Having fun

The pictures below are from my shutterfly account. I don't know how to download them to my computer and since they are from Grandma Nan's camera the chances of getting them before February is slim!

We had spaghetti and meatballs one night and Aunt Nessie and Miss M reenacted Lady and the Tramp. Miss M doesn't know about Lady and the Tramp...what a tragedy...but she enjoyed the reenactment. It sure helped to get her to eat some of her dinner.

Mr. Man was having fun with Grandpa as they were pointing at each other and laughing hysterically. Mr. Man's laugh is so infectious and adorable which is nice b/c his screaming is obnoxious.

The last picture of Aunt Nessie on the ground with the kids isn't her trying to scare my children but rather we were playing outside with the parachute and it so happens that the parachute isn't in the picture as it had been lifted up (the kids were hiding underneath) and was on it's way back down.

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Pumpkin carving

Miss M got a pumpkin book from Mimi - maybe it's for Mr. Man - who knows.  Miss M loves reading it over and over and so in reading it she decided she wanted to make her pumpkin into a jack-o-lantern.  

Andrew agreed to help. He wasn't really impressed.  But he's a team player. 

The kids don't like pulling the seeds out. Andrew doesn't like it either. These people are lucky to have me around. 

We made a face that looks like Miss M's of course. She'd have it no other way.

Mr. Man was more interested in drinking crystal light, spilling it and then chasing the ice cubes around.

Miss M and her pumpkin face.

We have two more pumpkins to carve. I wonder if any of them will get to look like the other children or if they will all end up looking like Miss M.  

Miss Cate

Enough said. 

Soccer

So. I don't know what I was thinking. Let's just blame it on being pregnant.  And crazy with the two kids I already had at home.  I signed Miss M up for 3 & 4 year old soccer.  It's only six weeks, thankfully.  We are three weeks down.

I think Miss M needs individual sports like track and field or gymnastics.  I don't think she's a team sport kind of girl.  She isn't aggressive enough to go after the ball. She wants the kids to kick her the ball.  We won't be signing up for soccer again for a few years even if she tells me she wants to play soccer.  

Mimi went to watch her soccer practice and she was able to document through pictures what exactly transpires during the hour long practice.  Oh - to add insult to injury - I conned Andrew into helping the coach out.  I wouldn't make her go back ever again if Andrew wasn't helping. It's only three more weeks.  We can do it. At least they get snacks?!?!

Her team is the Turtles. Their shirts are red.  They got their shirts this weekend.  She refused to put her red shirt on at practice like all the other kids b/c the red shirt didn't match her pink shoes.  What!?!?! I haven't ever been one to worry about her matching. I am more worried that she has clothes on and they are appropriate for the season.  

It's huddle time. There's Miss M sitting on the ground. 

I think this is about right.

It looks like she's participating in practice.  Maybe????

I think for the short term we'll finish soccer and just take her to the park and let her run around. I would like to sign her up for other park district classes but after this epic fail I don't really want to deal with her not wanting to do anything.  She is signed up for gymnastics still/again but she seems to really like class.  We finally are at a class level where I don't have to go in and do the tricks with her.

Our first trip to the Children's Hospital

I have been sleeping in the basement for most, if not all, of the evenings with Miss Cate due to her unpredictable schedule and being able to turn on lights and not disrupting anyone.  It's just easier and I really don't mind at all. I am so tired by evening I could sleep just about anywhere.  

Thursday night Miss M was coughing quite a bit in her sleep (even Poppy noticed and I thought he slept through everything). She eventually got up and slept in our bed with Andrew.  He noticed she was coughing a lot and breathing kind of funny. I didn't think much of it. I assumed she had a cold so I gave her some cough medicine.  I let her watch a lot of shows during the day b/c she seemed tired (presumably from being up all night).  She didn't eat much of anything.  Eventually (after Poppy and Grandma left for the city and before Andrew got home) she laid on the couch and fell asleep. I noticed she was breathing really loud but for some reason didn't think much of it.  She woke up at 6:30pm and didn't eat dinner and demanded to go to her bed to go to sleep. Andrew came home at 8pm and went to check on her in her room and she was just laying there awake. We let her come downstairs and watch tv and more shows with us.  She ate a few bites of an ice cream sandwich and during the silence of her eating, watching tv, and not having to focus on any other children I noticed her breathing was severely labored. You could see it in her neck, her chest and hear it in every breath she took. 

I was going to put her to bed around 10pm and I decided to call the insurance hotline to talk to a nurse. It was a waste of my time as she directed me to call the emergency number to speak to her pediatrician.  The pediatrician recommended almost immediately to take her downtown to the children's hospital due to there being no pediatric specialists by us.  

So at 11pm we loaded up the minivan with her blankets and teddy bear and ventured to the city. Poppy was pulling into the driveway as we were about to pull out so he jumped in and went into the city with us.  

She was not impressed. She didn't want to go. She was convinced she wasn't sick. She told me all day she was fine rather she just had a cough. She kept saying "you know I just want to go home mom" or "I don't think this is a good idea mom". They put her in a room in the ER and started breathing treatments. They tried to make it out like it was going to be exciting as the mask looked like a dragon. She didn't want anything to do with being a dragon. We had to do two intense breathing treatments and then they gave her a popsicle. I thought we were done. I told her we were done. Mistake made. We weren't even close to being done.  We had to start a one hour treatment and then another one hour treatment. I think she eventually stopped fighting the mask and fell asleep around 5am. I don't even remember. I passed out holding her mask on her face.

They ended up admitting her. They administered some kind of inhaler treatments every few hours.  They would come in while she was sleeping and put the mask on her face and freak her out. It was awful.

Eventually she woke up.  Grandma and Aunt Nessie came to visit and brought all the necessities of life: phone charger, OJ, McDonalds.  They were welcome faces after seeing a zillion different doctors and nurses all night long.

She just wanted to lay in the small bed/chair b/c she's small. Therefore I got her big bed. It was a pretty good deal for me. We watched tv all day long. We even managed to watch Frozen three times before we left.

They released us at 6pm the day after we arrived.  It was a long night and a long day. I am so glad we didn't take her to the local hospital.  The children's hospital was amazing.

Miss M's photography

Miss M was working on her photography skills again last week. She's at least getting pictures that are relatively in focus and have faces in the pictures.

She wanted to take pictures of her and I. The problem is there isn't anyone to take a picture of her and I so we had to set the automatic timer. We need some practice of setting up the automatic timer and getting proper framing.

 This is perfection.  We see a lot of this face.  Great capture by Miss M.

Mr. Man - He's a funny guy

He's a funny guy.  He isn't talking but he's pretty good at getting his point across by pointing, screaming, shaking his head no and getting into things.  He loves to play outside. I hear it's going to be a cold and long winter. I hope people are lying b/c I can't be dragging three kids out of the house regularly and he can't be coped up all winter long or we're going to need to take all the furniture out of the house and let the kids just go bananas. 

He's obsessed with pretzel flats. He carries this bag around the house all the time. He is even know to carry it up and down the stairs when he is looking for you and he can't quite let go. I imagine most of the pretzels end up on the floor based on how many I sweep up but a few find their way into his mouth.  I have to hide the bag now b/c he gets in the pantry and screams at me to open it if it's not already opened. Oh - and he loves himself a bottle of milk. It's technically not a bottle...technically it's a learning cup, if the doctor asks.

His new favorite activity is playing with the water in the sink. I put him in the tower and turn the water on and wait until he spills too much water on the ground before I remove him and clean him up.

I am a genius.  I refuse to buy a sandbox bc sand is a disaster.  Miss M found a bag of sand in the garage so I found a bucket and loaded it with the sand and put it in the pool. It was relatively mess free. Until it rained. Now it's gross.  Like sand.

After dropping Mimi off at the airport. I thought he looked funny/adorable. He fell asleep five seconds (not literally) later.  Grandmas are exhausting.

He's a lover

Mr. Man loves Miss Cate.  He notices when she's crying, sleeping, and laying silently on the ground. He loves to lay by her and pat her head. He uses his huge hand and gently pets her head. It's sweet but terrifying to watch b/c he's so big and so unaware of his body around her. 

Occasionally he tries to pick her up.  He's pretty strong. He can pick up things that are heavier than her but luckily he hasn't gotten her off the ground yet.  She's gonna be tough but it isn't going to be by choice rather it's going to be a necessarily skill to survive.

Help - Round 2

Mimi came to help us on Thursday so I only had to spend 24 hours with the kids by myself!  I appreciate the help beyond words but it's also nice to have company to have people to talk to and eat meals with.

The kids were excited to see her as soon as she got in the car from picking her up from the airport. Miss M was also excited to see what prizes were in her suitcase.  She didn't disappoint.  Miss M wore her new parrot shirt two days in a row.

We just hung out at the house and outside.  I am pretty sure I am not going anywhere but to school with all three kids for about ten years.  Mimi did do some babysitting while I ran errands which was really helpful.

Do you see any resemblance between the two???

Mimi did accompany Andrew and Miss M to her soccer practice.  Let's just say Miss M isn't likely to be a soccer player.  After the water break Miss M decided she was done and her and Mimi just watched her team practice.  She'd be a good coach b/c she's bossy.

Help - Round 1

Grandma Nan and Poppy came to help around the house and with the kids before we went to the hospital. And they stayed for a little over 2 weeks. Thank goodness for retirement.  We offered them a place to live so they could move in but they ignored us and packed their bags and left.  Apparently Florida has more appeal than watching their grandchildren grow up. Geez.  

Grandpa and Miss Cate were instant friends. They both like to take it easy, rest, people watch and sleep.  They got along perfectly. 

Grandma was good at everything.  But she had the special duty of wrangling this guy. He's an opinionated 28 pound fella with some lungs that let you know what he wants and doesn't want. 

Grandma and Poppy ended up at Trader Joe's on one of their outings and bought the kids pumpkins. We've already carved one. I will have to find those pictures for another post. 

It was a sad day to see them go. They couldn't jump in their car fast enough! But the kids and I managed pretty good on our first day without any help. I even managed to take a few pictures and the kids weren't even screaming (for the pictures anyway).

Miss Cate pics

These are pictures from Grandma Nan's camera.

He likes to play peek-a-boo. It looks like he's blowing kisses but he's probably ripped his hands from his face.

And he loves to tickle toes. He thinks it's hilarious to wiggle your toes and have you laugh.  He can find his own toes now. He can find his belly button, ears, and eyes. I don't know that he can identify any other body parts. He doesn't wave which is apparently something he's supposed to do but Miss M didn't wave either. He doesn't have any words or animal sounds. Andrew and I can probably identify a few words he's saying but I don't know if that counts when no one else in the world would understand.

Miss M loves to give Miss Cate kisses.  And pat her head.  The doctor told us to have the kids work on touching their toes. They want nothing to do with anything besides her head.

 Baby sleeping.