October 2003 Moms and Kids - II

[Renrel]

Quicky post again.

We had fun a the musuem today. The museum just opened a month ago and is in a very interesting building. It is the first new museum in Boston in, I think they said, 50 year, maybe longer. It was contemporary art and very interesting. Even DH who does not "get" modern art and was mostly interested in seeing the building liked the exibits, though some made him dizzy. It was a alumi function he helped organize and it was overbooked, which made him feel nice and I finaly got to meet some of the board member I hear so much about.

We went to a Japanese hot pot place afterwards. The food was yummy and the level of energy in the place was just right.

We did let the sitter drive. She told me she drives for other families she sits for and has not had an accident since she was 20, though I am not sure how old she is. It was also only a 15 minute drive. It went fine and they had a good night, but now DH had to drive her home and the back and forth takes and hour. Ug! Not what he wants to do after a date night out.

Gabe has his first official swim lesson tomorrow.

[Michelle and Curtis]

Something really funny just happened. :)

Axel was standing on the recliner and I told him "No". He still was standing so I gave him a swat on the bum. Not enough to hurt just enough to get my point through. He sat down, leaned back and waved his finger at me saying, "No, no, no, no!" If it was my older one doing this there would have been a lecture coming but instead I just held his finger in my hand and told him Mommy said no. I'm starting to think this one might be worse than the first. :(

[mittyrd]

As if drowning in buggers wasn't enough for my 3 boys now Jake has viral conjunctivitis. Oy :(

[jay&erinn]

Hi Ladies- I've been reading along, but just can't find the time to post. I finished up another class and have 1.5 weeks off until I start my next one. I'm really annoyed at this class. I ended up with a B, and being the perfectionist that I am, that pi$$es me off. It makes me madder that I didn't get a B because of my lack of knowledge on the subject- more because the professor feels we should know how to manage patients by now and do it the same way she would. I know how to manage patients- the demographic that I work with. I know pediatrics from about 2 years and up. One of my final questions was on a 2 month old. I didn't know what the results for one of the specialized tests was, so I missed a portion of the question. That cost me my A. I want to email her results for a balance test (something I know a lot about that most in the profession don't and see if she can interpret those- it's only fair;) ). Enough of a rant about that. My house need to be overhauled. It's been so neglected. Hopefully I'll get to some of it in the next week or so.

We had a busy weekend. It didn't start out too well. One of our bookshelves broke and when it fell it broke every shelf underneath it. DH wasn't too happy when it took him about 4 hours to fix the whole thing. UGH. Other than Mia still not sleeping, things have been pretty good.

I posted a week or so ago about Mia's sleep changes. They're killing us. She's severely sleep deprived and becoming very difficult to handle because of it. She's still awake in her room at 10:00 (she goes to bed at 8:00) and then is getting up at 5:30. Then she refuses to take a nap. She's becoming really defiant (looking at us and smiling while she does exactly what we ask her not to). It's very frustrating. I'm not the spanking type, but it worries me how well she's pushing my buttons lately. She and DH went at it for an hour today. She refused to get dressed to go to the sitters. He put her in time out and she kept walking right out, refusing to sit. Finally they had to go so he forced her to get dressed while she fought him and laughed about it (despite DH being obviously angry). She tried to take off her harness (she did unbuckle part of it) while they were driving to the sitter's. He was so angry when he left her that he called me at work to calm down. She absolutely does not act like this when she's well rested. We're kind of at a loss of what to do. We sat down and talked to her tonight (she did nap today and has been back to her old self this evening). We can't force her to sleep, so we don't know what else to do. I told her that we were no longer going to yell (we never used to, but the past few weeks it's become much more common as DH and I get more and more frustrated). If she doesn't listen, she'll go right to time out. If she gets out of time out, we will put her in her room with the door shut so she can't come back out for her 3 minutes. Any other suggestions? We're also incorporatng natural consequences- she doesn't get dressed when we ask, she just doesn't go (mainly to gymnastics, the things that she likes). I hate wasting money that's already been spent, but I refuse to have a child that acts like this, tired or not. OK- enough about that complaint. Boy, I'm complaining a lot today.

Renrel: You're night out sounds like so much fun. DH and I desperately need one, but can't find the time. I'm going to aim for a night out in Feb. A ways away, but since he works almost every Friday night, that only leaves one night a week to really plan anything.
How did Gabe's swim lesson go? I'm going to sign Mia up for March. She hates getting her face wet, and I'm hoping to break that fear before summer.
What mom argues for jellybeans over oatmeal?????
I think we've all stupped to such levels. At least I know I have.

Michelle: I didn't think the auto show was until Feb. We usually go- I hope we didn't miss it.
Good luck with the weight loss. I was also going to recommend some fruits and veggies in addition to what you're already eating. They won't add up to many calories, but will fill you up and give you many more nutrients. You might want to try to eat something small for breakfast. I never used to eat it growing up. I lost 10 pounds changing almost nothing except adding breakfast to my day. It definately wakes up your body and gets your metabolism moving.
My grandmother actually said that mommies aren't supposed to be skinny.
Yea, well, Moms are supposed to be healthy so they can be around a long long time for their babies.

mittyrd: Oh, so lovely when you're outsmarted by one year olds:rolleyes: . Don't you just love it? Ayla already has us trained. Getting her to ever sleep in a crib all night long will most certainly be impossible.
I hope the boys are feeling better.
We don't know if we'll try for any more babies. It was a long 2 years from my first miscarriage to finally getting a healthy baby (although we had to stress for half the pregnancy that things wouldn't be OK). I'm not sure if I can physically handle another pregnancy or emotionally handle another loss. We'll decide in a year or so.

kerrykate: UGH! I'm just waiting for the day Mia decides to cut her hair. I guess telling her that we're going to have to get it all cut off if she doesn't let me brush it may back fire. I'm just have to rely on, "because I said so," from now on;)
Soccer sounds like so much fun. Mia misses the cut off this year, so she won't be able to play until next spring- they have to be 4 years old by the end of summer.
How was your DH's 30th b-day? Did you win any money?

Alison: How's A's foot? That sounds like it hurt.

Mia finally got to go out in the snow. She and DH went out after nap yesturday and went sled ridding down our driveway. It was great outside- snowy and about 32 degrees. They were out for an hour and a half and her hands weren't even cold when she came in. It's snowing again right now, so if it's snowy enough tomorrow evening, I'll ship them out again. I love playing in the snow, but don't think Ayla will stay warm enough for me to take her out too.

Well, I'm off to watch Supernanny- I need some tips since my child has turned into a brat;)

[Michelle and Curtis]

erinn ~ Turns out it was the World of Wheels. We'll also be at the car show next month. Never miss it! :) I know exactly what you're going through with Mia. Skylar is in bed at latest, 8:00pm. He gets out about a thousand times with tons of excuses and in the morning he's up before me, refusing to get dressed or brush his teeth. I have swatted him in frustration and I have to admit, it's got me no where. Here's what I found to work. Instead of 8:00 bedtime I switched him to 7:30. For some reason he fell asleep a little more quickly. I'm guessing because 8:00 was just late enough to turn him into that difiant child. When he goes down at 7:30 he is much more pleasant in the morning and actaully tries to get dressed before his brother is done. I don't honestly know why 7:30 works better but it did for us. :confused:

As far as discipline goes...he gets a warning first. Then he is sent to the stairs for 3 minutes. If he still cannot settle down he gets sent to his room. I admit he is set to his room for more than 3 minutes...usually about 5 minutes. Then he comes downstairs and we talk. He's coming out of a rebelious phase now. This also seemed to work best for us. I haven't sent him to his room in a few days now. :D

I'm off to see the rest of Super Nanny too! I can't wait to see how these parents deal with bedtime! :p

[AlisonCO]

mittyrd - How are your boys?

erinn - Is M sleeping any better?

As far as sleep, we are in a good cycle right now. The only change is that we now open Aidan's door when we go to bed. Maybe he likes to see us when he wakes up (we are right across the hall.)

So DH and I finally decided on a preschool for the fall. We toured it today and we were very impressed - basically it has everything we want: small classes, lots of activities like art, music, gym, outside time, reasonable rates, teachers who have been there a long time and have degrees, emphasis on hands on activities, no worksheets in the 3/4 room. Here is my only small issue: this year they have two classes that go from 9-11:30 and two that go from 9-1. I had always planned on doing the 9-11:30 this year and 9-1 for Pre-K. Well because of demand, they are going to do three classes of 9-1 and only one class of 9-11:30. The director said that there is a good chance that the 9-11:30 class will be full (from siblings of current students and from the PDO program that they also do) by the time we can register in 2 weeks. DH seems to think that Aidan will be fine going 9-1, but that seems like such a long morning for his first time in any type of school. DH did emphasize that A loves to be busy and that the longer morning will allow them to have more free play/outside time. I think that I am just worrying for nothing - he is my baby still right?:)

Hope that you all are doing well!

[mittyrd]

Alison: It's so hard to believe that we are already discussing preschool. How did they grow up so fast??

The boys are feeling a little better. Matt finishes up his antibiotics on Sunday and Sam was just started on them. Jake's conjunctivitis is better so I think we are on the mend (do you hear me knocking on wood??)

My niece turns 9 tomorrrow so I am taking jake to her b-day party while DH takes my grandma to the airport in Boston with the babies. She is going for a month and my mother was too nervous to drive her so DH is going to do it. What a good doobie.

He's a good doobie but when the kids are making him nuts, he calls them names i.e. little A-hole. (Just for the record he doesn't say a$$hole - just a-hole) Anyway, I went to give Jake a good night kiss and told him I loved him. Jake responded "I love you too, you little A-hole" YIKES!! So I guess we are going to be working more diligently about watching what we are saying!

We had our first 3 year old tantrum tonight. All b/c he did not want to eat dinner so he could watch Boobahs instead. Needless to say, he did not eat dinner and he did not watch boobahs. He cried hysterically for close to 45 minutes. Ugh. The babies just looked at him like he was crazy.

Jake has taken to holding Sam on his lap at night time movie time. Sam just sits there loving it. Jake holds him, kisses his head and tells him he is ok when he coughs. It is the best thing ever!!

[jay&erinn]

mittyrd: Oh- the 3 year old tantrum- aren't they grand????

Michelle: Thanks for sharing your experience with discipline. DH swatted Mia's butt in frustration the other day when things were really bad (she had been difficult for over an hour). It got him no where and he felt guilty afterwards. I'm not against spanking, but don't think it's something that I can do without doing it out of frustration or anger. I tell DH all the time that we're not allowed to hit someone our own age out of frustration or anger, why should we hit our 3 year old for the same reasons. When I get to that point where I'm losing control, that's what I try and tell myself.

Mia has slept a little better the past few days. It's shown. She's only gone to time out once a day the past few days. They've been easy time outs too- no screaming and carrying on for 30 minutes. Unfortunately tonight they were back. She didn't nap today and my Mom came and picked her up for awhile. She brought her back home a little late and bedtime went pretty rough. She kept asking for things and crying. Eventually I just shut the gate at the top of the stairs (it's bolted to the wall and she can't open it yet) and went downstairs. She screamed hysterically. The next thing I know she's standing next to me. She squeezed herself under the gate. I can't believe she fit or that she didn't fall down the steps doing it. Unbelievable. My mom eventually felt guilty and went to lay with her- leave it to grandma to always give in.

Preschool- I have to enroll Mia the week of Feb 5th. I can't believe it. I worry so much that she's not going to adjust well. Maybe it's just me who's not going to adjust well. One good thing is that she'll go to the same school that my mom teaches at. At least if anything happens while she's there, my mom's right there. I'm definately going to have a hard time letting go.

Discipline- What forms of discipline are you using? We mostly rely on time outs and taking things away (no stories at bedtime if you refuse to put on PJs). I'm looking for other options because Mia often refuses to sit for a time out. Before Ayla, I would spend 40 minutes walking her back to time out until she'd decide to cooperate. Now it's too difficult, especially if Ayla wants to nurse, etc. Plus Mia's getting bigger and it's too hard to keep carrying/dragging her back to her time out spot when she's kicking and screaming if I'm also having to hold Ayla for some reason. A few times I've put myself in time out instead- locking myself (and Ayla) in my bedroom for the 3 minutes. It's been fairly effective since Mia's not getting my attention, but I'm not sure if it's something we should be doing. Any suggestions?

[Renrel]

mittyrd - Yikes! I am guessing DH using an endearing tone when he uses that name, so it sound like a pet name to Jake. Sorry about the tantrum. We having way more of them at 3 than we did at too. I love how Jake is so affectionate with Sam.

AlisonCO- so glad to hear you found a preschool you are comfortable with. I think Aidan will do fine with the longer day, but my preschool runs from 7:30 to 5:30 and most kids are there for most of that day, so I am used to a long day. And it allow more time for recovery on cranky days and still have some fun.

Errin- I am sorry to hear about the sleep issues. Gabe also fights sleep. We concider 9:00pm to be good around here, unfortatesly, but for the most part Gabe function on that much sleep. What gets him tied in a knot is not pooping for a day or two. If you have not read it yet, you might concider reading 1-2-3 magic. It is all about just counting to 3 when a child misbehavies and then just calmly sending them to their room for x minutes. No talking, no negoating, no yelling, just immediate conquences for behavior a child knows is not allowed. That really sucks about your teacher weighting her speciality unfairly on the test.

KerryKate - Sorry about the hair bit. At least you got it out of the way early. I doubt she will try that again. And it sounds like when she did it she was trying to be helpful and was suprised to realize that she had done something wrong, as soon as she realized it was wrong. Poor thing. And it is great that she came right to you. She did not try to hide it somehow. She still trusts you, even when she realizes she may be in trouble. That is great.

Michele - It is great that you are trying to lose weight, get in shape and take care of yourself. I applaude you. But do be careful about cutting too many calories. From what I have read you can send your body into starvation mode, where it burns fewer calories, making weight loss really really tough.

Today I told Gabe he had to wash his hands for dinner. He claimed he already had. He says this everynight, regardless of whether he has or has not. So I did not believe him and forced him to do it. He fought more than usual and was soooo upset. He kept telling me had had washed his hands and screaming for me to promise I would not make him wash them again. I think this time he might really have washed them himself (he has started to use the potty and wash after himself, but asks for help to rehang the towel- which he did not this time.) He was really bent out of shape over this. I felt bad that I might have disbelieved him when he was telling the truth. I told him that I couldn't believe him because he always fibs about this. Then he got mad because he doesn't always do it, only some times. Which is of course true.

After dinner we had some playtime. He decided we would build something out of playdough. But we would not know what it was till we were done. So I asked him what we needed first. He proceeded to create a recipe for what turned out to be a clackery sandwhich. The ingredents were
1 mound of blue sugar
1 scoop of purple oil
1 scoop of green light (which you mix in to make the whole thing shine)
2 orange water caft (which come from cows)

I was so impressed that he was creating measurements and listing ingregents like a real recipe that I started writing it down in the notebook bought him for a journal. He was suppose to scribble in it but he doesn't. So I have taken to writing down things that he dictates now and then. The fact that I took is so serious as to write it down encouraged him to follow all the way through to bake and serve. It was very cute, especially when he wanted to announce what it was and had to think up a name.

It is soooo cold here tonight. Something like 13 below with wind chill. BRRRR.

[Jenyfer9]

Something funny that I have to share, and I have to preface it by telling you all that Tom (dh)'s parents live in Kentucky: the other day, TJ was over at my mom's house, and he was telling her about his "Grandma and Grandpa, the 'tucky ones, you know, TOM'S parents." My mom proceeded to tell him that yes, she knew who he was talking about, but his name isn't Tom, it's Dad.

Anyone else's kids call them by their first names? TJ does it quite often. Oh, and what does everyone get called? To TJ, I'm not "mommy", I'm Mom (or Jen). To Will, I'm "mommy", not mom. Go figure.

[Renrel]

Gabe will sometime refer to DH by his first name, no so much with me. I don't make a big deal about it. I like that he can tell what our real names are. Helpful if he ever gets lost.

We had another swim lesson today. The teacher says he is doing well. It does not look like much to me, but what do I know. The problem is he is too smart for his own good and very independant. He wants to do what he wants to do, not what the teacher wants and argues with her. He doesn't throw a tantrum or anything. He just keeps suggesting that the fish for ducks instead of do the swim exercies she asks him to do. He also is too smart to trick into accidently putting his face in the water. If you drop something in the water for him to reach and get, the hope being he will reach deep enough to get his face wet, he either moves so he won't get wet or tells the teacher she can get it. Stuff like that. But he is learning a bit about how to do a crawl stroke (scooping ice cream with his hands), a basic underwater stroke (cut the cake by push hands in a prayer position forward and then spread the icing by sererating and gliding them to the sides) and was working in his kick, but when she told him to keep his legs straight so that they were like sissors he started doing a frog kick, out and in, which does look more like sissors. But he did swim a bit by himself with a floatation devise that looks like a barbell using the kicks and hand strokes. So it is something. I think it would help if he could be in the water longer than 30 minutes and if I could just play in the water with him. Maybe in florida.

We watched Peter Pan for family movie night tonight. Gabe made it through the whole thing without fidgiting. After the movie he told me he wants to fly. I told him we did not have any pixi dust and that you can only fly in never never land and mommy's aren't allowed to go there. He told me that maybe he would go with one of his friends from preschool. But he did not know which one. A forshadowing of grade school, when he will want to run off any play with his friends and I will no longer be welcome to play. sniff sniff.

[Michelle and Curtis]

Skylar with the Perfect Angels....they were some of the girls dancing in the ba donk ka donk video...:rolleyes:
http://i132.photobucket.com/albums/q22/Michelle6281/DSCN2373.jpg

Axel when he finally fell asleep...
http://i132.photobucket.com/albums/q22/Michelle6281/DSCN2465.jpg

Skylar with Lightining McQueen...
http://i132.photobucket.com/albums/q22/Michelle6281/DSCN2357.jpg

This is just a cute pic of when Axel couldn't wait to get a bath and snuck in fully dressed...nice.
http://i132.photobucket.com/albums/q22/Michelle6281/DSCN2355.jpg

[Michelle and Curtis]

Kids have been sick all weekend. Axel was sick on Saturday with a fever and whining all day. I have him on the brat diet right now cause he also had some really watery BMs.

Skylar woke me up at 6am this morning by throwing up on me and my bed. Poor guy...(poor bed)...I can't get him to keep anything down yet and he's getting very upset cause he wants to drink water but brings it right up less than a minute later. I'm hoping he'll feel better by tonight so he can eat a little.

Other than that....life is good! :(

[Renrel]

Cute pictures Michele. GAbe would have loved seeing lightening Mcqueen. Sorry about the kids being sick. Gabe, thank goodness has only had a stomack bug that made him throw up once but I remember how miserable we all were because he wanted to eat and would not let him because it all came right back up. Even BM, which really upset me. I thought that at least that would stay down. Made me feel really useless. I hope Sklar recovers quickly.

Gabe woke up crying last night for an unknow reason. DH got him back down, but when DH came back to bed I got up to use the toilet and could not get back to sleep. So DH let me sleep in this morning. Gabe came in, I am guessing around 8, to my side of the bed stating he peed in his pants. (He starts most weekend days with this statement and was in a pull up). I did not move hoping DH would get him. He finally did. Gabe started shreeking because he wanted me. DH reprimanded GAbe in a stern voice for continuing to disturb me. Then he picked him up to carry him out of the room so I could sleep. On the way out he banged Gabe's head on the door frame. But according to DH Gabe seemed to continue to be upset about me not getting up not his head. DH got Gabe calm by leaving him along in his room for a few minutes, then they had fun playing a charades game and watching Close Shave together. When I got up we had breakfast together. Gabe finished before us and wanted us to stop and play with him. We didn't. He went into our room and after awhile started calling for me. I told him he could come to me. I am trying to be less at his beck and call. Make him make more of an effort. He just kept crying in our room. I finished eatting and started doing some straightenig up in the house. When I went into my room to put something away, Gabe announced it was time for us all to play playdough. I told him that there was still cleaning I needed to do. He cryed for some more about that being work not fun. I left the room and continued cleaning. He kept crying. Finally DH went in the room and called me because Gabe had pooped in his pants. I am not sure why he pooped. If it was part of being so upset or a way to get us to pay attention to him or if he really did not feel he had to go. He has been having alot of accidents lately and I am not sure why. I know back sliding on PT is normal but I am not sure what to do. And the pooping in his pants is new. He never really had an issue with that before. He would demand a pull up to go in, but he would not just let it go in his underwear. Anyway, after we got him cleaned up he was happy and we did have time to play. Which I hope did not teach him that he get get us to play by pooping.

[Michelle and Curtis]

Still not getting any better here. I feel soooo tired taking care of two sick kids and trying to keep all the sheets and blankets clean for them. Neither one will eat right now and Axel has a terrible diaper rash cause of all the loose poops. :( I cried tonight because I feel like I'm just totally useless. They are achey and sick and tired and I can't do anything to help but clean them every time they mess.

Ah well, right now Skylar has a temp of 101.5 andboth kids are sleeping...hopefully something gives soon. I've decided to stay home from work tomorrow to take care of them.

[Renrel]

Last night Gabe and I went to the libary after work and at dinner at the cafe there. So when we got home it was time to get ready for bed. He wanted to change into "play work" clothes (I always change into "play clothes" when I get home from work, though last night I just got into pjs. So I let him put on some sweats that he could easily sleep in. All fine and good, but he he did not fall asleep till after 10pm. He was crying, he did not want to be alone, but even when I agree to sit in his room if he would be quiet and not talk he still could/would not fall asleep. Anyway, I finally left him alone to sleep or not sleep. He ended up taking off all his clothes, except his pull up, because he wanted PJs on and going to sleep like that. When I found him that way he was sound asleep. Being a chicken about waking him, though I did start to try and get him dressed, I turned the space heater up high and covered him in a blanket. But at 1am or so he woke up crying and I found him sitting on the floor in his pull up. I got him dressed again and he went back to sleep. This morning he explained his reason for getting undressed.

[mittyrd]

I can finally post again - not sure why I couldn't before.

Anyway.... Michelle, I hope the boys are feeling better. I cannot even imagine having all of the kids sick (puking sick) at the same time. I am dreading that day.

Jake is in a new stage where he often calls DH "Steve, Steeeeve, Steeeeeven" (sounds like me). Last night he called him "Honey". But usually it is Dada or once in a while Dad. I am usually Mama, Mom, once in a while Mommy, sometimes MaMu (Sammy calls me that and Jake says it when he's being fresh). When my niece is around, he sometimes calls me "auntie" and then once in a blue moon I am called Missy or "Sweet Mama"

The kids are finally starting to recover from their colds/coughs/conjunctivitis/etc. But Sam came down with a full body rash yesterday - we are assuming that is a drug reaction (he was on antibiotics until the rash started). It seems like it is always something.

I have new pictures to post but i can't remember who I am supposed to send them to now that snapfish doesn't work. Anyone remember?

[Renrel]

We saw a house last night and we are making an offer and are freaking out over it. The house is inexpensive for the area, but that is not saying much. The realor created a bidding war by listing it at a low price to get interest and then, after allegedly getting 2 "good" offer, stating that their would be no open house. All serious buyers could come see the house last night at 5pm or today at 2pm. All offers need to be in this afternoon. The family will make a decision before 5pm tonight, no counter offers. There were about 5 other buyers looking at the house last night. The family are religious Jews, so the 5pm deadline is real. They will not deal with money or sign their names or turn on a light after sundown.

We were up till 2pm last night working on what or offer should be and writing a personal letter to go with it. We ended up with an offer much higher than asking. It was a very simbolic number. Then this morning DH woke up at 5am in a panic and started running numbers and is thinking that we really can't afford this house. That the down payment will take too much out of our savings for retirement and Gabe's colleget. But if we can't afford this house than we have wasted all summer looking, because we will not find anything we like for less. We did lower our offer though after thinking about it. I am still not sure.

It is a nice house that seems to meet most of our needs. It has enough bedrooms, room for a office, an OK yard. It has a large living room with a fireplace. Enough baths. A full unfinished basement and an attic that could be converted into another usable floor. It as a pleasant little porch in the back. It is in a good school district and that neightborhood looks nice. We have friends who live in the next neightborhood over. A good paint job would do a huge amount to make the house look better and thus increase the value.


But the kitchen is way below average and despreatly needs to be redone, the furnice is on its last legs, we have not had a chance to personally check out the neightborhood and school, it is one block away from a fairly busy street, so there is street noise. We have no idea how many kids Gabe's age live on the street. The roof needs some repair, but not much. The attic is currently filled with tubing for the AC. That would need to be reworked to capture that space for more than storage. The furnice and all that other stuff is right in the middle of the basement, so it would be hard to put a finished room down there. The hall closet and back "mud" room are barely functional. The yard is not flat, so it is not as useable as we would like, though it is not bad. There is no deck or patio or anything at the moment. There is a detatched garage and a driveway for tandum parking.

Anyway we may be on the way to homeownership by sundown today. And we are scared to death.

[AlisonCO]

Renrel - I will be thinking very positive thoughts for you all today. Good Luck and let us know what happens!

mittyrd - I think that photobucket works.

Michelle - Those are such great pictures. We watched Cars last weekend and Aidan loves Frank the Combine Harvester:)

[Renrel]

I just talked to DH, who is feeling abit calmer. Unfortunately mortgage rates have gone up since the last time DH ran the numbers, so our monthly payment is going to be higher than he thought. There are 5 offers total being made and the two original offers put in new, higher offers. Our mortgage broker thinks the value of the home is about $12,000 higher than what we have decided to bid, which is our original high number. I just think we will kick ourselves if we bid low and don't get this home. If we realize on inspection that there are problems then we will just eat the earnest money and back out before the P&S.

[mittyrd]

Renrel: Good luck with the house. I'll be keeping my fingers crossed for you.

Here's a picture of the boys after their haircuts last week:
http://www.imagestation.com/picture/sraid223/p25358440bffe82c30542563adb09680a/ead426b8.jpg

[Renrel]

They accepted our offer! We are not negotating on details, like they want to sell as is, not nickle and dimeing them on little things over inspection. They also want to close end of April.

DH did the math and now says we will be spending on $2000 more a year to own this home rather than rent and that $7000 of that will be going towards principle. So it seems like the right move financially. The elemenary school, by one grading tool, is 3 in the state for academics and 17th over all. So that is good too. I can't wait to call my family tonight and let them know the news.

[AlisonCO]

CONGRATS Renrel and Gabe and DH:) That is so exciting! It does seem like a good move financially plus the tax break of owning a home might even things out.

mittyrd - So cute - their hair looks great! Do you put anything in Jake's hair to make it spikey?

[Renrel]

Yikes! There is an October 07 thread. Boy am I feeling old. :p

Thanks Allison. We are doing some negotating now over the close date. DH is worried the intrest rate will go up if we wait to long and want an earlier closing to lock in the rate. We can rent back to them for a month it necessary. We will see. DH keeps mumbling to himself about how the heck we are going to live with that kitchen. I wonder when I will start panicing.

AF came today, which is probably just as well. I don't think we could handle winning a house and finding out we were pg the same weekend. DH would have a nervous break down.

[mittyrd]

Renrel: Yahoo!!! Congratulations! I know you don't want to say what town but are you north of the city, west or south?

Alison: I used some hair gel in Jake's hair. The place where we got their hair cut had spiky gel for kids but I haven't been able to find it in the store yet. The babies have sensitive skin so I'm afraid to try the regular grown-up gel in their hair for fear of irritating them. They spiked theirs when they got their hair cut and it was so cute too.

[jay&erinn]

Renrel: YEA!!!!! COngrats on buying a house! I know it's been a long road trying to find something that fits just right. You'll be surprised how fast it becomes home to you.
Sorry about AF.

mittyrd: OMG! I can't believe how big the twins are. I still think of them as babies. It's amazing how fast they grow.

Not much new around here. I started a new class on Thursday. It's my first business class. I hope I'm not too lost in it.
We have a fairly busy weekend- birthday party today and church playgroup tomorrow. Considering our high temp is supposed to be 15 degrees, I'd rather stay home. Enjoy your weekend!

[Michelle and Curtis]

What a terrible week! I was sick Monday, Tuesday, Wednesday, and most of Thrusday! I called my mother in tears and asked her to take the boys cause I just couldn't function enough to take care of them. :( But all is well now.

Axel was running a high fever today though. Not sure why. He's teething but I didn't think that would cause a temp of 102 or anything. I kinda freaked when he hit 103. I ran a bath and gave him some popcicles and we were back in the good again. Whew!

[mittyrd]

Erinn: Hard to believe those boys were 13 weeks early, isn't it?? They have even started talking which is about 6 months ahead of where Jake was with talking.

[Renrel]

Mityrd - We are west and very near Boston. My commute will be a little longer but hopefully not too much longer. Right now it takes me 15-20 minutes to get in on a normal day. I also can't believe how big the boys are getting.

Errin- Good luck with the new class. Try to stay warm.

Gabe had his 3rd swim class today. DH took him. He actually took his morning shower for most of the lesson, but told me the teacher said he did great and that he was much more cooperative this time. He did everything she asked without bribes. And he saw him kicking well enough to propell himself holding onto a floatation device and that he jumped in once and stepped off the side twice while he watched. I think if we can get some swim time in in Florida this month he will really get the hang of this stuff.

We told our parents about the house today and they are excited for us. We are starting to talk about decorating and an initial redo of the kitchen. Eventually we need to sink about $25,000 into it, but for now we plan on getting some inexpensive cabinets, counter tops and at least a new stove. I don't remember the fridge or the dishwasher or the washer to dryer. We are also excited that we will have room for a freezer in the basement. It is next to impossible to cook and freeze in advance with our current freezer.

I am sooooo not looking forward to packing but I am looking forward to having a clean slate to organize a new home. Moving in with less stuff and making sure everything has a place.

eta - I forgot I wanted to share- I bought Gabe a wallet the other day at the target dollar bin and I put some toy money in it. Now he is looking for things to pay for. So today he started fining himself if he made more work for me. He dropped his bowl of oatmeal on the floor so he openned his wallet and gave me three coins. Late in the day he sneezed without covering his mouth while helping me make his lunch, so I had to wipe down the cutting board and counter and the bags of food on the counter. I think he gave me two coins for that. I have no idea where he came up with this.

[Michelle and Curtis]

Renrel ~ That is just too cute!

[AlisonCO]

erinn - You must be getting the weather that we had a week ago - it was so flippin cold! Hope that your business class goes well.

Michelle - You poor thing - I hope that you all get healthy soon!

Renrel - That is such a cute story! Do you have a closing date yet?

We all got a mild cold over the weekend so we took it easy. DH is leaving in a bit for the week so I have been trying to get laundry done, clean up a bit etc. I did go get my hair highlighted and a pedicure yesterday so that was so nice - last night Aidan asked me if my toes were bleeding:) (yes I got a very dark red color.) He asked if he could have his toes "colored" and I said that only girls do it. DH said something about how boys get to shave their faces and Aidan said "that is not as much fun!" Hope that you all have a good week!

[Renrel]

Allison - Closing is supposed to be end of April. We will ask our landlord for a 2wk to one month extention on the lease to give up time to move. I am already scouting craigslist for used applience. I found a 500 series sub zero in need of a compressor for $200 and a commercial frigidaire upright 20 cu. ft. freezer for $100. What we will need most is a oven and range but I am not sure what brands and styles to look at.

I am starting to think about how I want to redo the kitchen. I am not sure how it will work roomwise, but I would like to shift the kitchen over a few feet, creating a mud room which the bathroom will be in, and making the dining room part of a combo eatin kichen/family room, having the eat in part be a extra wide penicilia (sp) or Island between the two rooms, but DH does not think that there will be any room for other furniture in the family room part of the room if we do this. If we did it the living room would convert to a living room/dining room. If we could make this kind of design work I would be so thrilled. I would have two things I really want- a real mud room and to be able to do work in the kitchen while still talking to people hanging in the living part of house. If wrap the porch around the back of the house to make a deck of sort we will be able to greatly expand the sense of living space in the summer months. I would also love to have a small built in desk in the kitchen with a computer. Then Gabe could play on it while I cook and later he could surf the internet where we could see him. I could access recipes on line and surf while waiting for things to cook. Bill paying and other stuff could be done without removing oneself to the office upstairs. These are my big dreams for the house. I have no idea what they would cost or if they are feasable. I also think that if we ever expand outward that I would try to do it in the front so as not to loose more yard, but that would probably require a variance.

We also realized we will have to get a snow blower. It is a long narrow drive way. Hiring a plow service is unlikely to work even if we an afford it. At least one car will be in the drive way until the drive way is cleared.

Gabe and DH are at a superbolw party right now and I am supposed to be doing work. But a friend called from CA who I have not talked to in ages and I needed to finish some packing for our Florida trip a week from Tuesday (we are mailing down some stuff) and I could not resist checking out craigs list. I better go get something done.

[Michelle and Curtis]

Today sucked! No other word for it. Axel started out just fine. He ate well for breakfast and took a nap...then he started to wilt a bit. He was getting clingy and just sort of dead. Then he started to feel a little warm. I gave him some Tylenol. Then warm continued to turn to hot. I was kinda shocked that the Tylenol wasn't working so I gave him a bath. 10 minutes after the bath I check his temp. Before bath he was 103 and after he was reading 105-106 and his lips were blue and his skin looked purple. I quickly dressed him and we were off to the ER. Curtis stayed home with Skylar. The ER room took him in immediatly and they gave him a gown and some motrin. His temp started to come down and he gained some color in his skin again. They took blood, urine and a throat culture. In the end we left there with a bottle of Amoxicillin and Axel was a much cooler 101. Whew! He'll take that for 10 days and motrin as needed for fever. These are the kind of days I never want to repeat.

[Renrel]

Oh Michele! How scary. I am glad he did not have to stay over. My sister once called her ped just to find out the dosage of motrin to give her infant daughter and was sent to the ER because the baby was so young. She thought it was just her Ped being overly cautious but it turned out to be a virus that had then keep her there at least overnight, it might have been longer. Very scary. I am so thankful I have not had a scare like that yet. Only bloody lips that needed stitching.

[Michelle and Curtis]

Well, I called our ped this morning and they want to see him. I kinda feel like he shouldn't have to be seen again today. He was just seen yesterday by the ER but they insisted. Ok, I guess. I'll be going there in an hour.

[jay&erinn]

Michelle: I hope Axel is feeling better. What did the doc say today?

Renrel: Oh- all the lovely stuff you get to do as a home owner;) . I think snow removal is at the top of the list. There's nothing like trying to look nice for the day only to venture outside with a shovel and ending up a soaking wet mess trying to get the driveway clear. Luckily that's DH's job:D

Alison: Mia always wants to paint DH's toes. He won't go for it though. She was able to talk grandpa into one day.

Today's high temp was a whopping 7 degrees. BRRRRR. On my way to work it was -1. Definately too cold to go to work. Of course since most of the schools cancelled the phone rang off the hook with people wanting appts.

Mia decided that she wanted Monsters Inc underware (her current favorite movie). The only ones we could find were boys. Well, she's sooo proud of her boys underware that she has to show everyone- even if that means whipping her pants down in the middle of a restaurant:rolleyes: . She tells everyone, "I have monsters inc boys underware on, and they have a pocket!" We've explained that you don't put anything in that pocket.

Ayla has thrush- yuk. She wasn't sleeping at all last week- very uncomfortable and restless and waking up every 20 minutes to an hour all night long. The end of the week I noticed that her breath smelled like yeast, but in my sleep deprived state I didn't even think about it. On friday DH asked what the white patches in her mouth were:rolleyes: . Hopefully it'll clear up fast.

[Jenyfer9]

Erinn: question about the underwear... for some reason, in my head, it seems fine for a little girl to wear boy undies. But I'm having a hard time with all the ruffles and pink and all to justify getting TJ the Dora undies that he would really like. We got Diego ones, but I know he'd rather have Dora.

Not sure where the question is in that, but...

Oh, and it's flippin cold here too. It's actually warmer right now (at 0 degrees) than it was all day yesterday and the day before. Supposed to get up to... hold on... TEN DEGREES today. HEATWAVE!

[jay&erinn]

Jenyfer: Our babysitter was commenting on the same thing. Her 3 year old DS wanted Dora underware. Of course they only make girls Dora underware, not boys (at least as far as I've seen). She didn't end up letting him get any. She said she could care less, but that her DH would have a heart attack. She said he has a hard enough time watching DS dress up in dresses and heels. Too bad, it looks like clothing manufacturers are missing out on some profits by not making some characters available for both boys and girls (particularly the preschool set).

Our weather stinks. I don't even want to take Mia to gymnastics today since it involves taking Ayla too, but I have to- I hate to waste money that's already been paid. Our cold water pipe froze to our bathroom last night:mad: . We can't figure out where it's frozen or how (the basement's still 45 degrees) and it a pipe that runs through the interior of the house. It doesn't make sense. It's also only the cold water pipe to our bathroom only. The other bathrooms, kitchen and laundry room are all fine. I just hope it doesn't break- that's all we need.

[AlisonCO]

She tells everyone, "I have monsters inc boys underware on, and they have a pocket!" We've explained that you don't put anything in that pocket.


Thank you erinn - I needed a little laugh this morning. :)

Supposed to get up to... hold on... TEN DEGREES today. HEATWAVE!

This is the exact weather we had last week! Yesterday it was almost 50 and there were a bunch of us outside commenting on how it feels like summer compared to last week.

Michelle - Hope that you all are better - poor Axel, how scary for you!!!

Caitlin is sick and poor Aidan is feeling neglected since DH is gone. Today I was holding Caitlin and Aidan asked if we could play hide and seek. I suggested trains or trucks instead and he said "No mommy, that's OK, I will just play by myself." (insert long sign, dramatic arms and long face.):rolleyes:

[Renrel]

Alision - Sorry to hear Catlin is sick. That is tough. And I love Aidian's dramatic resigntation. Whenever I say no to Gabe or that we have to wait he gives me the long face and tells me "Then I am never going to [fill in the blank] every again! The blank could be have a snack, play with playdough, eat candy, read a book, play anything.

Errin - I love mias pride in her underpants! We have the cold weather here to. Single digit predicted for all week, negative with windchill. And Gabe has a cough. If it was not the week before vacation meaning I need to get everything done at work before I leave I think I would have kept home at least one day this week just to let him rest up a big to fight the bug. He seems to be doing fine at preschool but I stay home in pjs day would be nice for him for a bit of extra pampering. And thanks for reminding me of yet another issue I may have to deal with next winter. :rolleyes:

[Michelle and Curtis]

Doctor said that Axel has roseloa and I can stop the amoxicillin. However, she made this diagnosis without seeing the results from the throat culture that the hospital took. In fact, I never heard the results yet either. I decided to complete with the amoxicillin and I checked with the pharmacists about giving him some dimetap for the sniffles. Besides, I've heard that you can weaken a child's imune system if we take him off the amoxicillin too early. Or, something like that. But he is starting to feel much better. :)

Stupid undie question...
What are those pockets for anyway? Anytime I have ever seen a boy or man or whatever go pee they pull down a bit. :confused:

[Renrel]

Michele - I believe the issue with stopping antibiotic before the course is complete is not that it weakens the immune system but that because bacteria can evolve, if you don't knock them out entirely they can adapt and become resistant to that antibiotic, thus making it harder to fight that illness if you get it again.

[mittyrd]

Also, if you stop the antibiotic early than the infection can come back worse b/c there was not enough time given to kill it.

We had to stop Sammy's amoxicillin early last week (on day 9) b/c he had an allergic reaction to it. So far so good on the illnesses though. They have all been feeling great for a few days now. Yay!

When I picked up Jake yesterday he had a big rash on his face. I looked up Fifth's disease and roseola but he doesn't have any symptoms of that so I think it may just be chapped skin. It doesn't seem to bother him at all and I have been putting aquaphor on it and it seems to be helping.

Yesterday, Jake told me he was not happy with me b/c I pushed him and I hit Matt! Yikes! He also said Ahole at daycare today and when she asked him where he got that from, he said his mama! Oy. The boy is telling tales already and he's going to get me in trouble...

We finally had an enjoyable dinner here for the first time in a very long time. I made ravioli with homemade sauce and they LOVED it. Each baby ate about 10 ravioli each and screamed for more. Jake ate a small bowl of it and that is like a small miracle. I think I will be making it more often!

[Renrel]

Mittyrd- I can simipathiz. Gabe lates killer phrase is "Get out of my life!" I have also heard. "If you leave me alone in my room that means you stopped taking care of me." And "If your not nice or if your mean (both referring to not giving him what he wants) that will make somebody think you don't love them." Is this kid good or what? Luckily I am pretty good at not taking any of it to heart. When he told me to get out of his life, I asked if he had picked out a new mommy yet. When he calls me mean I just go along with it and tell him he has the meanest mommy ever.

The house inspection did not go well today. There are serious foundation issues. No way we are going forward with the sale until a structural engineer tells us that it is possible to fix the problem and what the cost will be. We are not paying what we offered giving the results of the inspection. We though we were getting a smaller house, on a smallish plot of land, with an awful kitchen and needing alot of TLC (including patching the roof and replacing the furnice) in a great neighborhood. For that we were willing to pay $40,000 over the asking price, given the created bidding war. But all of the above issues plus a foundation that is still shifting and has caused cracks as well as sagging floors, and the fact that alot of the "improvements" appear to have been handyman home specials and not professional jobs, and the fact that the roof will likley need to be totally replace within 5 years, lowers the value of the house alot in our opinion. They were wise to show the house at night. We are still planning on getting a structual engineer to take a look, but we are not buying this house if it is going to cost us $20,000 more just to make it structurally sound. At this point I think I would want more than the price of the repairs taken off given that the repairs might lead to other problems we will have to deal with, there is inconvenience involved in doing this kind of major work and there seems a likelihood that we will find other, more minor problems, later given the kind of work done on the house. We expected to find problems, there are always problems, but when uncle erie did the work rather than joes contracting service you have to expect more unexpected stuff. We need to check if they even pulled a permit on the bathroom addition in the bedroom, if not it was never inspected.

[AlisonCO]

mittyrd - Yikes! I too can sympathize - Aidan tells me Caitlin/daddy hit him etc when I am sitting right there watching them. I am so glad that you had a nice dinner - tortilini might be a good option for you too. Aidan likes to have his sauce on the side to dip them.;)

Renrel - Oh, I am so sorry that the inspection did not go well. I hope that the structural engineer is able to give you better news. We looked at a great house a few years ago that was beautiful and huge - turns out that it would have taken over $50,000 to make it safe. Apparently one side of the house was 2 feet lower than the other side. I am always shocked beyond belief when people don't get an inspection before they buy a house.:eek:

Michelle - I am not sure about the boy undie pocket either - I guess that they could pull their penis out thru the hole but I am not sure and don't think that I will be the one to demonstrate that.:)

We are doing well. It has been a long week but the kids are doing well - it is definetely easier now that they are older and able to entertain themselves for a bit. My sister is taking the afternoon off tomorrow to come play and take them out for pizza.

Last night Aidan woke up at 1am and said that he had a bad dream. I asked what it was about and he said an octopus. I said "Oh, was it scary?" Aidan replies "No mommy, it just had ALOT of green legs!" :rolleyes:

[jay&erinn]

Renrel: That stinks about the house. I hope you get some good news about the foundation from the engineer. When we bought our house, the foundation was the only good thing about it. I guess at least we had that much.

Alison: We had a late night wake up call from Mia too due to a bad dream. We have a really hard time getting her to go back to sleep afterwards. She was awake from 2:00 until 6:15 (just in time for me to get up for work). Yesturday was a long day due to it.

mittyrd: MMMMMM, ravioli. Sounds great. Mia loves tortilini- also with the sauce on the side to dip in.

[Renrel]

Realtor and DH don't think there is any way to word an agreement so as to guarantee the sellers will knock at least $25,000 off of the price, if the extimated repair is that high, and still allow us to back out if the repair costs are higher and we can reach a mutually accepteable price, so we are withdrawing our offer and are back in the market for a house. Sigh. I really thought we were done with the "looking for" and about to tackle the "making of" a home. Oh well, so be it. I am very curious what the final price will be once the prior bidders have a second shot at it, but the foundations issues are fully disclosed. Realtor is guessing it will go for about $620,000, which is $10,000 over asking, about $15,000 under assessment and about $30,000 under our offer. I think we will be looking at more stuff in towns further out now. You can get much more house for you money, but I will really really miss my modest commute. We also might have to concider moving Gabe's daycare if the commute is too much for him, which will suck. You don't get a deal on quality preschool like we have right now very often, and if we have another we are are at the top of the list for a spot if we have another.

[Michelle and Curtis]

Well, Axel is feeling back to normal. I'm glad I decided to stay on the amoxicillin. I can't believe she told me to stop giving it to him. That's the first time I ever didn't do what the doctor told me to. :rolleyes: I still don't think it's roseola. Skylar had it and I remember she told me that roseola is characterized by a low-grade fever that can be confused with a fever from teething. I consider the 104 degree fever Axel had to be a bit higher than "low-grade". We'll see.

Not much else going on. Skylar is being a little trouble maker lately. He's throwing things and acting like a baby. Axel pooped his pants today at my mother's house and he needed a bath. Skylar saw what was going on and told my mother that he was going to poop in his pants so he could get a bath too. She told him that if he did that he was going to wear the poopy pants. Good job, Grandma! :D Needless to say, Skylar decided not to poop his pants. :rolleyes:

Renrel ~ I'm glad you decided to steer clear of that house. I work in construction and damage to the foundation is majorly bad news. It will totally ruin the rest of the house. Good luck in finding something better! Did you have any pictures of that house that you could post? The price seems so high, I'm curious to see what it looks like.

[Renrel]

Michele - I am glad Axel is feeling better and sorry Skylar is being difficult. Gabe had been driving me crasy for what seems like months with pretending he is a baby. He makes an annoying whiny noice and wants to climb all over me. He has also started pooping in his pants the last couple weeks and that is just over the top. But I am not sure how to deal with it because I think there are a few things going on. He did not go for a few days, so he had a big poop (And Gabe has had poops big enough to could easily clog a toilet). The poop hurt, so now he does not want to go. So he holds it, which makes it worse, and then when he really has to go he does not want to or is afraid to because it hurt. So he refuses to to the potty and will scream and stiffen his legs if we try to put him on. Then he poops in his pants. He is unhappy and wants me to clean him. And that is the second part of the issue. I am forced to give him attention, much like a would to a baby. I need to get him out of the poopy underwear, wipe him clean and get him into something new. He likes the attention. I am trying to be very matter a fact about it all, even a bit cold to make it less "Fun" to poop in his pants, but I also want to give him comfort it pooping is scary or painful, so I don't want to come off to angry or distant. I think we need to find a time of the day when he has to sit on the toilet for so many minutes to try and get him going on a daily basis but I don't know what time. I also kind of just don't want to have to deal with one more part of the bedtime routine when we are already getting him to be an hour later than we want. So I am dragging me feet.

I will see what I can do about posting a picture. I have not been uploading anywhere in months so I am not even sure what sites allow us to post anymore. But the picture would not be impressive. It was a 1930's colonial, 1825 sq ft on .15 acres. Tired paint job, nice fireplace, a kitchen that had not been updated in 40 years. It just that prices of home within 30 minutes of Boston, with excellent school districts are through the roof. You need to spend close to a million to get a home that would seriously impress anyone. But the schools are supposed to be excellent, there as lots and lots of town sponsored activies and events. There is a very low crime rate.

Errin - Sorry about the bad night. I don't know how you manage to work and go to school with two kids to keep you up at night. I have enough problem with my one, and he generally does sleep through once he is down.

AlisonCO - I envy you the companionship the kids can provide to each other. I do get a bit tired of being Gabe's bestest friends, though I know the day will come way to soon when I will be desperate for him to just not roll his eyes at the idea of even spending time with me.

[jay&erinn]

Michelle: Glad Axel is feeling better. Roseola can cause a really high fever. Mia had 5th disease when she was just a year old (it's in the same family of viruses that cause roseola). Her fever was over 103. The fever went down and then she broke out in a horrible rash- mostly on her face and legs. A lot of times a rash is a sign that something is viral especially when it occurs after a fever breaks.

Renrel: Have you tried myralax (not sure how to spell it) with Gabe? I've heard from a lot of friends that their peds recommended it when they had problems pooping from with-holding and pain. It's apparently very safe for long time use and can help a ton. My cousin's daughter (she's 3) is on it and a friend of mine's son was on it for a year before they took him off.

[Renrel]

Is that presciption? We have not taken him to the doctor for this as of yet. We dealt with this when we first started potty training and solved it by letting him watch a video while going until he got comfortable using the potty to poop. As soon as he relaxed he seemed to be fine. He transitioned to the bath room no problem and the bribe of one jelly bean for the most part got him to use the big toilet. He would still ask for the little one now and then, I think it was when he sensed he had a big poop because he was more comfortable going on the little one. This refusing to use the potty has only been going on for a week or two, and since he usually only goes every 2 days, and we have been going a bit crazy with the house purchase and getting ready for vacation, we have done no more than think about seeing the doctor aboutt this. If we have problems over vacation I will make an appointment when we get back, just to be sure and ask about medications.

[Michelle and Curtis]

Renrel ~ That sounds so frustrating. When Skylar was having hard poops we just gave him juice and applesauce to soften things up a bit. That really stinks that he is getting affraid of going potty now. Poor guy.

[Renrel]

Tonight he went poop on the potty with no fight at all. Not much but he he pushed it out while I read tow of his three night night books. Hopefully we will not have issues while at my ILs next week.

[Michelle and Curtis]

Good thing...:)

[AlisonCO]

Renrel - That is really tough situation. Do you think that it might be diet related (not enough liquids or fiber?) Aidan has always been a drinker, he really drinks a ton throughout the day and has never had a hard poop - his are very soft actually. Maybe instead of taking him to the doc, you can just call and see if the nurse can give you some ideas over the phone.

Michelle - So glad that A is feeling better.

We survived our week without DH. He spent most of the day and evening with the kids yesterday so I was able to relax. Aidan and I are going out to dinner with my family tonight for my mom's b-day so that should be fun. Tomorrow morning I am going to register A for preschool - when I called Friday the 9-11:30 class had already filled with siblings and moms day out kids so I will register him for the 9-1 class and put him on the 9-11:30 waitlist in case they open another one. Hope that you all had a great weekend.

[Renrel]

It has not been a good weekend. I am officially on vacation, leaving for FL Tue mornng, but I need to get all my cases in before I leave and I have a very high backlog which has my Supervsor's Supervisors watching my backlog. I thought I would get most of the cases in on Friday but I was still way behind, so I am probably already in trouble when he checks the list on Monday and see a large number of cases outstanding and me officially on vacation. I thought I would be able to finish most if not all over the weekend, with DH taking care of Gabe. I was doing reasonably well and then this evenng the computer crashed and all the work I put in is stuck somewhere in a computer that won't turn on. I was next to tears. I just climbed into be for awhile while DH tried to recover it and then he set up his lap top for me to work on. I worked for awhile and then took a nap, since I could not sleep when I climbed into bed earlier because I was too upset. I am now back at work trying to get done what I can.

Gabe was sweet though. I told him I was upset because the computer broke and I could not get my work out. He told me it probably just needed new batteries, the kind the tv uses. When DH took him to the store to get a seperate keyboard to make it easier for me to work this evening Gabe was arguing that they had to get batteries. Batteries are apparently the solution to all broken electronics.

[mittyrd]

Renrel: Have fun on vacation. Glad you made it out before the snow.

We are in the midst of a snow storm here. I took the day off so I didn't have to bring the boys out so we are having Pajama Day. Yay! Right now the twins are fighting over the empty lego bag (and there are 2 bags empty) and Jake is "playing" with playdough. That means he is taking the covers off and then putting them back on a hundred times. i don't know if he actually plays with the playdough.

[mittyrd]

Oh yeah - Happy Valentine's Day!

DH had ordered me a dozen red roses and 3 colored roses from each boy to be delivered to me at work. When he heard the snow was coming and I probably wouldn't be working, he had to go to the florist and pick up the flowers to bring home last night. I probably won't see him today b/c he is working and then is going out plowing after work. Jake told me he would be my valentine.

[kerrykate]

HAPPY VALENTINES DAY!

We're doing good, it's been so freezing here along with almost a foot of snow and sleet. I'm ready for spring!
I took Lauren to Build a Bear last week for the first time. She loved it and picked out a pink cat and a princess/fairy outfit with pink shoes, and named it Butterfly.
L has dropped her nap completly and it's been working out well so far and she now is in bed around 7-7:30. Last night we were running a little late and at 7:40 she ASKED if she could go to bed:eek:

I did a picture montage of Lauren at onetruemedia.com if you guys are interested in seeing it:
http://www.onetruemedia.com/shared?p=e9e19cc9a9b03d6689b33&skin_id=0&utm_source=otm&utm_medium=text_url

[Renrel]

I am in Florida. All is well but it is cold. The first day we spent in the pool in the am and beach in the pm, since than it is has been long pants and long sleeves. Better than ice and snow but not what we had hoped for. Gabe is watching too much tv and eatting too much junk food, but such is vacation at the grandparents (no that they are to blame for all of the tv and junk, but when we spend so much time in the condo and want to engage as adults we get a bit lazy as parents. But that is part of what vacation is about. We visited an aligator farm and went to a wonderful playground/science museum. Tonight DH and I plan on going to a Martigras festivel. We caught a movie the other night. We hope to spend a night at a hotel but have not done any planning.

Oh, and Gabe had been fine with the potty so far. Keep your finger crossed for us.

Hope everyone else is well. IL's internet connection is very slow so I will not be on too much.

[mittyrd]

Renrel: Glad to hear all is well in FL. I wish I were on vacation!

Potty training is not going well here. He is so inconsistent. Some days he does great and other days he does terrible. There does not seem to be any rhyme or reason to it either. It's starting to get very frustrating.

Yesterday when I picked up the kids at daycare, she told me Matt was coughing again but otherwise was acting fine. As soon as I got there he became very weepy and clingy. By the time I got him home, his temp. was 105. DH put him in a cool bath and we gave him motrin and it came right down. Today he is pretty much acting himself except still coughing. Here we go again. All of their illnesses just finished up and it seems we are going to start again.

I am trying to get the babies to take their naps. They went right down, but like usual woke up after 20 minutes. I am letting them cry it out right now but now it sounds like Matt is playing in there. Sam is a little hysterical. I will never understand how daycare gets them to sleep 2+ hours every day without any problems. Jake usually won't nap here even though he still needs it (they wake up around 5 am every day) although today he is still quiet so chances are good that he may have fallen asleep.

I'm not sure if I had told you all that my father and brother were both diagnosed with bladder cancer in July (strange coincidence since it is not a genetic cancer). My dad has had 2 follow ups after surgery with the cancer returning each time. Last week they noticed other blood work off so they did further testing and now he also has prostate cancer. He will start chemo for it in 2 weeks for 6 weeks and then have his prostate removed. My brother passed his 2 follow-ups on the bladder but they found something in his colon. He will be having a colonoscopy on tuesday. He has asked that DH & I take his daughter if anything happens to him (her mother is not involved). Of course we would although obviously I am hoping it does not come to that. So much going on..... To top things off, my neck pain has not improved despite physical therapy and medication so I am scheduled for a CT scan in 2 weeks. My mother was diagnosed with thyroid cancer 2 years ago so they want to make sure nothing is going on with my thyroid. I'm beginning to wonder if the water was tainted where I grew up....

Now both boys are just fooling around in there. It does not sound like they are going to nap. I just don't understand it. Sam has been up since 4:30am and Matt slept until 5:15 am but was up a few times during the night for nebulizer treatments. Maybe they are too overtired to sleep?? I might be going for a car ride soon....

[Renrel]

Mittyrd- I am so sorry to hear about the health problem attacking your family. I know nothing about bladder, thyroid or or colon cancer. All I can do is sent positive heath thought your way. But my father, FIL and boss have all dealt with prostate cancer. From what I remember, it is very very common in older men and generally fairly slow to progress. In fact with older men, I forget how old, the expectation is that it will progress for so long that they are more likely die of something they have not gotten ill with yet then of that cancer. In younger men it is more serious and progresses more quickly. Most elderly men die with some sign of prostate cancer in their bodies. My father was treated with seeding, radioactive seeds implanted in the area, and it work well for him. My FIL had surgury and was less happy with the results. The cancer was not an on going issue but he did have side effects from the surgury that he was unhappy with. A better surgon may have made a difference. I don't know which treatment my boss went with but he is doing great as well. There is a good support group for men dealing with this illness. If you like I will get the name of it from my Dad and pass it on.
---
DH and I saw Barat last night. It was very funny but disturbing as well. Today my MIL had a girls day. We went shopping at the flea market and went out to lunch. The guys are out somewhere, probably hitting tennis ball with Gabe.

My shoulder is messed up. I don't know where I will find the time to see a doctor and do some therapy but I think this time I have to.

[AlisonCO]

Renrel - It sounds like you are having a nice time. That is great that you had some adult time and G had some boys time. I hope that the weather improves before you leave.

mittyrd - Oh, I am so sorry to hear about your dad and brother (and mom.) I too don't know anything about bladder or thyroid cancer, but I hope that they caught it early. Sorry to hear that pting isn't going well - right before Aidan really got it, we had a couple of very inconsistent weeks so I hope that he turns a corner soon.

kerrykate - Oh that montage was beautiful. I have been meaning to ask how L's hair is growing back where she cut it?

HI to erinn, jenyfer and Michelle too!

We are doing well. The weather has been gorgeous (hope this weather makes its way to the east coast) so we have been outside alot. DH is working a booth at a home and garden show this weekend so I am very glad that he is off tomorrow. Aidan has been waking around midnight and around 6 to go to the bathroom - his pullup is still damp so I don't think that he is ready to be in undies at night. He has also been only napping about 50% of the time so he is pooped by 8pm (so am I!)

Hope that you all are having a nice weekend!

[jay&erinn]

Renrel: I hope your vacation has been nice. Sounds like you have had some quality time with all those you care about. I hear you on the shoulder problems. I think the years of gymnastics and volleyball have caught up with me. I can't lay with my right hand behind my head or put my right arm straight above my head- too much pain in that shoulder. Some day I'll find time to have it looked at.

Alison: I'm glad your week without DH went well. My DH is going away for a few days next week. I'm not looking foward to it. I may ask my mom to stay with me. It's just too hard to keep up with the house and my school work without a spare set of hands to entertain a child.
I also registered Mia for preschool last week. Makes me a little teary. Everyone always seems so happy to send their kids off to school. I'd rather keep them home and little for a while longer. The time is going too fast. They took us to see the classroom (it's in the school where my mom teaches so it was a no-brainer as to where she would go). I turned to ask the teacher a question and when I turned around she was busy playing on the other side of the room with a few of the other kids. I hope that's a good sign. On the other hand, it was hard not to make a scene when it was time to go since she didn't want to leave.
Send that weather our way!!!!

mittyrd: We had a few pajama days last week. It was so nice. The weather was so crappy that all of the schools cancelled tues and wed. My boss was off so I took advantage and only worked Mon and for about 2 hours thursday. I loved being home all week with the kids.
Mia also had a really rough 3 or 4 weeks right before she really got potty training. Hang in there.
I'm sorry about all the illness affecting your family. What a stressful time. We see a decent amount of thyroid cancer come through the office. If caught early (before it spreads) it's very treatable. The function of the thyroid is usually destroyed but that's easily replaced by medication. I don't know much at all about bladder cancer. Prostate cancer is another really treatable when caught early. My grandfather had surgery many years ago for it (I think it's been 15 years now) and hasn't had any issues since.
I'll keep your family in my thoughts.

kerrykate: You pics made me cry. I think seeing Lauren change so much over the years reminds me how fast the time goes. I really hate that they're growing up so fast. I sometimes find it hard to remember Mia when she was little already.
I've intentionally avoided build-a-bear so far. There is one about 25 minutes from here in a mall we go to about once every 6 weeks. I figure once I take her in there I'll have her begging to go there everytime we step foot in that mall. I'm not ready for that battle yet.

Because of the bad weather last week, I was able to get a lot of work done for my current class (which is why I'm fooling around online now instead of working:D ). I almost didn't know what to do with myself without something having to be done. It'll be short lived, but it was nice for a night.

Ayla is sleeping horribly. I'm not sure what to do. I think her thrush is gone even though there are still some white patches here and there. Last night she was up every 2 hours and that was a big improvement for the past few weeks. Today she was miserable for everyone. DH said she just whinned all day- same for the sitter and my mom. I'm not sure if she's cutting teeth or what. My plan is to sleep train her in April (no class that month). I'm still hoping to do that, but not sure how well it'll go. She has absolutely no schedule and that'll make it tough. I better figure something out soon.

Saturday night my grandfather called (that never happens). He was looking for my mom who was out of town visiting my brother. My grandma has been short of breath the past few weeks. She finally agreed to go to the ER on wednesday (they didn't call to tell anyone until sat). She's still in the hospital. They're not quite sure why her lungs are filling with fluid, but they found that she has breast cancer. One of the tumors is 11 cm (which is huge). I'm not sure where else the cancer has spread, but they don't think that she'll be able to go back home. It's very hard on the family since she's never even taken any medication until recently (the past 3 months) when she was diagnosed as diabetic. She's been so healthy that this was the last thing anyone expected. My grandfather told me that he's not ready to lose her yet and started crying on the phone. It was all I could do to keep it together. My aunt flew in to spend the week with them and a cousin is there now too. Everyone's trying to figure out when to go help out but it's been so hard when she's still having tests and we still don't have all the answers or a definate prognosis. A nursing home is not somewhere she will be happy about going. She's never even been hospitalized before now except for childbirth. Well, enough rambling about this.
Off to bed....

[Jenyfer9]

Will had his surgery today (adnoids removed and tubes inserted), and he handled it like a real trooper! More later... :)

[mittyrd]

Erinn: I am sorry about your grandmother :(

Jenyfer: Poor Will! I hate when the kids are sick!!!

Sam was admitted to the hospital last night for respiratory distress. It apparently hit him hard all of a sudden at daycare. He was fine all day and then woke up from his nap wheezing and gasping. I had already left work to get them when daycare called to leave asap. I took him right to the doctor's who gave him a nebulizer and gave me the choice to manage him at home with nebs, steroids, etc. since he responded nicely to the neb. But it took me so long to get us ready to leave the doctor's office that by the time we were ready he had started wheezing badly again so she sent us to the hospital to admit him. So needless to say, it was a long night since he was in unfamilar surroundings and missing his brothers. DH said that Matt was just standing by Sam's crib this morning with a look of confusion. I called daycare to check on them and Jake is very upset and Matt is very quiet, which is very unlike him. I feel bad that they were separated. That was the first time they have ever been apart. DH brought the boys to the hospital to see us before bed last night (it was my first time away from them also) and I cried when they left. Jake said "Don't cwy (cry) Mama, Sammy will be ok". DH said he was upset the ride home and all night/morning. He also told DH that he could make Sammy better in 2 minutes AND make him laugh too! So sweet. Anyway, we are home, and he is napping. He didn't sleep much last night b/c they kept waking him for tests, treatments, etc.

[AlisonCO]

Oh mittyrd - Poor Sam! I hope that he is better soon. It must have been so hard on Jake and Matt and you. I will be thinking about you all!!!

jenyfer - I had no idea that Will was having surgery - I am so glad that it went well and I hope that his recovery is quick!.

Renrel - Hope that you are enjoying your vacation.

erinn - I am very torn like you about preschool. I am so excited because I think Aidan is really going to enjoy the activities and I am going to enjoy spending some time alone with Caitlin, but on the other hand it is hard for me to let go. I hope that your grandma recovers and that Ayla starts sleeping better soon.

A couple of new pictures from last weekend when we went hiking:

http://i130.photobucket.com/albums/p242/awmckm/022107_17.jpg
http://i130.photobucket.com/albums/p242/awmckm/022107_10.jpg

[mittyrd]

Alison: What beautiful kids! Aidan's feet look huge! What size does he take?

Sam is feeling better. We are still nebulizing him every 4 hours. He is back to being Silly Sammy though. But I got a call at work today from daycare that Jake was throwing up. He has thrown up about 6-7 times now and looks completely sad and pathetic :( I'm not feeling so great now either but that may be sympathy pains. I just pray that the babies don't get it now.

[mittyrd]

Sam's got it now :( 2 down 1 to go.......

[AlisonCO]

Oh mittyrd, I really hope that you, Matt and DH don't get sick and that Sam and Jake feel better soon!

Aidan's feet look huge! What size does he take?


:D I know! He just got those shoes last weekend and they are a 10.5. He was at the end of his 9.5's and the lady that measured him said that at this age they can go up a full size instead of just .5.

I hope that you all have a great weekend - Aidan and I are going to a b-day party tomorrow so that should be fun.

[jay&erinn]

mittyrd: Oh, I hope the boys feel better soon. What a crappy way to start your weekend.

Alison: A 10.5:eek: . Mia's only in a 7. Have fun at the b-day party. We have one tomorrow too.
The kids are sooooo cute. They look so much alike.

Jenyfer: How's Will feeling? Usually tubes and adnoids are pretty easy surgeries. Kids always seem to bounce back really quickly from them.

We're going to see Monsters Inc on Ice tomorrow. Mia has been looking foward to it for 6 weeks now. She giving up her last 2 pacifiers (I know, it's bad that she still has them) in exchange for "Monsters Inc stuff" as she puts it. I have a feeling those 2 pacis are going to cost us a fortune.

Ayla now has a horrible diaper rash that is caused by the yeast. Figures, I get her over the thrush just for it to spread to her diaper area. Poor kid- now wonder she never sleeps. I called the ped's office and left a message. I figured one of the nurses would call back, but our pediatrician did instead. We know him outside of the office too. He told me I'm becoming high maintenance (he was joking). I had to laugh. Working in a doc's office has made me paranoid of becoming one of those patients that calls for every little thing and he knows that, so he had to give me a hard time. I think that's the 3rd time I've had to call for her this month:rolleyes:

[mittyrd]

Erinn: I think I call the doctor once a week and lately visit once a week! They know me by voice now. It's kind of embarrassing. I hope Ayla's rash is better.

Unfortunately, the plague has hit here. We all came down with vomiting/diarrhea. DH started today. Jake has been carrying around his "pink puke bucket" since Thursday and today offered it to DH since he was sick. He was being a good sharer. Sam had a follow up appt. to his resp. illness. His lungs sound much better but he still needs the nebulizer 3 times a day. He does not have asthma but has reactive airway disease related to his prematurity. For whatever reason, he just gets hit much harder than Matt when he gets sick. Poor guy. And he still feels like crap from vomiting and diarrhea. Today he just wanted to be held. DH literally had to pry him off of me when I was leaving for work. Nothing like making me feel guiltier. Matt threw up and was ready to run in circles again. He had diarrhea while eating supper (sorry if tmi) and just looked at me with this surprised look and then just laughed. He's much more easy going than Sam. Speaking of Sam, I hear him starting to cry. Every night like clockwork he wakes up crying between 9-10 pm. I'm not sure if he is having nightmares or just wants some time alone with his mama.

[Jenyfer9]

Ugh, Mittyrd, I'm sorry that you're dealing with all that nastiness at your house. I know exactly what you mean about living at the doctor's office though... before Will's surgery we were literally in the doc's office once every 10 days or so (knock on wood!).

I've been bad about posting, I'm sorry. Everything here is going well, no one is sick (again, KNOCK on wood), and Will bounced right back after surgery... literally 4 hours after surgery he was back to his usual craziness. I have to get out of my house today because our cleaning people are coming... so we're going shopping. Both of my kids have gone through some serious growth spurts in the last month or so, and now they both look like they are watching out for a flood because their pants are so short. Unfortunately, TJ has been much harder on his clothes lately, so we can forget about just handing down TJ's clothes (well, the issue is more with pants than shirts) to Will because they almost all have holes in the knees (or soon will have a hole). TJ is wearing size 3 shirts and we'll be shopping for 3T pants for him today. Will is wearing 24m pants and 2t shirts. It's amazing how big my guys are getting. :(

[jay&erinn]

There's no more pacifiers!!!!!!! It's been a rough few days, but it's getting better. It cost us a fortune- we should have let her keep them and just paid for the orthodontist in a few years;) . The other night she was crying for them and told me to take her Sully doll back to Monsters Inc and get her pacis back. I felt so bad for her. Tonight she only asked once for them and let it drop when I told her we don't have them anymore.

DH is going away for work the rest of the week. I hope Mia continues to do OK without the pacifiers. I can't handle 2 non-sleeping children.
I also think I'm developing mastitis. I've had body aches for the past day and one side of my breast is red and sore. I'm not running a fever, so I'm letting it go for now and just nursing a ton. Hopefully it'll take care of itself. I'm worried about having to go on an antibiotic. I'm just getting Ayla over all of the thrush/yeast infection- I bet an antibiotic will just make it reappear.

Well, I'm off to bed early. I need some sleep.

[Michelle and Curtis]

Sorry I haven't been around lately. We also got hit with the vomit and diareaha thing. Yuck!

Shoes...
Skylar also wears about a 10-10.5 depending on the shoe.

Eating...
Skylar has been giving me so much trouble in these department. He always did but now it's getting worse. And believe me, I know this is going to sound a tad stupid but I think it may be possible he has some kind of eating disorder. Here's an example of what happens...Last weekend we went to my cousin's daighter's 1st birthday party. It was a lunch thing. There was chicken, hoagies, rigatoni, salad...usual party foods. He refused to eat. Not even a bun. My grandmother tried to coax him a bit to get him to eat. He still refused. Then he grudgingly took a bite...then he coughed...and coughed...choked...then threw up. He doesn't really choke or anything. It was a tiny bite. He does this to himself. It's happened tons of times. I was so embarassed because I forgot to pack clean clothes for him and my cousin had to run to her place and grab something for him while I cleaned up. I was even angry at him for doing it. We left after he was all cleaned up and in the car he told me that he wanted to go home cause the other boys weren't playing with him. :( It's so frustrating. I called our ped once before and they just told me he must have a stomach thing. When I told them that I think he has some sort of eating disorder cause he makes himself throw up they looked at me like I was nuts. I'm going to do some internet research and see what I can find out. For now we try to distract him when he starts to cough or just let him leave the table to play...got to bed without dinner. But I'm affraid he may begin to be anemic if we continue this. I give him Flinstones vitamins for now to help. *sigh* Off to research I go.

Night all!

[Renrel]

Michele - I don't think it is anything like bulimia at his age. But I know some kids and even adults are so grossed out by certain textures or tastes that it will make them vomit if they try to eat them. Does Skyler do this will all foods or only with foods that have a certain general taste or texture. He may also just have an issue with control. My sister was always very head strong and independent. She was a awful eatter and when my parents forced her to finish something she would then go to the bathroom and spit it all out, I don't think she threw up, just spit it up but I was a kid myself and don't really remember. She was skinny as a rail growing up and my mom used to do things like make us ice cream milkshakes with raw eggs to get calories, protein and calcium into us. My sister grew up to be a normal adult and these days has more of an issue losing weight than gaining it, like most of us.

Mittyrd - Sorry to hear about everyone being sick by you. I can't imagine how you deal with three kids, two of whom are still babies with premie issues plus work full time and maintain a house and stay sane. I am exhausted with one healthy kid and a full time job.

Errin - Good luck with the pacis and being alone with the kids. You too amaze me. Maybe I am just to old for all this mommy stuff. I hope your breast issue resolves itself naturally.

Jen - Glad everything is going well by you.

--
As for me and Gabe. Gabe appears to be really weaned. We have not nursed for two weeks, since we flew down to Florida, and he has not asked to nurse, though he seems to want more cuddling. He is also getting better about staying in on his bed all night and even went potty on his own all by himself upon waking up Saturday morning, only waking us to help him wash his hands.

On the other hand he is also being very difficult in other ways. When ever he does not get his way he start to cry or "runs away." He actual states he is running away and then runs to another room. AFter awhile he will to me and ask if I am ready to behave or be nice or listen to him. He tries to turn any parenting tool or language around on us. The other day he tried to get me to do what he wanted by offering me two choices - I could read to him and watch a video or just watch a video. We are trying to get stricter with disipline, counting him out and putting him time out when he throws these fits or will not listen, but we are still not consistant enough. And my shoulder is really out of wack, so I should not be lifting him, or pulling him, or dragging him or wrestling him. That makes it hard to enforce things at times unless DH is around.

We are getting ready for Purim which is this weekend. I have been reading him books all week, playing a purim cd and we made hamantoshen over the weekend. On Friday we will give little food goody bags to his friends at school for snack and I will try to read a purim story and help them make groggers (noise makers).

[jay&erinn]

Michelle: My little brother used to do the same thing. My mom used to make him sit at the dinner table for hours becaues he'd refuse to eat. It didn't get her anywhere. He was just a really picky kid. If you gave him what he liked he'd eat it. There were very few things he'd eat- I think he lived on peanut butter and jelly and cold cereal for a good 7 years. He's a very healthy adult and actually will try almost anything now. I remember quite a few issues of gagging and throwing up at the dinner table because he was made to try something. See if backing off and just letting him dictate what and when he eats (within reason) solves the problem.
The doc might also be right to a degree. He may have had a stomach bug and now a little uneasy about eatting again. I know after I get a stomach bug I usually don't want anything to do with food (especially what I ate right before I was sick) for quite awhile. I hope it gets better soon.

Renrel: We're having some of the same behavioral issues. It really tests my patience- the defiant attitude especially. I wish I had some advice, but everyone tells me it gets much better when they turn 4. I can only hope.

Well, I'm off to work. Have a good day.

[AlisonCO]

Renrel - Congrats on nursing as long as you did - it must be bitter sweet for you. Did you all have a nice vacation? We too have had to get a bit stricter lately - mostly with Aidan being too rough with Caitlin.

erinn - Yeah for no more paci's! We did it not too long ago and the first 2 nights were fine and then we had a couple of nights where he was sad and then it was over. Make sure that you take care of yourself - don't hesitate to call your OB if you think that it is mastitis! Please let me know if M likes the ice show - I was thinking about taking Aidan but wasn't sure.

mittyrd - Oh, I was so hoping that you would not get sick! I hope that you all feel better soon - you deserve a vacation after this!

jenyfer - We recently went thru a bit of a growth spurt (hence the new, big shoes:)). Aidan is growing out of his 3T pants so I went to my fav consignment store and bought him 2 pairs of 4t to get him thru until spring. His 3t shirts are fine so he must take after DH - long legs and big feet:)

Michelle - I'm sorry that you are worried about S - I have no advice other than to follow your gut. If your ped is brushing you off, maybe you need to make an appt with a specialist.

We are doing well - Aidan is on day 9 of no nap:( He is pretty good about staying quite for one hour in his room everyday, but man is he tired by dinner time. He has been sleeping from 7:45-6:30 so I can't complain about that. If this continues I might even try a 7:30 bedtime and bathe the kids together.

[Michelle and Curtis]

Thanks for all the feedback ladies. I'm positive it isn't s stomach bug cause it's been going on for months. And it isn't a texture thing. He'll even refuse food he loves now. I was taking too long getting him a peanut butter cookie today and he started to do the coughing / choke thing. Maybe it's for attention or something? It's just so frustrating. My mother keeps telling me it's a phase that he'll get through...but it's been going on so long. If it gets worse...I will see a specialist...I think.

[Michelle and Curtis]

I almost forgot to tell you gals! We got our first pet! It's actually Skylar and Axel's. Skylar named him Mr. Hinkles! Mr. Hinkles is a goldfish. I had fish for about 8 years so I thought this would make a great first pet for the boys and they love him. Skylar talks to him and tells him when mommy is being too mean and everything. It really is kinda cute. :)

[Jenyfer9]

Oh, forgot to add that I saw the OCTOBER 2007 thread. Yikes! I feel like it was just yesterday when I met all of you... instead... can you all believe that many of us have been chatting for 4 years? Wow.

[Renrel]

We had a good day today, with episodes of rotteness. Gabe was being non-cooperative this morning and thus was penalized his dessert with dinner and his car snack. He was quiet on the ride in and threw a fit when I had to leave without reading him a story. A lunch he was in a great mood. Pick up and the ride home went great. At home though he had at least 3 time outs. I am getting better about the 1-2-3 thing. Just counting and not explaining or reasoning, ect. We will see how it works. He does seem to come out of time out not doing the behavior that got him in trouble. Mostly it is throwing himself on the floor instantously when we say no, or not just now, or we don't have that, ect. He was such a good two year old that we are just not used to these tantrums. He has also started to hit or try to hit us in frustration and anger.

The other two Jewish moms have been talking to me about our Purim celebration at preschool. Looks like we will make noise makers out of paper plates, maybe have the kids cut out and fill hamentoshen cookies, read a purim story and have Gabe's Sholus Manot (gifts of food) for snack time. That is tomorrow night project. To put those together. I need to come up with some more inexpensive snack foods that are not candy and have no nuts. So far we have home made hamantoshen and some raisens. I will probably pick up some prezels tomorrow. Maybe the director will let me stick in a little lollypop. I will ask her.

[Renrel]

Jen - It is hard to believe. I think one of these days we have to plan a get together. I don't know how, but we have shared so much together is seems at somepoint we should be able to give each other a real life hug.

[Michelle and Curtis]

I can't believe how long we've been chatting either! And we're such a great group too! I love you gals! :D

[Renrel]

Gabe was much better this morning. Once he started to get a tantrum face on but DH reminded him what happened yesterday and he stopped. Then at daycare I needed to speak to the Director a moment while Gabe wanted to have a race with me. When I put him off three times he decided to throw a fit. I started counting but stopped at 2. He was more crying then screaming, though I know it was all for the purpose of manipulating me. I got him up and told him that yestday daddy accidently made his time out for 5 instead of 3 minutes, so I was giving him a credit and would not count out the rest of this tantrum. We moved on from there. But for his story before I left for work he wanted "a story from your heart" about time outs, not a book story. And then when it was done, he wanted another story about time outs "from my heart."

I did not go see him at lunch today because I had to shop for tonights purim project. I feel bad though. Gabe seems to be wanting/needing alot of mommy time right now. Maybe it is the end of nursing or the return from a vacation, or my inablility to pick him up or have him climb on me due to my shoulder, but he is really demanding lots and lots of mommy time lately.

[mittyrd]

Michelle: I would consider having Skylar see a feeding specialist. Some hospitals have feeding specialists who consist of an Occupational Therapist, Speech Language Pathologist and Dietitian. Skylar sounds perfect for a program like this.

I can't believe it has been 4 years either! Wow, does time fly.

I am still drowning in poop over here. Matt was the last to get it and his diarrhea has been explosive like I have never seen. Sam's belly was so hard and distended when I picked him up that I called the doctor. She told me just to try to get him to poop or fart and see how it goes tomorrow. My heart can't take all of this. Dh says he is going to leave and come back in 15 years when they can take care of themselves. I might have to go with him...

We've had some really bad days of potty training but Hake has been awesome for the last 2 days. He says he doesn't want Dada to be mad anymore. It doesn't bother him that I get mad. Oh well, whatever it takes, I guess.

[Renrel]

Sorry about the stomach problems Mittyrd. I can't imagine how hard this is on you. I hope they are all feeling better tomorrow.

We did the Purim project this evening and it went well. Gabe stayed involved till the end with filling all the cups with goodies, putting name tags on the coffee filter tops (which I put on the cups with a rubber band) and then putting them all in a box for transport. Then he wanted to make a grogger (a noice maker so he could drown out Hamen's name (Hamen is the bad guy and it is traditionaly to try to drown out his name when the story of Purim is told.).

[Michelle and Curtis]

A feeding specialist might be a great idea. I'll have to see if our local childrens hospital has one!

Not much else going on here. The boys have been good and they're getting huge. But that's about it!

Ahhhhh...I love boring weekends. :D

[Renrel]

Fri- Gabe had a great time celebrating Purim with his friends at school. He was very proud of both groggers he made.

Sat- DH took Gabe to do a HOme Depo project. They made a butterfly home and Gabe is apparently getting pretty good with a hammer. We looked at a house, which is very old and tired. It is a two family and we would be tight in one apartment but if we could eventually expand it into a one family it would be huge. The location is great. 1/10 mile from a tolly to the city and the town lake/beach. The elementry school is in the top 10 in the state. The main issue with the home is the backyard is up against the trolly/train track. Not a big issue for us since the train is infrequent and not that noisy, but if we are going to invest money to make the home a really nice one family the issue may become bigger. Will someone want to buy a $800,000 home, given the space, convience and schools if it is up against the train tracks? Gabe slept in the car for the whole visit. Last night we went to IKEA and and another furntiture store looking for a bed for Gabe. We did not buy a bed, just some fun Ikea stuff. GAbe loves his new big stuffed IKEA snake. We started night training last night, which was foolish given that Gabe drank a ton at IKEA late in the evening and we got home super late so he slept late. He was of course wet when he woke up. But he was dry several times this week and asked for underwear at bed time, so I had set the bed up with a special covering, so I went for it.

Today we have to find a Purim carnival somewhere for Gabe and we will go out for dinner to celebrate.

I have a PT appointment Wedsday for my shoulder. It is really interfering with my life and Gabe is having a hard time with my limitations. No swinging on me, no lifting him ect. DH has been great in trying to protect me from him and from myself.

[Michelle and Curtis]

I really need to get something off my chest. I thought of posting this on my myspace page but my family sees that and I don't really want to start a "thing".

Anyways, the other day my grandmother got a little confused and asked my mother when I was due. I'm not pregnant right now but my older cousin is and she just got a little confused. My mother told her that I'm not pregnant. Later, I made some buns for Curtis and the boys. Curtis said, "Michelle, you have a bun in the oven...ahhhh." I told him I wasn't ready for another one right now and he said he wants 2 more. I've been thinking and wishing lately that I should have had my tubes tied with my last c-section. I've always wanted a girl but I feel so overwhelmed with these two that I don't know if I'll ever want another.

The pain factor is also still bothering me. With Axel the spinal hurt sooooooo bad. And I would have rather done contractions than have that torturing back pain from the spinal. I just wonder if I'll ever want to have another and try for my little girl. And I feel so bad that I don't agree with Curtis's eagerness to have another. In fact, he said he wants two more!

Then there is another problem. The hospital that we had our last two at has closed it's maternity wing. Which means if there was a thrid baby I would have to deliver somewhere else. Someplace that I don't know. Out of whatever comfort zone there was.

I'm just kinda bummed that we don't agree right now. I've talked to him and he just says that I will want another sometime a little later. It will come he says. *sigh* I dunno.

[Renrel]

We have not had a good day. As I posted earlier Gabe woke up wet. Not a biggy. We went to see a house and while it is very nice it is not right for us. We were going from the house to a Purim Carnival. We ran out of gas on an exit ramp and were hit from behind. The car is drivable but there is some real damage. DH is afraid the cost of repair may result in the car being declared totalled, which will be a major cost to us. Gabe was in the car but other than a bit started seemed fine. I am not sure if this accident means we need a new car seat. I feel achy now on the OTHER side of my body, not the one with the bad shoulder. Nothing terrible but I am worried it will get worse. And due to all of this we missed the Purim Carnival, so we are not going to get to do a real celebration this year, even though I had Gabe all primed for it. I should have taken him last night or to an early morning one.

Michele - I am sorry about how you and Curtis are not on the same page and your doubts about doing this again. But I think you do get last vote on this one. You are the one who has to carry and deliver and you are the one doing most of the work. Maybe you can talk to Curtis about what it might take for you to feel comfortable that you can handle another. Cutting down on hours at work? His committing to take over primarly childcare responsiblities for 10 hours a week while you get to go off and do whatever, not clean or cook or work. Getting an Au Pair? And I realize these may not be feasable options or what you would need. But if you talk about all possible ways to make it, without eliminating the impossible, you be able to come up with something that will. It also might help Curtis to understand why even if he thinks he wants another he might not really based on the reality of what that will mean to his life, not just yours.

[mittyrd]

Aargghhh - just accidentally deleted a long post.

Renrel: Sorry to hear about your car accident. Hope you are all feeling better tomorrow. My cousin flew in from LA last night to put on a Purim puppet show at Temple Israel in Boston. I wanted to bring the boys but with them just getting over being sick, I decided against it.

The boys are finally feeling better. You have never seen 2 parents so excited to see a solid poop like we were yesterday. Matt must of thought we were nuts. They are still exhausted as this bug seemed to take a lot out of them.

Jake is doing much better potty training. Today I had him in underwear only since I think he thinks of the pull ups as diapers. He did wake up from his nap wet and he was very upset about it. I still can't imagine having to do this with 2 boys at the same time. Although, Sammy will probably be easy to train since he tells me "poo-poo" when he has gone and then goes to get me a diaper and the wipes!

I have a couple of "apple addicts" on my hands. Sammy is so obsessed that he cried (screamed) during dinner and refused to eat anything but an apple. He woke up and immediately started crying for apples. Only wanted apples at lunch and then again after his nap. I suppose it could be worse.... The other 2 ask for it constantly too but they will at least eat other food first.

[Renrel]

Mittyrd - I wish you had told my about the puppet show, maybe I would have planned on that. Though I would have been bummed then when you all could not make it.

Just a few cute remarks from Gabe relating to the accident. He is addicted to Magic School bus books and videos. So he quotes the characters frequently. In relation to the accident during the day we heard "We never did this at my old school." "Thats NOT good." "I knew I should have stayed home today." And "Bad,Bad,Bad."

While the day has not been going well, he has been really good all day. The only time out was first thing in the morning when he would not stay still to put on his underwear. Though I was being a softy today as far as letting him have snacks. It is after all a festive holiday. But he displayed a good deal of patience and calm most of the day. He did get frustrated when I was on the phone with my mom for a long time and he did curl up on the floor of the resturant while we were waiting on line (but he had just been woken up from a nap in the car, so I gave him some slack on that. ) He stayed calm through the car accident, did not fuss about missing the carnval, was pleasant and cooperative in the food store, even though that was the time he thought we would going to the carnavel, did not fuss when I left him for nap (not that he napped) and did not get upset when the same wall of his block building calapsed about 6 times (though I had to rebuild it the last two time.).

[AlisonCO]

Oh Renrel - I am so sorry about your crappy day but SO glad that you all are OK! I hope that your soreness is just muscular and not anything serious.

mittyrd - So glad that you all are on the mend - yeah for solid poop! My friend is now potty training her 3 year old twin boys and she says that for the most part that they have a positive affect on each other in terms of motivation and wanting to do what the other is doing.

Michelle - I agree with Renrel. I am sorry that you are feeling the way that you are right now, but I understand. I think that it probably was a good decision to not have your tubes tied yet - you guys are young and who knows how you will feel and what your situation will be in 2, 4, 6 years.

We are doing well and have had a relaxing weekend. Last night we did experience one of those things that you know might happen when you have kids, but hope doesn't....Aidan puked in a restaraunt! Poor guy. We were eating and he said that his tummy hurt, DH took him to the bathroom and he came back. He drank some milk and then said that he wanted to go home. We got his jacket on and made it halfway to the door when he puked - it was mostly liquid and thankfully it was on the linoleum and not the carpet. He has been fine since - not eating much but drinking and in good spirits. We had beautiful weather so we were outside all morning.

Aidan did nap today for the first time in 2 weeks. His new way to try to get out of napping is to pee in his pants. I really don't want to have to put him back in a pullup for naps but I also want him to know that I am serious about him napping/resting in thr afternoon and not messing around.

[Renrel]

AlisonCO - How embarrassing, but I am glad Aidan is feeling better. One suggestion on the nap/pee thing. And I am not saying I would be any good at implimenting this myself, just that it sounds like the kind of things one of those super nannies might do. Assuming Aidian is capable of changing his own pants, when you put him in his room for nap, give him a set of fresh cloths and tell him if he pees his pants he can change into those fresh ones himself, or stay wet. His choice. The other option, which tends to be my wimpy approach is to come in do a no nosense change and