Ahhh, Kids

Well, it finally happened...Amelia apparently said something terrible (and so embarrassing to us that I will not repeat it on here) at school today that will now force us to have a more "grown up" talk with her than we want to. So far, we have tried to deflect any of the hard questions - race, gender, death, etc. However, now that she has made a comment that goes against anything we want her to learn, we don't have any option but to address it. I don't think Amelia had any understanding or context for what she said (nor do I have any idea where she heard it), but if we don't teach her right from wrong now, she'll never know it wasn't okay. Ahhhh, kids, they sure can find a way to keep you on your toes.

Easy Going

It's not hard to convince Everett to find a comfy spot and relax...

...or to play Peek-A-Boo...

Patience

As Everett displayed with Amelia's birthday cake, having the patience to wait for things like a fork is a learned skill....and for suckers...

Happy Birthday

While I can't believe Amelia is already four years old, I was even more surprised when she stood up in front of everyone on her new microphone and treated us to a concert.

Recovery

Ev is in full on recovery mode. I'm happy to see him smiling again. On another positive note, he's actually gained a tiny bit of weight since his last doctor's visit....maybe he finally climbed out of the 1st percentile (weighs less than 99% of other boys his age)...

Trading Places

Good news...Amelia is much, much better today and she seems to be on pace for all the birthday parties this weekend.

Bad news...Everett is way worse today than Amelia was at any point this week....he ended up in Urgent Care, the pediatrician's office, and the ENT's office. He got ear drops, 2 shots, and multiple doses of medicine....and we got $150 worth of Co-pays.

So, let's hope he gets better, the rest of us stay well, and we head into a great birthday weekend.

Too Good to be True

Well, after several months of Amelia being healthy and fighting off her asthma symptoms, it finally ended up being too good to be true. She apparently has not outgrown her issues as we thought. At 4 this morning, we were giving steam showers, drinking water, going out in the cold air, sucking lollipops, drinking juice, begging for mercy, and trying anything else we could think of at that hour.  Thus, it is now 9 o'clock and I am headed to bed. I'm guessing tonight is going to be a looooong night. Here's to hoping it clears up by her birthday.

2 for 1

The great thing about having a one year-old and a 4 year-old is that when presents come in the mail, it is a 2 for 1 gift....Amelia gets the gift, and Everett just loves playing in the box...

Helping Hand

Even 4 year-olds know, when it rains - literally or figuratively - it's always nice to have a helping hand....

Amelia (right) and her friend after ballet class

Birthday Party

Amelia had her birthday party today. It was a nice, low key breakfast in their jammies followed by crafts and some bounce house fun. Here are a few pics of the day (I'd have a lot more, but I don't post pictures of other children ... and Amelia didn't stray far from her friends today)

The table is set

Enjoying some pancakes

White chocolate "bacon and eggs"

Lovely purple Fruit Loop necklace

Enjoying the bounce house

Snow Day

The skies were kind enough to dump an afternoon's worth of snow on us today. I'm not sure how much snow we had, but it was more than in these pics...we put the camera down early because Everett didn't like the snow and Amelia and I had to engage in a serious snowball fight.

I'm pretty sure Sophie photobombed us by answering nature's call in that last photo.

Mouthy

Is Amelia turning four or fourteen next week? Here are three things she's said today...


Amelia (Upon walking into a place that had basketball on TV): "Oh Yeeeeaaaaah, Gator Basketballllll. Your favvvvvvorite."

------

Me (Walking up to Meggan and Amelia while they prepare stuff for her birthday party): "Can I help you guys?"
Amelia: "This isn't any business for you."

------

Lady at Drive Thru (after a bit of a delay): "Sorry about that, how are you today?"
Amelia (loudly ....and before I can say something polite): "What's taking so long?!? Come ON, maaaaaan"


Now, don't get the wrong impression, she's said 500 sweet things for each of these...but, seriously, come on, maaaaaaaaan.

Happy Valentine's Day

I'm sure there are a lot of you out there who had a very romantic, quiet dinner with your significant others. Well, I'm not a bit jealous. I had dinner with a wild man enjoying his first slice of pizza and I wouldn't trade it for anything.

Happy Times

Everett is definitely a generally happy baby, but these days, there are two things that you can guarantee will make him smile ..... eating (pictured below)  and taking a bath (not pictured due to Everett's firm "no nudity" clause)....if only I can figure out a way to feed him in the bathtub, he may explode.

.

Breakfast

What better bonding time can two siblings have than eating breakfast next to each other while completely zoning out on cartoons?

Sophie, on the other hand, has her sights set on the possibility of the cartoons being distracting enough for her to sneak in and grab a snack...or at least a random sample being dropped on the floor....you can see by her focus ...she knows the young one is an accident waiting to happen...

Rocket Man

Much like Elton John, he only likes to play the piano with a wig on....

 

The Test

Well, it's official, Everett approves of his new car seat. His mother and I weighed factors like safety features, comfort, durability, and price. Then, he gave it his most important test...is it fun to climb into and stand up in....

Thankful

We had a little situation at school tonight that reminded us to be thankful for the great friends we have in our lives. One of the parents in this house (I won't mention any names, but it wasn't me.) forgot to leave Everett's car seat at daycare for the other parent (Again, I won't mention names, but this was me.) Thus, we were stuck at school near closing time without a way to get home. After contemplating all options including stealing someone else's car seat, stuffing Everett in the trunk, and just leaving Everett at school for the weekend, I was saved by a shining beacon of good timing and kindness. Another parent offered to briefly leave her daughter at school while she helped me transport my kids to another friend's house nearby. Once there, we borrowed their carseat and were able to make it home. Sure, this may not have been the most treacherous problem in the world, but it always feel great to know you have people you can count on in a pinch....and it was kind of nice to avoid the need to duct tape Ev to my backseat.

Hungry

I'm not sure if Everett has finally gained any weight, but it's not for lack of effort.  In the last couple weeks, he has been eating us into poverty.  This week, we have run out of waffles, yogurt, bananas, milk, orange juice, and Nutrigrain bars.  We now have to up our weekly purchasing to 2 bunches of bananas, 2 cartons of milk, 2 boxes of Nutrigrains, at least 10 yogurts, and likely two orange juices. I thought it was going to be cheaper when we got him off of his special, expensive formula. Instead, I've decided to switch from a college savings plan to a teenage boy eating fund.

Hmmmmm

While getting ready to take her bath tonight, Amelia grabbed her chest, stretched it out and then told me her 'boobs were growing".  After my stunned silence, she asked me what boobs are for. After another bit of silence, I said the only thing I could think of....."Meggan....Amelia has something to ask you."  Four years in and I'm still not ready to raise a girl.

Naybe

Even though Christmas is long gone, Naybe still occasionally visits Amelia and leaves her notes to let her know he's always watching. That sneaky elf is much better at motivating her than we are. He even stopped by tonight just to say hello...and apparently while he loves the North Pole, he really misses Amelia...

Welcome Back

I officially left quarantine today....and this is what I found....




...Dear God.

Quick View

I crawled out of quarantine long enough to see Everett decide today was the day he is going to walk all over the place...except towards his sister despite her constant pleas for him to walk to "big sistie".

Tuesday Nights

I've always felt, when picking a significant other, the most important thing was to simply find someone you enjoyed spending Tuesday nights with. It's easy to find someone you enjoy going out with on weekends, going with on vacation, and even someone with whom you enjoy spending the holidays. However, if you can find someone you enjoy on a regular night - when you aren't doing anything but hanging around the house, you both have to work the next day, and neither of you is dressed in your nice clothes - you stick with them. And if you can somehow still find this person attractive if they are either sick or or wearing their "comfy" clothes, you marry them. This theory may not work out for everyone, but it certainly has for me...which is why I took the picture below even though I'm sure Meggan hates it and most people would say it's terrible because she isn't even looking at the camera. To me, this picture is our Tuesday nights...hair up, glasses on, baking cookies, and laughing at each other (or the kids)...and I love everything about it.

Never Saw That Coming

Prior to having kids, getting sick is mostly a minor inconvenience. It is a day or two of rest you probably need anyways and some mild discomfort to help you appreciate the other times more. However, once you have children, it is soooo much worse. Now, I'm not any more sick than I would be if I didn't have kids. But, since we love our children (and if you think it sucks to be sick, try taking care of sick 1 and 3 year olds), Meggan and I basically quarantine ourselves in our bedroom if we ever have anything contagious. There is something sort of maddening about being stuck in your room all day - the bed isn't as comfortable as a couch, the TV is much smaller than the one in the living room, the conversation sucks unless you are really good at talking to yourself, etc.  All those are easy to see and make perfect sense as to why being sick with kids is worse. However, today (since it is apparently my turn to be quarantined) I am dealing with something I never saw coming.- guilt. I feel guilty for missing ballet and swimming. I feel guilty for not being able to help with Everett. I feel guilty for not being available to take Amelia to her friend's birthday party. I feel guilty that Meggan has to do it all. Naturally, Meggan just wants me to get better and hasn't in any way acted frustrated by this situation.  And also naturally, there will be times where the roles are reversed either due to illness or work  But, none of that erases the way I feel when I hear Everett crying or Amelia asking for help with something. None of that will help tonight when Meggan has to do bath and bed time by herself. And none of that will matter when I don't get to tuck the kids into bed.  So, for any of us, being sick really sucks. For us parents, though, it basically removes us from our families.

Teacher

I'm trying to get Amelia to understand when she does this...

Everett does this... 

But, when she does this...

 Everett does this....

So, she has some responsibility as a big sister to make sure he knows to smile in pictures instead of stick out his tongue. So far, it is pretty evident she either doesn't understand or just doesn't care.