What was I thinking?

I don't have a clue who that boy was that I was speaking about in my post yesterday. Today, the boy who came out of the tent where I swear I stuck *that boy* yesterday was a different kid. He was kind, compassionate, funny, sweet AND well behaved at school. My heart just sang when I got the report from his teacher that he was, "A good listener, paid attention, and waited patiently for his turn!". Thank goodness for days like today. One of his good days every now and then remind me of what a joy he is to my life and help me forget what a booger that he can be on his bad days.

After school, I had to run into the store to grab some milk and Owen went in with me. Now, I never EVER allow Owen to get something when we're in the store. I just think that it's a bad precedent to set, and I don't do it, but today, when he asked me with his best manners if he could have some wafer cookies, I let him. :) I asked him on the way home if he knew why I let him get something and he told me, "Because I was nice at school, and I didn't make Mrs. Hughes say, 'Owen! Go sit on that chair!'". Ohhhh I had to try so hard not to laugh at his impersonation.

Poor little Eli is still not feeling very well. Yesterday, he took a 6 hour "nap" from 10:00 am-4:00 pm, and then went back to bed at 8:30 and slept until 10:45 this morning, when I had to wake him to go pick O up from school! He took another 3 hr nap today. When he is awake, he just lays on my lap and snuggles.

Please pray that this virus that has hit us this week doesn't re-activate my reactive arthritis. It's finally gotten a lot better, and I only have to take my anti-inflammatory every 48 hours. I am praying like crazy that I'm done with that!

Bad Mommy :(

I feel like the worst mom ever today! I called the doctor this morning about Eli's cold and scheduled an appointment for this afternoon. I took him in, and she took one look at him, and said, "Wow, he's one sick little boy!" He was just lying lifelessly on my lap. I knew that it wasn't good when she started listening to his lungs because she listened, listened, listened, and listened some more. Normally it's a pretty quick procedure, but this time, she took forever. He had fluid on his lungs, and he wasn't saturing oxygen very well. They did a breathing treatment in the office, and said that he needs to do his at-home treatments every four hours. He's on the verge on pneumonia, but she wants to try to treat it at home first with the nebulizer.

As if that wasn't bad enough, then she looked in his ears. As soon as she looked in there, she said, "Oh my gosh, that's terrible!" She let me look in there and his ear was flaming red and the ear drum was bulging. She said that I needed to get some strong antibiotics in him quick because his ear drum was about to rupture. He has a double infection, but the right ear is really severe.

She kept assuring me that it wasn't my fault for waiting so long- she said that ears can change within the course of hours, but still I felt awful for not bringing him in sooner.

You want to know what the kicker is?? I called to get him appointment before he woke up this morning. When he did wake up and I went in to get him, he was in a great mood. Smiling, laughing, acting fairly normal. He ate breakfast, played with Owen, and acted like he was feeling much better. I *almost* called and canceled the appointment because I thought that he must be getting better. Boy am I glad that didn't!

Please say a prayer that Eli responds quickly to the antibiotics so that his ear drum doesn't rupture.

Seriously, Oh Owen!

Last night, Matthew and I were scouring the house looking for our camera. It had been missing all evening and we couldn't find it anywhere. I remembered that I had it out on the back porch over the weekend so that I could show my neighbor some pictures- and then I began to worry that it was still out there.

I went outside and looked all around, but I didn't see it. I finally decided to check with Owen and see if he knew anything about it. We had just put him to bed, but he was still awake. I opened his door and said, "Owen, have you seen Mommy and Daddy's camera?"
"Yes." He replies.
"Where did you see it?" I ask
"ummmm, I don't remember." He tells me
"Owen, did you have it outside?" I ask
"Yes! I did have it outside!" He replies enthusiastically.
"Did you have it outside when Jodi was here?" I prod, trying to remember a time when he might have snagged it.
"No, it was before that." He answers "Maybe we can look for it later."
"No Owen. Mommy and Dadd need to know where it is now." I tell him.
"We'll talk later Mommy." He tells me and then rolls over in his bed.

I had to walk away. Matthew and I were both about to die laughing and we clearly couldn't let him see that. It was totally an unacceptable response, but yet so funny. That kid is SUCH a stinker.

The good news is that I found the camera later that night. It was in my purse all along! So he never had it outside, and he knew that he'd never had it outside. He did want the upper hand though!

The New "Regaler" Shoes

Let me start off by saying that no one has thrown up since last Friday!! Hallelujah! My fingers are crossed that we've seen the last of whatever nasty bug it was that invaded our home for the last several weeks.

Now, back to "regaler" shoes. This story actually happened several months ago, but I wanted to document it here anyway. It's one of those stories that I hold dear and that I never want to forget.

Now if you know Owen, you'll know that he is creature of habit. Much like his mother, he doesn't like or appreciate unnecessary change. When he was about 15-16 months old we were getting ready to enter his first "walking winter". We needed to buy him his first pair of *real* shoes. I tried getting him several different pairs of shoes, but his Fred Flintstone feet are so darn wide, that none of the shoes available for purchase in normal department stores would fit him. We ended up taking him to Stride Rite to get properly fitted. They sized him as a 5 1/2 XXW! We tried on several pairs of shoes before we found the brown and orange "Prodigy". It was clear that they were *his* shoes! He wore those shoes out of the store, proud as can be- and he continued to wear that pair of shoes for an entire year!

When those shoes began to get a little tight, we returned to Stride Rite. He was again fitted, and placed in 6 1/2 XW, brown and orange Prodigy. We left the store and Owen was happy. That boy WORE those shoes. Both pairs saw a great deal of wear and tear, including one of the shoes being left in the CVS parking lot, and then being ran over by a car! We got home that evening, realized the shoe was missing, retraced our steps and eventually found the flattened shoe. We brought it home, cleaned it up, and he continued to wear it for another 6+ months.

Those shoes were good to my little boy and he loved them. He wouldn't wear any other shoes for any reason. Those were his shoes. I didn't realize how strong the attachment really was until the day that the 6 1/2 XW Prodigy began to feel a little snug. I asked Owen if his shoes were hurting him, and he told me "No". for quite a few weeks. Finally, he started admitting that his shoes were pinching his feet. I took him back to Stride Rite to be fitted again, and sure enough, he was now a size 7 1/2 W. The sales lady asked him which shoes he'd like to try on, and he confidently replied, "I'd just like my 'regaler' shoes please". She explained that Prodigy only went up to size 7, so he'd have to pick another style.

Ooooooh Boy. Owen went into total meltdown mode as we brought other styles over for him to try on. He laid on the floor of the store and cried big crocodile tears. "I just want my regaler shoes!" He sobbed. We ended up leaving the store that day, with too-tight "regaler" shoes upon his feet. I tried again a few days later with similar results.

Finally, I decided to call in reinforcements. Sara and I boldly headed off to the shoe store with Owen in tow. On the drive there, we tried to get him excited about the prospect of fun new shoes. He was not so easily swayed from wanting his "regalers" though.

When we arrived, we were fortunately greeted by an enthusiastic sales associate. She had a touch for dealing with kiddos attached to their "regaler" shoes. She convinced him to try on a pair of shoes named, "Bear Cub". She told him how fast he'd be able to run in Bear Cub shoes, and encouraged him to try them out in the store. He eventually decided that he could get on board with the Bear Cub shoes.

Now, the Bear Cubs have been a member of our family for several months. They eventually gained a place in Owen's heart as the NEW "regalers". I am dreading the day that he outgrows the Bear Cubs and we have to go on the search again, but for now, we're happy to call them Owen's "regaler" shoes!

I recall this story with fond memories because it is so indicative of Owen's personality. From an outsider's perspective, I'm sure that it appeared that he was just being a brat. But being his mother, I know when my kid is being a brat; this wasn't one of those times. Those shoes really meant something to him. They were like the best friend that I was asking him to leave behind. My little boy was far too loyal for that. I don't know if he'll ever feel that way about another pair of shoes, (part of me hopes that he doesn't!), but I still smile when I think about Owen's first "regaler" shoes.

Will we ever return...

...To the Land of the Living???

We have another week of vomit under our belts. I can't believe it. This week, it's only been Eli that's ill, but Owen still "doesn't feel good". They're sleeping a lot and pretty whiney. Eli threw up Monday, Wednesday, and then again today. It's the weirdest thing. The doctors are running some tests on them to determine if they have been exposed to e.coli, salmonella, or a variety of other nasty things.

This picture sums up Eli's activity level over the past week pretty well.




Over the weekend, we were in a "vomiting remission" of sorts. No one threw up during the 48 hours of Saturday and Sunday!! (WOO HOO) So we did a mini-Halloween, so that Owen didn't miss out all together. We trick-or-treated 3 houses in Sara and Todd's neighborhood and called it an evening.

Eli was too funny because I don't think that he realized that he was wearing anything out of the ordinary. He just kept looking at Owen like he couldn't figure out why on earth *HE* looked so funny. We got a kick out of Eli staring at Owen like this!

Sunday, it was beautiful and we were all tired of being stuck in the house- so we took a short trip down to Oliver to enjoy the beautiful weather. We had a lovely time with our best friends who love our kids even when they're sick and whiney. (We Love You Guys!) The boys and I were exhausted by the end of the day, but all in all, we had a wonderful time!

Monkey see-Monkey-do

As you can see, we had a really lovely day.

...Too bad Monday brought the puke-bug back to our house in full force.

Hopefully we'll be over this soon!!!

I lied...

Eli's throwing up again. Poor little thing.

Please God, just let us get through this!

Back to the land of the living... Hopefully!

At the writing of my last post, I really thought that my family had a rough week with sickness. Boy was I wrong. It got soooo much worse. For Owen, this all started LAST Thursday night, not this past one, but the one before. He threw up in the night, and then several times on Friday. I luckily still had some Zofran in the house from our bout with Rotovirus last spring, so I gave him a dose of that and he seemed to perk up some.

By Saturday, he seemed totally fine. He ate, drank, and played. I thought that he was better. We went to Jodi and Brett's on Saturday night for game night, and Owen was fine. Eli however developed a fever while we were there. We went home, and I took Eli's temp... 102.8! (Owen hadn't been running a fever) I gave him tylenol and kept him up until the fever came down. I put him to bed around 1:30 am.

3:30 am rolls around and Owen wakes up screaming his fool head off. He had thrown up in his bed. Matt and I both roll out of bed and deal with the mess. We get him cleaned up and back to bed.

Sunday morning- Owen seems fine again. Eli, however has respiked his fever. We fought the fever most of that day and into Monday. He also just wouldn't eat-- and if you know Eli, you know that is NOT normal!

Monday- I took the day off from watching the kids because I was worried about my kids still being sick. (Although the D. kids had already been sick before mine). Lo and Behold they seemed pretty much fine. Eli still didn't want to eat much, but other than that- no fever, no vomiting. We were golden!

Tuesday- I started coming down with it. By Tuesday evening, I felt terrible. Tuesday evening is also the day that Eli first vomited. (While I was at RCIA- poor Matthew. He had a *REALLY* bad evening!) I came home and and Eli and I went straight to bed.

Wednesday. No one vomited, but Eli slept 20 hours. I felt like sleeping 20 hours, and Eli and I didn't eat anything.

Thursday- I took Owen to his Halloween party at school. He seemed pretty much normal and hadn't thrown up since the middle of the night Sat/Sun. I felt really bad during the party and had to step outside because I felt so queasy. Eli slept 20ish hours again, but finally started eating some again. That night, we put Owen down for bed, and about an hour later- he threw up AGAIN!

Friday- Owen seemed fine again. Eli was much improved and my sickness seemed to be lifting.... Until that night when- ELI THREW UP AGAIN!!!


ARRGGHHHHHHHHHH!!!!

Thankfully, my mom was here to help me Thursday and Friday. I was getting so run down. We've done a collective 40+ loads of laundry since this all began!!


This weekend, everyone seemed a little better. We even got out of the house finally!! We did have to miss Matt's cousin's wedding, but we didn't want to get that far away from home with all that we had going on.

Hopefully, we're on the upswing. No one's thrown up since Friday- so I'm keeping my fingers crossed that it's over!

I'll be back later to post some photos from our weekend.

It's just an "N"

On Tuesday I had my first go around on the "other" side of the parent/teacher conference table. I was actually pretty nervous going in there and I couldn't pinpoint why. Owen's teacher had lots of nice things to say about him and gave him plenty of positive feedback. The majority of the "grades" on his progress report were "S"s, but there were a few "N"s.



For whatever reason, I felt really let down that he hadn't done better. I felt as though *I* had failed in some way. The areas where Owen received "N"s weren't areas that surprised me. They are areas were he'd receive an "N" at home too! I spent most of the day thinking about it, and I eventually realized that, A: To "need improvement" is not necessarily a bad thing. It's good to recognize areas where we could improve and strive to be better. B: This is preschool. He is three. This is NOT that big of a deal. (Matthew helped me figure that one out!)


In the end what I realized was really bothering me was the fact that a parent of one of my students once told me, "You don't understand what it's like to have to hear these things about your child."
I scoffed. It clearly wasn't *me* that didn't understand. They were the ones who didn't understand! What was so difficult to understand about your kid not being perfect. No one is. Why was that so hard to hear??

Now I get it. You spend the years leading up to school hearing from all of the other adults in your child's life how perfect they are. (Think: Grandma!) As a parent you know that they're not perfect... Of course they're not, but still somewhere deep inside, you appreciate hearing from everyone else what a perfect little angel your child is. Suddenly, they're in school and lo-and-behold the teacher tells you that your little angel is indeed NOT perfect... In fact, they "Need to improve"! Ouch.

Now I get it.

It was one of those moments of Karmic retribution for me. :)


In other news, we've been fighting off sickness. I started the week not feeling the best, then Owen started vomiting (FUN!), and Matthew is also not feeling too great. Hopefully we'll be able to kick whatever is plaguing us quickly!


Final Funny Story...

We were sitting around the dinner table the other night and Matthew asked Owen what he had done that day. Owen replied, "Played with the chickens". Matthew asked, "What did you play with the chickens? Baseball? Cars? Did you take them fishing?"
Owen looked at him and said, "Daddy, you can't take chickens fishing! They don't have any hands to hold the pole!"
His voice and face as he explained this fact to his dad were priceless. He couldn't believe that his daddy would not know such a simple thing!

Last Day Little

Today is the last day that I get to spend to my "little" baby. Tomorrow, he will be a big ONE year old. I cannot believe it. Where has the time gone?

One year ago today, I was 36.5 weeks pregnant. I was having a great deal of pain on my right side, and I had been for over ten weeks. The problem was that Eli was lying on the ureter going to my right kidnery and it was causing hydronephrosis. Ironically, hydronephrosis was Owen's diagnosis, and part of the reason that his kidney had to be removed. Mine was apparently pregnancy induced. The doctors monitored my kidney and renal function through ultrasound from the time that the pain started. On this day, I was sent to the hospital for another renal ultrasound to see if the hydronephrosis had worsened. During previous exams, it had been labeled as "moderate", but this time, they determined it to be "severe". Once hydro becomes severe, it can cause other problems with the kidneys and result in permanent damage. The radiologist immediately called my OB, and she told me to go ahead and check into the hospital. We went home, grabbed our bags, and a bite to eat before heading back to the hospital. I also gave Matthew his birthday gift because I had a feeling that the next day was probably not going to be his :)

We got back to the hospital around 6 pm, checked in, and got hooked up to all of the monitors. I was contracting every 2-7 minutes and I was dilated 3.5 cm. My doctor had high hopes that I would progress on my own and we wouldn't have to make any tough decisions. Unfortunately, as we waited for Dr. Fenoughty to return from her son's football game, my contractions slowed down and we had to decide what we were going to do.

The bottom line was that *something* had to be done to relieve the kidney. My options were to deliver the baby to get him off the ureter, OR undergo surgery to have a tube put in through my back and into my kidney to drain it. Option two, *REALLY* did not sound like fun to me, so after weighing the options, and assessing our risks, we decided to go ahead with the delivery.

Around 8 pm, they gave me cytotec, I received two doses over the next 6 hours before they broke my water. Within an hour of my water being broken, I was fully dilated and ready to push. Things went VERY quickly from there! Literally, within minutes, we were holding our perfectly healthy, 3 1/2 weeks early, 7 lb, little boy!


Tomorrow he will be one... But today, he's still my little baby.

I love you Eli!

Daddy doesn't stop at stop signs

Owen has recently taken up the habit of backseat driving. I am pretty used to it, and I can tune him out pretty well. Matthew however, doesn't drive with him in the car nearly as often as I do, so he gets a little more irritated with it. Friday night, we were coming home from our trip to Greenwood and Owen started barking orders at Daddy from the backseat. He was shouting at Matthew that he needed to stop at the stop sign. Now, we were on the interstate when he started yelling about this, so I can only assume that he saw a stop sign as we drove by a side road. He does not yet understand that not *every* stop sign is *our* stop sign.
Matthew told Owen that he needed to stop yelling at him, and Owen stopped right away. I encouraged Owen to sing a song instead.
Owen composed a song right on the spot. It started out innocently enough as we drove by the airport...

"The airplanes are all asleep.
The cows are all asleep.
The pigs are all asleep.
Daddy doesn't stop at stop signs.
Mommy stops at stop signs a lot."

I was trying so hard not to laugh as Owen sang this little tune, but then he stopped singing and said, "Daddy, Is that a good song? Do you like that song?" We both just cracked up laughing at that point. How could we not?

That kid is such a little stinker!

A Little Bit

Just two quick Owen stories before I head to bed...

1. During dinner my sweet little boy says to me. "Mommy, thank-you for dinner, it's good. It makes me happy when you make me dinner."

I almost cried. That was about the sweetest thing that he's ever said to me. He has been *such* a good boy lately!


2. Tonight when we sat down to do Owen's dump truck chart, we were going through each of his expectations. When we got to "Share Toys", I asked him if he thought that he'd shared today. He gives me a sheepish little smile and says, "A little bit..." I about died laughing. It was one of the first times that he gave an accurate description of his behaviors!

Chug-a-Chug-a CHOO CHOO

This morning I had the opportunity to help in Owen's classroom. It was so fun to see him with his friends in a school environment. He did such a good job! I do not envy those two teachers though; they have their hands full! They are both truly amazing at handling those 3 year olds!

As they went through their morning routine, one of the things they discussed was classroom jobs. Owen's job this week was line leader...

Rewind to the first day of school...

Apparently the first day, to teach the children how to walk in a straight line, they pretended to be a train. All of the children walked along saying chug-a-chug-a CHOO CHOO, as they went to their classrooms!

Owen has NOT forgotten that day, and now everytime they go anywhere in a line, Owen has to be a train. It was especially important to him today as line leader. He was so cute bouncing down that hallway, chug-a-chug-a-choo choo-ing his way along.

Baptism

September 12, 2009

After a long string of events in our local church community, Matthew and I decided to become members of Saint Susanna parish, and have the boys baptized into the Catholic faith. It was a very big decision for us, but we know in our hearts that it was the right one for us. We really love Saint Susanna and feel at home there. The things that matter most to us are there, and we're prepared to let go of the little things.

We were very fortunate to have all of our friends and family join us for the boys' baptisms. It was so nice to have so many people there who cared about our boys.

Eli

Owen

Godparents: Sara and Todd

Godmother: Jodi

Godparents: Kelly and Stephen

Owen's first day of school and first field trip

August 11, 2009- Owen's first day at Saint Susanna

Owen started preschool at Saint Susanna in Plainfield. He'll be attending Tuesdays and Thursdays from 8:30-11:00 am. His teachers' names are Mrs. Hughes and Ms. Kelly. He loves both of his teachers but he has a very special place in his heart for Ms. Kelly. He even confided in me that he thinks that she's pretty :)

Owen was very excited about going to school, but when it came to actually getting out of the jeep on that first day, he was pretty nervous. He cried as he walked into school, but when I picked him up they said that he had stopped almost immediately.

Now he really seems to enjoy going. He talks about his friends, and share the songs and prayers that he does at school. It's really fun to watch him learn new things and grow up!

These are a few of the pictures that I took his first morning of preschool.

September 15, 2009- Owen's first Field Trip to Andersen Orchard

Owen was super excited to get to go on his first school field trip. Matthew and I both chaperoned, and Owen was thrilled to have Daddy ride the bus with him to the orchard. Once we got there, each child was given bag that they were able to fill with apples they picked in the orchard. The children really enjoyed getting to pick their own apples right from the trees!

After we filled our bag, we went back to the orchard store for a snack and cider. Then it was back to Saint Susanna. It was a really fun day, and I am thankful that we were both able to be there for his first field trip!

Getting off the bus at the orchard

Picking the perfect apple.

Posing with Dad and Mom

Back to School!

Peas and Carrots

That's what I'd like for my children to be this year for halloween. The "peas" costume is already decided upon. My wonderful friend, Sara S. made this for her son when he was ten months old and has kindly loaned it to my little sweet pea for this halloween. It's adorable and I love it!!

The problem is what to dress Owen as... I would love for them to coordinate because I realize that the days in which I can dress them in coordinating or matching clothes or costumes are seriously numbered. But what coordinates with peas?? Meatloaf? Tuna Noodle Casserole? While these are wonderful culinary compliments for peas, they would be difficult to portray in halloween attire. Then of course I hear Tom's voice... "Me and Jenny we were like peas and carrots." PERFECT!

Now I would make the costume more "boyish" obviously, but I think that it's pretty cute actually. Matthew is trying his best to veto this idea because he think that three-year-olds are too old to be carrots. But I just don't think that's true! Owen hadn't said much about the matter up until now. Whenever we asked him what he'd like to be, he's changed the subject, but when I showed him this picture, he was PSYCHED! Now if you ask him what he'd like to be, he'll announce, "CARROT!"

We still have some back-up ideas, but Owen is not in love with any of them. The ones that we like the most are:

Garden Gnome

Doctor. (We told him he could be "Dr. Todd", but he has strong feelings about doctors in general- and is pretty resistant to this idea!)

On another Halloween note- our famous LEGO family costumes have been entered into an online costume contest for most original homemade costume. You can check it out here .

Dinosaurs and the Big Guy

Actual conversation between Owen and I this evening...

Owen: Are those crickets outside?

Me: Yes.

Owen: Are they just little bitty?

Me: Yes, they're little bitty.

Owen: They don't bite?

Me: No, crickets don't bite.

Owen: Dinosaurs bite.

Me: Yes they do.

Owen: Why do dinosaurs bite?

Me: Because that's how they catch their food.

Owen: Why are dinosaurs big?

Me: Because that's how God made them.

Owen: God must be REALLY big.

...

Me: LOL



I love these little moments. I love the way that I can watch the thoughts rolling around in his head as he formulates his next question. The way that he thinks amazes me. These are the things that I want to never forget about my child.

Just a Start

I figure that it's time to start blogging. I'm not good at updating baby books, I'm not good at journaling by hand... I'm hoping that I will be better at digitally recording these precious years of my sons' lives. It goes too quickly and I want to remember every moment. (Or at least most of the moments!)

Owen is almost 3 1/2. He started preschool last month, and most days, he's less than thrilled about his role as big brother! We're really learning on our feet with this little boy. He's as strong-willed and stubborn as you could imagine, and we cannot for the life of us figure out where he got it. :)

Eli is 11 months old. Total mama's boy. This kid is such a goof ball. He has the funniest facial expressions, and silliest personality. I cannot believe that he will be celebrating his first birthday next month. It's truly unbelievable.

We have a busy fall approaching and I'm pretty sure that we're going to have something on the schedule almost every single weekend. On a more positive note though, we're going to be blessed with a lot of fun events and quality family time.

Well, that's it for now. I have a lot of things that I want to say and catch up on, but I want to get one post under my belt!!