A month later...

Wow, neglectful blogger than I am- I might actually write something!!!


A lot has happened in the last month, none of which leave a mom a lot of extra time to blog. Let's see...

Zach has discovered a deep love with the outdoors. If it was up to him we'd play outside, eat outside, sleep outside, change our clothes outside, potty outside... you get the picture. Tonight when I was getting him ready for bed he let me take off his shirt, his pants, and his diaper, but when I got to his socks he refused- saying "need sockies go outside." Apparently, all other apparel is optional.

Bella has been busy with dance and tee ball. Yesterday she had a tee ball camp after school. We arrived to pick her up in time to watch a priceless race at the end. They started out jumping like frogs, then hopping like kangaroos, waddling like a penguin, and ending with a chicken walk. It was very cute- wish I had come armed with a video camera. And Bella's victory in the race? She beat a 1st grader!!!

Christian had a new experience this last week- in school suspension. Strangely, he didn't mind the experience and said he thought he'd get better grades if he had all day to study... However, I do not see him being too eager to repeat the behavior that landed him there. I guess, it was effective! We are definitely entering the teen years.

Nick had carpal tunnel surgery on Monday. It went really well. He has not needed any pain medication- just Aleve- and feels fine. In fact, when the surgeon called to check on him Tuesday Nick asked him when he could have the other hand done. So, he is going to have that done next week. It will be great to have this all fixed. He has suffered with it for several years now and with the nature of being an electrician there is a lot of turning, twisting, gripping, and pretty much anything you are supposed to avoid with carpal tunnel- all day, everyday.

As for me... let's see. There isn't a whole lot to report. I have been eating weight watchers during the week but being pretty free on the weekends. So, the weight loss has come to a halt. That said, the numbers are not going up either- just holding steady. However, the goal of having my wedding ring on my finger by my anniversary next week is not going to happen. It is time to buckle down and stick with- everyday, not just work days. Somebody give me a swift kick in the butt please!

On our agenda in the coming weeks- Nick's second carpal tunnel surgery, Bella's weekly tee ball game, Bella's dance recital, Zach's tear duct surgery, and a month off of work for Nick due to the surgeries. I will, will, will get better about posting!

Sick and tired of being...

sick and tired! Zach is the winner of not feeling well this weekend. Last weekend it was Christian, weekend before that it was me. Oh Spring weather, please hurry up! Zach wanted to be outside all day even though he wasn't feeling well. For the most part he was good. However, he was not very tolerant of me trying to coax smiles out of him. I'd say "Say cheeseburger!" to which his reply was a scowl and "NO CHEESEBURGER!!!" If you click on the picture below you can see his face a little more clearly... Here's high flying Bella...

Do we see some motorcycle modeling in her future? She's got the pose down with no prompting...

She got this bike for her 5th birthday about 9 months ago. At that time she could barely reach the ground. Now she needs a bigger bike!

I know the forecast for tomorrow is rain, but I'm hoping it misses us. Life is so much better with outside time!

Spring Break

And it almost feels like spring! What a wonderful weekend it was! I love the weather. I hope today's sun can tide us over for the next nice day- looks a little gloomy the next few days.

Christian had district wrestling on Saturday. He was feeling sick with a sore throat and headache, but insisted on going. He finished out his season without wavering. Although it has been tough, with only one win, he has not been deterred. I'm very proud of him. Today he was throwing around a baseball with a friend. He told me a few weeks ago he wasn't going to go out for it, but today he gave it a "maybe." I hope he does, it is good for him to stay active. He is still coughing, but feeling better now.

Bella is sad this week- no school! Today while driving to daycare she said "Mom, I just LOVE these pants, because when I sit down, they are capris!" They are not capris, they are just too small! She has gotten so tall this year. She started kindergarten in size 5 and now her 6X's are too short. She is going to be in a 7/8. It's incredible. On another sad "my baby is growing up" note, Bella learned that there are no callapitters in the world, just caterpillars. That was my favorite thing she said like a little kid. Christian always said "butcept" instead of "except" or "but". And Bella's word was callapitters.

Zach is having a great spring. He's learning and talking so much. His new favorites are BIG trucks and motorcycles. Since we live on the truck route in town, he just loves to be outside and see who might drive by. He loves to see all the Abbys (dogs) around town. He is a little bit of a hazard though. Today Nick ran to the store for some charcoal and was gone about 5 minutes. In those 5 minutes Zach disappeared from the backyard (he ran around the entire house!), walked in front of Bella swinging and got clobbered, and then decided to get on a swing himself, but he gave himself too much of a boost, went right over the swing and landed flat on his back. And this was all with my supervision! I had forgotten how different boys are from girls. Crash course 101 tonight- literally.

As for Nick, he enjoyed riding his motorcycle to work today. I always worry about him on the highway, but that is my job, right? Actually I'm hoping he gets a lot of riding time in this spring and summer- maybe buy fall I'll be ready to climb on the back.

I hope everyone is having a good March! I will try to be a better blogger!

Lost

I was making a list of the things that have been lost this school year. Check it out!

Zach- Some of his ceramic turtles that he insists on toting around have lost limbs. Mostly legs, but maybe a head or two. One winter hat.

Bella- High School Musical hat and gloves, Pink snowflake hat and gloves, adorable knit striped winter hat, pink mittens, purple mittens, one Little Mermaid Sock.

Christian- One PE shoe, football pants, headgear, one pair of wrestling shoes, the registration code to a brand new computer game (never used), gym shorts, gym shirt x 2, planner, calculator, ruler, compass, and protractor.

Nick and Jill- lots of cash and a little of our sanity.

Biggy Boy

Zach was running around sans diaper tonight because he had a little redness I thought could use some air. He said "I go potty?" We headed upstairs, he sat down, and about 3 minutes later he went potty! We were all excited and clapping and cheering for him. Then he wanted to sit on the potty a lot longer, but couldn't understand the lack of cheering when he'd hop down and say "all done" but there wasn't anything in the potty.

I by no means am trying to potty train him- at all- but it did give me some hope that it won't be as bad as I'm dreading!

Happy Valentine's Day!

Bella and I started Valentine's Day with a run to the library. Well, two runs to the library because it was not open the first time we got there. And then we ran Nick's truck out of gas, blah blah blah... Anyhow, at some point we finally got to the library. While we were making our selections I got a call from the girls at work that flowers had been delivered for me. I thought it was odd that Nick would send the flowers to work on a Saturday since he knew I didn't have to work, but then decided he must have ordered them not realizing that Valentine's was on a Saturday. When I got to work I found...

These beautiful roses from a patient! He is one of my favorite patients- his calls always brighten my day because he truly appreciates everything that we do for him- he doesn't think he's entitled to anything. This was very sweet.

I have been rambling for months about wanting to get a vacuum that picks up our pet hair. After a lot of reading on the internet every pet owner review I could find led back to one vacuum. The Dyson Animal. It was on sale today at Sears and my mom gets an extra discount for being an employee. I decided (in the wake of a large tax refund) that I was just going to get it. With one large, very sheddy dog and two cats, we have a lot of pet hair on, well, everything.

I have vacuumed our living room and was just as shocked as all the reviews said I would be. This was in my carpet, in only my living room, after one time of vacuuming with the Dyson. Ewwwww gross!

So as we sit here, feeling like we have won the battle of pet hair, we are just waiting for the Valentine's Day treat that Nick and I decided to share- pure happiness for $2.39. Mmmmm, life is good!

Fiber One

I ran out of Special K bars for the kids (they either have Special K bars or mini bagels for our grab-n-go breakfasts) so instead on Tuesday they had Fiber One bars. I thought to warn my sitter that there could be some explosive results in Zach's diaper. What I did not think to warn her about would be if Zach decided to feed half of his Fiber One bar to her 5 pound Maltese... I might owe her a carpet cleaning. Oops.