Family Weekend

We had our family weekend at Arrowwood Resort this past weekend.  We went with my entire family, and my dad's brother's family.  We had 9 kids 10 years old and under, 8 of which were boys!  The kids had a blast. They went swimming, Kayden went sledding, and decorated cookies, they napped, they ate, the watched movies, they had lots of juice boxes, and in general, had a great weekend.  It was a HUGE help to have my sister, Amazih and her friend Morgan there.  They helped with all of the kids.  I did take pictures (although not as many as I would have liked to), and I'll post them later. 

We all had a great time, and hopefully we'll do something like this again in the future. 

Last night we also went out to dinner at Fuji Steakhouse with some high school friends.  It was so fun to get together since we do that kind of stuff so rarely now that we have kids, and jobs, and in general, such busy lives.  We definitely need to make time for that kind of stuff more often.  

The week ahead doesn't overly busy so far.  Amazih does have three basketball games, but they are all kind of far away, so we'll be there in spirit, while we listen on the radio at home. Wednesday night we plan to go out to dinner with my family for the January/February birthdays.  My mom, my sister and Amy (Eric's girlfriend) all have birthdays within two weeks of each other, so we try to just get together once for all three. 

My Motherly Instinct

Poor little Tyson has just NOT been healthy lately!   A week ago Friday, his ear started draining a lot of yucky stuff.  I let it go, and figured his tube was just doing it's job.  By Thursday, he was pretty congested, and his breathing was sounding really rattly.  Not terrible, but not normal. We were headed to Arrowwood for the weekend, so I talked myself into taking the afternoon off on Friday to take him to the walk-in clinic to have it checked out.  For my own peace of mind, really.  I called the clinic Friday morning and talked to a nurse about his symptoms, and she said I should bring him in.  So, I left work at 11:30, and picked him up at daycare.  We spent the rest of the afternoon at the clinic. Chest x-rays, RSV test, flu test, nebulizer treatment, the list goes on. By the time we left we had a diagnosis of an ear infection :::insert annoyed groan here::: and pneumonia.  We were sent on our way with prescriptions for ear drops, albuterol by way of nebulizer, and augmentin.  I got to the pharmacy and talked them out of making me buy new tubing for the nebulizer we already have, as well as $144.00 ear drops which I still have left over from one of Tyson's other 500 ear infections. 

I had planned to make a quick trip to the clinic, a possibly stop at Target for a prescription, a quick stop at Cobourn's for groceries for the weekend, then home to pack the last minute things for the weekend, then pick up Kayden and Tyler on our way out of town, and  be to the waterpark before supper time.  Things didn't exactly work that way.  Instead I spent the entire afternoon at the clinic, went to Target to hand over my pay check in exchange for some drugs, then ran through the grocery store, and got home in time to hap-hazardly throw a few things in a suitcase for myself, whip up some sloppy joes for the weekend, feed Tyson a bottle, and make our way out the door.  Needless to say, we didn't get to the hotel until about 7:00. 

Back to the subject at hand--Tyson does seem to be feeling better.  That nebulizer really works.  He was up twice last night, but I'm not sure if that was because of his ears, his breathing difficulty, new teeth, or just because we've been gone for a few nights and out of routine. 

Rhonda came over last night to babysit while Mike and I went to dinner with some friends, and she said Tyler sounds like he's getting something.  Maybe bronchitis.  

Really???  

Ugh! 

Pray for me people.

Daddy did it!

Kayden fell asleep in the car on the way home from the basketball game last night, which was what I expected to happen, so I had him in his jammies already.  Since I put him in his pajamas at the game, he had his shoes on with them.  

When he woke up this morning, he said, "Mommy, do you know what happened?"  Thinking he was going to tell me about one of his goofy dreams, I said, "What?"

"I slept with my shoes on!"

What??????  I pulled back his blanket, and sure enough---there, were his little Nike's!  Daddy put him to bed with his shoes on!!!!!! 

Randoms...

A few random things to share today:

**Last night we took Kayden to Amazih's game in Melrose (the town where I teach).  Tyler and Tyson stayed home with Rhonda.  It was fun to go to the game and see lots of my students outside of the classroom.  Plus, as a bonus, Amazih's team won ;)

**Tyler and Tyson are both on drops for their pink eye, I'm watching Kayden's right eye, as it's looking a little reddish, and NOW, Tyson has a nasty cough.  Really????  I just hope everyone is healthy by this weekend because....

**We are headed to Arrowwood Resort in Alexandria. We are going with my family, and my dad's brother's family.  It should be lots of fun.  There will be 9 kids (not including Amazih and her friend Morgan), eight of which are boys!  They have a big water park, which will be something new for my boys, so I'm really excited to see how much they like it.  AND, hopefully we are able to wear them out in the pool so they'll sleep really well ;)

**Kayden had his first "Show and Tell" at school on Monday night.  He chose to take his Pillow Pet.  I kinda wish I could have seen him share....

**Tyson is moving around faster every day!  He has also been waking up at night, so I'm wondering if he's working another tooth???  We'll see!

"Yes, of course, he's always an angel"--(ah-hem)

Since Tyler and Tyson have pink-eye, they were home with Mike yesterday, and Kayden went to daycare by himself.  I think this was a nice change for him. I know that he spends a lot of time watching over his brothers, so I'm sure he was able to relax a little more than usual.  

When I picked him up yesterday afternoon, Sharon (our wonderful daycare provider) said that she is, "so proud of Kayden".  She went on to say that he is always such a good listener, he works hard when they do projects, he has such good manners and he's a wonderful helper. ***blush***  

He is a good boy.  He has his moments at home, but I'd much rather he have those at home, rather than at daycare or school.  I'm really hoping that he can carry these good listening, and good manners habits into his school years. 

*She also commented on how many parents came in and noticed that the house was a little quieter than usual, and then, many of them said, "Tyler must be sleeping".  Poor Tyler, he's not naughty, he just likes to make his presence known.  And he likes to whine for juice.  And snacks.  A lot.  We're working on this. :)

Basketball, fishing, a movie, and pink eye.

**WARNING: This post is a little random, and fairly boring, but since this blog serves as a family journal for us, they were things I needed to write about.  So, fell free to skip reading this entry if you have better things to do***

This weekend was one of those weekends.  We started by making the last-minute decision to go to Amazih's basketball game on Friday, and boy are we glad we did.  She had a great game!  She was the player of the game and had a triple double!!!  We had Rhonda watch Tyler, so I actually got to watch most of the game, and we sat with Eric and Amy and my mom, so there were plenty of people to help with Kayden and Tyson.  

Saturday morning we got up early and headed to Brainerd to Pat and Leah's.  Mike, and his dad, and brother, and Rhonda and her boyfriend were fishing in the big fishing tournament up there, so the kids and I were going to hang out with Mike's mom, Leah and the girls. The kids spent the morning playing, then Leah and Sydney and Kayden and I left around 11:00 to go to Target and a movie!  We went to see Tangled.  This was Syd's first movie theatre experience and both kids did well, even though there were a few scary parts where they both declared they were ready to go home :)

While we were gone, Doris(Mike's mom) managed to get all three little kids to nap at the same time, so things weren't too crazy for her.  We spent the rest of the afternoon/evening playing and eating ;)  Then, after we had supper, everyone played with Kayden's Christmas present from Eric and Amy, Big Buck Hunter, which is an interactive hunting game for the TV.  

Bedtime went well, although my boys did not sleep real well.  Tyson was up by 12:30, Tyler at 2:30, and Kayden at 3:30.  Then, by 6:00, Tyler was awake for the day.  I'm going to assume this had everything to do with just not being at home, and assume things will go back to normal very soon (fingers crossed).  

Sunday, we hung out, made a huge mess of Leah's house, cleaned up, made another mess, cleaned up, you get the idea.  The guys fished in the morning, and were back in time to have a late lunch, then we packed up and headed home.  

We had Amazih overnight, because my parents went to a casino/hotel for my mom's birthday, so the boys had fun playing with her before bedtime, and I took advantage of her being there to watch the little kids so that I could give Kayden and Mike a haircut.  Yes, I cut their hair myself.  Kayden went to a real salon for his first few haircuts, now I just cut it whenever I do Mike's.  Tyler, on the other hand is in desperate need of a haircut and will be going in very soon!  

***Side-note:

This week's illness in our house is pink eye.  Friday night at the basketball game, I noticed that Tyson's eye was a little bit mattery, and red.  By Sunday morning, his eye was pretty yucky, but Tyler's eyes were worse.  Daycare didn't want them there with pink eye that wasn't being treated yet, so Mike stayed home with them, and I called the clinic to have a prescription called in.  Thankfully, so far it's just the two of them, hopefully it doesn't spread to the rest of us!

Thankful Thursday

This week I'm thankful for:

~the health of my family and friends

~heat(today's forecast= -25)

~Uggs(my cheaper version anyway)

~chubby babies

~fruit snacks

~Sam's Club

~lots of preggo friends and two preggo cousins (better them than me!)

~Play-Doh

~one-tooth babies

~my jobs

When you're 10 months old...

When you're 10 months old....

*you are working on pushing your first tooth all the way in

*you are crawling around in your own goofy way

*you are FINALLY sleeping through the night (most of the time)

*you can eat two containers of baby food for supper, which leads to...

*you're kinda chubby, but cute chubby

*you could watch your big brothers play for hours

*you never get tired of playing peek-a-boo

*you are a real trooper since you've been struggling with ear infections for months

*you are out-growing your tiny, cute, little size 2 diapers (tear).

*you are ready to move out of your carrier car seat and into a big boy seat (another tear)

When you're 20 months old....

When you're 20 months old...

*you really should have your first haircut, but your curls are so stinkin' cute your mom hasn't taken you in yet

*you are adding LOTS of words to your vocabulary every day!

*you love to tell us when you poop

*you can get in the ball-pit Santa brought, but you can't get out, so you yell and scream until someone comes to help you get out

*you refer to all kinds of fruit as, "nana", which really annoys your big brother who constantly corrects you by telling you the real name of the particular fruit you are referring to as "nana". 

*you are working on getting all four of your 2-year molars at once, so you LOVE to chew on your stinky blankey, or as you refer to it, "mine". 

*you do not like to sit still at basketball games, or anywhere besides in front of a movie for that matter

*you love to annoy/play with your big brother, and you love to talk to your little brother in a squeaky baby voice

*you're a bit of a klutz, and if you almost, but not quite, fall, you always look at us with wide open eyes and say, "whoa!"

*you think that you NEED juice to survive, and milk or water just won't do

*you love fruit snacks and Hershey's Kisses (what, that doesn't sound like a healthy diet?  don't judge.)

When you're almost four....

When you're almost four-----

*you go potty ALL BY YOURSELF (most of the time anyway)

 *you really like gum

*your knees always hurt because you're growing stinkin' fast!

*you go to the dentist, and you sit in the big chair all by yourself

*you don't take naps every day, but some days you really should

*you have had your preschool screening, and are really starting to freak your mommy out by talking about going to kindergarten

*you recognize almost all of the letters in the alphabet, and all of the numbers 1-10

*the newest word in your vocabulary is "penis", and you blurt it out whenever you feel like it, and aren't afraid to point it out randomly.  (we're working on forming an understanding of when and where it's ok to use this word)

*you love to be the biggest brother, but  have a new-found love of  being rocked before bedtime, just like your baby brothers

On the Move!

Our baby is officially ON THE MOVE!  Tyson has been working on scooting around for a couple weeks, but over the weekend, he really figured out how to go. It isn't really a full-on crawl. He kind of uses one foot, and one knee to get around.  Kinda cute actually.  Kayden never crawled, just scooted on his butt, while Tyler crawled, and he crawled early, and he crawled fast, and he crawled for a long time. 

Other happenings from the weekend were minimal.  We had a quick trip to Sam's Club and Cash Wise, and had my family over yesterday for fish.  Mike was on call all weekend, so we were kinda forced to stick around home which is actually kinda nice. We'll have another semi-busy week, and we'll head to Pat and Leah's this weekend sometime.  Mike and his dad and brother are fishing in a tournament, so the kids and mommies will hang out at the house, and we're thinking about maybe a movie with Kayden and Sydney during nap time on Saturday...we'll see. 

Thankful Thursday

This week I'm thankful for:

*SLEEP!

*my parents and the fact that they kept Kayden and Tyler overnight for me twice last weekend so that I could get Tyson's sleep schedule situated

*my wonderful daycare--it's so nice to have a place where I can take my kids every day and not have to worry about them for a second!

*Dr. Pepper

*a week with ZERO trips to any clinic or doctor's office

*orajel--because Tyler is working really hard at getting those two-year molars!

*fleece--because it's flippin' cold around here!

*a weekend at home

Knockin' on Wood!

I am knockin' on wood people---Tyson, that handsome little devil I spoke about here, did not, I repeat, DID NOT get up to have a bottle even once last night!  I really hope I'm not jumping the gun here, but I am a little bit excited ecstatic about this ya'll!  I do remember hearing him cry around 2:45, and thinking, that if he cries for more than the 30 minute limit I have had in my head for the past 4 nights, then I'd go get him.  Well, he must have gone back to sleep, because the next thing I heard (besides my wonderful husband sawing logs) was my alarm clock--that means almost 6 straight hours of sleep for this mama!  This may seem minor to you, but I honestly, could not tell you, the last time I slept for more than 3 hours in a row.  It was heavenly! Hopefully we are on the road to something new---cross your fingers folks!!!!

He's lucky he's so stinkin' cute!

I tell you.  This little boy is lucky he's so flippin' cute.  He's a good baby, he really is.  BUT--he doesn't sleep, he has ear issues, he's getting teeth, he's learning to crawl, he's exhausting me. 
Rewind to Thursday.  Tyson had his 1-month post-tubes follow up appointment.  First, we were to see the audiologist.  She called us back, took one look in his ears, and said, "I think I better have Dr. Hanson see him before I test his hearing.  His ear is really red (infected), and it doesn't pay for me to test his hearing if he has an infection.".  So, back to the waiting room we go.  We see the doc.  Yep, one ear is infected (not the one that has been infected three times in the past month, mind you), and his tube is blocked.  So, he's put on different ear drops and needs to be seen again in a week and a half. 
Then, Friday.  Mike left after I had all the kids in bed.  He was going fishing for the weekend with his dad and brother.  Tyson didn't sleep.  At all.  WTF????  Morning finally came, and as I was playing with Tyson, I got a quick peak in his mouth and saw the reason we were up all night.  His first tooth!  At least this gives him an excuse for being awake so ridiculously much the night before.  So, Saturday morning, after all three boys were up, we got ready, and headed to my mom's house.  I napped.  I was exhausted. 
Saturday night, I left Tyler and Kayden at my mom's.  Tyson and I headed home.  My plan was to do the "cry it out" thing.  I fed him his bedtime bottle before I left my mom's, so when we got home, I put him right in his crib, and I was in bed by 10:00.  By 11:00 he was awake for the first time.  I let him cry for about half an hour, and he went back to sleep on his own.  At 1:00, I heard him again.  Again, I let him cry for about half an hour, and when he wasn't going back to sleep, I decided I'd get up and check on him.  I found him (and I wish I would have taken a picture of this) with just the top two buttons of his sleeper buttoned, and both of his legs hanging out, and frozen!  He had kicked his feet so much that he kicked right out of his pajamas(by the frozen state of his legs, I assume this happened when he was awake at 11:00)!  So, I got him up, changed his diaper, buttoned him back up, fed him and had him back in his bed by 1:45.  Then, I didn't hear from him again until 7:25.  
Tonight, the big boys will stay at my mom's again, and hopefully, by mid-week, we'll have a baby who sleeps all night!

I get it now!

My husband has an obsession with cleaning off our driveway.  If it snows a lot, he will use the snowblower, then shovel the little bit that's left.  

If it snows a little, he spends at least an hour shoveling.  If I drive over the snow too many times before he gets to shovel it, it drives him nuts! 

Soooooo....yesterday we got, like an inch of snow.  I knew that he was planning to go outside and "shovel" after supper.  :::::I say "shovel", because I don't actually think that he's shoveling the whole time, I think he's wasting time, but I won't necessarily go there::::::

Keep in mind, that most nights, while he's "shoveling", I am in the house with all three boys. I'm doing the dishes after supper (please feel sorry for me, because we don't have a dishwasher, thanks), giving the boys baths, and getting them in their pj's, cleaning up toys, repeating at least 50 times, "please be nice to him", or "please keep your hands to yourself!", or "those are NOT for throwing!", getting their clothes ready for  the following day, doing laundry, making my lunch for the following day, getting the boys a snack....the list goes on.  

By 8:15, I am yelling out the door for the hubby to come in, because the boys are now officially tired, and are ready for bed.  This is when I need help.  So, he finally rolls in, and then he IS helpful.  On a good night, by 9:30, we have everyone in bed.  

Okay, I went on a slight tangent there, so anywho, back to my point: 

Last night, after supper and the dishes, I said, "Ok, I'm going out to shovel the driveway, and you can stay in with the boys." So, I bundled up, and headed out.  I get it now.  I understand why he spends so much time out there.  It's quiet.  I could get used to that job.  Unless, of course, there's more than an inch of snow, then it might be too much work.  I was out there for less than an hour, but I actually enjoyed it.  By the time I got back in the house, they boys were just starting to clean up their toys, and then we got them ready for bed. So, I got the driveway shoveled, I enjoyed a little peace and quiet, and I got a workout---bonus! 

Changes

Knowing that I will most likely, not have my teaching job for next fall, I've been thinking about my options, and what my ideal job would be.  

I would love, love, LOVE, to work three days a week, send my boys to daycare four days a week, and have one day a week to myself to "get sh-t done!". Now, that would be the life. Not the real world, but the life.

I have said before that I could not stay home with all three of my boys all day, every day.  I couldn't do it.  For multiple reasons.  

1.  I need to talk to adults.  

2.  I would end up spending a lot of money, because I can't just sit in my house, I'd end up going places.  Shopping.  Zoo.  Out to lunch.  Shopping.  Random outings.  

3.  I want my kids to go to daycare, at least part time, because I want them to be able to interact with other kids and adults besides their family members.  I think daycare is great preparation for school.

4.  My husband would feel the brunt of it, because, as soon as he walked in the door, I would expect him to take over.  

5. I am afraid of not working, for the fact that I went to college for 4.5 years, and am still paying for a degree that I wouldn't even be using.  

So, I'll have a few options in the fall.  

My first choice/priority is going to be to look for a teaching job in a public school.  Full or part time.  Sadly, I could work part-time in a public school and make the same yearly salary that I make right now.  

My second choice, will be to work at Kids Company, in the 4's childcare.  This is basically a childcare center for kids who go to preschool during the day.  If I choose to do this, I may send Kayden to preschool during the day a few days a week, and then he'd come to Kids Company on those days, and go to his regular daycare on the days he doesn't have school.  Going to preschool during the day would eliminate us having to drive Kayden to Avon one night a week for school, and daytime preschool is better preparation for (I don't even like to say the word) kindergarten (eek!). 

If by some, random chance, I would end up still having this job next year, I'd really have to think about whether or not I'd come back.  Not because I don't like my job, because I do.  The reasons I would consider not returning include, the price of gas, and the distance I travel to get here (unless, of course we actually sell our house, and move to Albany, which is about 20 miles closer), and my salary compared to the amount I have to pay for three kids in daycare.  

OR, maybe some other great opportunity will come along, and everything will fall into place.  For now, I'm not going to stress about it.  I will do my job to the best of my ability while I'm here, and when it comes time to start worrying about next year, then I'll start worrying about next year ;)

New Years 2011

Warning: if the idea of vomit grosses you out, stop reading now.  You've been warned. 

I wasn't going to blog about this, but the more I thought about it, I realized it's something I want to remember, and since this is my journal/scrapbook for my family, I better write it down.

We had actually planned to spend New Year's Eve at home.  We'd probably be in bed before 10:00, and I was totally cool with that.  Then, my friend Kristy invited us over, and said we should bring the kids too.  So, we decided we'd go over there instead.  I figured we'd still leave before 10:00 because the kids would be cranky, and ready for bed.  To my surprise, they were playing really well, and we ended up staying until 11:45 (terrible mother I am, I know:::who keeps three kids under 4 years old up until 11:45???).  We headed back to my mom's, put the kids to bed, and headed to bed ourselves.  By 1:00, Mike was tapping me on the shoulder.  "Do you have extra pajamas for Tyler?  He threw up."  What???????  Yes, I had extra pajamas for him.  I got the jammies out, and headed into the bedroom to get him up and change him.  OMG!  We needed more than pajamas.  Not only did he throw up, but he rolled in it, layed in it, you get the idea.  And, if you've seen Tyler's curly, long hair, you can about imagine how much was stuck in it.  Yuck!  So, I pulled the poor, tired baby out of bed, and headed for the bathtub.  I woke my mom up to help me find new sheets and bedding for the crib. As I was trying to peel his pajamas off, I was gagging, so I had to go get Mike to take care of that task.  Vomit and I don't do well together.  So, Mike bathed him, my mom and I changed his bedding, and we put him back to bed.  He threw up just the one time---thank God!---and seemed ok on Saturday.  I thought maybe he just ate something bad. The more I thought about it, I realized he hadn't eaten much that day at all, and he usually eats A LOT.  So, maybe the flu.  By Sunday, it was confirmed.  He had been sick.  My mom, dad and brother had Tyler's flu ;)  Thank God, Mike, Kayden and I never got it. I do think Tyson had a baby version of the flu earlier in the week, but I'll spare you the details on that. 

Not-Me-Monday

A few of the things I DID NOT do in the past week:

• I DID NOT put my eye drops in Tyson's ears instead of his ear drops and if I would have done this, it WOULD NOT have been my husband's fault.  
• I DID NOT wake my mom up at 1:00 a.m. on Friday night because Tyler puked in his bed, and I didn't know what to do when it came to cleaning up the mess.
• I DID NOT wake up this morning to two extra little bodies in my bed because I was too tired to work hard enough to get them back in their own beds after they woke up at 3:30 a.m. and 5:00 a.m.  
• I DID NOT start a  new habit of bribing Kayden with gum so that he'll go potty by himself, without my help.

Now--my 'fer real' goals

In 2011, I will::::::::::::::::::

• exercise
• eat better--these first two are pretty standard, so I got them out of the way right away ;)
• when it comes to my job, I will do what makes sense for my family, and what makes me happy.
• be more frugal
• get more adventurous in my cooking
• give my boys more experiences and less "stuff"
• use kind words and a kind voice with my boys, even when I'm really mad!
• take more pictures of my family
• go on a "date" with my husband, at least, once every-other-month
• take Kayden to a Twins game
• worry less about what other people think
• sell my house, and build a new one that fits our family
• always remember how lucky I really am

Goal for 2011

2007

2009

2010

              My goal for 2011 is to NOT have a baby ;)  I'm fairly confident that I can accomplish this one!