Thank you

We've got a good dad in our house.

We don't tell him that enough.

He does lots and lots for us and even rearranges his work schedule to come home during the middle of the day and sit in the rocking chair with the RSV.

And, he gets gas in my car.

Thank you.

We love you.

I blame Wal Mart

The Chicker has RSV and an ear infection

breathing treatments every 4 hours for the next 5 days.

pretty much on quarrantine.

sucks!

Based off of my calculations of incubation periods, he most likely got it over the weekend while we were in Southern Utah. I'm going to assume that it was when we were at WalMart, getting diabetic test strips.

Okay, so I guess we can blame me.

I'm so sorry Chickie!

Gems

Some samples of my daily three year old love…

Mom, this balls for you. It's fat and your fat.

Mom, stop talking. I don't like the sound of your voice.

Mom, go away. I don't like you right now.

Mom,why do you have a fat stomach? Because you had two babies? I think you might be having another baby.


Oh, can you just feel the love?




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Road Trip - Griswald Style

I've been wanting to get away for weeks. Minus a 72 hour stay in a hospital last May, I haven't been anywhere for a year (not counting of course, beautiful Capser, Wyoming).

About 6 weeks ago I put my nag machine into full force. A quickie weekend for some sun down south I begged. Eventually, Ross caved and we planned a short weekend trip to see som sun, let the kids play outside, and just "let our hair down" so to speak.

Lucky for us, the weather in St. George was awesome last weekend, is looking beautiful for this coming weekend, and was crap the last 3 days while we were there.



Cold. Rain. Snow.

Just our luck.

We found some stuff to do.

The highlights:

• rain and snow
• Forgetting diabetes test strips and swim suits - special trip to Wal Mart.
• The Chickmonster (his new name) taking his socks of a million times and spitting at us
• forgetting all hair supplies.  Making do with nothing + soft water
• eating good BBQ in St. George (Troy's BBQ)  - actually, some of the best brisket I've ever eaten.  seriously, where's "diners, drive-ins and dives"
• going to the airplane museum - it doesn't exist anymore.  Want to buy the building?  It's for sale
• Dinosaur Discovery Center - pretty cool
• Outlet malls - sucketh.
• driving 80 mph in a snow storm
• rock hard bed
• wild indian children - example:  eating breakfast on Sunday morning, the Chick looked at a very cute little boy, and growled at him like a dinosaur
• pizza factory - always a hit.

Honestly, though we had a good time.  Our kids paced the hotel room like caged tigers waiting for raw meat for a few days, but we still had fun.



Even if Elliott is only in charge of the forks.

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My Boys Friday: Sometimes, it's best to just laugh

I love my boys.

They are funny.



The Chick had his 9 mo. check-up the other day. Just shy of 24 lbs (he lost weight since the ear infections - too much mobility), and 29 inches tall. That puts him in the 90th percentile over all and much bigger than, well, 90% of the kids his age.

This week he has started spitting. It's icky. I do not care for spitting. He thinks it's hilarious. He has also invented a fake, mocking laugh. That is actually pretty funny. I wish I had it on video but alas, the kid just wants to eat the camera instead of perform for it.



And my 3 year old Monkey? The big conversation of the week has been about whose the boss. No, not Tony Danza. He wants to know who is in charge of stuff - and people for that matter. Basically, it breaks down like this (according to him)

Mom is in charge of herself and Chicker and dinner.
Dad is in charge only when mom goes to newtual (mutual) on Tuesday nights.
Elliott is in charge of himself and the forks.

Part of this discussion of "in-charged-ness stems from setting the table every night, and whether or not it's okay for the big brother to shove cheerios and other items into the little brothers mouth. You see, that's not okay - because Mom is in charge of Chicker and only Mom gets to help him eat cheerios.



And in some sad family news - on Wednesday night we had a death in the family. Blue Fish, our blue beta fish died. He was old. We got him in November and he lived a long life as our fish that we didn't really take great care of, but we did feed regularly because mom was in charge of that.

Right before dinner last night I discovered him "sleeping" on his rocks. As father and son washed dishes after dinner, they "discovered" Blue Fish and had a talk about why fish die when they get old. The kid wasn't quite sure how to deal with it - whether to be sad and cry, or just sort of laugh it off. It was very cute and sweet to see him waiver in between emotions like that - he's sucha good boy.

After a bit of talking, father and son decided to bury blue fish in the flower beds out front. I guess it's morbid, but I just had to take a picture of my sweet little boy digging a hole for his first pet to be burried.

He dug the hole, dad dropped the fish in and as together they covered him with dirt, they said goodbye - and told Blue Fish that he was a really good fish.

It was a beautiful service.

Is it Wednesday, Mom?

On Wednesday's, the three year old goes to a singing/dancing class with his Grandma Connie. It's one of his most favorite days of the week.

Sometimes after class they go to breakfast and eat pancakes and Village Inn.

Village Inn has a deal on Wednesdays - a free slice of pie.

The conversation waiting for grandma to come went something like this:

Mom, what day is singing class on?

It's today, on Wednesday.

Mom, do you know what that means?

No, I don't. What does that mean?

It means that we're going to go to Village Inn and eat lots of pancakes. Today is Free Pie Wednesday.

**

He doesn't even eat pie!

Basketball talk

Willie: foster looks like a praying mantis. Did you know that girl praying mantis eat the heads of boy praying mantis?

Annie: I think that's only after they've mated. So I guess foster hasn't mated yet.

Willie: well he's getting married in may so I guess next season he'll play without a head.

Ha ha. Funny brother.

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The Squirt:: 9 months in, 9 months out

Hi Chickie:

I love you!



Time has flow by so quickly since you joined our family last May. You don't even feel like a baby to me anymore. I find that there are certain times during the day, when you are talking to me and me to you, that it feels like everything you say makes perfect sense and you might as well be 9 years old, not 9 months old.

You are such a funny and cuddly little guy and it's just so good getting to know you more each and every day.

Lots of New Stuff
*climbing the stairs
*eating oranges
*2 new teeth on the top
*chasing your brother at super baby lightning speed
*smacking your lips
*spitting
*clapping
*when you get frustrated, you clench your fists, grit your gums and growl
*definitely right hand dominant
*wave hello and goodbye
*give loves (hugs)
*walk along furniture and be brave enough to let go
*say mama, dada, dad, baba, and hi (only sometimes on the hi)
*cry when told no!
*make a loud dinosaur sound
*squak like a peacock, so much so that whenever Grandma Judy calls, she asks, "How's life at the aviary?"
*drive a car back and forth on the floor
*"read" books (and orient them the right way)
*try to stick your fingers into light sockets



I'm sure that this isn't all the new stuff in the last four weeks, but it's all I can remember right now. You are such a sweet boy and we all love you so much.

My favorite thing that you've been doing this week is going to find your brother in the morning. You are always desperate to get into his room first thing in the morning but I make you wait - so he can sleep in a bit.

But, when it's time, all I have to say is, "Wyatt, go find Elliott" and you charge to his door, push it open with your head and barrel on in making as loud of a commotion as you can.

And, in the mornings when it's time for a bath, I just say to you, "bathtime" and you know exactly where to go and what to do. You storm into the bathroom and stand up on the edge of the tub clapping and yelling and lifting up your leg trying to get in.

Catching up

A lot to catch up on...for the sake of posterity I guess.



Yesterday, we made valentines day cookies for preschool. I love preschool and how exciting it is for 3 year olds! It's Awesome.



On Super Bowl Sunday we had a party. A small family gathering with magnificent food, most of which was prepared by our dad. He did a great job.

The menu:
Cross rib roast (This baby cooked for 24 hours and just melted in your mouth) with horseradish or salsa verde (with capers, and shallots, and parsley, oh my!)

Twice baked potato dish

Yummy rolls

Veggies and dill dip and chips and cilantro-lime dip

Caesar Salad with Market Street dressing

and cupcakes from SO CUPCAKE for dessert.



For the event, because I sometimes pull the vanity card out of my stack, we bought a new sofa and coffee table. I was so embarassed by the state of my current seating (too much slobber and baby puke and dust) that I used my emergency fund (It was am emergency, believe me) and went crazy. The new furniture looks good though.



We've had such beautiful weather the last few days. I've been out and about this week shooting pictures for work and the mountains are just breathtaking. It makes me really love living in Utah. Oh how I love seasons. And blue sky with no inversion.



The other day, I sliced my finger while cooking dinner. I cut into my finger nail on my thumb. It still hurts.

On Tuesday night, I saw a recently hit dead dog in the road with blood splattered everywhere. That was sad. What was more sad was that the dog had a friend (another dog) trying to help him. I hope that the second dog didn't get hit.

Right now, I'm sitting in my red chair in my bedroom watching the snow start to fall slowly outside. It's real nice.

Eye Opening Experience

Last night I went with the youth of my neighborhood to do a service project.

We sorted food at the Food Bank for a couple of hours.

I love doing service. It's such a rewarding experience personally, but to see 40 goofy kids getting into it, getting dirty, and working hard is even better. A little instance of, "there is still hope for the future of America".

It was however, an eye opening experience for me last night. We've always tried hard to donate food to the food bank whether on our own, during the holoidays, or with scouting food drives. We have, I'm sure, been the traditional type of food donaters - giving stuff we haven't used yet and might not to the food bank for distribution.

Last night we sorted all kinds of food products. I've never seen so much tomato soup and canned tuna in one place in my life. Do people really eat that stuff?

I saw cans of food that had expired 30 years ago. We sorted expired baby food. And some cans were so dented and damaged and dusty that there is no way I would ever eat the contents,even if it was cleaned up a bit.

The food bank wants all kinds of stuff - they take household items, toilet paper and other toiletries, "ethnic foods" (i.e. refried beans, water chestnuts and taco sauce) and baking goods.

As I was sorting I started thinking that if there were ever a time I needed to get food from the food bank, what would I get and what would I eat. Nothing that was sorted last night is anything that my family and I would eat on our own. Desperate times call for desperate mesures I suppose.

From now on though, whenever I have the opportunity to make a donation - I'm giving prize items. Cake mixes, muffin mixes, toilet paper, coloring books and crayons, and anything else I can think of that's tasty or necessary.

You should think about it too. What have you donated in the past? How can you make those donations more meaningful in the future?

A future chef

The other night, while fixing dinner, my three year old assistant told me that when he is older, he will fix me dinner.

That would be great, I said.

Then, I asked the obvious question, What will you cook?

Bruschetta and meat sauce he replied.

Yum!

My Boys Friday: For the love of laundry

In the last few days, it seems that I've heard lots of sad kid and baby stories. It's made me feel very lucky to have my two crazy boys.

Two pregnancies, two healthy babies.

Very lucky indeed.

I love my boys so much and being with them as they grow up is great. Challenging? Yes. Overwhelming? Definitely. Worth it? Absolutely.

One of the things that I love about the Monkey and the Chicker is how much alike they are. They are so different, but so similar in many ways. One of those ways is their love of the washer and dryer.

When the Monkey was little, from about 7-11 months old, we would spend hours watching the machines do their work. Spinning, spinning, spinning. It was some sort of crazy, soothing exercise for him to watch the spin cycle.



And the Chicker? He loves it too. He doesn't have the concentration, but it is still a daily ritual for him. Hug and kiss the dryer and sit on my lap and watch the clothes spin.

On Demand

I thank my lucky stars daily for cable television - children's programming and On Demand programming. I don't know how my parents survived without being able to plop us in front of the tv for 20 minutes to watch something we wanted to watch.

It's a little bit of heaven each day....being able to find Ni-Hao Kilan when the demand is there.

I was listening to a conversation between two women last night about "Lost".

I've never seen that show. Don't really even know what it is about.

In fact, I've never seen lots of shows and I really don't care too much. I'd rather read than watch tv.

That being said - I have discovered On Demand! for myself. Did you know that there are grown-up shows out there waiting for you, too? It seems that lately, every afternoon, I spend at least an hour of my day sitting in a rocking chair with a sleeping baby. I cannot hold a baby and read and playing on my phone with no hands is a big difficult. I suppose I could sleep, but then when I wake up with a huge crick in my neck I'll regret it.

About two weeks ago - in the "sitting hour" I decided to check out the tv shows that are waiting for me, commerical free.

I've found "Hoarders". It's absolutely amazing to me that people can live in that much junk. It's actually made me look at my house in a completely different way. I want to get rid of everything....starting with kids toys. I've already thinned out the clothes and cleaned the junk of my dresser - the biggest clutter spot in the house. That tv show is rather cathartic - it's causing me to cleanse. That's good.

The other show I've been watching - which I'm not to proud of, is ,"I didn't know I was pregnant!". That show is insane. Having had two children who were extremely big and activy in utero I find it unfathomable that women do not know they are expecting and end up having babies on the floor of restrooms at amusement parks.

Oh, the insainity.

Not sure what these two shows say about me. It is time however to find a new show. I've watched all the episodes of both and am just waiting for more to be but on demand.