Chase having fun!

Chase cracking up with Daddy!

Disappointing.

I was supposed to have an OB appointment today, but 5 minutes before I had to leave the house, they called to cancel because the doctor I was seeing was on call and got called and they didn't know when he'd be back.  And apparently Fridays are really busy around there, because none of the other 7 or so doctors had any openings.  

I totally understand that they are called away.  I'm not mad about that.  It's just that I don't think anyone realizes how difficult it is to get 3 kids and myself prepared to get out of the house.  I had plans!  I organized my time wisely!  I showered!  Did my hair!  Put on makeup!  I had my good underwear on!  The kids were all fed, changed, and mostly happy.  Everyone even had shoes on.  I had a cooler bag packed with drinks for the kids while they stayed at Tiff's house!  Seriously, people!  My entire morning had been devoted to getting out of the house at 9:30.

...and I had so been looking forward to sitting in that waiting for even just 10 minutes, reading a magazine by myself.  Even if I had to drop my pants to do it.  

It was all gone in a two minute phone call.  *sigh*  

Learn to Type

Chase has enrolled me in a new typing class to improve my speed and accuracy on the computer.  It's free, and he runs it.

He simply rips 3 or 4 flipping keys off the flipping keyboard at a time so that I can memorize where they are without looking at those pesky flipping letters.  And he does such a good job that I can't even flipping snap them back on.  I really really really want to use much much stronger language, but I fear the boys reading a stream of obscenities later on when/if they ever become interested in this blog.

I am now missing F, G, V, J, L, and the windows key.  Bryan just bought me this computer in February!  GAH!  

Oh, and before you chastise me for leaving him unattended, all of this happened while I dared to use the bathroom for 3 minutes by myself.  The nerve, right?

My Little Bother

Well, since the photos are out, it is official.  My little bother, Scott, has graduated from college!  He probably won't even read this, but I just want it out there in cyberland that I am so incredibly proud of all he has done.  He has taken more math and science classes than I can fathom, and worked incredibly hard to overcome obstacles and get where he is.  AND he is going back for more when he starts his grad work in the fall-- as a graduate assistant, to boot.

So, even though I pulled out a clump of your hair when I was in middle school and called you a really really bad name (that you tattled to Mom and Dad about, you jerk), I am so very very happy for you, I respect you, and I can't wait to see what you do next (assuming that it doesn't involve jail time).

Love you!!!

**btw, those are my parents standing with him...aren't they the cutest??**

ENT Visit

After waiting in the reception area for over an hour, then in the exam room for another 15 minutes, we saw the ENT this morning.  Oh, yeah, and I was doing all that waiting with 3 small children, two of which needed a nap.  

Ian was a total trooper.  He was super helpful and in a good mood.  Chase was happy as long as he was allowed to go toddling down the two forbidden hallways.  William was mostly content in his stroller until he got hungry, whereby I had to stand by the stroller, holding his bottle for him, dropping it and running after Chase every 30 seconds to make sure he didn't make himself at home behind the front desk (which is code for climbing up on the rolling chairs and ripping the keys off the computer keyboards).  It was all very much fun.

When we finally saw the doctor (for 10 minutes) it was pretty much good news.  His ears look good, he probably didn't have an ear infection last week  (Yay for spending $70 on that last perscription!!), and both tubes are comletely out.  He had to dig around in his left ear with a long pointy metal instrument while I held Chase's head still (um, heart attack, anyone??) to get the tube out that was just sitting in his ear canal.  He also said that we would probably be in every once in a while to get his ears cleaned out, just because the size of the canals is preventing the wax buildup to fall out, like on typical kids.  Does anyone else have to do this?  Go to the ENT just to get degunked?  How often does that happen?  I should have asked, but at that point I was still feeding William the bottle, Chase was eating sticky pieces of granola bar out of my other hand, and Ian was trying to pull my left foot off.  

Anyway.  I guess we don't have to worry about another set of tubes unless he gets another ear infection, and maybe we can fight that off until at least after the summer.

Random Photos Including Gavin and I at 36 weeks!

I knew that would make you guys look!

Here are those photos of the random things that have been going 

on around here:

We ordered a dump truck full of garden soil to help out our clay soil.  It was pretty awesome to have the entire truck in our backyard.  And loud.

The finished garden!  That was a LOT of wheelbarrows full of dirt.

Our summer splurge.  I figure it will be really difficult to get to the aquatic center or Carowinds for swimming, so we bruoght the pool to our house.  Like we needed something more in our backyard.

Bryan's bees are working hard.  We may actually get to harvest honey this year!  He has a video of a new bee "hatching"- it is pretty cool, in a science-nerd sort of way.

This is as far as I've gotten on the baby's room.  This bed will eventually go into Chase's room- we have yet to trade for the crib.  The dresser is done and on the other side.  And I can't for the life of me figure out how to get the glider apart to fit through the doorways, so I'm waiting on Bryan who is much better at that stuff than I am.

36 weeks, 4 days.  Large and in charge.

Bad Blogger

Has it really been a whole week without a new post?  Oops!

I wanted to post a bunch of photos of things that we have been doing here, but it is late, dark, and frankly I don't want to get off the couch.

So:

1- Bryan finished tilling the garden, and even shoveled a dump truck load of garden soil over the plot with Ian's help.  Ian and I planted all our seeds and plants, and now we are just watering and crossing our fingers that something will grow.

2- Chase's rash is better :)  Still no idea what that was, but he's happy and healthy now.  We go to the ENT this week to see about that mssing tube.

3- Gavin's room is almost done.  I fnished his dresser and Bryan moved it upstairs for me this week.  I have his clothes and blankets and towels and sheets washed and ready to put in the drawers.  I moved the bassinet into our bedroom (which makes this all seem pretty real now...).  

The only thing not done is moving Chase out of the crib into the twin bed.  I don't think that will happen before Gavin gets here...  I think it would probably be ok, but it is easier right now to keep him contained in his crib.  Although, being a tad anal retentive makes it really difficult to leave that undone...I'm working on letting things go...

4- Bryan's bees are busy.  Our 4 starter fish are still alive.

5- Ian and Chase are officially out of school for the summer...whatever shall we do???  Both boys had picnics at school, which were cute :)

6- We did lots of other stuff...visited the library a couple times, played at the mall playplace (which Chase totally loves just as much as Ian does now!), enjoyed the hot weather with a 'swim' in the kiddie pool, and cleaned off the back patio and added some really bright astroturf outdoor carpet so that the kids have a clean, soft place to play outside (thaks Papa and Gaga!).

Anyway.  we've been doing lots, and I am tired.  You know, I love the feeling of being pregnant- the feel of the baby moving around- but I'm a little bit tired of carrying around the extra 50 pounds.  I thought about it the other day...when I carry Chase or William upstairs with me, that is 75 pounds total that I am hauling to the second floor!!  Ack!  2 more weeks, maybe...?

Crazy Chase!

This you must see!

Let's Not Be Rash...

Poor Chase.  What started as a mild cold earlier this week has turned into some nasty fever-rash-cough-ear-infection thing.

He woke up from his nap this morning with his belly and chest covered in red spots.  It warranted a visit to the doctor because the nurse said it was recommended because I was pregnant.  

Of course, she tells me that it is probably a viral thing that they can't do anything about, but she also looked into his ears and found a.) a big nasty chunk of wax  b.) the right ear tube that had fallen out, and c.) a probable ear infection.

And his rash is now not only on his front, but also his back, some on his legs, and a little on his arms.  

So he's on an antibiotic now and I need to call the ENT on Monday.  Excellent.

Play-Dopes

Entertainment for yesterday afternoon:  a fresh batch of play-dough!

I like this one..."Um, WTH is he doing over there?"

Fun at the Dinner Table

...or Chase eats with a fork and cheers for himself, and Ian makes goofy faces.

Strawberry Pickers

We picked 4 gallons of strawberries last weekend.  Chase ate about that many.  Ian picked about 8 (but they were perfect!).

Chase kept waving and saying "Hi!" to everyone that passed him and commented on his strawberry face.  He totally knows that he is adorable.

More Soccer Photos

This week is the last week of Ian's first ever soccer season.  I think we'll sit out the summer (holy hell it's hot and even worse if you have to chase Chase everywhere, too).

He loved it, I don't know how much he learned, but he had fun doing it.   And he made some little friends, too.  He told me, "I am friends with the little kids on my team, but not the big ones."

These are from last week.

Baby Update

I am still very much pregnant :) 

I feel like it's kind of been on the back burner, just because we've become so busy all of a sudden.  I mean, sure I remember I am enormous with child when I can't pick crap up off the floor, or as I am *running* to get Chase before he walks in the open door of an unknown neighbor's house (yeah- picture me 8 mos pg sprinting across the hot asphault in 90 degree temperatures.  I know.), or at the end of the day when I wish I could just amputate my leg because my sciatic nerve is that bad.

But mostly, it's alright.

We're getting through and I think there are only 5ish more weeks to go.  That will take me to 39 weeks, a place that I've never been.  Both boys were 2ish weeks early.  But I keep saying that, knowing that I am probably jinxing myself, and this baby will end up being my 40+ weeker.  In the heat of the summer.  

Anyway.  This is a little rambly.  But I just think that this pregnancy has gone by so fast, without me really enjoying it (is that possible?) or at least documenting it or being completely aware of it.  Besides the fact that I am totally missing lunchmeat and mojitos.

So, we will have a third kid in this house soon, and that is still surreal to me.  I think I was more prepared with Ian and Chase...anticipated them more, was more anxious...I don't really know how to describe it.  It's not that I'm not looking forward to Gavin's arrival (will he get Bryan's dark eyes?  Will he be a blondie like Ian?  Will he be laid back like Chase?  What will his little baby face look like?  How much have I missed that newborn-falling-asleep-on-my-chest feeling?) but that it just doesn't seem real to me yet.  Or to Bryan, I think, for that matter (am I right about that, Baby?).  

I don't know.  There's really no point to this post.  Just wanted to update you all on the littlest guy.  Oh, and to let you know that for the first time ever in three pregnancies, I lost weight between visits!  Dr isn't worried, you know, since I've already compensated for that...

Ian Answers

Bryan interviewed Ian for my Mothers' Day card and it was sooo sweet that I have to blog about it:

What is a mommy? 

A girl that takes care of you when Daddy is at work.

Why did God make mommies?              

So babies can be grown up.

How did God make mommies?            

Made them into a monkey first.

What ingredients are mommies made of?
I don't know, are they made out of bones and muscles?

Why did God give you your mommy and not some other mom?
I don't know why... Because she would have different germs.

Who's the boss at your house?                               

My mom and dad.

What's the difference between moms & dads?
Because there's a boy and a girl for mom and dad.

What does your mom do in her spare time?            

Play with me and Chase.

What is your favorite thing about Mommy?
When she doesn't put me in time out.

What do you like doing with Mommy the most?
Playing with her, with all of my toys and with Elefun.

What do you want to give Mommy for Mothers' Day?
Flowers, and a hand print with it cut out, and that's all.

What does Chase like the most about Mommy?   

To eat her strawberries.

What does Chase want to give Mommy for Mothers' Day?
He wants to give her what I want to give her.

What does Gavin like most about Mommy?              

To be in her tummy.

What does Gavin want to give Mommy for Mothers Day?
A statue of her.

What does Mommy say a lot?                  

She says "No" to Chasey a lot.

What is Mommy's favorite thing to drink?           

Soda without caffeine.

What funny thing does Mommy do?
She says funny things to Chase. She says Booga Booga Booga and thats all she says to Chaser Racer.

What do you love about Mommy?           

When she lets me have a treat.

What else?   

Thats all I can think of. Are you writing down "Thats all I can think of"?

Phonics

I have an ABC poster in the bathroom across from the toilet so that Ian is forced to look at it during his 'stops' (btw, is it something on the Y chromosome that makes bathroom stops take so long??).

I'm listening to him in there right now:

"N is for nnn nnnn nnn nails.  E for eh eh eh egg.  T for t t t turtle."

and then this gem:  "U is for youuuuuuuuuu need an umbrella."

Mr Mom

Bryan wanted to let me sleep in this morning for Mother's Day, but there was a commotion in the hallway, so I got up to investigate...

Chase, my sweet boy, had decided that this morning was the day that he was going to experiment with taking his diaper off in the crib. If you've followed my blog, you also know that he is the poopiest boy in the world, so you can imagine the fun he had fingerpainting his crib, body, head, and face. By the time I got out there, he had Chase in the tub, the crib stripped, and the linens in the wash. It reminded me of this song, and I will probably be singing it in my head all day long now.  

Here's to you, moms everywhere! Happy Mother's Day!!

PS- I have no idea why the text is wrapping so weird...

Chore Chart

Ian has been begging me to make him a chore chart (he wants to be just like the neighbors!) for a while, so we finally sat down and made one a couple days ago.  Now I am asking myself, why didn't I do this sooner???

I know it's probably the honeymoon period, and the novelty will quickly wear off, but for two days in a row he has willingly made his bed, brushed his teeth (well, mostly willingly), set the dinner table, and cleaned up his toys (in a kinda sorta way).  

What kids won't do for a sticker.

I made some changes to next week's chart, adding 'Feed Pets' to his list, because sadly, our poor fish starved all day yesterday until I realized at bedtime that I had completely forgotten that they are living creatures and apparently need food 2-3 times per day.  Oops.  It is such a good thing that the boys tell me when they are hungry, because we would seriously be in trouble if they just continued to swim around happily on the top of the aquarium as if nothing was wrong when they were dying of malnutrition.

Mesmerized

Well, even though the fish may need Early Intervention, they are still good entertainment for the boys.

IEP Fish

We fixed the fish tank water issue and Bryan brought home new fish last night.

The fish guy told him to buy 'starter fish' this time, which is fish store code for 'cheap and expendable.'

The good news is, they are all still swimming, upright, this morning.

The bad news is, they will not swim any lower than the top 1/4  inch of the water.

I think they have special needs.

S & L Eval

Chase had his Speech and Language evaluation yesterday afternoon.  

Of course, yesterday was the day that he had school in the morning, was too tired to eat lunch before nap, and then took a record 3 hour nap that I had to wake him up from in order to do the eval.  So he was not in the most cooperative of moods.  Regardless, he ended up doing pretty much what he usually does, aside from refusing to identify 5 body parts (he got to 4, but then absolutely would not touch his nose or his belly.  I KNOW he can do that!!  Erk.  Frustrating!).

So, being that I agree with what he was doing was pretty typical for him, it is all the more difficult to hear his "approximate age" in regards to his speech capablity, which was between 13-15mos.  

I'm not living in a bubble.  I know that he has delays, and I know that Speech and OT are his weaknesses.  It's just always hard when it is concrete.  And I think I was fine until she said that he was borderline "Severe Delay."  Ugh.  Severe?  Really?  That word is just so...harsh.

On the other hand, she scored him separately with the same battery, but taking into account his sign...and with that he scored 18-22 mos!  Of course, that score will never be in the official paperwork, or up for consideration when we go in for the Big Preschool Meeting.  But it is comforting to know that it's not that he can't communicate...it's just that he primarily uses sign.

I see growth with his verbal language, so I know it's coming.  He is starting to imitate beginning sounds, and even says "ba ba" for bubble and "puh-puh" for pretzel.  This is huge for him...so I'm excited to watch him develop in this area.  So, I guess the eval wasn't all a huge "this is what Chase is not doing" but just had a pang of "just in case you forgot-- here is your friendly Down syndrome reminder"...

Eh.

Sweet Eenie

Bryan has been working really hard tilling up our backyard so that we can make a giant garden  (I know, I know-- soap?  bees?  fish? and now a garden?  What kind of crazy do you have going on over there??).

So, he drove home in the rain today on his motorcycle and got the tiller out to finish up the job before the rain hit our house.  He skipped dinner and went straight to work.  Unfortunately, he hit some rock in our lovely crappy tract home yard, and broke something (the transmission?  I don't know) and couldn't finish the job.

He was really pissed about it (especially because we borrowed the tiller and now not only have to tell the owner that it is broken, but we have to get it fixed, too!  gah!).  There were gloves thrown.  Ian watched.

And when he was done being mad at the machine and the yard, Ian said in a little sweet voice, "Daddy?  If you tell me where the places are that you need to dig, I can dig them out for you."

Now, seriously, how can you be mad after that?  Bryan certainly couldn't be.  Everything will be alright :)

Tomorrow, Ian is going to have a rough day digging out the last 20 sq feet of sod...

Second Pacifier Update and More on the Murders

Chase has taken two naps today with minimal paci fussing.  Like, I didn't even have to go in a second time to calm him down before he fell asleep.  He asked for it, but I told him the pacies were all gone, and then he blew me kisses and laid down.

I seriously don't give the boy enough credit sometimes.

Update on murders:

Bryan talked to the fish store guy, and we found out that we didn't get the chlorine out of the water.  We assumed the bottle of stuff the fish girl told us to buy took care of everything, because she said, "This is all you need."  Silly us.  We also needed another bottle of chlorine taker-outer.  So that is how they died.  Poor fish.

The investigation is now closed.

Pacifier Update and the Murderer of Lexington Avenue

Well, it took a little over an hour, but Chase finally gave up and fell asleep.  He slept all night long.  He hasn't woken up yet, but I wonder if he'll still love me when he does...?

In other news, we got a new fish tank with 3 neon tetras yesterday.  Ian named them Little Ian, Little Chase, and Little Bryan.  

I swear I followed all the directions about conditioning the water, but apparently I overlooked something, as Little Ian, Little Chase, and Little Bryan started swimming sideways within minutes of moving into their new home, and are now officially floaters.  

Dang.  

hate this

We finally decided that it was definitely time to cut out the pacifier.  Well, Bryan decided before I did, but I finally caved today.  Mostly because our collection of roughly one thousand pacies has dwindled down to two, and we didn't bring one with us in the car today as we ran a billion errands and Chase needed a nap.

He really only gets it at bedtime and naptime, which I don't think is too awful at this age, but certainly it doesn't do him any favors as far as oral-motor skills are concerned.  Also, when he wakes up at night, he cries for me to find one for him and then drops right back to sleep.  So, in theory, once he gives up the nighttime paci, then he will soothe himself back to sleep, right?

Anyway.  Tonight is the first night without it.  He's been in his crib, crying for an hour.  I go in every ten minutes and pick up everything he has thrown on the floor.  He looks at me with pleading eyes and signs 'paci' and I tell him that the paci is all gone.  I tell him I love him, and walk out the door.  And then he starts crying again.

It is totally heartbreaking.

I mean, I feel like the Worst Mom Ever because I'm denying him his comfort.  He asks so nicely, and he knows I know what he is talking about.  Or maybe he doesn't and he can't understand why I am so horrid as to keep going into his room without bringing the paci.

hate it hate it hate it hate it hate it.

The Bees Knees

We have a new addition to our family:  30,000 bees.

Bryan got a bug up his butt (badum, ching!) to start raising bees.  There are lots of benefits to raising bees.  You know, the antiseptic property of honey, allergy-reducing benefits, the cool hat you get to wear...  It is kind of neat.

So we begin this new adventure.  I'll let you know how it turns out.  

Waterworks.

Last night Ian was crying in bed around 10:30.  He was in one of those night-terror trances, where he was talking gibberish with his eyes open, screaming crying about something unknown.  I hate those nights.

So I finally got him to wake up enough to tell me that his 'owies' hurt (from the sidewalk spill he took yesterday) and also that he was 'itchy'- um, on his parts.  I mean, it's hot here since we are too cheap to turn on the AC just yet, so maybe it is a heat thing.  I went to get the Desitin.

**GRAPHIC CONTENT ALERT (Ian is going to be so embarrassed someday when he is 14 and reading this)**

I come back into the room, Ian is laying down, still crying, still itching.  So I pull his little undies down and begin to apply said cream.  

And that is when he started to pee.  All over me.  A neverending stream.  Think Austin Powers.  After I finally ducked, it went all over his carpet, onto every item of linen on the bed.  And all I could do was cup my hands over it like a deflector shield, which, of course, turned it from a stream across the room into a geyser that puddled around him, which made him cry even louder and harder.  I have no idea what he drank before bed that evening, but it certainly was a lot.  

Then, I realize that we have not yet put a waterproof mattress pad on the new bed that he is on, so when he *finally* finishes, I made him get off the bed so I could rip the sheets off and mop up the mess before it could sink into all the layers of the mattress.  I felt so bad- there he is, still crying, wet, and totally freaked out, and I am Martha Stewart, sponging up the mess.

Eventually, I get him into the shower and he calmed down.  I got new sheets on the damp-ish bed, and he went back to sleep with an empty bladder.  Everything is good.

It was just one of those "you know you're a mom if..." moments.  *sigh*

He woke up this morning and asked if I remembered him "sprinkling" me last night.  Ha!

Chase's Checkup

Hauled all 3 1/2 kids to the pediatrician's today for Chase's 2 year well check.  It was the first time he didn't cry through the entire appointment!  Thank heavens for small miracles.

He is:

31 inches (50%ile)

26lbs (75%ile- woot!)

45 1/4 cm head circumference (50%ile)

**all those %s are on the Ds chart

Everything looks good.  She's impressed with his walking.  He was happy and sociable and delightful (as he always is...riiight).  

I asked about sleep apnea, and she suggested we go ahead and do the sleep study, even though his snoring isn't terrible, we don't really notice him stop breathing, but he does tend to get tired during the day (still having trouble going from one nap to two) and he wakes up at least once a night still.  So, we're going to schedule that and see what happens.

She asked about his next eye exam, and I realized that I probably already missed that appointment, because I seem to remember booking that one close to his birthday.  Oops.  Guess I should call the opthamologist and check that out.

After the dr, I took all the kids to the park for a playdate with our Ds group.  No one slept in the car.  No one took a nap in the stroller, as I had hoped.  William didn't even fall asleep in the car on the way home.  I'm pretty sure I didn't give anyone caffiene this morning, but who knows?  Maybe Ian slipped the littles a cup of coffee while I was doing my hair before we left.  I'm exhausted enough for everyone.