Yesterday the boys and I tagged along with my pal, Kimberly, and her kids to an outing planned by a mom's group she's involved in. We met up at a great outdoor mall and road a giant ferris wheel, the carousel, water fountains (where Nate ran around in his Cars underwear) and a train (toot-toot! - the kid's favorite). Afterward, Kimberly's gang and ours ate lunch at Red Robin (toot-toot! - mom's favorite). Poor Kimberly survived one of the most persistent tantrums by an almost-two-year-old I've ever seen and had to leave early.
This morning, after a mommy and me class at the YMCA and some much needed working out, Will and I hoofed it over to the Parks & Rec to sign me and my little rascals up for Mommy & Me Soccer this fall. One benefit of having our kids so close together: the boys can be in the same class. When I went to pay with my old pal, Mr. Credit Card, he wasn't to be found. Ms. Debit did the trick but I was left wondering where her main squeeze was. After forcing myself to concentrate for thirty seconds, I realized I must have left my card at Red Robin's yesterday. After a long call to Red Robin, my question was answered: of course I did! After calling Rick to have him pick up the card on his way home, I noticed there was a message on my cell. Who was it from? Kimberly, of course, telling me she was on her way back from picking up her credit card at Red Robin where she had left it yesterday. We must be soul mate friends (or, at the very least, mentally fried moms with one and two year olds).
I've had a couple great workouts over the last few days. And, because I'm perpetually out of shape, a lot of soreness, to boot. This morning I was chugging away on the elliptical, listening to my ipod. I have a workout mix I usually listen to, but it wasn't until 15 or 20 minutes into my workout that I noticed I had been "pumping it up" to my kids mix. I was singing along (in my head) to "I wanta be a puppy dog" by Ralph's World when it finally occurred to me I was not listening to my normal workout mix. Scary.
This last weekend I left my mini-me's and their pop to fend for themselves while I flew to Denver to surprise my little sister for her baby shower. My sister, Natalie, is my only sister and this is going to be her first baby, a girl, who's due early September. I can hardly wait. My brother-in-law kept mum so no one in town (beside one of my very favorite/best friends, Katy, and the gal who threw the shower) knew I was coming.
Seth, my brother-in-law, picked me up at the airport on his way home and told me to ding the doorbell really fast a lot of times so Nat would think it was him at the door. When she opened it, expecting to see Seth, she just stared at me for what seemed like a minute but was probably more like three seconds, then she started crying really hard. That sweet girl, I thought the baby might come out. It was so wonderful to be there with her and to be able to support her and show her how much I love her.
I cannot in any way imagine having a third child at this point in my life, but there is about a 2% chance it would happen and that's because my sister is the third child, and I cannot imagine living life without her (and Rick's also the third child - my love of my life!). Natalie is such a thoughtful, warm, loving, fun person, I would do anything for her. I would have even been a surrogate mother if she needed it, because she deserves far more than me to be a mom. If anything happens to me and Rick, our boys will go to live with their Aunt Natalie and Uncle Seth. They're just great people. And they were a great breath of fresh air for a busy mom.
Today I brought home a project Nate had made at school: a gold medal (apparently an Olympics theme going on). It said, "Nate can.... plant flowers". Great! I'm going to put him to work in the yard! He's got such a sense of humor these days.
He told me he's going to have a pirate party (so, okay, we ordered some decor and plates) and that he's going to have a pirate bouncy castle (which are actually affordable, so okay) and that Will's having a dance party (sounds like fun, but it's not going to happen). We're combining the boys' parties this year and as many years as we can until they realize it's not fair. Their Uncle David bought tickets so he'll be here for the party at the end of next month. There couldn't be a better present for the boys.
Having a two and three year old sure sounds better than one and two - fingers crossed! (I know people out there will say "fool!" but hope's what gets me through the rough spots, so give this girl a break!)
Thursday, July 31, 2008
Tuesday, July 22, 2008
Alaskan Cruise, Washington, Diarreah
We got back from 16 days vacation yesterday. The good thing about being away so long is that I actually look forward to getting back into the day-in-and-day-out routines that I was so looking forward to breaking free from before we left.
We definitely settled right in to our old ways today. Poor Will's got an itchy rash all over his body that began in Washington and has continued to spread. He's also teething, apparently it's his "eye" teeth finally coming through. Therefore, he's back to drooling, and I refuse to put a bib on him because he's nearly 2! The kid's going to get a complex. I believe it's the rash-teething combo that has resulted in difficulty getting to sleep tonight. He just now quieted down in his bed (9:30pm). A little while earlier, Will got up and grabbed the Little Einstein and Rocket action figures and two Matchbox cars to sleep with. I'm sure they made him feel much better. He wanted them just so on his pillow, all the characters (and cars) in the correct places. Whatever works, I'm game. We have a doctor's appointment tomorrow morning to get his rash checked out. We may need to add Nate to the roster.
Nate was super excited to go to school today to see his teacher's and friends. He had a great day at school, and even Rick came with me to pick him up (a first and very joyful experience for Nate). Rick had to leave for the airport about an hour after Nate got home because he had to go away for a couple days for business. This, in itself, is sad because we had been in Washington the last 9 days without him and Rick didn't get home until really late last night - 10 or so - so he didn't get to see the kids last night or this morning (he leaves for work about a quarter after 4am). However, Nate, though saying "don't go!" to his daddy, was feeling great all day until an hour after Rick left. I don't know if it was his breakfast or lunch or what, but his stomach just went out of control . . . dreaded diarrhea!!!
Nate felt so awful he just kept holding his stomach and saying "I'm sick, I'm sick" over and over again. He had continuous, burning, messes everywhere diarrhea for the rest of the night. He slept from 4-6pm, but woke himself by going in his bed. Not a lot of fun for anyone. I coaxed him into wearing a pull up for the night because I'm too exhausted to be changing the sheets at 2am. The whole house has reeked tonight. I've been an anti-bacterial wiping wonder. I swear diarrhea's still on me even though I've changed clothes and scrubbed my arms and hands. As my parent's neighbor, Barb, who had several children and grandchildren, once told me "water cures everything", so I gave him a bath which made him feel better for a time. Nate kept wanting the water higher to cover his hurt tummy. While Nate was bathing, Will poured his glass of milk all over the bottom two stairs and rubbed it in. What a great support.
I'm afraid this stomach bug thing may have carried over from our stay at my brother's house in Washington. It's also the house I was brought up in. Now it's also the house that has a lovely 1' diameter diarrhea stain on the white carpet by the back bathroom. Almost as bad as Will pounding holes all over the top of my mom's great, great (?) grandparents wood table (that maybe even traveled by wagon, if I can remember correctly), with an electric Thomas the Train controller. On a trip before they broke a 50+ pound jade elephant worth thousands of dollars my dad had shipped back from Asia. Whose kids are these? You'd think they weren't watched constantly. But yes, I was less than 10 feet from Will when he marred the antique table and maybe 15 feet from Nate when his bowels went haywire.
After the boys started to get bored at David's house (about 15 minutes after our arrival) they set to work to destroy the house and get everything out they could. By the end of day two, I went to Walmart and blew $100 on interactive toys to help keep the wild ones entertained. Much better.
We had a very good/bad time on the cruise to Alaska. It was great to see my family and beautiful Alaska. We had great excursions - my aunt watched the boys so we could go on a crabbing boat adventure in Ketchikan, and Will while we took Nate on an amazing train ride (during Will's nap time) in Skagway, Alaska. My dad kept the boys while we toured the Alaskan Brewing Company in Juneau. Every break was much needed because it was a lot to be together, sharing two beds, in one room for 7 nights. Nate loved going to the kids zone which was great for him and nice for us to have a couple hours a day to just be chasing after one rugrat (Will was too young by 1 1/2 months - dang!).
One of the last nights the kids were both having breakdowns in the room (typical enough, especially for Nate). It got so stressful because we felt bad our screaming kids were probably bothering other people on the ship who paid to have a nice, relaxing vacation, plus, tantrums get annoying quite quickly, even in a comfortable setting. Finally, after battling Nate to get his pajama's on, them him ripping them back off, I lost my mind and punched him in the butt and said "I hate you!". Okay, I'm surprised I'm even sharing this but I can't hold back. (I didn't punch him hard, I wasn't that crazy but close enough). That moment won the award hands down for "Most Immature Moment" for Beth.
My advice is, if someone offers to take you on a cruise with your one and two year olds, only go if you have a nanny and/or at least two rooms. It's just too darn stressful. There was no way to let off steam because I didn't want to get snockered with the kids and Rick and I had to go back to the room early and miss fun times with the other adults and several of the activities and shows I would've liked to have seen. I did manage to sip a rusty nail while watching a magician show one night just me and the kids and they were really well behaved. That is, if you don't mind having your $20 raffle tickets spread out and shoved down the back of several theater seats.
I apologize now for any weird grammar, etc. I should be sleeping!
We definitely settled right in to our old ways today. Poor Will's got an itchy rash all over his body that began in Washington and has continued to spread. He's also teething, apparently it's his "eye" teeth finally coming through. Therefore, he's back to drooling, and I refuse to put a bib on him because he's nearly 2! The kid's going to get a complex. I believe it's the rash-teething combo that has resulted in difficulty getting to sleep tonight. He just now quieted down in his bed (9:30pm). A little while earlier, Will got up and grabbed the Little Einstein and Rocket action figures and two Matchbox cars to sleep with. I'm sure they made him feel much better. He wanted them just so on his pillow, all the characters (and cars) in the correct places. Whatever works, I'm game. We have a doctor's appointment tomorrow morning to get his rash checked out. We may need to add Nate to the roster.
Nate was super excited to go to school today to see his teacher's and friends. He had a great day at school, and even Rick came with me to pick him up (a first and very joyful experience for Nate). Rick had to leave for the airport about an hour after Nate got home because he had to go away for a couple days for business. This, in itself, is sad because we had been in Washington the last 9 days without him and Rick didn't get home until really late last night - 10 or so - so he didn't get to see the kids last night or this morning (he leaves for work about a quarter after 4am). However, Nate, though saying "don't go!" to his daddy, was feeling great all day until an hour after Rick left. I don't know if it was his breakfast or lunch or what, but his stomach just went out of control . . . dreaded diarrhea!!!
Nate felt so awful he just kept holding his stomach and saying "I'm sick, I'm sick" over and over again. He had continuous, burning, messes everywhere diarrhea for the rest of the night. He slept from 4-6pm, but woke himself by going in his bed. Not a lot of fun for anyone. I coaxed him into wearing a pull up for the night because I'm too exhausted to be changing the sheets at 2am. The whole house has reeked tonight. I've been an anti-bacterial wiping wonder. I swear diarrhea's still on me even though I've changed clothes and scrubbed my arms and hands. As my parent's neighbor, Barb, who had several children and grandchildren, once told me "water cures everything", so I gave him a bath which made him feel better for a time. Nate kept wanting the water higher to cover his hurt tummy. While Nate was bathing, Will poured his glass of milk all over the bottom two stairs and rubbed it in. What a great support.
I'm afraid this stomach bug thing may have carried over from our stay at my brother's house in Washington. It's also the house I was brought up in. Now it's also the house that has a lovely 1' diameter diarrhea stain on the white carpet by the back bathroom. Almost as bad as Will pounding holes all over the top of my mom's great, great (?) grandparents wood table (that maybe even traveled by wagon, if I can remember correctly), with an electric Thomas the Train controller. On a trip before they broke a 50+ pound jade elephant worth thousands of dollars my dad had shipped back from Asia. Whose kids are these? You'd think they weren't watched constantly. But yes, I was less than 10 feet from Will when he marred the antique table and maybe 15 feet from Nate when his bowels went haywire.
After the boys started to get bored at David's house (about 15 minutes after our arrival) they set to work to destroy the house and get everything out they could. By the end of day two, I went to Walmart and blew $100 on interactive toys to help keep the wild ones entertained. Much better.
We had a very good/bad time on the cruise to Alaska. It was great to see my family and beautiful Alaska. We had great excursions - my aunt watched the boys so we could go on a crabbing boat adventure in Ketchikan, and Will while we took Nate on an amazing train ride (during Will's nap time) in Skagway, Alaska. My dad kept the boys while we toured the Alaskan Brewing Company in Juneau. Every break was much needed because it was a lot to be together, sharing two beds, in one room for 7 nights. Nate loved going to the kids zone which was great for him and nice for us to have a couple hours a day to just be chasing after one rugrat (Will was too young by 1 1/2 months - dang!).
One of the last nights the kids were both having breakdowns in the room (typical enough, especially for Nate). It got so stressful because we felt bad our screaming kids were probably bothering other people on the ship who paid to have a nice, relaxing vacation, plus, tantrums get annoying quite quickly, even in a comfortable setting. Finally, after battling Nate to get his pajama's on, them him ripping them back off, I lost my mind and punched him in the butt and said "I hate you!". Okay, I'm surprised I'm even sharing this but I can't hold back. (I didn't punch him hard, I wasn't that crazy but close enough). That moment won the award hands down for "Most Immature Moment" for Beth.
My advice is, if someone offers to take you on a cruise with your one and two year olds, only go if you have a nanny and/or at least two rooms. It's just too darn stressful. There was no way to let off steam because I didn't want to get snockered with the kids and Rick and I had to go back to the room early and miss fun times with the other adults and several of the activities and shows I would've liked to have seen. I did manage to sip a rusty nail while watching a magician show one night just me and the kids and they were really well behaved. That is, if you don't mind having your $20 raffle tickets spread out and shoved down the back of several theater seats.
I apologize now for any weird grammar, etc. I should be sleeping!
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