Monday, May 30, 2011
Anders' Face Day 2
Sunday, May 29, 2011
Memorial Day Weekend Part 2
So we had another fun day, but on to the highlight - when Anders got up, I asked him if he needed to pee, and he said yes, and when I put him on the potty - he peed AGAIN! No success out and about today, but we really did not try very hard. Then tonight while getting him ready for bed, I said let's go pee. He went with me and he peed again. 3 times in 24 hours, we might be on to something. Last week he refused to put on a pull-up for me, and now we are here. So hopeful, since I was determined to have Anders potty-trained before Quatro arrived.
As for today, we ventured to the Seattle Aquarium first. The kids enjoyed it, but they had their heart set on seeing sharks. Sadly, the only sharks were some pretty small innocuous looking ones. That only seemed to bother me, the kids were just happy there were sharks, they did not care about the size. Anders spent the time running from one exhibit to the next.
After the aquarium, we headed toward the tourist trap nightmare, where most of the museums are and the Space Needle. I think the entire west side of the state had the same idea, because it was a madhouse. We parked and walked towards the Pacific Science Center. The walkway had a 2 foot high ledge, which of course the kids had to walk up on. Fine, except of course Anders had to copy them. Then we told them to get down and Shane and Myann jump down and run off. I am walking back with Anders and he sees them jump down and says he would jump down too. I turned around and before I knew it, Anders was face down on the concrete walkway. Since I did not see what happened, I quickly ran to him and started scanning his face. He had dirt in his mouth, but there is no dirt on the ground. No blood in his mouth, no red marks on his head, but the left side of his face and nose looked like someone had dragged him across an asphalt road. His nose then started bleeding, but not gushing. I still do not know what really happened. His left cheek and nose seemed to have taken the direct impact, but I do not know how he was not hurt worse and how he got dirt in his mouth. Unless he fell towards the dirt along the ledge and then rolled to the ground. Being my tough boy, he cried for under a minute and then said, "Let's go and give me my banana." Banana being what he dropped in the midst of his fall. So off to the science center, and not another mention of his face by him. I was slightly self conscious, as he looked terrible and it continued to get worse looking throughout the day. We had a few odd looks from people and one mom ask what had happened. But that was it.
Once at the science center the kids played at all the exhibits. We were most excited to go back to the butterfly exhibit, since the kids were a hoot last time when the butterflies landed on them. This time was no exception. Anders had been proclaiming that he did not want to see the butterflies and that he hated them. The moment we walked though the door, a butterfly flew by Anders and he went into hysterics. Yelling and crying and Brian had to pick him up and console him. The kid handled his faceplant better than a butterfly flying within 2 feet of him. Brian held him for most of the time and he finally got used to the butterflies flying around him, but when one landed on him, he freaked again and said, "Daddy, please brush it off". When one landed on me, he was upset saying it was biting me. I assured him that I was just fine. In all, we were each landed on a few times.
In recent similar experiences, a few nights ago Anders was hysterical on the stairs at home and said a bug bit him. His urgency was so bad that I assumed he had been stung by a wasp. I ran down and did not see anything. He kept crying and showing me where he had been "bitten". I did not see any sign of a bite or sting mark and asked him where the bug was. He pointed to the window, where I saw a fly. The kid freaked because a fly landed on him. Sound familar. Then Wednesday we are heading to school and the kids went to the van before me. I come out to hearing crying and Shane in the front seat. I open my door and Shane tells me that Anders' hand was stuck in the sliding door and he was trying to open it. I run around the car, at which time Anders' hand had been freed of the door so I looked it over. He did not want me touching it, but I could see enough that he had good indentions in his fingers and they were red and puffy. I ran and got him some ice. Again, he cried maybe 30 seconds. He took the ice pack and did continue to say that it hurt and I could not touch it. Within an hour he seemed good as new. He is the toughest wimp I have ever known. I guess I should be fair and say he is only wimpy towards insects (flying insects) and people dressed in animal costumes (i.e., Mascots, Disney characters).
As for today, we ventured to the Seattle Aquarium first. The kids enjoyed it, but they had their heart set on seeing sharks. Sadly, the only sharks were some pretty small innocuous looking ones. That only seemed to bother me, the kids were just happy there were sharks, they did not care about the size. Anders spent the time running from one exhibit to the next.
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| Apparently you can only see one eye of the octopus, so the kids insisted on doing the same. |
After the aquarium, we headed toward the tourist trap nightmare, where most of the museums are and the Space Needle. I think the entire west side of the state had the same idea, because it was a madhouse. We parked and walked towards the Pacific Science Center. The walkway had a 2 foot high ledge, which of course the kids had to walk up on. Fine, except of course Anders had to copy them. Then we told them to get down and Shane and Myann jump down and run off. I am walking back with Anders and he sees them jump down and says he would jump down too. I turned around and before I knew it, Anders was face down on the concrete walkway. Since I did not see what happened, I quickly ran to him and started scanning his face. He had dirt in his mouth, but there is no dirt on the ground. No blood in his mouth, no red marks on his head, but the left side of his face and nose looked like someone had dragged him across an asphalt road. His nose then started bleeding, but not gushing. I still do not know what really happened. His left cheek and nose seemed to have taken the direct impact, but I do not know how he was not hurt worse and how he got dirt in his mouth. Unless he fell towards the dirt along the ledge and then rolled to the ground. Being my tough boy, he cried for under a minute and then said, "Let's go and give me my banana." Banana being what he dropped in the midst of his fall. So off to the science center, and not another mention of his face by him. I was slightly self conscious, as he looked terrible and it continued to get worse looking throughout the day. We had a few odd looks from people and one mom ask what had happened. But that was it.
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| Back at the scene of the fall. |
Once at the science center the kids played at all the exhibits. We were most excited to go back to the butterfly exhibit, since the kids were a hoot last time when the butterflies landed on them. This time was no exception. Anders had been proclaiming that he did not want to see the butterflies and that he hated them. The moment we walked though the door, a butterfly flew by Anders and he went into hysterics. Yelling and crying and Brian had to pick him up and console him. The kid handled his faceplant better than a butterfly flying within 2 feet of him. Brian held him for most of the time and he finally got used to the butterflies flying around him, but when one landed on him, he freaked again and said, "Daddy, please brush it off". When one landed on me, he was upset saying it was biting me. I assured him that I was just fine. In all, we were each landed on a few times.
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| Fat mirror. Kids loved, I did not. |
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| Skinny mirror. My personal favorite. |
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| One foot in the door and Anders begged to be picked up. |
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| Funny when a butterfly lands on Daddy. |
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| Myann happy to have a butterfly. Not so much 3 years ago. |
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| His face says it all. |
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| Dinosaur foot steps |
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| My beautiful wonderful girl. She is so big. |
In recent similar experiences, a few nights ago Anders was hysterical on the stairs at home and said a bug bit him. His urgency was so bad that I assumed he had been stung by a wasp. I ran down and did not see anything. He kept crying and showing me where he had been "bitten". I did not see any sign of a bite or sting mark and asked him where the bug was. He pointed to the window, where I saw a fly. The kid freaked because a fly landed on him. Sound familar. Then Wednesday we are heading to school and the kids went to the van before me. I come out to hearing crying and Shane in the front seat. I open my door and Shane tells me that Anders' hand was stuck in the sliding door and he was trying to open it. I run around the car, at which time Anders' hand had been freed of the door so I looked it over. He did not want me touching it, but I could see enough that he had good indentions in his fingers and they were red and puffy. I ran and got him some ice. Again, he cried maybe 30 seconds. He took the ice pack and did continue to say that it hurt and I could not touch it. Within an hour he seemed good as new. He is the toughest wimp I have ever known. I guess I should be fair and say he is only wimpy towards insects (flying insects) and people dressed in animal costumes (i.e., Mascots, Disney characters).
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| Worn out at the end of the long day. |
Saturday, May 28, 2011
Memorial Day Weekend Part 1
Friday after school we loaded up the car and headed for Seattle/Tacoma for the weekend. Ironically, the last family trip out there was when I was pregnant with Anders at this same time of year. Our trip in was not too bad and Brian and I even turned and looked at each other at one point and were thinking that quite surprised. No meltdowns, no fighting, little whining. We arrived at our hotel, better than we expected since we chose blindly, and unloaded. The kids of course were typical kids and immediately took to jumping on the beds. I do not normally condone jumping on beds, but for some reason it seems ok in a hotel room. I remember being giddy with excitement when I was a kid and we stayed at a hotel. Anders then melted our hearts when he crawled into bed beside Shane. Brian and I just looked at each other heartbroken knowing that he looked so stinkin' cute curled up under the covers, but we fully intended for him to sleep in the portable crib. We gave him a while in the bed and then moved him. Still too worried that he will roll out of the bed without rails.
Saturday morning we got up and headed for Tacoma to visit my cousin TJ, his wife Samara, and their new baby Cayden. I should mention their dog Neela of course, since she is who our kids spent the most time with at their house. They live in a beautiful area near the water, and we visited there for a while before heading to the wild animal park, Northwest Trek. Seeing TJ is wonderful and difficult at the same time. TJ is one of my cousins closest in age and we spent a good portion of our childhood breaks together. I was also immediately flooded with memories of Alex upon being around him, but it was nice, comforting to be with someone who has so many of the same childhood memories that I do. Seeing TJ happy and with his new family was wonderful as well. He deserves it as he has served 3 deployments in Iraq and Afghanistan and is ready for some normal family life time.
After seeing TJ, Myann said, "You remind me of an old friend. His name was Alex." Such a mature sounding statement from such a little girl. I later explained to her that TJ was both mine and Alex's cousin and they do look a lot a like.
TJ was explaining that their house was 120 years old and Shane responded, "Yeah, I can see that." Seriously, where do these statements come from? In TJ and Samara's defense, you can not tell it is 120 years old, as it has been beautifully redone. In my ignorance, I can not believe this neighborhood was around 120 years ago. I thought the west side was still the "Wild West" and void of any neighborhoods.
We then all headed to Trek, which was not busy. The weather held out for us, and we did not get the rain they were predicting. We saw caribou, bison, deer, bears, cougars, wolves, and coyotes. At the very end was a park employee holding small turtles, which had Myann and Shane captivated. Later that evening, Brian asked Shane what his favorite animal was and Shane said, "The turtles, they were just so cute." Not the response you would expect given the impressive animals we saw. Brian thought, well shoot we could saved the $50 and taken you to a pet store in that case.
After the park, we headed back to Tacoma for dinner at a brewery. Awesome food and the kids did reasonably well after their 50 minute power naps in the car on the way their. TJ became Myann's object of attention and was glued to him most of the day. Watch out if you are Myann's mark because she will love on you until it hurts, literally. The kids were all too happy to pour affection on Cayden when she was awake. I can see what we are in store for with our new baby. Anders gave her lots of kisses and did well holding her. Myann wanted to hold her too. She was a sweet baby and slept for a better part of the day.
Monumental news for us, that evening as the kids were in bed for the night, I snuck out to Trader Joe's, because I lucked out in our hotel being 3 minutes away from one. While I was gone, of course, while I was gone, Anders told Daddy he had to pee. Brian was skeptical but thought what the heck. Anders has never volunteered to go before and when he has agreed to go, he never has (except one time at preschool). So Brian put him on the potty and ouila! Anders peed. Brian texted me at the store and I was pretty thrilled. But thought seriously, the kid won't pee for me. Brian's theory is that putting him in the bed with Shane made him feel like a big boy and he wanted to prove it by peeing in the potty.
Saturday morning we got up and headed for Tacoma to visit my cousin TJ, his wife Samara, and their new baby Cayden. I should mention their dog Neela of course, since she is who our kids spent the most time with at their house. They live in a beautiful area near the water, and we visited there for a while before heading to the wild animal park, Northwest Trek. Seeing TJ is wonderful and difficult at the same time. TJ is one of my cousins closest in age and we spent a good portion of our childhood breaks together. I was also immediately flooded with memories of Alex upon being around him, but it was nice, comforting to be with someone who has so many of the same childhood memories that I do. Seeing TJ happy and with his new family was wonderful as well. He deserves it as he has served 3 deployments in Iraq and Afghanistan and is ready for some normal family life time.
After seeing TJ, Myann said, "You remind me of an old friend. His name was Alex." Such a mature sounding statement from such a little girl. I later explained to her that TJ was both mine and Alex's cousin and they do look a lot a like.
TJ was explaining that their house was 120 years old and Shane responded, "Yeah, I can see that." Seriously, where do these statements come from? In TJ and Samara's defense, you can not tell it is 120 years old, as it has been beautifully redone. In my ignorance, I can not believe this neighborhood was around 120 years ago. I thought the west side was still the "Wild West" and void of any neighborhoods.
We then all headed to Trek, which was not busy. The weather held out for us, and we did not get the rain they were predicting. We saw caribou, bison, deer, bears, cougars, wolves, and coyotes. At the very end was a park employee holding small turtles, which had Myann and Shane captivated. Later that evening, Brian asked Shane what his favorite animal was and Shane said, "The turtles, they were just so cute." Not the response you would expect given the impressive animals we saw. Brian thought, well shoot we could saved the $50 and taken you to a pet store in that case.
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| My crazy kids |
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| Can't recall why, but Anders tackled Shane. I guess the wild animals got to them. TJ was quite impressed with Anders' wrestling skills. |
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| TJ and Samara with Cayden |
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| Yummy ice cream |
After the park, we headed back to Tacoma for dinner at a brewery. Awesome food and the kids did reasonably well after their 50 minute power naps in the car on the way their. TJ became Myann's object of attention and was glued to him most of the day. Watch out if you are Myann's mark because she will love on you until it hurts, literally. The kids were all too happy to pour affection on Cayden when she was awake. I can see what we are in store for with our new baby. Anders gave her lots of kisses and did well holding her. Myann wanted to hold her too. She was a sweet baby and slept for a better part of the day.
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| Beautiful girl |
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| My kids were a bit smitten. |
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| Even Anders wanted to hold her. |
Monumental news for us, that evening as the kids were in bed for the night, I snuck out to Trader Joe's, because I lucked out in our hotel being 3 minutes away from one. While I was gone, of course, while I was gone, Anders told Daddy he had to pee. Brian was skeptical but thought what the heck. Anders has never volunteered to go before and when he has agreed to go, he never has (except one time at preschool). So Brian put him on the potty and ouila! Anders peed. Brian texted me at the store and I was pretty thrilled. But thought seriously, the kid won't pee for me. Brian's theory is that putting him in the bed with Shane made him feel like a big boy and he wanted to prove it by peeing in the potty.
Wednesday, May 25, 2011
Pregnancy this go around
So I am finally getting what I had heard so many times before and that is I am done being pregnant. Don't get me wrong, it is still pretty easy for me. I really have easy pregnancies, if you do not count placenta previa with Myann. This one is not much different, I feel good, I get around pretty good, but the novelty has worn off. The baby is on the move and that remains my favorite part of pregnancy. I could sit still for hours feeling the baby movements, but a part of me is content in knowing that this is the last one and I am okay with that. I always thought I would want one more but feel forced to stop because we are realizing we are reaching are parenting capability max. My friend Heather said she felt done on the last one and had been told that when you are done you know it. I was not so sure it would happen for me and it has. Now let's see if that happens when the baby is born. I am over pregnancy, but I still love my newborn babies. I do not know how it will feel to accept not having a newborn again. I am praying I feel that same sense of peace, where I can enjoy it and embrace that this is the last time.
Speaking of feeling good. The running joke is that I will be giving birth to a wild animal because all my "nesting" has been outdoors. The inside of my house is a train wreck, but I have been averaging 2 hours a day outside in the yard and last Monday I spent 6 hours pulling weeds, fertilizing everything, and transplanting grass and planting flowers. Being out in the yard so much has made me feel more like a Laynor. I thought the green thumb bypassed me, and it still might have, but I am trying and getting better. My Dad and grandparents spend half of their awake hours in their yards and I have never had that inclination, nor natural talent with plants. I killed a cactus in college and Brian frequently asks what my intended layout was when I planted flowers since they had no cohesiveness. So I am getting better, or at least trying. We'll ignore the fact that I could not walk after dinner. My sciatic nerve did not appreciate all that I did. Fortunately I was fine when I woke up the next morning. Now if only I could spend 6 hours in the basement, it might actually be presentable.
Speaking of feeling good. The running joke is that I will be giving birth to a wild animal because all my "nesting" has been outdoors. The inside of my house is a train wreck, but I have been averaging 2 hours a day outside in the yard and last Monday I spent 6 hours pulling weeds, fertilizing everything, and transplanting grass and planting flowers. Being out in the yard so much has made me feel more like a Laynor. I thought the green thumb bypassed me, and it still might have, but I am trying and getting better. My Dad and grandparents spend half of their awake hours in their yards and I have never had that inclination, nor natural talent with plants. I killed a cactus in college and Brian frequently asks what my intended layout was when I planted flowers since they had no cohesiveness. So I am getting better, or at least trying. We'll ignore the fact that I could not walk after dinner. My sciatic nerve did not appreciate all that I did. Fortunately I was fine when I woke up the next morning. Now if only I could spend 6 hours in the basement, it might actually be presentable.
Sunday, May 22, 2011
Last day of Sunday School
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| Shane and Myann with their teachers at Sunday School |
Saturday, May 21, 2011
All dressed up
Friday, May 20, 2011
St. Al's Fund Run
Myann and Anders ran this year and Shane had to cheer them on from the sidelines. Myann had to hold her teacher's hand, of course.
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| Myann and a class buddy. |
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| Shane wanted to be with Spike |
Wednesday, May 18, 2011
What we do for fun
The kids are loving outdoor chalk. Thank goodness we have a huge driveway. Okay, so I despise the driveway in the winter when I have to blow or shovel all the snow off of it, but during the summer, it is so worth it. And our sitter, Sierra, happens to be a chalk artist, so she really makes the kids artwork that much more impressive.
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| This is just Myann in one of her random ensembles. |
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