The Sick House

The poor kids have spent the last two weeks being sick. Runny noses, coughing, teeting for Max, and fevers have made this the sick house. Lily missed a day of school, but seemed better except for her cough, so she has gone back. Those coughs can last forever! She also had a wart on her face that we were putting medication on, but it got infected so now it's just a big wound. The doctor gave some ointment and oral meds and Lily is so excited she gets to take pink medicine. There are a lot of tears when we have to peel the band-aid to put the ointment on, but after we pull it back she always says it didn't hurt. I wish she'd remember that each time so we could save on the loud wailing she does in anticipation of the pain. Ryan had a fever the other night so I gave him some purple medicine, which he was also very excited about and would easily overdose if I'd let him. He's always asking for more.

Jeff had to spend several hours on the phone with Kaiser figuring out our new insurance because the pharmacy couldn't find me in the system when I went to get Lily's medication. The kids did very well in the pharmacy for an hour, but after that point I came home a bit jittery from trying to manage the kids in that tiny space for that amount of time. And in the end I still had to go back the next day, but I'm just grateful to have the medication at all now. And I got this picture of them trying on glasses in the pharmacy. They did find fun ways to pass the time.

I got released from Primary Presidency and was called to be an advisor for the Mia Maids. Young Women's is defintely a time intenstive calling, but luckily before Brother Nackos came over to extend the calling, I had prayed to feel okay with whatever it was and at that point I knew I'd be an advisor and I had a really good feeling about it, a confirmation. I was just relieved I didn't have to play the piano, since I thought I might get that calling. So that was comforting. Brother Nackos said they really want and need sisters who have strong testimonies themselves and who are doing good things in their lives to be leaders of these girls since they have so many negative influences around them. It's always nice to have more motivation to live a life where the spirit can be my constant companion so I can receive guidance on what to teach and how to relate to the girls. And of course this will all bless my life at home with the kids and Jeff as well. So it's a win-win.

Jeff spent part of Saturday cleaning out his car and the kids had so much fun helping him. They really love to help and are such good and enthusiastic workers. Afterward he took them for ice cream and Lily said, "we sure did a lot today, and you know what the best part is? This!"  Ryan finished his ice cream quickly, then moved to sit by Lily in hopes he could finish hers off too. He knows his sister and when she was done, he was ready to move in. Whenever we talk about that outing he always pipes in, "I love ice cream!" It was such a beautiful day as well so we spent the morning at the park they got a lot of running in.

Ryan chased that ball so many times

GOAL! 

Lily loved playing goalie

Lily wanted to help Ryan with his Thomas the Train puzzle, but Ryan wanted Daddy to help. When Ryan was distracted, Lily said to Jeff, "maybe if you leave, he won't notice." And he didn't notice, smart girl Lily. This set of Thomas puzzles has pictures on the back of each puzzle to help identify the different puzzle scenes since all the pieces came jumbled together. I made a wrong connection with one of the pictures and puzzle pieces so when the kids wanted to do the puzzle with the giraffe they got a puzzle with just Thomas. Lily came to us and said, "we finished the puzzle, but I have sad news, there's no giraffe." It was so funny to Jeff and me beacuse it sounded like a real tragedy to them, but we all laughed when I told them it was my mistake and they thought it was funny that I mixed the puzzles up.

I'm doing P90x3 every day, which I love. It's only 30 minutes so the kids can be down playing while I work out and it's not too long for them. And this way I don't have to get up extra early or do it at night. The only downside is that I don't always pay attention to what they are doing while I'm exercising because I'm pretty tired. This is when they got in their old clothes bins and emptied them out reliving the memories of when they used to wear those clothes. They did have a lot of fun and Ryan put the clothes all back, so I can't complain. Lily would pick the item up from the bin, exclaim her love of that article of clothing or a memory from it, then Ryan would say, "okay Lily, give it to me." He then would throw it on a pile on the floor.

They have been looking through a lot of old photos and they love it. When looking at our wedding photos Ryan would sometimes say, "that's so cute!" or "Look, mommy's kissing my daddy!"

Some pictures from the last couple weeks:

"Look Mommy, I'm Iron Man!"

Max enjoys chocolate

The kids discovered Daddy has fun clothes to dress up in

I was doing something and I heard Ryan keep saying he was reading his book. He kept turning pages and I looked over and it was this book (I had him pose for this picture though so he wasn't reading it on his face). I'll have to see if he really is a new kid by Friday, if so, thanks Ryan for doing all that heavy reading for me. 

And then Lily wanted a picture of her reading the book too. We'll see if I have TWO new kids by Friday, fingers crossed 

And cute little Max. He doesn't love to stand and when he is holding on to the couch he loves to let go and fall back, though I'm pretty sure he's expecting me to catch him. This is Jeff trying to help Max practice standing. 

This is what happens when you're on the phone for a few minutes. 

 Lily is becoming so independent it blows my mind. She can make quesedillas all by herself and one time before I even knew what she was doing she was almost done! She gets the tortilla and cheese out from the fridge, puts the cheese on, gets a plate from the cupboard, then puts it in the microwave. Plus, she has to move her stool all around to get to things so it's kind of a lot of work. But she's very proud and so am I.

I got an egg slicer and Lily loves it. I wanted to make egg salad but when Lily saw I had 6 eggs to slice she had to do it. And when she got to slice each egg two ways to make little pieces she was in heaven.

I show a picture of this salmon and brussel sprouts because this is the first meal in a long time that EVERYONE ate! Even Max. It thrilled me to only make one meal....though there still was cereal for a snack later on that night, but hey, this was progress.

 I walked by the window and saw these two sitting outside like they were just chatting and shooting the breeze. They invited me to come out so I joined them for conversation, it was pretty sweet. We were on ships and deciding where to sail to.

 Ryan said to me, "We're on our ship. I'm Jake the pirate, say 'hi' to Jake!" Lily went inside to watch Max (she would come out periodically to tell us Max was doing great) and Ryan and I talked. He always brings up going to watch Daddy play basketball and how they play catch afterward and roll the ball to each other. It is so special to him and I love that Jeff has taken him twice now. Ryan is thrilled to have this one on one time with Jeff. I looked in his eyes and I said, "Ryan, when I look in your eyes I feel so much love for you." He said to me, "Mommy, you have blue eyes. I can't see my eyes, I can only see your beautiful blue eyes." He then went on to tell me I have beautiful hair. And when we read books that day he asked me to put my arm around him. Talk about a sweet boy, he melts my heart.

Look at that cute and one of a kind fashion girl!

Lily drew this picture and for the first person said, "uh, this one has a weird smile. This can be you mommy, mine is going to be perfect." But then the other two she made also had weird smiles, so they became Daddy and Ryan. It wasn't until she drew her 4th person that the smile was just right and that could be Lily. And then she rememebred to add Max in. 

I had a busy couple days shopping with the kids: Home Goods, Walgreen, Sam's Club, and Bed Bath and Beyond. The highlight for them was playing in the dog kennel and on the dog beds.

I think this could be a great addition to our home. A new timeout spot.

Morning B-ball, park days, and play dates

This morning was a little quieter because Jeff took Ryan with him to basketball. Ryan and Max were up early and I was tired from being up with Max often in the night (he's sick so not sleeping well). Jeff helped the kids and when I came out to the front room earlier Ryan was gone. It was so nice of Jeff and he said Ryan did great. He watched basketball for a bit then watched PBS kids. Afterward he played catch with Jeff and rolled the ball around and had a wonderful time. Many of the dads told Jeff this is the best age and it's fun how they get so happy with a little ball rolling around. Jeff also was so wonderful last night when he asked the kids if they wanted to surprise mommy and clean the downstairs. They happily did that and were so thrilled to help out. I came down a little later so we could go through all of Lily's art (she has A LOT). She told us which art was special to her and we hung it up or saved it and if it wasn't special we put it in another pile. It feels so much less cluttered down there and I was just grateful Jeff initiated it since it would have taken me forever to go through all of that, or to even get the desire to go through all of that. He also helped organize Lily's room with her the other night. I told Jeff he has a gift for cleaning and organizing, I'm a lucky girl!

Max had his 9-month old check up last month and he looked great, he's 20 pounds. The only concern is maybe his gross motor skills are not quite up to his month, but we will just keep an eye on it. He doesn't love to stand and is not cruising at all and doesn't love to have his feet flat, but Ryan also had some low muscle tone so it's not new for us. He is moving around so much though. He does an army crawl and can get anywhere he wants to. He is constantly on his knees rocking back and forth and sometimes will move a hand forward to. So at least he is able to be mobile. I was so impressed we made it to our 7:50 appointment early! Jeff helped us get ready and get in the car and I prepped things the night before, but I was kind of shocked. 

Some highlights for the week are that we have discovered how wonderful and helpful Lily is to Ryan at the McDonald's play area which makes it much more enjoyable for Jeff to go to. He used to have to always go in the tunnels to hep Ryan out. And while it is a lot of work for Lily she was very kind to help him so much. 

It was great weather for a few days the past week so we had a lot of park time, which the kids have been craving for and loved. Ryan loved it so much he never wanted to leave. Even when I went out to the car hoping to encourage him to come, he was completely fine if we were to have left  him. He yelled out to me to just go on without him, he would stay all by himself. Apparently he's ready to be given some more independence. He calls his favorite park, "ship little park." We also went to the library a few times and they have so much fun there. Ryan loves the puzzles and any car toys they have and Lily loves playing in the castle/kitchen and making new friends. She pretends to play house and is so easy to introduce and start playing right away. Even Max enjoyed the activity centers they have. Though Ryan and Max did get sick this week so I'm wondering if the library had anything to do with that. 

Speaking of puzzles, Ryan has been obsessed with them lately. We got him a 12-piece puzzle with trucks, cars, and airplanes and he had Jeff do it 12 times with him the other day. After the 3rd time he could do it all by himself, so he just wanted moral support from Jeff after that. We are very impressed with him and all that he is learning and how he loves to master things. 

Lily still loves listening to Yankee Doodle and the other day she was sitting at the table drawing. All of a sudden when the words said, "Captain Washington" she jumped up, lifted her hands in the air, and marched around the table. After she sat back down she said, "I almost missed it!" Lily had a very special play date with her friend Aubrey Brown in the ward. They painted, baked, played barbies, and played outside. Amy, Aubrey's mom, did me a great service. She had Lily for 3 1/2 hours! She just kept saying she could stay longer. Lily was in heaven. I took Ryan to Costco so we could have a Costco date and he loved it. He felt really special that we could have special time together. Especially because we had gone to music class in the morning. He loves his class and sings along and participates, which is really cute. I'm happy we put him in.

We went to open gymnastics and while the kids were a bit more reserved than in the past since we haven't gone for awhile, they found things they loved. Ryan and Lily had a fun time runnimg along the long tramp and jumping in the foam pit. We also had a play date with Blake Smith and then when Tara came to pick him up we talked for about an hour which was nice. 

Jeff took the kids to get haircuts and said they were perfect. Lily got a little A-line bob and it looks darling, everyone loves it. Ryan commented to the person cutting Jeff's hair that her toe nails are Lily's favorite color and there are hearts on them. He would then go back and forth between people giving them messages and was very still when his hair was being cut. 

We got our car serviced so I had a loaner. Ryan saw it in the garage (an old Saturn) and was so excited about our new car. Later, when their babysitter Kendra came over for a few minutes so I could return the car, he looked in the garage and saw our van there. He sobbed for a long time because he missed our new car. Throughout the day he would sometimes remember the missing new car and get sad again. He never even rode in it, but he was very attached. 

We had the missionaries over for dinner and they challenged us to pray about a family or person to teach by a certain date. Our date is March 1. I'm always nervous doing things like this since I have been rejected quite a lot by people when I invite them to church things, so I get to practice exercising a lot of faith. Plus, Michael had issued us the same challenge for when he gets back from his mission so this was good to be reminded. 

Amber Hopkins in the ward called me last minute and asked if I wanted to attend a mom's night out/training that a lot of the LDS home school moms attend. I had only a couple hours to find a babysitter for 4 hours, but the girl I visit teach, Hailey Mayle, happily offered! I was so grateful (especially becasuse we had visited her the day before and the kids were a bit wild) that I got to go and had a wonderful time. We had dinner, then Laren and Kyle Bateman from the ward did the training. They are professional trainers and did a great job. They taught about energy healing and tapping methods (which is something I have been learning and am interested in) and then did an exercise on self-awareness, mirrors, looking into others eyes, communicating with our eyes, and seeing ourselves for how our Father in Heaven sees us. When Amber called I wasn't sure it would work out since Jeff was gone, but she said she felt prompted to ask me so I didn't want to ignore that. Then she said she'd set the intention for it to work. And it did and I'm so grateful because it was just what I needed!

And now for some pics:

The kids love Max's snacks. Ryan spilled them on the floor, but had to eat some before cleaning up.

Our dishwasher only worked when it was secured in a very specifc way. We have to get a new washer, but we tried to get one more day of dishes washed before we switched over to hand washing. Jeff did this to make it work (I'm still not sure how he managed it) and the washer quit after it did one rinse cycle. That was good enough for us (there were so many dishes because we had the missionaries over for dinner!). We've been washing all week, which will make me so grateful for a dishwasher when it comes in. 

Ryan was supposed to be in bed, but we heard him call out, "my crib is empty!"

Ryan playing the harmonica with Max. 

New haircut!

The kids wanted to dress up so this is Ryan's football shirt and soccer pants (shh, don't tell him he's mixing brands). 

And Izzy the Pirate

Lily sat down like a little photographer and kept trying to get Max to smile. She asked me to come help make him smile. She captured a cute face. 

Lily wanted a picture of holding herself up. She felt very strong. 

Lily discovered iTunes radio and has been walking around with my phone listening to music. Jeff tried to get the kids to smile, but sometimes they just can't.