19th. As of today (if we're calculating everything correctly), I'm 14 weeks along...so any day now I should be getting my energy boost...Right? So far so good in terms of how I'm feeling. Some mild morning sickness, but mostly nausea, which has been cured most days by a chocolate milkshake from Whataburger. Those are really easing my stomach...and have been a staple in my diet for the past 2-3 weeks. We haven't told Kellen that he's going to be a big brother, but I think that he knows...He's been turning lots of his stuffed animals, and even a football at school, into babies...wrapping them in blankets, holding them, putting them down for naps, you name it. Although it's obvious that I'm in the early stages of a pregnancy, we're thinking that we're going to try and hold off telling him for a little while still...Matt says we won't tell him until he asks why Mommy's belly is getting so big, but I'm not sure about waiting that long (well, it really might not actually be that long, I guess).

Hopefully I'll be getting some more energy soon, and will do my best to be more regular about blogging and updates on the fam...

Wow-what a funny boy

I know that I've been horrible about updating and keeping the blog current, so I promise a Hapes family update soon; however, here is a funny exhange that occured at our place last night.

Kellen: Mommy, my slkdndsknlsest hurts.

Mommy: What hurts?

Kellen: My slkdkjest.

Mommy: What?

Kellen: (motioning with both hands to his chest) My ...est.

Mommy: Your chest hurts?

Kellen: NO, my breast hurts.

Mommy: Kellen, you don't really have breasts.

Kellen: (with a puzzled and surprised look on his face) I don't?

Hmmm

I wonder what scares Kellen when he's going to bed? Last night he was up later than usual because he and I went to my book club meeting, and I could tell the effects of this less-than-normal sleep today...the aftermath wasn't all that great, although last night he got rave reviews on his behavior. Anyway, I put him to bed earlier than normal tonight and about 5 minutes later, I hear him screaming in his room. It's an "I'm terrified" scream, too. I rush into his room and hold him, but I didn't really get a straight answer from him as to what was scaring him....he blamed it on a Mickey Mouse stuffed toy sitting on his bookshelf, but that was after I asked him and he looked around the room...like he was searching for something to blame this on. Wierd.

The Wiggles

I forgot to post about The Wiggles gig and Kellen, Maw Maw and I attended on Thursday night. It was at the Toyota Center and luckily, Maw Maw drove (thank you!). It took Kellen just a bit to "warm up" to the live show(read: about 45 mintues or so, actually), but he was enjoying it during that time, he just wasn't singing or dancing (which he doesn't do much anyway when he watches them at home). Once he finally got into it, he did start doing the motions, dancing, and singing, etc. He was just too cute!

I'll have to post pictures when this site will allow me to do so...I can't seem to get it to work right now.

Still going...

Well, we're still in the "choices" phase, although I daresay it's getting a little better (should I even write that?). Kellen hasn't quite been acting himself for the past couple of days, but I really think it has a lot to do with his bowel problems (yes, we're still having those - poor guy). After a couple of tries tonight he finally had a BM. I'll leave out the details other than to say that since it hurts him so badly to go, it's no wonder he tries to hold it all in...So, we're back on the Milk of Magnesia, like the doctor had recommended at his 3 year check up. I get to play chemist again with the dosage, because I'm NOT giving him the dose that the doctor recommended - Whoa buddy! This weekend I gave him 1/3 of the dosage that was recommended and he went some, tonight I upped it a little bit, and I'm wondering if it was the medicine that kicked into gear so quickly for him. Who knows? So I'll keep it at this dose for a couple of days and we'll see how that goes.

Anyway...

I asked Kellen a question on the way home from school today, and his response to my question was, "What are you TALKING about, Mommy?" - And to drive his point home, he held up both hands in the classic "huh?" pattern. He's getting so grown up with his language and word inflections. He just cracked me up!

Choices

Well, Kellen got to live out the consequences of his choices tonight. He and I were having a night to ourselves, and he asked to watch Madagascar...I decided to allow him (which may have been my first problem) and he sat sweetly on the couch to watch it. Then he proceeded to go through two sippy cup fulls of apple juice/water. A little bit later we were eating our dinner on the couch (we were going pretty informal tonight) and I asked him if he needed to go potty. He tells me no, so I let it go (he hasn't been having too many accidents lately). About 10 minutes later, he gets off of the couch and heads down the hall...seconds later I hear him calling me. Well, he tried to make it, but ended up having an accident on the floor right NEXT to the potty...and it was a big accident. So, I had him undress and cleaned him (and the room) up. While I was finishing the room clean-up, he walked into his room and started pulling out drawers (which he knows he's not allowed to do, by the way). So, he got a talking to for that one. Since it was close to bedtime, I went ahead and got his night clothes and a pull-up out for him - when he realized what I was getting out, he started to throw a fit. I told him that we were just changing clothes because he had an accident, that he needed to stop throwing a fit, and that if he threw another one, he was going straight to bed (without finishing the movie, which at this point in time was still playing in the living room). Not even two seconds later he throws another fit...so what do I have to do? Put him to bed. Period. When he realizes that I'm serious, he REALLY starts throwing a fit, tears streaming down his face, the whole nine. Well buddy, mommy warned you!

After he got into bed, he reminded me that we hadn't brushed his teeth (yes, he's obsessive about brushing and flossing each night - and we just started brushing in the sink and practicing our spitting) so we went and took care of that. Then back in his room - I tucked him in and turned his music on. Then he decided that he didn't want that music, so I changed the CD, only to have him throw yet ANOTHER fit because he didn't want the music he had just told me he wanted. Who is this child? So, another choice for him to make. He listens to the music that he asked me for or no music at all (which, to him...is unthinkable at night and naptime - we didn't start out that way, but transitioned unintentionally to that when he moved to the toddler bed). He chooses the music, but is still crying as I turn it on again. Tucked in yet another time and that's it. Close the door to his room and that's all she wrote.

He MUST be tired, because I haven't heard a PEEP out of that room for the last 20 minutes. Lord, please let my child be the one who crawls out of that bed in the morning instead of this tantrum-throwing toot.

So serious

This morning, out of the blue, Kellen tells me, "Mommy I want to talk to you."

"Ok sweetie, what do you want to talk about?"

"I have a question."

"What?"

Then he would proceed to ask about watching something on TV or when he was going to go to The Wiggles, etc. But he was so serious about it! It was really funny!

Progress

Well, we're making progress on the home improvements...Over the weekend, Matt and Adam worked on building the deck, and despite the rain on both Saturday and Sunday afternoon, we now have a deck and functioning stairs. Still needed = railing, hand rail for steps, and the roof...But it looks great so far! The guys did such a great job.

Kellen's birthday party was on Sunday...we had it at a pool here in town with great slides, etc. However, the party itself was in the kiddie pool area, which had one frog slide. The depth of the pool was perfect...not too deep so that the kids couldn't touch, but deep enough that they weren't in water just up to their knees. It was great!

It was a Cars party, so Kellen's cake had a track and Lightning McQueen on it...he was so excited! And he did just a wonderful job of saying thank you to everyone as he opened his presents...Yay! In fact, when I would say who the present was from, many times he said thank you and then walked to the kid and tried to give the present back to the kid...it was adorable! I had to keep reminding him that his friends were giving him presents...he just needed to say thank you! It was offically from 3:30 - 5:30, but we ended up staying until almost 7:00...the weather turned bad and drove us (as well as virtually all the other pool-goer's) outta' there!

And today I was called for jury selection...It took virtually all morning! The 15-20 minute break before the lawyers were supposed to ask selection questions, etc., turned into an hour and a half break...Well, come to find out, they came to a resolution during this time, which I guess was the best thing. And, it was a CPS case...not the type that I would have really wanted to hear, but we'll never know if I would have gotten selected or not. Hmmm????

Growing up

My little baby isn't such a little baby anymore! He turned three this week...I can't believe it!

His birthday party is this Sunday, so we didn't do too much for his birthday...I made him his dinner request (pasta - he is his mother's child) and let him watch a movie - Dumbo...One of the times that he was asked how old he was, he replied with, "Three...I'm getting old" - he's such a hoot!

We had his three year check up Friday afternoon...we wasn't shy with anyone in the waiting room, or any of the nurses, but when the dr came in, he decided to act like he didn't want to talk! What a funny man...

When I told him that we were going to the dr, he said that he wanted the dr to take his yawn out because he didn't want to yawn anymore. Then he said that he wanted to talk to the dr about making his poo poo not hurt him anymore...So yes, we're still having trouble with this. Dr's suggestion: 1 oz of Milk of Magnesia once a day, every day for a week to, in his words, "clean him out" - then maybe his body will get used to going every day, which should help the problem some.

Otherwise, he's doing well. He's slacked off on the growth curve, and is now at the lower end of what is considered normal for the growth pattern. He's only gained ~4 lbs since his last visit/check up and only grown an inch in height. So he now weighs 30.8 lbs and is 36 inches tall. The dr didn't seem too concerned about this, especially after I informed him of the types and quantity of food that Kellen eats on a regular basis. The nutrition in there, and he thinks the growth will catch up once he turns 4 or 5.

Birthday party at the pool for him this weekend, so I'll try to post as soon as I can afterwards, with pictures and all.

Not tired?

Kellen didn't get all of his nap out today...he slept from Conroe to CS, but wouldn't really go back to sleep again...so, just a little bit ago I asked him if he was sleepy and he responded, "Yes, just a little bit. I want to keep it safe in my mouth." Utterly confused, I asked him to repeat what he had said. "My YAWN...I want to keep my YAWN in my mouth." Then he let it slip and yawned, looked at me and said, "Well, there goes my yawn...I guess I'm not sleepy anymore."