Sunny Summer Days...

I have to start out with what a great example I am to my girls, as you can see in the picture below. We were chatting with John's Mom on Thursday and Tyler decided she wanted the phone, which is not all that unusual. What cracked us up is that she put it up to her ear and then decided to walk down the lane while she was chatting to her. I'm not really going to take credit for that, she has a bunch of play phones and when she picks them up she always puts it up to her ear and say's "hi".

The sun came out on Friday and decided to stay for a few days and well everyone felt it, in all it's glory. We went from 50 degrees to 85 and it was a little startling but nice just to know that the Sun still knew how to shine here in WA.

Saturday morning John and I both got up and got a good 5 mile run in, and then he headed off to the Shooting...range(?) with the YM. I hear it was a great success. One of the leaders had to leave a lil early and no one wanted to go. That's a good sign right? John got home in time for lunch and then we headed off to the hardware/garden show to pick up some flowers and get a start on our Vegtable garden. I am determined that even if it is done in buckets.

Planting lil seeds of Love

I came home Saturday afternoon from cleaning the clinic to find John out back with the girls in their swimsuits and the swimming pool up. Too bad we didn't think about doing that earlier so that the water would have been a lil warmer than sub-zero. Didn't seem to deter the girls too much.

FYI-she didn't fall in-great balance

Sunday was a fabulous day! Well it started out a lil rocky with me and the kids, getting ready for church and Sacrament Meeting sometimes is... (refer to Pres. Ballard's talk in the May Ensign 2008). John's truck died a few times that morning but one of our great neighbors, Art the Fart (to which he referred to himself when we met him) works on cars and had a few batteries laying around and actually gave it to him. Art is actually one of the sweetest guys, and has been an answer to our prayers more than once. While John was down visiting Art McKenna helped me make rolls for dinner, she's becoming quite domesticated in her young age.
We started having Family Home Evening on Sundays do to John's work schedule and this week our lesson was on the importance of having and keeping a Garden of course. When I walked out of the house to document our attempt at FHE Tyler actually looked at me and said, "C-h-e-e-s-e," Could the camera be out a lil too much?

Bored of FHE...already?

Driving at 3, with a passenger

A year and a half ago we put a new front door in. John and I were talking about everything we had to do to the house and the foundation just to get to that point. In our attempt to do some cosmetics to the house we decided to add a porch. Well after consulting with a friend of ours in the ward who does Architecture and is a carpenter we realized a big porch wasn't really an option. He suggested we add what is call an "eyebrow" and we really like the results. Take a gander and see what we've been doing.

The finished product

Birthdays, goats and fevers

Ok, so I wrote this yesterday and thought I posted it, but apparently it just went to drafts so for May 15, 2008:

Today is my sweet Mother-in-Law Sonia Payne's Birthday! We hope she had a wonderful day as we love and miss her being so far away. She truly is a wonderful person, thoughtful, patient, observant. She raised 8 great kids. I think just saying 8 kids there is an awe falls upon the readers...and I couldn't ask for a better husband & father so I am indebted to her for that alone. I truly do love my Mother-in-Law and hope that one day we can move her and Dad closer to us and the kids. Audrey and I are working on a plan... :) Someday!

Thank you to everyone who shared their lunch ideas with me. I was inspired, uplifted and actually felt a little more normal in my daily mac'n cheese delivery. I am going to try and venture to different ground and see how it goes. No worries there will be updates...

The weather has begun to warm up and I fear that we have skipped Spring and maybe even moved right into Summer. Today was nice hitting around 70 somewhere, but tomorrow we are supposed to get between 85-90. Wow...this is where I realize I've adjust to the NW weather and have become somewhat of a pansy in the heat. It is nice to be able to put the girls in the wagon and to take a nice walk to see all the neighboring animals. Our neighbors received a nice surprise this afternoon. About 5 months ago they bought a couple of goats off Craig's List to help control the Blackberry bushes that are overtaking their property. Mike, our neighbor went to get the girls (the goats) to take them to another section which he does every afternoon and couldn't find Holly, the goat with horns. After looking around their fenced area he was surprised to see her just finishing giving birth to 2 adorable, well not at the time, but now adorable looking lil baby goats. I'll be posting pictures tomorrow when we head up to visit them, in our excitement to see them I forgot the camera. Plus there was too much going on that you don't necessarily want pictures of. :)

Tyler went to bed last night with a small fever-but once again she has mollars coming, but woke up with a much warmer one at 2 am. The trend is all too familiar and I believe she might have another UTI. I've done some research and think I'm going to request an Urologist consult, but I think we are going to have to get through the weekend first. I feel so bad for Tyler as I understand they are very painful. I think this is her 4th one since October so it's time to start finding out the root of the problem.

Food for Thought

I'm asking all you fabulous mothers out there, what do you feed your kids for lunch? I'm at a loss. I do have a picky eater who will only eat Mac'n Cheese, cereal, yogurt and bread, but I think it's become my excuse for laziness. My less picky eater will eat just about anything and I realized today I'm in a rut and don't even know what else to fix her since I've been doing the same thing for sooo long. So please let me know your thoughts and ideas for lunch and dinner ideas. I'm to the point where I"m willing to let McKenna stretch a lil and maybe she'll even come around and actually start eating new stuff.

Doesn't this say it all? Donut and Ice Cream

I just downloaded my picts for the last few weeks and realized I've been neglectful of my journaling duties with the family. I found a great buy on Craig's List-a red wagon to pull my girls around in. The double stroller is a bit heavy and thought this would be fun for them. I got it while Tyler was sick, and came to found out she was a bit unsure and scared of it at first. She's finally warmed up to it and funny enough the girls love to go flying down hills in it.

McKenna is becoming quite the Mommy's helper, pulling the wagon, dusting and vacuuming (which in and of itself is a major deal because she used to be scared to death of it and HATED anything that made a loud engine noise-for a year or 2 I've had suspicions of sensory issues-especially auditory, but she's slowly been outgrowing it).

In our attempt to continue potty training (Really how long is this process supposed to take) we started the chart again with a promise of new shoes when she's gone a week without an accident, well the first was a weekend and then she went a whole week. She's been coveting Target's Pink Sparkly shoes, but funny enough Tyler showed her a really cute pair of sandals, which was what I wanted her to get and she suddenly changed her mind. (Yeah Tyler is only 15 months and was picking out shoes too.) Still wanting the "pink shoes" McKenna found motivation to go a whole week to earn her yet another pair of shoes. Not sure how I"m going to get out of this shoe thing it's starting to get expensive, but I'm getting a little desperate.

Girls love to be outside! This is really how they feel about each other.

Tyler in McKenna's cowboy boots-

she's developed an opinion on her clothes already.

Mother Day 2008

Hope everyone had a Happy Mother's Day! I am a big fan of holidays, and especially Mother's Day as I see it as a celebration of Mother & Sisterhood. I'm so thankful for the wonderful Mother I have been blessed with, who is always there for me even over the miles. Hardly a day goes by we don't chat with her. I also have been blessed with a wonderful and sweet Mother-in-Law to which I never expected nor dreamed of always hearing such horror stories about In-Laws. I'm thankful for the good friends who inspire me to be a better person and a better mother by their examples and their positive attitudes.

I think my favorite part about My Mother's day this year was that all church meetings were canceled and I had John with us ALL DAY LONG! John made me pancakes for breakfast and we were actually on time for church! The men took over at church so us women could attend both Sunday School and Relief Society. By the time I made it to SS all seats were taken and so I spent the hour in the halls just outside the primary room which provided good comic relief. The fellas did a fantastic job and it was nice not to have to do anything for the last 2 hrs of church but to just soak it all in!

I love Mother's Day for so many reasons. McKenna brought home this cute little plant from school, love the paper butterfly that's with it. John was instructed not to buy me anything as I got myself a few too many things already this month, mostly in the form of media entertainment. He did get me Rascal Flatts' new CD which is quite good.

I post last 2 pictures these because Tyler has discovered a new love for Brushing her teeth and a new fascination with the electric tooh brush. The 1st picture she is actually saying "cheese" which caught me off guard because I didn't ask her too and she knew to just say it for the camera. Apparently the camera is out a lil too often.

I guess you could say I've been going through Writer's block. I know I'm not the only one to go through it, and I've loved reading blogs of friend's and family. So witty!

Last night for me is definitely worth mentioning. John has a few commitments in the evenings here and there and occasionally I find myself putting the girls to bed by myself. Something that actually intimidates me (yes I am the Mom, something I have to remind myself of from time to time) because for some reason the girls just go down smoother when he's here. Regardless of whether he is home or not I usually go into my room, which is across the hall afterwards to just sit in the silence and soak it in before I go down to do damage control. In a perfect world my kids do clean up before they go to bed, including the kitchen.

While I'm sitting in my happy place I hear a noise downstairs, followed by another one. I jumped and remembered that I had left the doors unlocked...something I NEVER do, especially when John's gone. Trying to remain calm I remember that this is about the time John is supposed to come home, so I call his cell phone and get the answering machine which wasn't a good sign. I then proceeded to call the house thinking if he's home he'll either answer or come to the bottom of the stairs to see what I want, still no response. I then proceeded to go out on my roof/balcony to see if his truck was home. No luck...so I did what any other panicking housewife who was alone would do. Called my neighbor Terry a kind older gentlemant who looks after me, was kind enough to walk down the lane to make sure all was well. Meeting him we found both doors unlocked and not a trace of anyone in the house. A bit relieved he sat down to chat for a minute when we heard the kitchen/carport door open and close. I called out a hello thinking it was John and when no response came Terry jumped out of his seat and into the kitchen almost taking out his sweet wife in the process. Sharon who had been worried had decided to wander down to see if everything was ok giving Terry and I both a heart attack in the process. I am happy to report that there was no intruder last night and it's still a mystery what I heard but I don't ever go without locking the doors anymore. "I have a feeling we're not in Kansas anymore"-meaning it's different world than the one grew up in, and I'm definitely far more paranoid than I'd like to be.

New Beginnings

McKenna's riding the bus to school is always a point of concern with me. Mostly because she struggles with the idea and misses all the fun in it. I at least used to love riding the bus when I was younger. Most of the time it's quite the ordeal that starts out with the question each morning, "bus?" Monday's, Wednesday's, and Friday's my response is an enthusiastic "yes" to which she responds, "no bus." That is actually her response EVERY day. Every once in a while I have gotten lucky as I try new ways to make the bus look fun and exciting. Wednesday was one of those days. We were outside playing bubbles and with her new favorite toy, a pink Beany Baby her Great Grandma gave her when she was born. The Tulips are blooming and so we decided to cut one and give it to her bus driver, Debbie. With the mention of Debbie she got a lil nervous and asked for me to "hold me" (she struggles with her pronouns a lil but at 3 I think it's ok as long as we're working on it.) Anyway as I held her and her lil eyes got teary I tried to tell her that it was ok if she needed or wanted to cry. We all get scared sometimes and crying isn't a bad outlet. Her eyes kind of flickered as she stared off into the distance and then she got down to walk with her bear and to tell him, "it's ok."

This was taken her 1st week of school

When the bus pulled up I gave her the purple tulip and she ran for the bus yelling Debbie's name so excited to give her the flower. She then climbed right up into her seat, holding her bear which goes everywhere with her and then blew me kisses as the bus pulled away. It was so sweet and exciting. Tyler and I walked into the house and my jaw dropped, on the floor was her blanket, which is another extension of her. If we get in the car without it she's usually remembered and started screaming for it before we leave the driveway. I knew that this "forgetting" was monumental and either was going to ruin the bus ride or hopefully she really did forget about it. I got lucky, her teachers said she never even noticed.

Today I wondered again what the morning had instore. With Chocolates in hand, and to my relief she actually did quite well, nothing but smiles and blowing kisses. She did take her blanket with her but again at 3 yrs old I'm not really too concerned yet.

McKenna's School picture. Ms Annette Bowen is her teacher on the far left in green. The assistants are Miss Kimberlee on top row next to Ms. Annette, and Miss Lisa who on the bottom far right. Miss Nikole on the top right is her speech therapist.

May Day

I thought the following interesting as Seattle has a few protests and labor strikes that will be going on today.

May 1st, often called May Day, just might have more holidays than any other day of the year. It's a celebration of Spring. It's a day of political protests. It's a neopagan festival, a saint's feast day, and a day for organized labor. In many countries, it is a national holiday.

I found this on Infoplease.com

Overview of the April

Just for fun a few photos that didn't make it earlier this month for one reason or another.

ah, ah, I want it

Sisterly Love? or a cruel form of punishment?

Yummy!

For the Love of Cake!

Not giving it up without a fight, and she did after she got in the tub!

Child Genius? Or Type A?

Last but not least the winner goes to...

It Happened to My Baby

Parent's magazine has a section with that title with lil horror stories of stuff that actually happened to their kids. Well I was one of those parents last night. Around 2 am Tyler started SCREAMING! I jumped as I always do but felt a lil panicked by the cry. John was dead to the world so I ran into the room expecting to see Tyler sitting there holding her blanket reaching out to be held. What I didn't expect was to see her laying against the front rail with her arm hanging out with her shoulder stuck between the rails. I thought she was getting old enough to go without the bumper. I know you're all thinking the same thing...back to when Tyler's leg was sticking out between the crib rails but the bumper was in then so I figured I'd start transitioning it out since it didn't seem to do much good.

I learned my lesson and the crib bumper is back in the bed. Hopefully we all get a lil more sleep tonight and hopefully this never happens to you!

Jane Austen

I've found a new love for Jane Austen. I don't have many television stations, PBS and CBS on a rare day. Masterpiece Theatre the last few months has been showing the complete series of Jane Austen.

I actually ran across them by accident and wasn't quick enough to realize or maybe it was to remember it was on each Monday night but kept stumbling across them and couldn't walk away. I've been quite surprised at the familiarity of the actors and actresses portraying the characters. I look forward to reading her books and words myself, but I'm currently reading George Elliot's "Middlemarch" which was suggested by a friend. I guess George Elliot was one of the 1st female authors, even before Jane Austen. It's a good book, but I find myself constantly distracted by household chores, children, the computer and the television...One day.

Just Like Magic

I know it's Sunday and I hope we're all assuming that no news was good news.

John and Tyler returned home Friday night at 10:30 pm. It was derived Tyler did indeed have a UTI from her "sample" and something about her white blood cells being off. It kind of bothers me the report wasn't a definite UTI, but they perscribed her an antibiotic she started taking right before she went to bed. It seemed to work as she only woke up twice that night (John was a sweetheart and got up with her both times) and she promptly went back to sleep. That in and of itself was an improvement.

Her fever was still down on Saturday although she was a lil Lethargic that morning. She was such a trooper as I trucked her and McKenna to the church to participate in the Primary activity of making cards and Chocolate flowers in preparation for Mother's Day. We then quickly ran to the Clinic for the weekly cleaning and then back home for lunch and naps. John and I grabbed a babysitter and as soon as the girls were asleep made a trip to the temple. We don't make it nearly as often as we'd like but enjoyed our little trip...despite the upset stomach that surprised me while we were there. We returned home by 6 pm and found a clean house and a very happy McKenna. (I love our Babysitter Courtney who had pitty on me!) I was surprised to find Tyler still asleep in the dungeon (spare bedroom) as it was 5 hours later. Apparently Tyler had a lot of catching up to do from the night before and the missed morning nap.

Yesterday Tyler did fantastic and so we were really caught off guard with her today. She was not only clingy, but downright awnery. The 1st 45 minutes of Sacrament meeting she was fantastic and then it was like a light switch was flipped. It's like she didn't know what she wanted and nothing made her happy. Even just holding her didn't make her happy and she has a new throaty cry that even makes McKenna put her hands over her ears. Where in the world did that come from? Where did my happy sweet baby go? Will I ever get her back? I'm sure in due time all these questions will be answered.

I have found with screaming, clingy children around I love John all that much more. He talks in complete sentences, can identify what he wants, and doesn't actually need me to "hold" him 15 hrs a day. Not to mention he does dishes and will make me pancakes or eggs for breakfast.

Let's wrap up on a high note. Yesterday we actually had 65 degree weather and Sunshine, so maybe Spring will make it after all. This evening we had Family Home Evening and with Tyler's screaming and Tantrums it didn't necessarily go smoothly but ended with Ice Cream cones which made EVERYBODY happy.

Always Waiting for Something...

So I sit here with a load of laundry waiting to be folded on the couch, dinner and dishes waiting to be cleaned up, not to mention the toys that are strewn pretty much everywhere. Where am I? Well writing of course, if you can't run...then write. That's what I do when I'm stressed out. John is at the Convenience Care clinic with Tyler.

Last night I spent with Tyler as she couldn't sleep and just wanted to be held. John is not a big fan of ever welcoming the children into our bed, and after sleeping with McKenna who's limbs are everywhere and usually end up next to me I've come to 2nd the motion. (I don't have any opinions of those of you who do and don't sleep with your child a parent does what they need to do and in the dead of night that could be just about anything...as long as it gives you at least 10 more minutes of sleep. Chances are I've done it to...) Anyway Tyler's a smart kid and she's done a good job at keeping herself hydrated. She woke me up almost every 20 minutes for a big drink of water and then would go back to sleep. At one point she woke up in a sweat, her temperature was down and I felt a lil light shining that this "bug" was beat. Well she woke up with a fever still raging and after talking to a nurse I succumbed to wait til Sunday and try not to panic before taking her to the Dr. Well this afternoon Tyler woke up with a temperature of a 104-106 degrees and so I was back on the phone. I want to think that I'd be a great advocate for my kids especially when it comes to their health but after talking to nurses and the Dr well I just don't think anyone believed me and thought I was over-reacting. I think I'm infamous for over-reacting...I may have been called dramatic a time or two in my life...so I decided to wait a lil longer as suggested by the Dr waiting for this to burn itself up. She was afterall still drinking and she wasn't crying...although I didn't know that lethargic kids did a lot of crying. Anyway things started to look up, after a walk outside (thank goodness the sun came out) Tyler started to act better, almost like herself (with the exception of standing), her temp went down to 102.7 and well sadly that was good news. She ate a few frozen peas and called dinner good and so I put her down to play while I ate. Not too much longer the crying started because she had been left alone and so the tv went back on and I sat to hold my baby. I found a feverish child, who curled up and instantly went to sleep who was also lacking in color, her temperature was back up to 105.8. I was told to rectally take her temperature earlier, but I don't even know where that is and it took me 3 years to work up to the idea of giving my oldest a suppository.

John finally made it home and gave into my stress and called the Dr which puts us where we are now. Him at Convenience Care waiting for Tyler to Pee in a bag because my kids anatomy is messed up and they can't do a catheter on her. I know this is a long and detailed story, one of which will have a happy ending...but until we'll just keep on waiting...

I did have thoughts of taking a picture of Tyler but just couldn't bring myself to do it. She hates the camera so why torment?

Going Bananas

Tyler is "down" again, not quite sure what it is as I thought she was just teething since her molars are coming in, but I don't think fevers get as high as a 104 when your teething. I'm waiting to see if lil miss T has another UTI but so far she's drinking a TON and still eating so we'll just wait to see what happens. In the meantime I do my motherly duty of holding the sick while we sit and watch Lil, (meaning younger than McKenna) shows such as Baby Einstein, Baby Genius, Fisher Price's Little People, and Sesame Street because what kid doesn't like Elmo? McKenna couldn't be more thrilled to have the TV on, despite what's on, she's such a Junkie.

Today we were watching Elmo's World and it was on Bananas, one of Tyler's favorite foods, but definitely not one of McKenna's. After the introduction they proceeded to show a variety of different people and animals eating bananas and as McKenna watched you could see the wheels turning. She made her way over to me and very politely said, "I want a banana Mommy." Kind of laughing to myself I encouraged her to get the bananas and bring them to me and after starting the peel, and giving Tyler a piece I handed it over. She continued to watch the show and carefully put it up to her mouth and I could see her trying sooo hard to like it. After a bite and swallowing it (to my relief as I didn't want to pick up a mushed banana) she brought the banana back over to me with a "I no like it." I assured her it was ok, but I was proud of her for trying it, successfully holding back the chuckles inside. She sure is cute and I was proud of her for going outside of her comfort zone to try something new.

Sadly McKenna is relapsing on Potty training, completely! I think it is partly due to my constant holding of Tyler and her lack of receiving attention. She tells me "potty" after she has already started going in her pants defeating the whole purpose. Tonight she even went as far as to pee in her pants and then continued to sit in it. That wouldn't have been so bad but since she was sitting on a hard lil plastic chair she lifted her butt to see the puddle and then proceeded to splash her butt in it over and over again. I'd like to say it couldn't be worse, but I know it could... She was really good about cleaning herself and the chair up but I just don't understand.