My Mommy by Isabelle

This was going around on Facebook so I though I would share it here.

1.What is something mom always says to you?
you always love me

2. What makes mom happy?
be a good girl

3. What makes mom sad?
pee in the floor

4. How does your mom make you laugh?
tickle

5. What was your mom like as a child?
going to college with daddy

6. How old is your mom?20

7. How tall is your mom?big

8. What is her favorite thing to do?cook dinner

9. What does your mom do when you're not around?
buying stuff

10. If your mom becomes famous, what will it be for?
this might be really hard, I can't tell

11. What is your mom really good at?
doing exercises

12. What is your mom not very good at?
getting score at soccer

13. What does your mom do for a job?
doctor

14.What is your mom's favorite food?
mac and cheese

15.What makes you proud of your mom?
being a good mommy

16. If your mom were a cartoon character, who would she be?
a star

17. What do you and your mom do together?
play with each other

18. How are you and your mom the same?
our hands are the same

19. How are you and your mom different?
I'm small

20. How do you know your mom loves you?
we love each other

21. What does your mom like most about your dad?
that he cooks

22. Where is your mom's favorite place to go?to work


She was very confused why I was asking her these questions and must have still been hungry with all of the cooking answers.

Dinosaurs

My husband was very kind to pick out the oldest two children's clothes that they were going to wear today before he put them to bed last night. He told Charlie that he had a dinosaur shirt for him to wear tomorrow. Charlie loves dinosaurs so he was very excited. Chad got him dressed this morning and came out of his room saying that we had a problem. I looked at Charlie and saw his shirt and thought sure, he is wearing a pajama top. Turns out problem was that the dinosaur on his shirt was a stegasauras.

I thought we might have trouble getting him to change out of his pajama shirt. Little did I know, the kid wasn't going to be happy unless he had a Tyrannosaurus Rex dinosaur shirt.

Unfortunately his Tyrannosaurus Rex shirt was dirty (no I don't get a chance to wash the kids clothes everyday). He started rummaging through a basket of clothes (yes, clean clothes often reside in baskets instead of drawers)looking for his shirt. We found a shirt that was satisfactory for him with three different dinosaurs. Funny thing was it was a pajama shirt as well.

Comfort Items

Do your kids have a lovey or comfort item that they carry around with them? Isabelle never really had one, but she was very attached to her pacifier. She called it "this" and kept it a little too long probably. She was about 2.5 when we took it away. Charlie never would take a pacifier. I tried every brand out there and he refused. He sucked on his two middle fingers. He still does this. I am finding it is more difficult to have one stop sucking on something they have readily available all of the time. Charlie usually only sucks on his fingers though when he has his comfort item, plastic keys. He has slept with these keys for a long time. First it was this plastic bee teething toy, but for the past year or so it is the keys.

He has had to have these keys when sleeping or napping for quite some time. Now he wants them all of the time. I don't really see a major problem with it, but it does mean that he sucks on his fingers a little more throughout the day. We used to only have one pair but now that he has become so attached to them we bought back up. Thankfully they are only $1.99

Henry hasn't really attached to anything yet. He will take his pacifier or leave it. If he doesn't have it, he sucks on his fingers. He does like to nap with a blanket against him at the sitters. At home he wears a wearable blanket which he does fine with. Who knows what if anything he will attach to. I never thought I would have one attached to plastic keys.

What to expect

When Isabelle was a baby, the only thing I had to look to for guidance were books, magazines and maybe some advice (some unwanted) from friends or family. When Charlie came along I sort of felt like I knew what to expect thinking that he would follow the same sort of timeline as far as development as she did. Of course he did not. Now that Henry is here as far as the baby stages I feel like I know what to expect, but have learned not to expect it to happen at some magical age such as when Isabelle did things or for him to do things in the same manner that Charlie did. I know that he will develop on his own schedule and he seems to be doing really well.

My problem now is again with the older kids. Do I expect too much of them? Occasionally Charlie with throw a major tantrum or not pay attention, or act purely silly and I find myself getting upset. Shouldn't he be able to sit and pay attention when asked too? How can he really become so upset over something so little? Then I remind myself that he is only two. I guess part of this is being the middle child. He is a little closer in age to Isabelle than Henry but only by a few months. The big difference now is that he is much closer developmentally to Isabelle. Often I think I expect the same of him as I do Isabelle. I don't really know what realistic expectations are for her either. This morning as we were trying to get everything ready to head out the door for work, Henry was crying. He needed some attention and possibly a pacifier. I asked Isabelle to talk to him and get his pacifier for him. She was distracted by the television and completely ignored me and Henry crying. She got in trouble for not listening and left crying as well. Is this in line with what I should expect from her, or am I asking too much?

Forgotten Birthday

OK, so I am new to this whole preschool mommy thing. At the beginning of the month we are sent home a newsletter which has the menu, news about all of the classes and oh yeah, a list of teachers who will be celebrating their birthdays for the month. I do remember glancing at it and making a mental note (that obviously got lost in my jumbled mind) that Ms. Shellie's birthday was in July. I didn't really think much about it past that until today when Chad called and asked if I knew it was Ms. Shellie's birthday. "Um, no not really, well maybe I did read that in the newsletter a few weeks ago" I stammered. Chad reported that all of the other kids in Ms. Shellie's class were coming in this morning with a card or gift for her. Isabelle was empty handed. I am hoping to get a chance during lunch today to run out and get a card and maybe a little gift for Ms. Shellie. I am hoping Isabelle will be still be excited to be able to give her something this afternoon when I get there. Looks like the lesson learned today is to pay more attention to the newsletter when it is sent home and realize that mental notes aren't too reliable. Things such as this need to be added to the calendar and set with a reminder!!

Compliments

While we were on vacation Charlie made my day. We were getting ready to go to the pool so I put on my coverup which was a strapless dress style. Charlie came up to me and told me that I looked liked Cinderella. It melted my heart.

Weekend Wrap-up and Happy Birthday Maggie

We had a great weekend. Chads parents came in town on Thursday night. They offered to take care of our kids on Friday. Our baby sitter needed the day off and Chad and I both had so much time off earlier this year when Henry was born we needed to work. We gave Isabelle the option of going to preschool or staying with Nonna and Granddad, so of couse she spent the day at home. We are very thankful that they were able to keep the kids. Our kids really enjoy spending time with them. I don't think that taking care of the kids was the hard thing on Friday. They brought their two boxers and we have our two dogs, a boxer and boston terrier. I think the four dogs were more work than the three children.



Also while they were there our air conditioner was finally fixed. It has been a long road getting it fixed and I'm not 100% pleased with the way it was fixed, but at least it is working. They were going to replace the coil, but it dropped off the back of the truck and broke into a million peices so they repaired the coil instead. On my to do list now is to call to see about a new coil.



Saturday we went to a birthday party for Maggie. She is my niece and has just turned three. She and Isabelle have a great time playing together. However, it was very difficult for Isabelle at the party. Everything Maggie opened was something Isabelle was interested in and wanted to be able to play with. She was very excited about the gift she had gotten Maggie, but by the end of the party tears were shed so we headed home. How are you able to make these situations better? I brought along a doll from home to try to keep her distracted, but that didn't work too well.



Sunday was our first day at home for a long time. We sorted laundry, played, and rested. It was nice to have a day at home after four weekends on the go. We have little time when we get home from work for anything but dinner, baths, and bedtime so our weekend are time to catch up. With so much going on for the past month, we are really playing catch up.

Disinfectant Needed

One...Two...Three snotty nosed, coughing, sneezing so nobody in our house can rest kids!!! All the kiddies in our house have been hit by a little cold. Isabelle has handled it pretty well. She only has a runny nose and slight cough so she just grabs a tissue and goes on her way. Charlie is the least affected by the cold so far, just a few sneezes here and there, but is probably still the most whiny about it. Poor Henry, he is definitely the worst hit, but still rather pleasant. He can't eat very well, he can't soothe himself with his pacifier or his fingers, and he absolutely hates the saline and bulb syringe that I pull out on a regular basis. In addition he got vaccinations yesterday. He still will smile for me though. This wouldn't really be so bad as they are all doing OK, but we are all sleeping in the same room due to the air conitioner being out. Every cough and sniffle is heard by everyone. Between the three of them, it makes it almost impossible for anyone to get any rest.

Its really tough on days like these to send them off to the babysitter. They aren't sick enough that they need to stay home or they need for me to stay with them, especially the older two. I feel like the baby could use some extra hold me time that he would probably get if he were at home rather than at the sitters. I probably just worry too much and hopefully he is getting just want he needs today at the sitters. Tomorrow he will be loved on by Nonna and Granddad and will get all kinds of attention. Hopefully he will feel a little better by then.

4th of July and my Baby Boy is 6 months old

We had a great fourth of July weekend.  We spent the day Friday having a cook out at my mom's house.  She has put a pool in her backyard and got all sorts of things for the kids to play with in the pool.  There were two problems though.  One, it was really cool and the water was freezing and two, Charlie is scared of the water.  Charlie didn't go anywhere near the pool, but had a great time playing in a little baby pool that my mom filled with sand.  He was a mess. Isabelle enjoyed the sand as well, but was determined to go swimming.  She and my mom got into the frigid water. She assured me the whole time that she was not cold as her lips were turning blue and her teeth were chattering.  Chad got in for a second.  I do not like cold water at all so I watched from the side.  We spent the rest of the weekend with Chad's family.  They set off some fireworks Saturday night.  Charlie and I watched from indoors as he was a little scared of that too.  He enjoyed them from inside though and kept asking if I heard the booms.  Overall, it was a great weekend.  It makes life a little more hectic being away from home on the weekend because that is usually our time to catch up on things neglected over the week, but it wasn't so bad sleeping in a room with an air conditioner. (air conditioner should be fixed on Friday)

this picture is about a month old, but it is one of my favorite, and I haven't had time to upload more recent pictures.

On to the baby boy - He went in for his six month well visit today.  He is a big boy.  He was 27" and 17lbs. 12 oz.  This may not seem too big to many, but my 2 1/2 year old only weighs about 22lbs.  Henry also cut his first tooth over the weekend.  I relinquished my parental duties to my husband for this checkup.  Of course I had a list of questions/concerns written out, but second hand information just doesn't compare to being there.  He has been a little fussy this evening, but is still flashing his great smile and giggling.  All seems well.