Sleepless in...

.. no, not Seattle. But the past few nights have been rough for Amy and I. Timothy is finally getting over his cough, and Amy has started one. Wednesday night she woke often coughing. I ended up spending the night in her room ( on the queen bed while she remained in her own bed). Aaron was on call and since he knew of an at-risk delivery happening soon he elected to spend the night in the hospital - I wasn't going to be in the bed anyway. In 6 months on the job that's the first time he's ever done that, not bad.

Thursday I canceled my visiting teaching appointment. I'm glad I did. Later that afternoon Amy developed a fever. I knew she needed a nap so I drove around hoping she'd fall asleep - it's the first time I drove around with no other errands to run - just to put her to sleep. It backfired on me. She got a 2 minute nap and woke up the second I put her on the bed. However in the afternoon, when her fever got worse, I gave her some Ibuprofen and snuggled with her until she fell asleep - around 3:00. She woke up feeling much better, but still coughing a lot.

That night was a little worse. She woke up about every 1 -2 hours. We set up the humidifier in her room, but I'm not sure it helped. I attempted to give her more Ibuprofen in the night but she refused it. Aaron helped me give her a dose before he left for work on Friday. It helped somewhat. She just picked at her lunch though, and fell asleep easily while I snuggled with her. I have to say I've been able to read a lot while holding her. She was still coughing like crazy when she woke up, but ate well at dinner time. Even with her nap she went to sleep easily. However she didn't stay asleep. She woke at least three times between 8:00 (bedtime) and 11:00 when I finally resigned myself to sleep in her room again. Aaron is on call this weekend and was up taking care of a few pages. He was expecting a few more middle of the night calls, so I really couldn't enlist his help, especially since Amy didn't want anyone but me. I put menthol on her chest, but I don't know if it helped. We spent a fitful night on the bed. I don't know how many times she woke up, but I didn't get much sleep at all. It seemed that every time I dozed off she was either coughing, calling out for me, or changing her sleep position. When she woke up at 6:00 am wanting to go downstairs I was so exhausted. I took her down on the couch with me hoping she'd fall back asleep. Aaron thankfully decided to just let her watch PBS kids and Amy reluctantly agreed. I went back to sleep in my own bed. He came back in at 7:30 to let me know he was leaving for the hospital and the kids were all eating breakfast and watching PBS kids. I slept for another 30 minutes before I decided to get up.

Amy is taking her second nap of the day. I had to force another dose of Ibuprofen down her this afternoon. She looked so miserable. Aaron is napping with her, and I'm about to start dinner. We had dinner plans for tomorrow, but I had to cancel them. I also had to find a sub for my YW class. Since Aaron is on call I can't expect him to stay home from church with Amy in case he gets called in. However it shouldn't be a problem to find a ride home for the boys if necessary.

So that is my sad tale for today. I hope she feels better soon. I makes me sad to see her so miserable. I should have taken a picture of her this afternoon, then you could see how pathetic she looked. "This too shall pass".

More About the Kids

I feel like I don't talk about the kids in detail when I do a long update. So here are the things I've noticed about the kids.

David

• For one of his cub scout requirements David had to prepare a meal for the family. That means he had to make the meal, set the table and do the dishes afterward. He chose Taco Soup. So last Tuesday he made dinner. All by himself.
• On Friday David brought home his weekly multiplication timed test. He got 80 out of 81. He said it was because he wrote 63 instead of 64. When I looked at the test I didn't see where the teacher marked it wrong, but there was a pencil check (from David) next to the wrong answer. David then told me "Mrs. H* didn't even know I got it wrong. I had to tell her." I was so proud of him!!! He could have kept that to himself, it would have been a 100%, but he was honest, and I praised him highly, and made sure he told Aaron when he got home.
• On Monday he ran 2 miles during lunch recess. Apparently if they run 50 miles in one month they get their name on a poster. He decided to wait until March to do it, since there is only a week left of January and February only has 28 days ;)
  

Timothy

• He has a nasty cough right now. It's no fun. We've given him honey, and it works for a little bit. He doesn't like the cough drops. We have cherry, strawberry and lemon, he doesn't like any of them. He coughs especially after running around, or when he tries to laugh. I hope he gets over it soon.
• When we went to Brian's for dinner, at some point the boys were in the living room with Adee and baby Anna. I over heard part of their conversation. Timothy asked if he could give her a hug. "I'm a hugger," he declared. It is so true. I had to laugh, but then I realized he got that from Toy Story 3.
• His handwriting is improving immensely. He still writes a few letters backward occasionally when he isn't focused. He is doing well with his school work and I'm very excited for him.
• He still has problems getting along with other kids. Mostly it's because he is picked on. some of is because of bad habits on his part. One girl calls him gross- maybe because he picks his nose. Other kids tease him because he makes a mess when he eats - that's also true. He has no awareness when his face is covered in pudding. I also watched another kid close the gate at school before he could come in. He didn't lock it, but then I heard the "na na na na na" afterward. Not cool. I'm not sure how to help him.
• Timothy still loves to draw and I love all the things he wants to invent, even if they are crazy. Maybe he really will be an inventor!
  

Amy

• Her new favorite movie is The Magic School Bus. The DVD we have is 3 episodes about water. She loves them and can tell us all about the story. She knows the characters, and is now interested in the many Magic School Bus books we have.
• She loves books but however she thinks it's fun to destroy her book shelves at nap time when she doesn't sleep. It drive me crazy having to shelf all the books every night before bed time. On Saturday night she started doing that at bedtime too! Aaron was fed up with it too and moved the bookshelf into our room. Amy was not happy about it, but at least I don't have to put them back on the shelf once, or more, a day.
• Amy will now say prayers by herself. Although they usually consist of: "Bless Brandon go on his mission. Bless the food. Name Christ, Amen." Sometimes there is a "Bless Mommy, Daddy, David and Timothy." She no longer wants our suggestions of things to say.
  
• Amy likes to play with a little lizard. The other day she decided to give it a name - Brandon. So cute!
• When Amy refers to Toy Story 3 she calls it "Story 3, 2, 1".
• Amy is still not napping consistently. The vacuum trick doesn't work anymore. Guess what worked today!! She asked to come out after 20 minutes and I said, "No it's nap time" in a really frustrated voice. She cried for 10 minutes - which I ignored. Then she fell asleep. Too bad she doesn't usually cry when I leave her in there, she might nap more often.
  

David took these pictures of Amy:

smiling at David

After she fell asleep at dinner on Friday. I only let her sleep for a couple of minutes.

Aaron got this one of her silly grimace.

And a few videos

Amy's way of going down the stairs


Amy dancing on a Saturday afternoon


Amy putting away the magnet letters

Major Update

I've gotten behind again. Fortunately what has kept me away is my exercise. After Aaron fixed the bike I was more motivated to ride it. For the second week the boys were back in school I would put the kids to bed and then exercise, but then I found that often in the evening we'd have other activities that would push it back to after 9:00, or we wouldn't even get home until 10:00. So last week I started exercising in the morning, that way if I miss it I can make it up in the evening.

I missed a few things last week. The first was that Aaron and I went to the temple last Tuesday. I ended up not getting a babysitter and just taking Amy with us. The plan was for Aaron to go in a do a session, and then I would do some initiatories, since I had some family names. We keep forgetting that we are supposed to call and make appointment before we go since it's a small temple. So Aaron went in and asked if there was room for him and if I could come in after him. Unfortunately they were booked for initiatories. So while Aaron was at the temple Amy and I did a ton of shopping. When Aaron came out he said that they had a no show at 11:00, so I could go in for 30 minutes or so and do a few names. Even if it was short I was glad to be able to go. Aaron didn't really have time to go anywhere, so he and Amy just stayed in the car. Amy fell asleep for the last 10 minutes of the drive back, and that was her nap for the day - oh well.

Last Friday I made some cookies for a friend's birthday - they were really yummy, and I ate too many. It was a much warmer day, and most of the snow melted. That night we had last minute date. Aaron was reminded on Wednesday there was a recruitment dinner. He thought he could get Brian's daughter Anna Lee to watch the kids for us, but she was busy, so I had to find a sitter last minute. Madison came over at 6:00, Aaron didn't get home until 6:40. So the kids and Madison ate dinner while I waited. We made it to the restaurant in good time - only about 5 minutes late, and we were only the second ones there, the first couple (the clinic manager, Jade, and his wife) arrived just a minute before we did. Soon Brian and his wife arrived, and the candidate and his wife, and adorable daughter Anna. It was at a nice Italian restaurant in the city. We really had a good time with them. They had so many interesting stories from his time in Europe and living on the East Coast - they are both from NY. We had some really good food, although I was disappointed in the gelato - too many cashews. We got home around 10:00. Madison said the kids were good, but Amy wouldn't let her touch her at all. David had to help with lot of things. As she was talking to us all of a sudden Amy came bounding down the stairs "Hi Mommy". The boys were asleep, but she was wide awake. At least she was in her room until we came home. I put Amy back in her bed and then took Madison home.

Saturday was pretty normal as far as a I can remember. Aaron went in to the office to finish up some work for a little while. Later that evening we went back to the city for another dinner. Since the interviewing couple wasn't leaving until Sunday morning Brian invited them (and us) over an informal dinner at his home. The boys ran off and played until dinner was ready. Amy was a little apprehensive - she had fallen asleep at 4:30, and I woke her up to get in the van, and then she fell asleep until we were almost there. She eventually warmed up when Brian's wife found a bag of old Barbies. Amy has never played with Barbies as far as I know. She she had fun playing with them - mostly we just tried to get some clothes on them. She didn't eat much dinner, but loved the peanut butter brownies we brought for dessert. It was another late night, but it was good.

Sunday was a pretty good day as well. It was a nice day weather wise. If the ground weren't sopping wet I'd have considered a picnic outside. Church was great - it was Ward Conference, so we had the Stake leaders there. Amy didn't want me to leave her in nursery. I stayed for about 15 minutes, but then I came up with some excuse and left. Since the Stake leaders were in charge of the third hour I didn't have to teach, it also meant that I could sit with Aaron for the combined lesson given by Pres. R*. I was glad I was able to go, it was a really good lesson.

After church and dinner we played some games together. While we were sitting at the table I noticed Amy had one tight curl at the back of her head. Eventually Aaron got this picture:

Can you see the curl in the middle?

Monday was Martin Luther King Day. Aaron's schedule was changed a bit so he got Monday off (not a clinic holiday) and worked Tuesday. Originally the plan was to go up in the mountains and go sledding. However we had heard on the news the the pass was getting rain, and the rivers were starting to flood, so we changed plans. There is a great walkway in the city with a playground only accessible by the walkway. It's about a mile from the nearest parking lots. So we packed up the boys' bikes, and a stroller for Amy. Timothy still isn't very confident on the bike even with training wheels, so it took a while to get to the park. Once we got there we ate a packed lunch and then played for about 90 minutes.

It was a fun playground

It was a fairly warm day for January - about 60 degrees, but the wind made it rather cold. As soon as we got on the freeway we noticed how high the river was. It was flowing really fast and was really dirty with all the silt it was carrying down. We continued to see the flooding as we followed the river us to the city. This was the view from the playground.

I don't know if you can tell how high and fast it is, but it's really dirty.

Amy and played on the playground for a bit, and then she sat with Aaron for a while.

David had fun hanging on this toy, and I surprised him with a picture.

Timothy smiled for me, but blinked oh well.

Amy liked driving the car, but the wind kept blowing her hair in her face.

Timothy and David ran around the maze.

When we were done playing we walked/rode back in the wind. We stopped by a couple of stores on the way home. I kept thinking Amy would fall asleep at some point. Timothy did. Amy finally fell asleep 5 minutes from home at 3:30 - not the best time to take a nap. We had a quiet afternoon as Amy slept, I played games with the boys and Aaron worked on dinner. I had to wake up Amy at 5:00 and she was not happy. But we had a great dinner, and FHE.

Tuesday was back to normal. Aaron had to work and the boys went back to school. Timothy developed a cough. Amy didn't nap - that's pretty much the norm now. She falls asleep around 3:30 or 4:00 if she's watching a movie, or she dozes while eating dinner. I might be able to get an hour or "quiet time" during the day, but that's about it. That night was a Relief Society meeting. We are going back to our monthly meetings - with quarterly activities. It was a really good evening, and there were a lot of things I needed to hear. When we talked about getting things done, Sis. B* had us ask ourselves , "What's the worst that could happen if I don't change?" It really got me thinking. As important as it was for me to exercise, what I really needed to do was cut back on the snacking. So what would happen if I don't change - weight issues, self esteem issues, health problems (diabetes?). One of the things we bought on Monday was a scale. We've been without one for a few years - it broke, but I can't remember why. So now I have something that will help me keep track of my progress. I also got to talk to friends for a while afterward and it was nice to have adult conversations with friends without being interrupted by the kids.

Wednesday Aaron was on call, it was a normal laundry day and that night David had scouts. I dropped them off. Aaron came from work about the same time so he could do board of reviews with the scouts, but then he needed to give a blessing to someone he home teaches, so I picked the boys up too.

Thursday I had a Dr. appt., so I walked the boys to school early and took Amy to play with Morgan. I got there on time, but I had to wait quite a while - I guess that's typical here, but it's free, so I can't complain. Mostly I went in to get my annual labs for my thyroid, but when I mentioned that I was trying to lose weight I had a really good conversation with Dr. W*. It was a good visit even if I was gone for way too long. Aaron probably would have stopped in to say "hi" except that he was at the hospital all morning. The lady who did my labs recognized me from a picture (and my last name) and asked me if I was the one who made all those cookies. "When they told me Dr. G* had brought us some goodies I thought they meant poop (stool sample)." It's still weird to hear people say "Dr. G*).

Amy didn't nap when I put her down but she fell asleep at 2:00 while eating a snack. Aaron had called to let us know they had flu shots available and the office was slow. But I wasn't about to wake Amy. So I waited until about 4:15, woke her up and then headed over to the clinic - for the second time that day. I had to fill out some paper work since David hadn't been to the clinic yet. Then we met Aaron back at the office. Timothy went first wasn't very happy about it, but Aaron promised them suckers, and then he agreed to get the shot. He was pretty brave, only a little squeak. David did fine as well. Amy started screaming as soon as I started pulling on her pants. She was fine after Aaron gave her a sucker though. We went back to see Aaron's office for a minute, and then we headed home. Amy complained about her hurt leg the whole way home. She took a really long time to get to sleep that night.

Friday was pretty normal other than a quick trip to the grocery store. It was the first day of my new diet, and it went pretty well. The kids were begging me for a treat after dinner, but I didn't want to fix anything and have lots of treat lying around. I was glad I didn't make anything because Aaron came home from work with the last little bit of a cake. So the kids got their treat without having a lot of extras to tempt me.

Saturday Aaron had a training meeting for the ER utilization project he is heading up. Yes he's here less than 6 months and he's already starting projects! We had a pretty quiet morning here. It was a little odd trying to do the exercise bike while the boys were here. They kept interrupting me, and declaring that they were bored. Aaron had taken the laptop with him so I couldn't check email etc. like I usually do. So I picked up my copy of Jane Eyre (that I bought for 79 cents a while ago). David was on top of things and did his Saturday chores without me asking him to. It still took me a while to get ready for the day. Then the kids watched some cartoons while David and I played a game. Then David wanted to invite Lauren over, but she wasn't home. We had some lunch and then I tried to get Amy to nap - it didn't happen. Aaron came home sooner than I expected - around 3:00. David was out riding bikes with Lauren and Landon. Timothy was upstairs because his cough was getting worse. I was watching Cinderella with Amy. I was hoping if it was quiet enough she might fall asleep, but it didn't work. She didn't want me on the computer - I was trying to prepare my church lesson. So I ended up reading while Amy watched her movie.

We had planned on going to the high school basketball game, but it was postponed because of the death of a student from the opposing high school. That was sad news. So instead we stayed home and played games. Aaron and I had our own little game night after the kids went to bed. We played Pass the Pigs (we were introduced to it while were dating, 12 years ago, and finally got it for Christmas) and Skip-Bo.

Sunday was pretty good as usual. I let Aaron sleep in until almost 9:00 - he deserved it, and it's been a while since he's done that. After we got to church I ran back home to get some cough drops for Timothy. He really needed them. Amy is doing better in sacrament meeting, except for when David tries to make her laugh, and she ends up screeching. I convinced Amy to let Aaron take her to nursery. She did great, and my lesson went well. Aaron surprised me with suggesting that we stay for choir. It's only 30 minutes, but I've always hurried home for Amy's naps. But since she isn't napping much I guess it doesn't matter. So we stayed the kids played in the nursery for a bit then we went home. Our home teacher came over soon after we got home, so we didn't eat lunch until 2:00. Oh well, and Amy never did take a nap. Sunday evening was filled with more games, dinner making, and FHE lesson planning for David. I made a peach blueberry cobbler - mmm! After the kids went to bed Aaron and I started planning our G* Family Reunion for the summer. We're just trying brainstorming ideas for activities and such.

Today I tried to exercise before I took the kids to school - it didn't work very well. I had breakfast ready, and got lunches ready early, but I had to stop to eat with everyone, then the kids kept trying to talk to me, and I realized I really don't want to talk to anyone while I'm exercising, I would be a bad running buddy. I'm much better with music, a book to read, or a movie to watch. I had to stop several times, so I gave up. I finished after I took the kids to school, showered quickly and then headed up to the city to do some shopping and returning. Amy fell asleep on the way home, as I had hoped. She even transferred to the bed and slept for almost 2 hours! So now the kids are home, Amy is watching Cinderella, and I am finally finishing this post - I started it 4 days ago, but I kept getting distracted and it took me a while to finish it. So I guess that's it. I have a few more posts swimming around in my head, but who knows when I'll get around to posting them.

Fun With Glitter

With the boys back in school, and my netflix gone I am finding more time with Amy. She got too used to watching way too many movies, so we had to find other activities to distract her (besides eating yogurt). All of the usuals (e.g. reading books, coloring etc.) weren't working. So I asked her if she wanted to play with glue. I decided to pull out my box of craft stuff and see what she could create. We also used foam stickers.
She loved the stickers, and pointed out what they were - a dog, a dinosaur etc.
She noticed my glue design looked like a "p", so we did subsequent pictures with different letters. I did one with her name. She named all the letters and then declared it spelled "Amy". When I got the camera to take a video she didn't duplicate it, so you'll just have to take my word for it.

When the boys came home they loved Amy's pictures and wanted to make some for themselves. This was last Friday and I'm still finding glitter in random places.

RTT

RTT- is Random Thought Thursday, (in case you didn't know)

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Amy's latest thing is acting like a puppy dog. she crawls around like a puppy and pants and barks. I think it's kind of cute.

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Aaron even made it easier to wash her hands by telling her the washcloth was a puppy. She asks if the puppy can wash her hands and the barks while we wash. She still won't let it near her face though. I have to force that - it's not too fun.

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David lost another tooth on Monday. It's been loose long enough that the tooth coming is very visible already. He lost it at school, and forgot to bring it home until yesterday. I'm glad the tooth fairy remembered to come.

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We got a couple more inches of snow yesterday - very powdery stuff, not good for making snowmen or snowballs. It was supposed to turn to rain and melt away. Instead it cleared up, and stayed cold, so there's still 2 inches on the ground.

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Tuesday Aaron and the scouts did a quick service project of moving firewood for an older couple in the ward. We had to do it during daylight so I had to be the other adult leader, plus we needed every seat in both vehicles. That meant I took the kids with me. At first David didn't want to help, but then joined in and had a fun time. I helped load the boys up, until Amy got tired of playing with the big dog and her hands got cold. I guess her mittens don't keep her hands very warm. One boy treated us all to cupcakes afterward. He's new to the troop, and his mom is on top of things! That brings the group to 9 boys -5 of which aren't members of our ward!

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My workouts are getting better. Yesterday I did a 30 minute workout and burned 410 calories. I'm not tired of it yet, although my legs are still really sore. That's a good sign.

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It's didn't snow at all yesterday or last night, however there was a two hour delay for school today because it was icy. I wish I had known that before I sent my kids to school. Luckily I could tell from the corner there was no one dropping off, and no kids on the playground. So I just waited by the gate until they turned around and came back home. The sun is out and it's warming up. I think the snow and ice might be gone by this evening.

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The break is over!

Last Monday the kids went back to school - thank goodness! Although both boys said they didn't feel well, they still wanted to go to school. I guess when I told them they couldn't play on the computer and that they would have to stay upstairs they opted for school. I tried to not watch so much Netflix and play with Amy since she didn't have the boys to entertain her. We ended up finished the LEGO sorting that David started a few weeks earlier. When Amy wouldn't nap I drove to the post office and she conveniently fell asleep on the way home. After the boys got home I realized David really should have stayed home. He said he was cold all day long, and he did awful on a math test. He only got 24 out of 81. Of course later a realized it was a timed test for multiplication, something they barely started, and aren't required to pass until the end of the year. He spent most of the afternoon upstairs in his room. I gave him some medicine after I realized he had a fever. He even took a short nap. He says he never went to sleep, but he woke up after having a bad dream. Something about me moving the LEGOs, and seeing something outside his window (on the second story). Anyway... We had a very simple FHE that night, and went to bed. Aaron and I heard David wake up at 9:30 after another bad dream. The look on his face was frightening. He was truly terrified. We calmed him down and gave him another dose of medicine.

We kept our bedroom door open that night so we could hear David if he woke up again. He did wake up around 12:30 scared again, but there was no fever, I moved him onto our bedroom floor. He had one more nightmare that woke me up at 5:00 am. Amy woke up at 5:45am. It was another long day on Tuesday. I figured we'd just let David sleep, and have him stay home. But he insisted he was feeling better, and wanted to go to school. Timothy even though he was coughing like crazy still wanted to go to school. So they both went. Aaron walked them to school and then helped out in both classrooms. The rest of the day was pretty laid back. Aaron worked on some puzzles with the kids that afternoon.


After dinner Aaron had scouts over at the church. That night David only woke up once with the same bad dream- but that's the last time it happened.

Wednesday we got a little bit of snow. After I walked the kids to school Amy and I headed into the city for some shopping. Less than 10 minutes into the drive we hit a dead standstill. The roads weren't that bad but apparently they were really icy earlier. I passed 4 accidents. One car was nose down in a ditch and another one took out a highway sign sideways. I got off at the next exit because I could see slow traffic ahead of me as far as I could see. I turned around and went home. The snow pretty much melted by the end of the day, but I wasted an hour of my time in the van, oh well. Amy and I just stayed in the house for the rest of the day. David had a much better day at school. Tuesday he had gotten 56 out of 81, and Wednesday he got 68 out of 81. Not bad! David had cub scouts that night, and that's about it.

Thursday I watched Cecil again. He's a cutie, but at that age where he's into everything. I had to remove the paper from the printer, and move the chairs away from the table and stuff like that. Amy spent the majority of the time telling Cecil to stop touching her stuff. But it was a fun morning. I can't think of anything else other than David got 75 out of 81 on the multiplication test.

Friday Amy and I finally made our trip to the city. We hit several stores, and then she fell asleep too early on the way home which meant she only got a 10 minute nap - she woke up when I tried to bring her inside. When the boys got home from school David was happy because he got 80 out of 81 - he had to get 79 to pass! I should clarify that all of the previous tests he got all the problems right, he just wasn't fast enough to finish the test. If he didn't know the answer he'd skip it and go to the next one, and didn't have time to go back through all of the ones he skipped. On Friday he finished the whole thing and only missed one because he wrote 35 instead of 36. He is the only one in his class to pass it, granted they really don't have to pass it until the end of the year, they get a chance every week. However David does have to pass it every week to keep all of his "class money" that he earned by passing it. It's good that they continue working on it to make sure it sticks. I can't recall what else we did that evening. Lately we've been watching bowl games on the internet and movies. Friday Aaron discovered that my free exercise bike wasn't working properly. The tension wasn't working so it didn't get more difficult, so it wasn't much of a workout. So Aaron found out the tension was so low that the magnet wasn't catching at all. So my workout Friday was a big improvement. Instead of burning 75 calories it was closer to 235 for a 20 minute ride. Much better. Now I'm more motivated to exercise because I can feel results and see the calories I burn. My legs were certainly feeling it, and I also figured out how to work the heart rate monitor.

Saturday Aaron had a Merit Badge Pow-Pow in the city. He was gone very early and didn't come back until after lunch. So at home we just cleaned up, played and watched a movie. Aaron and the boys played with LEGOs a lot. They decided to rebuild David's Agents Mobile Command Station. I even took turns helping Timothy. He was good at putting it together, but needed help finding pieces. He also would lose his place and miss a step. But they finally got it all together. We played a few board games as well. The game of Life is a new favorite.

Sunday was a pretty good day. I woke up with a runny nose. Soon after church started I got really congested. Later it turned into a head cold. Ick. We got a little snow, but not a lot. Aaron did some home teaching after church. I made some cinnamon rolls and Aaron made gnocci for dinner - yum!

As for today the snow didn't melt like I expected, the boys had a great day at school. Amy didn't nap, but then I put her on the couch with her blanket while I vacuumed at 2:00 - it worked. 4 out of 6 times I've been able to get Amy to take a nap by running the vacuum just after I put her down for a nap. But that meant that I couldn't get the boys after school. So just before I needed to pick up the boys I called Abby to have her send the boys home when they came through the gate with her kids. I didn't ring after I dialed her number. I tried once more. The third time I pushed talk instead of using the phone book - no dial tone. Great! So I ran over to get the boys and ran back since Amy was on the couch asleep.

When I called the phone company (on my cell phone) they couldn't see anything wrong with the line, and asked me to check the phone modem - I didn't know where it was, and I couldn't walk around looking for it because my lame cell phone doesn't get a signal inside my house unless I'm next to the window. So I set up an appointment to have them come look at it tomorrow, knowing that I could cancel if Aaron could fix the problem. Aaron knew where the phone modem was and somehow the cord got ripped out and broke. Maybe Amy pulled it out, or someone tripped on it and didn't realize what happened. Who knows. But we had another phone cord, Aaron plugged it back in and we have a dial tone again. It must have happened some time yesterday because there was a message from someone that called around 9:00 yesterday, and we were home and the phone didn't ring. I'm glad that was an easy fix.

The boys were at each others throats today, especially while I was trying to fix the phone problem and chat with my sister today (about some fun news and frustrations). Sometimes I don't know what to do with them.

So I am finally caught up again, and since I'm done watching Psych (season 5 is only by DVD) I can keep up with my blogging. But Sense and Sensibility just arrived by mail, so I probably won't be blogging tomorrow :)

Christmas Card 2010

For those of you that didn't get one of our 50 free cards - to be honest I think more than half of them went to family - here is how it turned out. I loved it! I chose the brown and blue because it matched the colors of our picture. Maybe next time I will choose to wear red or green, so it will be more Christmasy. I'm so glad Shutterfly had a lot of different designs to chose from since I was using a picture almost 6 months old, and I didn't want to try for another picture. I think we'll use Shutterfly again for Christmas cards. They turned out great, and it was easy.

Initially Yours Cocoa Christmas Card

For hundreds of Christmas card designs, click here.

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What have I been doing?

Why haven't I been blogging? I blame Netflix. When I am not, cleaning, cooking, eating, sleeping, or taking care of the kiddos, I'm watching Psych on Netflix. I remember watching the beginning of the series when we had cable back in Houston, but I haven't seen an episode since. I'm a fan of the crime solving dramas currently, however this one has much less sex, gore, and almost as many obscure movie references as NCIS. I watch while I'm riding my exercise bike, and also while I'm checking email, and facebook. It's probably a good thing we aren't continuing the membership, at least for now. Aaron and have also been watching a lot of movies in the evening.

Needless to say I'm way behind on updating this blog. The first few days after Christmas were pretty nice since the kids played with their new toys, and created their new LEGO masterpieces. However by Monday afternoon the kids were bored!!! The snow was gone, and the newness wore off. When I was available to play games with them it was fun, until one kid would get mad because they lost or another would gloat when they won, or another (who wasn't playing the game) would climb on the table to destroy the game. Three guesses as to which description matches which child. We ended up watching lots of movies. The kids got really into watching Inspector Gadget episodes.

They did play outside a bit, but it wasn't as fun with no snow, friends out of town, or busy with family in town. And it was a little cold at times too. We did have a fun New Year's Eve though. We invited some friends over for a little party of games and appetizers. We had a lot of food for just two families. About 10 minutes after our guests arrived we discovered that Timothy was sick. He was feeling fine all day, but then was really cold, and didn't want to eat anything. So he spent the whole evening quarantined in his room. He fell asleep pretty early. The kids played Creationary for a while and then watched Toy Story 3. While the adults played Apples to Apples and Blisters. Since Timothy wasn't feeling well we postponed the tradition of eating the gingerbread house to the following day. Our guests left earlier than we had planned because their youngest wasn't content to stay up any longer. So the kids were in bed by 9:00. Aaron and I actually went to bed early because Aaron had been on call all since the night before. He got a few calls during the night and had gone into the hospital at 5:00 am, and didn't come home until 6:00 pm. It was actually a holiday at the clinic, but he was really busy in the hospital.

We didn't even get our toast in that night. I didn't think we would have to worry about midnight fireworks since we are a good 20 minutes from the city, and there were no fireworks planned for our town. However starting around 11:30 pm we heard fireworks for about an hour. Someone was setting off fireworks really close - maybe 3 or 4 blocks away. So we didn't well sleep for a while. Oh well.

New Year's Day was pretty good. We watched a bit of the parade and got in some college football. We snacked on leftovers a lot. David had been given his pinewood derby car earlier in the week, so Aaron and David decided to work on it. David came up with his own design.

Then he helped Aaron use the hack saw to cut it. Hopefully next year we'll have an actual shop to work in, but for now it's the kitchen. I should have gotten a picture of David using the hack saw, but all I got was the one with Aaron using the sander.

Everyone thought it was really noisy.

She's still cute

David liked the car after it was sanded.

I guess painting is next?

Later that afternoon we destroyed/ate the gingerbread house. Aaron insisted he take pictures. I really don't like this picture of me, but oh, well, whatcha gonna do? Of course we couldn't get one with everyone smiling/looking, so this is the best we've got.

Sunday we got to church and realized Timothy was coughing way too much, and that primary wasn't a good place for him to be, so Aaron took him home - since I had to teach. I already blogged about that loooong day.

So now I'm only a week behind. Let's see if the next post will catch me up!

Much needed blog therapy

Excuse me while I vent. Yesterday was a loooooong day. It started at 1:00 am when Amy woke up and wanted me to "sleep in the big bed" with her. I lay down for a few minutes, and woke some 3 hours later. As I lay back down in my own bed I heard her call to me. I ignored it at first until I realized she was saying " come downstairs with me." At 4:00 am!!!! She wanted to wake up and go downstairs. Of course I wasn't about to let her do that, but I couldn't exactly let her scream and wake up Aaron and our neighbors (the boys rarely are awakened by her crying). So I stayed with her and tried to get her to calm down. We finally settled on reading books in almost complete darkness. I just quoted them from memory. I read our routine of three books, and figured that would be fine, but no. . . she wanted more. I have no idea how many books we "read", but I finally stopped with a picture boards book, where I could just say one word like "apple" or "truck" I just kept repeating words until we both fell asleep. I'm guessing it took about an hour. An hour later I woke up and tried to sneak back into my bed, but Amy was awake again, and since it was 6:00, I knew I wasn't going to get her back to sleep. So I begrudgingly took her downstairs gave her some yogurt and cried because I was so exhausted. I finally decided to go get the paper and forget about getting any sleep. As I was reading Amy started crying because she wanted more yogurt, but there was plenty in the bottom of her bowl - she wanted more because she refuses to use a spoon, and she couldn't get anymore with just her fingers. Well I refused to get her more, so she cries again. This goes on a for a while and then she asks me to pick her up.

When I picked her up I washed off her hands and face. Then I sat back in my chair and rocked her while I read. At 7:00 she fell back asleep. By this time I could hear that the boys were awake and not quiet at all. By 7:30 I gave up sleeping on the couch and went upstairs. After telling the boys numerous times to be quiet I eventually fell asleep too. Amy and I booth woke up at 8:15. (Aaron woke up about that time as well)I really hoped that would make for a better day. I didn't really.

Amy was pretty much whiny and demanding all day. When I gave her cereal for breakfast she didn't want anyone but me to pour the milk. I poured too much, but she wanted more cereal, then she spilled it. I finally gave up and told Aaron I was going to take a shower. I took a really long shower. Getting her ready for church wasn't any different. She didn't want to get dressed, or brush her hair. When we got to church she didn't want to sit down at all. She didn't want to sing the opening hymn and screamed at me to stop the entire time until Aaron took her out. I cried. They came back in during the sacrament hymn. After the prayer she asked if she could go to nursery then. She did just OK during sacrament meeting. Timothy was coughing like crazy during that hour so Aaron took him home since I needed to stay for the 3rd hour. I took Amy to nursery, but she wouldn't stay for some reason - that's usually her favorite part. I ended up staying for 30 minutes until they could find a second adult to stay in there. I had a really hard time paying attention to the Sunday School lesson. And I was a bit distracted for my young women's lesson as well.

After church I bring Amy and David home. Then Aaron and David go home teaching. I help Timothy make a little cheese pizza in his Easy Bake Oven. Then Timothy and Amy played with Duplos for 15 minutes with no fighting - it was the best 15 minutes of the day up to that point. Then the pizza was done, and Amy wanted some too. The rest of the day was spent trying to figure out what Amy was screaming or whining about. I just had to ignore her most of the time. She wouldn't nap, and she wouldn't eat our early dinner. She just threw her food, and demanded things that weren't on the table. I think she ate a cracker and that's it.

Eventually she told me she needed a diaper change. When I changed it I knew there was more coming, so I asked her if she wanted to sit on the potty. She didn't, so I attempted to put a diaper on her, she refused. Suddenly she wants to use the potty. She sits there for 2 seconds and then she says she's done. She still refused to put on diaper. So I gave her a choice, she can leave the bathroom after she puts a diaper on, or she poops in the potty. She's a stubborn girl. Every time she made that face or made that sound I suggested the diaper or the potty, and she would protest, "I don't want to". So you can guess what happened. After I had to clean up the mess I forced the diaper on her.

Later I gave Amy banana when she said she was hungry. She fell asleep while eating it, at 5:30. It was a relief, but at the same time taking a nap that late is never good for bedtime. Later when she woke up and was really whiny Aaron said he'd take care of her upstairs. So I washed dishes and cleaned the kitchen while I fumed. It was getting close to bed time and I didn't hear screaming anymore, so I went upstairs to check on her. She was playing with David happy as a lark, but not ready for bed. When I said, "Where's Daddy?" She answered "On the phone." He was making calls about scouts. So we finally got ready for bed, which didn't go well either. She wouldn't stay in her bed or in her room, and demanded more stories, and that I stay. I was done. Somehow Aaron got her to get in her own bed and lay down, and eventually she went to sleep. As soon as she did I went to bed too.

Now I'm done venting. I realize I don't have it as bad as many others. I really am blessed, at least she wasn't up in the night screaming for 3 hours. But I am exhausted. I'm trying to curtail the demanding, and whining. I think it's' going to take a while, maybe even a year or more, but I'm not giving in and I'm not giving up. I don't have to like her behavior, but I sure do love her. Especially when she tells me, "I have a question for you. If a black squirrel run away, and a black squirrel eat a flower..." yeah, I don't know what the question is, but it's funny every time she says it. Yesterday was better because I went to the post office at 12:40 and she fell asleep on the way home. Today has been fine so far, but we'll see if she takes a nap without driving around.

Can anyone else relate?