Because I Need to Remember (And, Currently, be Reminded)

Oh, Landis. My dear Landis. You are ... 3 ... and a half... and I ... love you for so many reasons. The following is certainly not an exhaustive list.

• You love to eat "swaaan-wiches."
• You are learning what not to put down the toilet (i.e.--paper clips, pennies, rags, etc.).
• You are learning to, at least, clean up what doesn't [& should] go into the toilet.
• You no longer have to wonder what will happen if you pour all your pennies into Mom & Dad's fan.
• You want to give your money to God so much that you put your pressed souvenir Disney penny into the offering.
• You could exist for weeks at a time on cheese & tortillas.
• You affirm you know how to readjust your attitude when you state, "I willn't do it again."

For these reasons, and many, many more, I celebrate who you are and who you are becoming.

A sign I'm Getting Through...

Since flu season is upon us, and we are not the flu shot kind, I did a brief reminder lesson on the necessities of clean hands the other day. I told the kids we needed to be careful, especially when we're around a bunch of kids, to not touch our eyes, noses, or mouths, and make sure we wash or Purell as soon as we can.

On the way home from a gathering of kids the other day, Reed proudly proclaimed from the backseat, "Mom, I didn't pick my nose the whole time we were there!"

The Kids' Musical

A couple weeks ago Reed and Ashton were in the children's choir musical at church. It was called Simon Says, the trial of Simon Peter. His lawyers have to prove that Jesus was who he said he was, or Simon Peter would have to stop teaching about him. It was one of the cutest kids musicals I have seen!

The kids LOVED going to children's choir. This was Ashton's first semester to be in the preschool group, and Reed's second semester to be in the big kids choir. They will really miss it! This is one of my biggest regrets of leaving the church here.

Here is Reed's solo part. It's kind of hard to hear, but before the first one, the choir sings, "And what to my wondering eyes should appear?" You can also see how well he keeps up with the choreography--much better than in the fall!

Here is Reed as Lazarus. This was his favorite song because he didn't have to learn any of the choreography or sing! The preschoolers take the grave clothes off. They are not supposed to throw them, which is why he is trying to get them to stop! And I guess once during rehearsal they knocked him over they were being so "enthusiastic!"

Here is one of Ashton. She really got into this song, until the time I took this video. This was the last song during the second service, so I guess she was tired.

A Week Ago...

Last week on Tuesday I was coming down with mastitis.  If you don't know what that is, suffice it to say it's a nursing infection.  Unpleasant, but nothing I haven't experienced with the other two.  The fever is usually the worst part for me.  Wrong!!  This time was much more painful and lasted forever!

At lunch I was fine; by 1:30 I was pretty sure I knew it was coming, even though my temp was still normal.  I immediately got on the phone with the doctor.  

It hit me so fast that I knew I did not have the strength to put Ashton down for a nap.  So while I got in the bath, Reed "read" her two stories ("Ash, you cannot choose just any story, because I only know how to read these!") and tried to get her to lay down.  When she wanted mama to hold her, he got a picture of me and Ryan from the wall, drew a picture of Ashton on a post-it, and stuck her in my arms.  Pretty good problem solving, I would say!!  But alas Ashton would not agree.  She really likes to get her way.  

Meanwhile Landis had (of course) awoken from his nap and was demanding attention.  I hobbled slowly out down the hall and carried him from his crib to a bouncy seat in Reed's room.  I said if he was fussy, Reed could move him from the seat to the floor if he was careful.  With a warning to Ashton to go to sleep, I went back to the bath.  It wasn't long before I could hear Landis was not content and Ashton was not in bed.  Oh, well I thought.  As long as the house isn't burning down....  

In a bit Reed came back to see if I had any ideas of what he could do to help Landis.  The only idea I had was to check his diaper.  "Maybe Ashton could help you," I suggested.  Changing diapers is Reed's worst fear in the world!!  He has not thought it was funny when we have suggested it in the past.  But, bless his heart!  He was willing to do it!!  So a few minutes later when I heard him yelling, "Ashton, you get in here right now!!" I knew the situation had deteriorated and needed my attention.  

So imagine my shock when Ashton is now in bed (avoiding the dirty diaper situation) and Landis is lying ON THE CHANGING TABLE!!  The diaper was changed.  I kissed Reed and cried just a bit when I saw that.  Then I asked two questions: "How did you do this?" (He laid him on the bed that backs up to the changing table, climbed up and then lifted him further)  and "Did Ashton see you do it?" (because that is the last thing I need her doing--thankfully the answer was no).

So, long story shorter, Ash finally took a nap once I promised her ice cream, and Ryan came home once the antibiotics were filled.  Thankfully the kids were taken care of the next two days by other loving people.  I was flat on my back for 3 days and finally had to go back to the doctor and get a second antibiotic!   Yuck! 

Feeling much better now though....

Laundry Lessons

So I have decided I am fed up with doing everyone's laundry.  So I have started Reed on his own!  It may be a bit soon to set him free on the task, but it certainly was nice to at least have him working on it, too!  He will do it once every week and a half, and it will be a money chore for him, so I don't feel too bad.  (One Whole Dollar!)  

I walked him through the process last week, with little trouble.  But he was very concerned after opening the dryer when the first load was completed!  I had cleaned out the lint trap really well before this load (because there were literally ROCKS in my DRYER!  another blog....) and this load was a lot of jeans and stuff like that.  So when there was no visible lint in the trap, he exclaimed, "OH NO!  My clothes didn't get clean!!!" 

Humor

So I've had a hard time getting back into the blogging swing of things, so I thought I'd start out slow.  Here are some fun things from my kids.

Reed is learning the art of humor.  The other night Ryan exclaimed at dinner, "We have a good life!  Don't you forget it!"  Reed waited a few moments and then said, "What was that you just said?" (because he'd "forgotten!")  I laughed so hard.

While Ashton hasn't mastered how to tell a joke, she's still pretty funny.  Reed had asked her for a piece of tape.  (I gave them both their own roll of tape and said when it's gone it's gone.  Reed's is already gone.)  Once he got one piece from her he asked for "just one more."  She said, "Nope, you can only have one."  As he walked away, she tried to console him.  "Sowwy, Wittle Fewwa."  (Sorry, little fella!)  

Landis must know that his siblings are funny.  He's all smiles lately.  We sure are enjoying that!

Pictures of Petroglyphs (And Our Family)

So I'm trying to expand my blogging abilities. I'm sorry if you're in my family and have already seen these pics through email. It's still all I have on my computer.

This was a trek that we made on the west side of ABQ when Beth (my sister) & Joe were here. Ryan was working on his paper and could not join us. This is the Petroglyph National Monument.

Reed hiked both up and down without complaining. Ashton made it 3/4's of the way up and then was done. Reed liked seeing all the Pet-ro-cliffs. We had fun hiking with Aunt Beth and Uncle Joe and were glad they were there with extra hands (and also the camera).

The picture to side is us at the top. It was really a short hill, but very rocky and a bit of a challenge to navigate at times.

My Funny Kids

Ashton has been sharing the same Knock-knock joke with us for at least a month and we still think it's pretty funny.

Knock Knock.
Who's there?
Candy fall down.
Candy fall down who?
Monster eat you!!

Reed does not really understand why we think that one's funny when we don't fall down laughing at the ones he makes up. But he has more of a natural ability to crack us up on a regular basis.

Earlier today Ashton had hurt herself and was crying quite a bit. She was clearly in need of Kleenex so I asked Reed to go get one for her. When he looked up and saw her giant need, he said, "Woah! That's as green as a bean!" It was.

A Stay at Grandma's House

So we're on the road. It's been hard for me to blog since my computer isn't online. But we are staying at Grandma and Grandpa's house (Nelson). There are many advantages of staying with family when you are on the road. There are also many disadvantages. Let's explore a few. Advantage: Grandma has new toys. They are so enthralling -- for two days. Disavdvantage: Grandma only has two sets of toys. There is only so much you can do with two sets of age-appropriate toys. Advantage: Grandma and Grandpa will watch the kids for an overnight get-away for Mom and Dad! Despite the ice, we went to the Mansion at Elfindale and stayed in the suite where we had spent our honeymoon night. It was delightful! Disavantage: Kids are hyped up from abiding by grandma and grandpa rules. Advantage: Free room and board. We even have a separate room from the kids! Disadvantage: Kids are sharing a room. On the East side of the house. With an uncovered semi-circle window over the regular window. They haven't slept past 6 any day this week. >:( (If you don't really know me and my kids, Reed gets up at 7:30 and Ashton and I don't rouse before 8--9 if we're lucky.) This makes for very long days, in more ways than one. Advantage: Grandma has found the entire series of Berenstain Bears books to give to us! Disadvantage: The Berenstain Bears books are the longest books ever written for preschool age kids! And since my kids are used to two books at bedtime.... All in all I wouldn't trade it for the world! I know this time with Grandma and Grandpa is precious. Later this week we will be moving to my parent's house. Things there will be just as good and bad. But also very precious. What a blessing!

The Perfect Valentine's Day

Since Ryan and I will be celebrating Valentine's Day next week (when we have free child care), we decided to make today a family affair. So I decided to go all out and give the kids a Valentine's party. Now before you get all impressed, I only invited one other family (my friend and her two daughters whose age match my kids) and I have never thrown either of my kids a birthday party to this degree. And I guess I missed my teaching days.

We started by making our own pizzas with heart-shaped pepperonis and then cut sugar cookies from already-made dough. (While the cookie dough was very good itself, the cookies were a disaster at almost every point, although the kids didn't seem to notice!) Later we had crafts: lacing hearts with red ribbon, gluing hearts around the paper plate to make a heart wreath, and gluing your name on the heart (like the conversation heart candies) for the older ones. All the kids seemed to have fun, although when it came to the conversation name heart, Reed said with a cheerful attitude, “That's not really fun, but I'll do it anyway.”

Tonight we cooked a fancy dinner at home. Grandma Pat's famous golden chicken nuggets, baked potatoes, individual sweet potato casseroles, stir-fried ginger pea-pods, and pudding with cookie crumbs (from above failed cookie attempt) for dessert. Reed was impressed that I could make chicken nuggets that taste good! And for the peas I got the thumbs-up from Reed and the index-fingers-up from Ashton! We even ate on the china and (two of us) used the crystal glasses! (Granted: while making all this, I actually said to the kids, “Mommy is trying to make a special dinner for you and all you're doing is screaming at each other! Go to your rooms!”)

It was a pretty perfect day!

Two things I wasn't ready for

If you were around when Reed was a baby, you know that I dug in my heels when it came to him growing up. I didn't let anyone mention his impending first birthday, and I put off the first haircut as long as I possibly could. I realized later (when dressing Ashton) that I had even kept him in clothes longer than I should have, just because he was that age and still supposed to be that size!

When Ashton came along I realized that time would slip by, but I could celebrate the milestones of growth rather than dread them. I have gotten into a rhythm of enjoying life and seeing how she grows as a person each day. That rhythm was disrupted last week.

Ashton has been hinting for some time that she might be ready for potty training—going every time she was on the toilet, insisting I change a wet diaper, and even trying to use the bathroom on her own. I, on the other hand, am not ready for this. I know why children used to be potty trained so much earlier. What is the difference between washing cloth diapers and washing underwear? Nothing. Now there's a big difference!

So I broke down and got the pull ups—little pain, little gain. Since she has donned the pull ups, which she is very proud of, she has not made one attempt to go on her own and keeps them dry for about 10 minutes. So I guess this is good news. Neither of us is ready for potty training. This was not so hard on me.

The other thing we did last week was try out the big bed. We have had a double bed in her room since Christmas. Ryan suggested we try it for nap, so we did and she did great. I laid her down and closed the door: she immediately followed me out. I simply took her back and encouraged her, “If you get up again, I will put you in the crib.” She did not get up again and napped well.

That night I said we would go back to the crib for night time. She pointed and said, ”No, big bed.” She is a very insistent little thinker. It is hard to dissuade her from her plan. She got in the big bed and did not get up at all.

When I went back to check on her that night, I was suddenly overwhelmed. I remembered when we first moved her to her crib. We would lay her down perpendicular to the bed. We set the baby monitor camera about a foot away from her so her sweet wondering face filled the entire TV screen.

I am not really a cry-er—Ryan cries at the Extreme Home Makeover, not me. But I sure cried then and there. I had to come out and explain to my alarmed husband that it was really nothing. Everything was okay It was just time that was lost.

The good news is that I can now lean over and kiss her while she sleeps. It's been about 2 years since that has been possible without a gymnastic feat. And she can sleep perpendicular in the bed again.