Friday, June 27, 2008

I had written up a post earlier this week but lost it somewhere. That is about par for the course this week as it has been an up and down rollercoaster. We had a great weekend last weekend. Mike made it back into town on Friday evening after being on a business trip to Atlanta since Wednesday. The kids were very excited to see him and sat with him the entire night. We had pizza and movie night and I don't think they moved from his lap except to eat a little popcorn. The rest of the weekend was filled with visits from friends and family. Landon had a slight episode of vomitting on Sunday afternoon but we figured it was just something he ate because he was fine without complaint of any other symptom and no fever. My dad came in for the night and we enjoyed dinner and cake for his birthday.

Monday showed up with VBS for Landon and he enjoyed going back to his "preschool" and seeing many of his friends. Ella headed to the allergist to have a follow up since we found out she is allergic to peanuts several years ago. That was a tough hour and a half. She wanted nothing to do with them running a prick test on her back, she wanted to scratch it the entire 15 minutes as I held a "very tired" Eli and her hands at the same time to keep her from touching her back. I was freaking out because they said if she scratched then we would have to repeat the test - which was basically like saying you are going to have to eat a bowl full of maynnaise (my worst food enemy) and if you drop one teeny teeny little bit on the floor then you will have to eat another bowl. So we struggled through the 15 minutes and then she spit out both tries of giving her an antihistamine that would stop the itchiness. Eli still fussing to go to sleep and I was trying to hear what the doctor was saying about everything she was allergic to. I think what he said was that she is allergic to Oak, Maple, tree mites(sounds weird to me - is there such a thing), eggs, dogs, cats and the peanuts showed very little reaction (praise) but "tree nuts" showed a huge reaction. Due to this they want to take a couple of viles of blood to do some further testing but not necessarily today. Think about allergy shots and come back soon! Arghhhh! A bit overwhelming but we made it through.

Tuesday up and at them earlier than usual due to VBS but Landon is enjoying it. Eli, Ella and I make our way to playgroup and I am not feeling 100% but brush it off to needing more sleep. By noon when I am leaving playgroup to go get Landon I am feeling pretty bad. I call Mike to let him know that I am declining rapidly and really need some help. By the time he makes it home he finds me laying in the garage while Ella and Landon ride their big wheels around and Eli climbs on me for fun. I am nauseas and achy and cold (in 95 degree heat). I crawl into bed and Mike takes over. By 3:00 Mike is starting to feel bad and the kids are waking up from naps. I take my temperature and it is 103.8 and I am freaking out. Mike loads up all of the kids and me to go to the doctor where I wait for 30 minutes to be seen and Mike makes laps around the parking lot to keep the kids entertained. Finally they call me back and check everything all the while Mike is declining rapidly. They all end up in the waiting room (of course one had to go potty) and I hear them from whatever room I am laying down in waiting for some kind of instruction or medicine. I feel for Mike but can't speed up the process. Luckily I don't have west nile virus, salmonella, or rocky mountain spotted fever but just a stomach virus that seems to be going around. Not only did Mike and I catch it from Landon but back in Portland my dad was coming down at the exact same time with it. I am thankful that it wasn't as brutal on Landon as it was on us. By the time we make it home I can barely crawl back to bed and Mike is trying to pack up the kids so his wonderful brother Chuck and sister-in-law Caroline (our heroes) can keep our kids since we are in no way able to take care of them. By the time that all happens Mike comes crawling to bed at 6:30 with a fever, body aches and nausea. Around 1:00 AM I am feeling much better and am up and fixing chicken noodle soup to eat a couple of bites and return to bed. Mike was home the next day recovering most all day.

Wednesday I am up and at them to go and get the kids, weak because I hadn't eaten anything but a few bites of chicken soup in 24 hours but feeling good. Landon went to VBS and the rest of us stayed home and tried to regroup. Later I took Landon for his allergy shots which he is still taking like a champ. He watches each shot and even says he likes them. By the late afternoon I took all of the kids out to buy a sprinkler because I don't have the energy to go to the pool but the kids could use some outside cool entertainment and our yard sure could use some water. I bought what I thought was a cool sprinkler and it broke as we put it on the hose. Back to the standard old sprinkler which is probably where I should have started and Landon had a blast running around and fighting the water. Ella - not so much. I think the clicking of the sprinkler scared her or the speed at which it was coming out and hitting her in the face, not sure which. It was amazing the difference 12 hours can make.

Thursday - this getting up early thing hasn't been so bad, but I still don't mind when my kids choose to sleep until 9. After dropping Landon off (Ella has missed him and has wanted to go to VBS every day as well but luckily I have had things for her to do) we headed out to get Ella's blood drawn. I have been dreading this all week so after we find the place I just tell her that the doctor is going to giver her a pinch and then we will be done. Eli isn't as tired this morning but I forgot the stroller so I am carrying him everywhere. They call Ella back and she has to sit in the big chair and lay her arms out. They inform me that for small kids they usually have them sit in their mother's lap so I offer to set Eli in the floor (yuck - it is a doctor's office) but she refuses and says she doesn't want to sit in my lap. So then I try to keep her attention on me so she doesn't see the needle and blood but instead she insisted on watching them. They tied off one arm with no success of finding any veins so on to the next one. This one they think they have one worth trying. In goes the needle - Ella doesn't even make a sound but she watches intently. Her vein rolled and so they are digging around to try to find it. She says "ow" and then a fleeting expression of fear but not a sound. They hit oil - or blood - she watched as they filled 2 big viles full of her blood and not liking the sight of her blood coming out started to tell her how proud I was of her. I am so amazed at how well she did through this that I could just jump up and down. They put some purple guaze tape on her arm and then give her two stickers. By the time she is done she is loudly proclaiming how beautiful she is and how she is "decorated". As I strap her in the van she tells me "one day when you are a little girl like me mommy, then you can be decorated too". I can't wait! We wrapped up the morning with a trip to the grocery store where Ella got to have her own shopping cart and helped do everything from the picking out, putting in the basket, checking out, bagging and even loading in the van - what a helper. The evening was spent with friends and family.

Everyone out there, keep purel on hand and lots of lysol. I don't know where this bug started but I don't want it to come your way. Here's hoping everyone has a good weekend and stay healthy for a holiday week coming up. Pictures are from late last week and also little Eva Boyte celebrating her 1st birthday - we were thrilled to be a part of that special moment!

Wednesday, June 18, 2008

I hope everyone had a happy father's day last weekend. I have to say that my kids have such a wonderful father and they truly can't wait to see him everyday when he arrives home from work. They love to tackle, climb on, tickle, play video games with, read books with, sing songs with and just talk with their dad. Thanks for being such a good Dad Mike! Due to a busy schedule and an alarm clock that didn't go off we rushed through the beginning of the day so no breakfast or even coffee made for dad. We celebrated with presents in the van on the way to Stuart and a lunch out with friends at a restaurant that was second choice because the first choice was much too busy. Later in the day we visited with Nannie and Pops. I sadly don't have any pictures of Mike with the kids that day but will get one from some friends who took one while we were out to eat.

The week has been good with some cooler temps, fun time at the playground and with Nannie. Today the kids were playing outside in the nice weather and I heard Ella start to cry. This (picture) is what I found, and when I questioned them Landon fully admitted to putting dirt ALL over Ella but didn't seem to see what the problem with that was. I took about 20 wipes to them both and then just put Ella straight into the bathtub. Landon had a timeout and then helped to clean the tub as there was enough dirt in there to plant some pumpkins. I am still trying to understand why Landon would dump dirt on his sister in the amount that he did. Even larger is my lack of understanding of why Ella would sit there and let him dump dirt on her. When I asked him why he did it he said that Ella tried to put some dirt on him and with investigation he couldn't say that she actually put any dirt on him but that she was "going to". I guess kids will just be kids and I am sure my brother and I did some things just as crazy.

Here's to more craziness each day! Hoping for a little less dirt though!

Friday, June 13, 2008

Well what Landon thought was a bad surprise tonight ended up being a lot of fun. We made our way to their first Ringling Brothers circus. Landon has only been to one little traveling circus deal and they had one clown, however, he couldn't stand it. He was very fearful tonight that he wouldn't like the clowns but luckily the clowns weren't the regular full face painted kind and he actually liked them. Ella and Eli had a blast seeing all of the lights and "bigness" of everything. Ella's favorite was the two men that ran around in the circles. It has been many years since I had been to the circus but it brought back many memories of trips to Ringling Brothers and the delight of all of the activity, lights and fancy costumes. I have definitely come to an appreciation of my grandmother always packing candy and popcorn in her purse and trying to keep me from asking to buy something there. After just eating dinner Landon seemed to be starving for popcorn as they paraded the isles with toys, cotton candy, lemonade and popcorn. He couldn't understand why it wasn't a great idea to buy a bag of popcorn for $6.00 instead of eating the fun chocolate teddy grahams mom packed. After the show started that desire seemed to fade and he began cheering, standing up hollering, and clapping his hands above his hands. Ella was content to take it all in from her Daddy's lap and Eli preferred to wave his arms and squeal really really loud in delight. Guess we will be planning more trips to the circus as they come to town.

Earlier this week we also visited the zoo. Landon remembered the trip last year but Ella didn't. I certainly remembered it as I pushed both of them around in the heat while I was 5 months pregnant. We only had time to see one side of the zoo but it was plenty to get the kids excited. Landon was just as excited to see fake tracks imprinted into the cement walkways and Ella to bring home the feather of a Canadian goose that visited our picnic along with 20 - 60 others. Favorites that day were the pink flamingos!

Eli was a little under the weather this week with a 24 hour virus but seems to have perked back up quickly. He is finding more food each day that he can eat without having any teeth and I am a lot more relaxed in trying things than I was with either Landon or Ella. So far if he can express his favorites it would be yogurt and muffins.

Pictures tonight are some random shots taken throughout May. With only 2 posts I couldn't fit them all in so I am including them now. Hope to see you soon and don't be surprised if we ask you what your favorite color, food, activity or just about anything is.

Tuesday, June 10, 2008

Can you believe I am posting two days in a row? I can't! We have had a busy morning with Ella having her 3 year checkup with the doctor, then a couple of errands and then playgroup! What fun, now everyone (but me) is taking a nap. Ella was so excited about having a checkup and talked to the doctor every minute we were there. After her appointment she kindly asked me if she was "bigger" and after I said yes she started feeling her head and legs to see if she was changing by the minute or if she could tell that she had grown. However, on the potty issue, I spoke too soon yesterday as she got to playgroup and must have been so excited she had a little accident. She was very upset but recovered nicely and hasn't complained about wearing a pull-up and shirt with all of her friends.

There are a lot of pictures today from our trip last week to the mountains. We had a vacation and had a lot of fun together. Landon and Ella had been anticipating it for months now and even with as much planning as possible it ended up that Mike had to come back home for a day right in the middle of the week. We certainly missed him that day but Landon and Ella made up for it with lots of spoiling with Nannie and Pops. Some of the highlights of the week were Landon and Ella getting to ride on Thomas the Tank Engine along with several other rides at Tweetsie Railroad. I couldn't believe it but Ella rode the ferris wheel with me and actually asked to ride again. She wasn't crazy about the really fast crest over the top but she liked being able to see everything from up high. Landon had a huge time on the airplanes while Ella and I were on the ferris wheel. They both enjoyed the chair lifts, the cars, the carousel, the playground, the small train ride, the magic show, the animals, the boats and the Thomas tattoos. It was a full day and luckily not too hot. With no nap for anyone we were wiped out by the end of the day.

Other than that excursion we also made it to Appalachain State University campus, putt putt, the outlet mall (probably the kids least favorite), the river for a swim, the playground for a picnic, trout fishing, West Jefferson for some browsing, hiking, lots of creek time and a chance to feed the horses that were right below our cabin. Both Landon and Ella dove right back into their love of throwing rocks in the creek and Ella couldn't stay dry if she was within 20 feet of a creek. It's amazing how a cold mountain creek isn't nearly as hard to play in as a cold pool. Eli just enjoyed it all, he took in every sight and watched his brother and sister in delight. He had lots of spoiling time from his 2 grandmothers and from Pops. I am pretty sure he never had to fuss for more than a second before someone was holding him, rocking him, or strolling him. He did get to try his first solid foods on this trip and even got on all four to try to get ready to crawl.

Landon had lots of fun playing Pops in Nascar '07 each night and also being like Pops and working his crossword puzzles out on the deck, taking his shirt off in the sun, having ice cream every night, and eating cheese crackers for a snack. Ella had a lot of fun getting to have everyone read her books over and over and having lots of "hol' me" time.

The hardest part of the trip was the kids not sleeping as much. They usually are late risers sleeping in until 8 or 8:30 but while we were gone they woke up at 7:00 AM on the nose most every morning. Eli wasn't much for napping either as he would prefer to be held or to see what everyone was doing. Luckily since we have been home they are falling back into their regular routine. However, I am not sure how long it is going to take to fix all of that spoiling they had!

Hope you all are well.

Monday, June 9, 2008

So, a lot has happened but most importantly I want to say Happy Belated Birthday to my Ella Boo!! She turned 3 at the end of May and we celebrated from the moment we woke her up with the Joyce choir singing happy birthday. This is actually the only "picture" I have of her from the day as everything else was taken as a video. She had a blast with lots of pink and purple - her favorite colors. Landon was a supportive brother and Eli took it all in. I think she enjoyed the day as she woke up on Sunday and asked if it could be her birthday again.

You are a sweetheart and we love you. Welcome to the threes!!

Also, I want to note a huge accomplishment for Ella. About 3 weeks ago I had to really really try hard to convince Ella to use the potty but now after just a week of full blown effort she is potty trained and wearing "big girl underwear". She hasn't had any accidents (knock on wood) and she is even staying dry all night. I am so excited as I have to change fewer diapers and she is much more comfortable! Love you little girl!