once, my kids had colds.

(random picture that has nothing to do with anything)

Ana has a cold. Actually, both my kids have colds. Its nothing much, just a stuffy nose and an occasional cough. No big deal.

My kids don't get sick very often. A few colds a year, probably. They have each been barfy once that I can remember. (Jack does get car sick sometimes, but that's not contagious illness, so I'm not counting it.) I hope I am not jinxing myself. I've often wondered how we've been so lucky. Perhaps it's because my house is never clean so they are exposed to lots of germs. Maybe it's because they were summer babies. Maybe it's simply one of those tender mercies. Who knows.

Whatever the case may be, since Ana rarely gets sick, you would think she was in dire agony today. About a thousand times today I have heard variations of the following, in the most dramatic/whiny voice possible:

"Mom, [sigh...] my nose is so stuffy."

"My voice sounds funny."

"Why am I sick? Can't my body eat the germs faster?"

"I am cold. Will I ever be warm again?"

"When will my stuffy nose go away?"


I'm not complaining. In fact, I thought it was pretty dang hilarious how unaccustomed she is to being sick. But I am hoping that they both feel better tomorrow. Because though Jack hasn't complained much about his cold, he has complained about almost everything else.

And that is not hilarious.

doctor approved

After falling embarrassingly behind in Jack's vaccinations, last Thursday I took him in for a well check. I think the doctor was a little surprised by Jack. When Dr. C entered the room, Jack pointed to a picture on the door that had a girl doctor and a boy doctor and said, "Some doctors are boys and some doctors are girls." Then Jack proceeded to tell Dr. C all the colors that he saw and that blue and green were his favorites. He told him about his little toy car he was holding and that he had peed in his undies and that's why he was wearing a diaper. (Nice touch, I know.)

The toy basketball and hoop found in the office quickly distracted him from talking, but that was no problem because Dr. C was impressed with Jack's ability to actually make a basket. Jack cooperated fully during the check up and then proudly showed the doc how well he could jump.

"Well, when he becomes a basketball star for BYU," Dr. C said, "just know that I predicted it at age 2." He then declared that I have great kids.

Jack is in the 50th percentile of weight (only 3 pounds less than Ana) and the 20th for height.

And of course, the 100th percentile for adorableness. That's what the doctor told me. (I am paraphrasing).

Then I got my kid immunized. Because it is important. And safe. And it does not cause autism. And it saves lives.

I promise blue hands are not a side effect.

a visit from grandma and grandpa

Dave's parents have been serving a mission in West Virginia for the last year. Last week their term of service was up, and they started their trek home to Idaho. But first they came up to visit. Hooray! Ana and Jack were so so so excited to have Grandma and Grandpa come. They were only here for two days, so we were sure to pack those days full of fun. Sunday after church we visited the Joseph Smith Birthplace Memorial in Sharon, Vermont. On the way home we stopped at the Round Church in Richmond.

Monday Dave played hooky and we went Ice skating, out to lunch on Church Street, then to the Echo Aquarium and Science Center. They thought it was fun to see Ana so attentive to the worker who was feeding the frogs. She sure soaks up everything there is to know about animals.

Tuesday morning Ana had a dentist appointment, so they stayed with Jack. When we got home they got ready and left. The kids (and me and Dave too) were sad to see them go so soon, but we know they have lots of family and friends anxiously awaiting their return back home.

While we are on the subject of in-laws: I know a lot of people have complaints about their in-laws, and I guess I am one of the lucky few who doesn't. Dave's parents are wonderful. They are generous and kind and are always willing to help. Dave's mom never complained about my housekeeping (or lack thereof) when we were living with them. She was always supportive and respectful of my decisions in parenting too. I can't think of a better family to have married into. I love them all so much and I felt right at home from the very start with all of them. Happy Birthday Mom L!!!



Oh, and one more thing.....

We are having a GIRL!!! (And we have one very excited big sister!)

a veteranarian in the making...

Ana is our little animal lover.



It goes far beyond a desire for a puppy.



I thought she was going to die in KFC the other day when the lady at the table next to us was sitting next to her little dog. I wish I had a picture of her face. The cuteness was too much for her to handle.



One of her favorite PBS shows is "Wild Kratts" which is a show about animals.



A few weeks ago she was watching out our kitchen window as some squirrels were digging through our recycle bin. There were about 3 scurrying around our porch, probably hoping that we had left our garbage out overnight again. Ana sat on our counter for quite a while watching them. I went upstairs for a minute, and when I came back down, she had cut up a banana and was throwing the pieces out our door for the little guys. She was so happy when they came back for them!


Last night she informed me: "I want 5 pets: a deer, a kitty, a pig, a puppy and a bunny." Today she said she also wants a buffalo. But she'll wait until we live on a farm for that one, she said. And that she would keep it outside and clean up its poop.


We really need a farm around here.

big boy

Jack is a big boy. Sometimes I forget how big he is since he is still my baby. He's got me wrapped around that little finger of his. I can't say "no" to him. Plus, when he cries it sounds like a baby. (If he's crying in the background while I'm on the phone people ask why I have a baby around.) And he just barely is starting to get dressed by himself, which Ana was doing before she was 2.

But lately I am realizing just how big of a boy he is. He talks like a 4 year old. He can write his name. He can do a puzzle for ages 4+ all by himself. He sings Ben Folds (Annie Waits) while he's doing other stuff. He is my little partner in just about everything - putting dishes away, folding and sorting laundry, cleaning the bathroom (when I do any of those things...).

Then the other day he put on this outfit and I realized that he is BIG. He's a lot bigger than Ana was at that age. See?




My kids are the exact same ages to the day in these photos. (Totally by accident. I realized when I uploaded them.) (2 years, 9 months and 2 days.) It actually fits him. Ana wore that until she was 4. And I had to convince her to give it to her brother.



Wow. Time is flying.

conversations

Me: Ana, what am I going to do without you to help me take care of the new baby while you are in school?

Ana: Well, we could send messages to each other?

Me: Oh yeah?

Ana: Yeah. You could just get me my own laptop and then during recess we can chat and send messages.

thanks to a stranger

Jack got his stitches out this morning. It was a little traumatizing. So we went out to Wendy's afterward for lunch. It was a good time. We chatted and ate and the kids said cute things. Ana wouldn't let me share her frosty, but then Jack said, "You can have some of mine, Mommy," and gave me a big spoonful. Then Ana decided to share too, so I got plenty of bites. I taught them the proper way to each Wendy's french fries (dipped in the frosty, of course). We were mostly done and starting to finish up when a woman who was sitting near us approached me.

"You have the most beautiful children I have ever seen," she said. "And they are so well-behaved!" She then told me about how her kids were grown up and it made her happy to see children like mine. "They are just wonderful!" And then she walked out.

I admit, I got a little teary-eyed as I watched her walk away.

I've been very frustrated with my parenting lately. Let's say I'm at my wit's end. I am tired. I am cooped up inside. And I feel guilty at the amount of "screen time" that has naturally resulted. This has not been good for my psyche, and I am often frustrated as I compare the mommy I know I should be with the mommy I am.

But as this woman walked away from me I thought, "You are doing all right."

So, thanks, random lady in Wendy's, for helping me a little today.

the time we survived the blizzard of '11

Dave got up to take a test yesterday. He got up early so he could study for a little while beforehand. I heard him get up, make breakfast and leave. Then I heard him come back. Then I heard him leave again. Then I heard him talk on the phone... "I was out there since 6:20 and no bus ever came. There is nothing on the website about delayed buses. ... Yeah, he's going to take us all up there." Then I heard him leave out the back door. What? I thought. I looked at the clock. It was 7:15. Then I fell back asleep.

Ana came in a little while later. While she was laying next to me, I heard Dave come back inside. By then I was thoroughly confused. So I looked out the window.

I couldn't see anything. Literally. There was snow blowing everywhere and I couldn't see. I groaned and pulled the sheets back over my head.

Apparently since the city bus system wasn't running, and a number of students couldn't make it to the school, and some others had opted to snowshoe to school since their cars were buried, the test was postponed, and the class of 2014 rejoiced in the extra day to study.

our front.... steps?

I got his trike out last week and never got around to putting it back....

The Buick. It took Dave 2 hours to dig it out.

After the snow and wind died down Ana and Daddy went out to shovel.


"Dad," she said, "this is kinda hard work."


I guess that's when the shovel was put aside.

in stitches

Ana is part monkey. Its true. She has been climbing before she could walk. And she has never stopped. She can do the monkey bars. She can climb on top of monkey bars. She is always getting herself into predicaments and calls for help. "If you can get up, then you can get down," I always say. And she does. We've never had any serious injuries with her.

Jack is a klutz. He's always tripping and falling and face-planting. He's had a couple black eyes and bloody noses. So naturally it would be the boy that would send us to the ER for the first time in our parenting career.

Yesterday, as we were getting ready to leave church, Jack took a dive into the legs of a chair. He started crying. I was unconcerned. (He falls down all the time.) Dave went over to give him his kiss, and said, "whoa... " "What is he bleeding?" I said. "You can deal with that." Then I looked up. Blood was running down his face from his lip.

Then my motherhood instincts kicked in. I rushed him to the bathroom, where I attempted to clean him up. There was a gaping whole in his lip. I couldn't tell if his tooth had punctured it from the inside, but I could tell it needed stitches.

Our wonderful friends offered to take Ana home, while we took Jack up to the Emergency Room. Jack stopped crying after a few minutes, his lip stopped bleeding, and he calmly held a paper towel up to his lip while we drove the 25 minutes from the church to the ER.

Jack was so calm during the whole thing. One PA thought he might need to be sedated, but another thought we could do it without. Jack watched a show on Dave's iPod while we held a numbing solution on his lip. Then when the PA came in and started stitching his lip, he just sat there on Dave's lap and watched Super Why while the she did the stitches. He hardly moved. He didn't push her away or anything.

The finished product:



He got a popsicle afterward, and a couple stickers, so overall he was pretty happy with his ER experience. When we asked if he wanted to go home, he said, "No, I'll stay here."

(After we left Ana at the church with our neighbors, one of our friends asked Ana where her mom was. "Oh, she just took Jack to the hospital," she answered, and skipped away.)

besties

My good friend and next door neighbor Sara had a baby yesterday. We are so excited for them. Her husband is a class-mate of Dave's, too, and so when we both moved in last fall we just clicked and have become such great friends.



They have a little two year old boy named Tanner.




These two little boys are best friends. Jack talks about Tanner a lot and how he loves playing with Tanner and how he wants Tanner to come over. We drive past their house and he says he wants to go to Tanner's house. They sure love each other.

Tanner was over this morning so Grandma (who is in town) could go up and see the new baby and mama. Tanner and Jack just played the whole time. They played cars, they played with balls, they played with playdough. They teased Ana. (Who is very dismayed that there aren't any little girls around). Then they marched up and down the hallway "singing" in a parade. And when it was time to go they gave a hugs.

I am so glad we have such great friends here! (Not just the Morey's but so many other wonderful families that we love already.) And it's so much more than someone to borrow milk from and who will watch my kids while I'm at the doctor (though we do that a lot). It's so great to have a "family" here.