Reflecting

It has been a rough few days. Meltdowns, rainy days spent inside, trouble sleeping, hitting bouts, not listening, etc. Even the little things seem to go wrong (like running out of a key ingredient in the middle of dinner). I get very frustrated and extremely angry. Sometimes it is just hard to be a mom and a homemaker. And then I read things like this post and I wake up to reality. I realize how ungrateful I have been and how I really need to count my blessings.



Time to do better.

House hunting

Jason is going to NC to look at houses in a month. It just wasn't making sense for me to go (nursing a newborn and running all over Fort Bragg for 3 days, missing naps) plus Jason wants to see the clinic and talk to some people on post about dental positions. Anyway, I have been utterly addicted to looking at houses in the area online. It makes me so happy to dream of a future home. I cannot wait!! We are just too large a family now for our little apartment. Jason and I sat down and discussed things that we want in our home so that when he goes to house hunt he'll know what to look for. We already know we want 4 bedroom, 1+ bath house with a fenced yard, a 2 car garage, double vanities, etc. My question is this: For those of you who have homes, what are some things you really like/do not like about your house that we might not have thought of? For those who are looking for homes, what kinds of things are on your house hunting list?

Blueberry surprise

When I was leaving for school at 12:30pm today, Eva and the gang came upstairs. Mom had a worried look on her face. "Eva stuck dried blueberries up her nose in the car." Of course she did. As the parent of 3 kids under five, nothing surprises me anymore. So Christine got the tweezers and I held Eva down while Mom extracted the offending booger berries. She thought there might be one more left but our flashlight was at school.

When I got home from school Christine said, "Did you bring the flashlight?" Apparently, Thing 2 managed to get not one, not two, but THREE blueberries up her nose and we missed the last one. Christine tried to get it out all day but Eva is a tough little cookie and resisted strongly. So when I came home, we woke up Eva and wrestled with her to use the flashlight to locate the blueberry. Christine had googled it (don't you love the information highway?) and the best way to get something out of a kid's nose is to plug the opposite nostril and . . . get this . . . blow into their mouth. That's what we did. Eva was freaking out but that dislodged it enough to where we could use tweezers to extract the now-swollen-to-three-times-its-original-size blueberry from her nose while I held her down.

Fun, fun, fun. (I will spare you all pictures).

First laugh

Daddy made Darby give her first laugh on Sunday. He was messing with her feet and she just let out this little series of giggles. It was so cute! I love those moments.

Mystery solved

Eva has been a real stinker lately. The kicker was when she wandered into our bedroom at 3am. She has always been a solid sleeper and hasn't had a night wakening since she was a few months old. She's been uber-cranky. The slightest thing sets her off. She has a runny nose too. I should have known (all the signs were there) but I had forgotten about these 2 year molars. Teething doesn't end in babyhood. Oh no, it comes back to haunt you in the terrible twos. Yep, she has her upper second molars in and is working on the lower two (with 1 tip poking through already). Sigh, I hate teething.

The little things

Before Winnie the Pooh sippy cup

After Winnie the Pooh sippy cup

When did such small things stop bringing such joy? Sometimes I don't want to be an adult anymore. I'd love life to be that simple again.

Speaker

Jason was asked to give a talk in sacrament meeting today. I had all 3 kids, which didn't turn out that badly (that'll be me for 6 weeks this summer). He was the last speaker. When he got up to the microphone and began to talk I pointed him out to Eva, who was in my lap. "That's Daddy up there!"
She yells, "Too loud! Too loud, Daddy! Shhhh!" and puts her finger to her lips. It made me, and those around us, crack up. Apparently the mic was too loud for her.

The kids in their church clothes. I don't know why a paper clip is so interesting, though.

Pajamas

I bought Eva these new "big girl" pajamas for Spring. Her footed sleepers were getting too hot. These polka dot pjs are made of silky material and look so grown up. I think they are adorable. She wanted to wear them as soon as she got them (at 4pm in the afternoon).

You've got mail

When we went to the library yesterday, Eva picked out an Elmo video that had a segment about mail and sending letters. Today I recieved a few packages due to recent ebay orders. Brendan decided that he too needed to contribute to the mail and announced that he was going to write letters to Bostyn and Grandma Caren. He was very excited about it. He is reluctant to try writing most of the time (he is too much of a perfectionist and his letters don't look neat) so I wasn't going to stop his little mail experiment.

His letters turned more into drawings but he did write his name on them and, after he glued them to construction paper, wrote who they were for (spelling was with my help, of course). It was pretty darn cute! We sealed them up and put stamps on them. Tomorrow they go out in the mail. He can hardly wait.

Destruct-inator

Eva is a whirlwind of destruction at our house. She is the one who creates the most chaos and mess. I remember this stage of Brendan's life and it wasn't pretty. It drove me crazy! She has to pull everything out of drawers and boxes and containers. She likes to pull out all the books and magazines. She enjoys trying on ALL the shoes and leaving them around the apartment. She yearns to crawl into areas that are too small for her or throw things that are breakable. Case in point - yesterday I go into our room (where she naps in a pack n play) to discover that she is drawing all over her hands with a Sharpie marker. She must have climbed onto her father's dresser to get it. At least I came in at the early stages of destruction - it was only on her hands and her shirt (one of the rare times that she didn't decide to strip naked during naptime). But, it could have been much worse. Some time ago she pulled all of her father's ties down during naptime, and if any of you know Jason, you know he has LOTS of ties. Do they make crib tents for pack n plays?

And last week she managed to open my contact case and dump them on the floor. The list of her messes goes on and on. Sigh. She makes me tired. But she sure is cute.

Happy Easter

It was a different sort of Easter Sunday since we stayed home to watch General Conference and didn't go to church. We spent most of the day in pajamas. The kids each got a book or a toy in their basket and minimal candy. I didn't get to hear much of the first Sunday session but the second session is during nap time so it will be child-free and quiet. It is kind of nice to spend Easter in this way, with family all day and listening to the Lord's servants testify of Him. Hope you have a happy Easter too!
Brendan's robot book - a BIG hit with him
Eva is looking through her "Five Minute Princess Stories" book. Bedtime stories can now be fun and short.
And here is Darby with her duck. So sweet.

2 Months

Stats
10 lbs 15.5 oz
23.3 inches
Darby turned 2 months old on the 29th. She is our dainty little princess with the crazy hair. I cannot get enough of kissing her sweet little face (neither can Daddy or Eva). She usually gives me 6 straight hours of sleep at night, waking up once to eat. She loves to be held and that can be hard on me sometimes. She is starting to smile and coo. She still hates bathtime and being naked. We all love her to pieces!

Math of the doctor's appointment

5 shots
4 Band-aids
3 pounds
2 girls
1 prescription

Today was the day of Darby's 2 month pediatrician visit and Eva's 2 year check up. I scheduled them back to back and after we dropped Bubbs off at school so I'd only have to wrangle 2 girls in the office once. First the girls had to be undressed, which Darby hated but Eva loved, and then the usually weighing and measuring. Darby has put on a pound and a half and 1.25 inches. Eva has gained another 1.5 lbs pound or so and an inch. When the doctor came in, it was kind of a tandem appointment for both girls, whenever we could occupy one to talk about or check out the other. I love our pediatrician. She gave me lots of good advice from sleeping to eating to discipline. Sometimes I feel like I need to write everything down as she gives me so much information.
We are to watch Eva's pronunciation since she has had so many ear infections. The doc wants to head any speech problems off before they escalate, not that she is worried about it now but we are just to keep an eye on it. Darby has a blocked tear duct and got a prescription for some ointment. It is something she just has to grow out of, like her floppy airways (which are not any worse, by the way). Both girls are growing beautifully and development is right on target. Both girls had to get shots - Eva got two and cried a lot until she got an Elmo sticker and her pacifier. Darby got 3 and screamed bloody murder. Poor thing. She needed lots of loving afterwards.
We finished in time to pick up the ointment at the pharmacy and get Brendan from school. Now everyone is either in their rooms or asleep. Peace. My reward for a long morning.