Birthday on Monday!

Evie will be 2 on Monday. She is so excited she knows what birthdays are and loves them. We ordered her Dora cake today. She keeps saying, "Mine Birthday!" I can't wait. I just don't know what to do. I want to take her to Chicago to the aquarium we will probably do that on Monday. I ordered the cake for Sunday so we will probably invite family over for dinner. I just can't decide. I know the aquarium will probably be expensive, and I don't want to go over board. Daddy already spent way to much on her.

Despite having a toddler bed already, a nice wooden bed that was my brothers, daddy ordered her a Dora canopy bed and Dora bed set. It is cute as can be, but what about the other bed. Daddy says, "Christopher can have it!" I don't think that is fair, and what if she won't let him have it! She has already claimed it as her own. Walmart had a baby stroller and clothes on clearance so I got her some. I thought this was fitting since she got the baby for her first birthday, and still plays with it.

Well whatever we do I know she will have fun. I don't know what my hang up is about it. Maybe it is because she is growing so fast.

Nana and Papa visit!

We all love when nana and papa visit for different reasons of coarse. For mommy I get a mini vacation, and the kids just love their nana and papa. The spoil the kids rotten. I don't mind since they only see the kids once or twice a month usually for 2 days. We try to visit them every other weekend.

However, this past weekend I didn't want to go. Everyone has been sick lately and I just didn't want to be away from home with sick kids. If something is gonna get worse it will happen late at night when we are far from home, that is just my luck! The kids have had runny noses for over 2 weeks, and I have been having headaches. Good thing we didn't go daddy actually got sick Friday, and now all four of us are on antibiotics. The bad thing is nana picked it up to. We called her today to say, "Happy Birthday!" and she sounds horrible.

The worst thing about nana and papa visiting is getting the kids to sleep. They get so exited to see them that it is nearly impossible to get them to sleep. Evie is the worst she will lay down and then say, "Papa, Nana!" Then she will cry until she I let her up to go see them. I figured out how to solve the problem though at bed time everybody goes to bed. When she sees everyone going to sleep she doesn't feel like she is missing anything. Even if most times it is just a show. It is what works for now!

Sneaky, Sneaky!

Today, I was on the Internet in the dinning room with my back to the living room. Christopher was sleeping, but I couldn't get Evie to sleep. So I turned on cartoons and let her play. All of a sudden the TV turned off. I though she was playing with the remote so ignored it. However, after a few minutes I realized that she was way to quiet to. I could hear her, but not very well.

I went turned and looked into the living room, and saw her. She had crawled over the table that holds the TV and was now behind it. We have a large flat TV that is held in the air by a stand. The stand has 2 shelves both are glass. The way the table is positioned it creates a triangle shaped play area just big enough for a little person behind it.

I was so mad, "she knows not to do that" I thought! The safety hazards alone were enough to almost give me a heart attack. She is lucky, or I am lucky (we are all lucky) that the glass didn't shatter and hurt or kill her! Not to mention the TV weighs like 60 or so pounds. It could have fallen.

I went into the living room, and pretended not to see her. I saw her slink back into the corner to hide, though! I said, "Evie, where are you!" A few times, but got no response.

Finally, I turned to the TV and said, "Are you in trouble?"

"Yeah," whispered very quietly was the response I got. I almost died with laughter, but I bite my tongue. Good thing she was behind the TV!

I asked, "Are you being a bad girl?"

"Yeah" she said also in almost a whisper. Again I had to hold back the laughter!

I got her out and put her in time out while I reminded her that behind the TV was no place to play. It was a reminder that I you can't take your eyes away for any amount of time. Toddlers will find a way to do or get into whatever strikes them at that moment!

Fun Day!

Today is also daddy's birthday. Happy Birthday Daddy! We went out of town today. Daddy had a doctor appointment today, and it was about 45 minutes away! It was his first step towards having bariatric surgery. We were all a little nervous, so we all went, Nanna, Papa, Mommy, daddy, Evie, and Christopher! However, when we got there they told us the appointment would be 4hours long. So, daddy stayed while we left with the kids.

I decided to go to the mall, if they rented strollers because I had forgot to bring mine. I usually don't when daddy is with, we both carry one kid! I parked in front of one of the many mall entrances and ran in to ask if they rented strollers. I was told, "Yes, downstairs by Macy's." So I parked in the closest spot near Macy's. We went in and found a great play place in front of the store, but the stroller rental had been moved to the other side of the mall.

As we made our way in that direction we discovered a huge carousel in the middle of the mall. Nanna and I decided to take the kids on it while Papa went for the stroller. We didn't have much of a choice Evie was already standing by the gate. I hate carousel for some reason they make me dizzy and nauseous. They didn't years ago, but something has changed since I had children. Both the kids sat on a horse. The nice thing was they had straps to buckle the kids in! It was fun, and didn't make me that sick.

The mall stroller was so cool! It was a double stroller that unfortunately cost 7$ to rent. However, it was money well spent the kids loved it. It was a firetruck with stadium style seating, and each kid had their own steering wheel! It also had a huge bag for storage under it, and 2 large cup holders. Plus, the kids were separated enough that they couldn't fight at all. I would buy one of these seriously! I know I will definitely rent one again!

First we ate at the food court. I didn't know what the kids would eat so I spent almost 20$ on food at Sparros, I think that is how you spell it! I had a stuffed pizza, and got the kids baked zitti, potatoes, cheese pizza, and bread sticks. I didn't know who would eat what. They both can be so picky! In fact neither one of them ate much of anything. Christopher ate the cheese pizza, and Evie refused to eat anything!

After eating we went to the Disney store. However, on the way I saw a store with wedding clothes. They have tons of cute dresses for girls, Evie's size, as well as suits that would fit Christopher. I thought how cute to get Evie a dress for Easter, and Christopher an actual suit with a tie or something to match Evie! I looked for a bit, but Evie got bored. She did pick out a dress. Some dresses were not that expensive around $30, not the one my daughter picked out. She picked a $60 dress. She isn't even 2 yet. I decided to leave the store. We stopped in a game/educational store. They had tons of stuff including life size stuffed dogs, pandas, and some other animals. Evie liked them, but I think they were to real looking she didn't get to close. She did grab a toy and run out of the store! Uh-OH!

The Disney store was overload for her to. She grabbed a Tinker Bell socker ball and carried that around for a while. I had trouble getting her to stay with me. My in-laws needed a break so they sat down outside the store with Christopher. Evie found some fairy wings, and said, "Fly, mama, Fly!" I put them on her and she didn't take them off most of the day. Needless to say I bought them. Twenty dollar wings, Yeah! Money well spent, I think. I did wait a while to buy them. She picked up every stuffed dog she saw, 100 Dalmatians and Bolt, then she hugged them while rubbing their fur on her face making a soft awe sound! It was cute, but I told her wings or a dog. She put the dog down every time.

Build-A-Bear was next door, thanks a lot, and she had to go in. We walked around. I know she didn't get the idea of what was going on in there. She just liked the look of all the stuff. I told her wings or a bear. She had a little difficulty, but in the end the wings won. The lady who stuffs the bears did let her keep a heart. They are the ones you kiss, and put into your bear before the bear is totally stuffed and closed up! That was nice.

Next we went to the play place. Christopher had been sitting most of the day, and needed to play. Evie rode on the train Christopher was to small to ride alone and I wouldn't fit so he didn't get to ride. Evie loved it. I took Christopher into the play place. Immediately, a little girl came up to him and asked him, "Hi, Baby do you want to play with me?"

I told her he could play with her. She replied with, "I will teach him how to walk!"

I smiled and said, "Thank you!" Knowing he could already walk, so it wouldn't be that hard for her to teach him. Once he tripped and she fell her mom rushed over, but I assured her that all was fine. Despite the girl being very bossy I was more worried that Christopher would hurt her! While playing he hugged 2 girls and 1 boy. It was cute. They were all around 4, and thought Christopher was cute.

After the train ride Evie came over to play to. She keep running out. On both sides of the play area there were rides. She was more interested in those. I don't know how much nana and papa spent in quarters! They both had so much fun.

Around 1:30 we left to go get daddy. Babies 'R Us was on the way, but the kids had fallen asleep. I ran in really quick, took about 30 minutes. It's a big store! I found almost everything I was looking for, and some things I wasn't. I bought diapers for both my sister and sister in law. They are both expecting with in the next month/ month in a half. I got a good deal 304 diapers for 35$. Then we went and got daddy. Ate a late lunch at a buffet place. Which I like because kids are free and you can offer the kids more of a selection. Then we went home. It was a long, and fun day!

Valentine's Day!

We went to Walmart on Valentine's Day, and immediately when we walked in Evie saw a huge Pooh balloon. It was bigger than her. All she could say was "Pooh!" My husband didn't say a word, and he went to get the balloon for her. We got the same one for Christopher to. Since we weren't in any type of hurry I let Evie walk around the store. Which she loved! She walked around pulling her balloon just as proud as she could be. She said "Hi!" to everyone we passed, and then quickly added "MINE!" referring to her balloon. Everyone thought she was so cute. It was cute, but the "mine" gets old fast. So for their Valentines Day gift they got life size pooh balloons.

Evie also filled out Sesame Street Valentines for the family. She scribbled on all of them and I put the names on them. Then I folded them and we delivered them. My brother, Isaac age 7, and Sister, Abby age 9, thought it was hilarious that I folded the Valentines the wrong way. It has been years since I had to fold Valentines and wondered why it was so hard to tell which Valentine went to who. The thought did not cross my mind to put the To and From side on the outside! Silly, MaMa!

My husband also surprised me for the first time in forever I think. He can home from work an hour late. I was starting to get really worried to! He opened the door and said "whats this junk out here!"

We had been expecting a package from UPS. So I thought "UPS runs this early?" 9 am at that point. I said "Well, bring it in!"

His surprising response was "I'm not touching this crap!"

Which made me think, "What the heck is out there!" I went to the door totally confused. I saw a box and a bag. It didn't look like garbage, but at that time I had no idea what it was. I thought to my self, "Who would leave me this stuff?" My husband's name didn't even cross my mind. As I picked it up I realized what it was! I couldn't believe it. He bought me a new lap top and all kinds of stuff for it. Blank CDs, DVDs, my favorite game, a wireless mouse (for convenience), and another game. I was so happy. I didn't even want to know how much it cost. I had told him not to buy it since he needs to have bariatric surgery. I told him we should save the money so it is there if we need it, but if not we have it to buy my computer later. He didn't listen, and honestly I didn't mind!

I was on cloud nine. He said he knew he had been horrible lately, so he wanted to get me something nice to make up for it. I would have settled for some changed diapers and baths, but I'll take what I can get! I really really wanted a lap top of my own. I want to write a book. I just need to figure out how to!

Our anniversary is coming soon and so is my birthday so he also bought me some desperately needed pans, and a vacuum that charges so I don't have to break out the big one for every little mess. Yeah, a cleaner house with less fuss, the best gift ever! He also paid my sister, Racheal age 11, and brother, Nate age 17, to come over and do some cleaning for me! They shampooed most of the house, and cleaned the kitchen! What am I supposed to do after being spoiled so bad!

The only bad thing is that I couldn't get anything for him. He says I take care of him and our kids and that is enough! I'd still like to get him a gift. He takes care of us! He works hard so I don't have to, and that is a lot in itself. He doesn't realize how much we appreciate him!

Little Fish!

Today my brother and sisters all had a half day at school, plus the weather was nice for a change. So I decided to pick them up from school, get lunch, and take all the kids swimming. We went to McDonalds for lunch after ordering I realized I forgot my purse. Usually, I keep it in the diaper bag so this doesn't happen.

I asked if they could hold the order, after all I had ordered for 7 people and didn't really want to do it again. They told me "Yes." So I went home and got my purse. I returned thinking I would pay and go with food ready. No, I had to wait in line again and reorder, they can't hold orders. It wasn't that big of a deal except they told me "yes", and I had 5 hungry kids in the car. One 2 year old crying "french fries, mommy", and a 1 year old just crying! I was not thrilled.

We got our food went to my mom's house, ate, took care of the dogs, and went to the pool. All went reasonably well. Evie hadn't had a nap so she only wanted to swim for about 20 minutes, but then she got her second wind, the cranky wind! So then she didn't want to leave. After about 45 minutes of swimming I was done. I was exhausted.

Evie swam every where and hardly allowed anyone to help her. A couple moms asked me how old she was, and couldn't believe she wasn't even 2 yet. They figured she had been in a lot of swimming lessons, but really she has only taken 2 classes both times we missed a lot of classes!

Christopher on the other hand held onto my shoulder tight. He would splash occasionally. I swished him around the water in front of me a little, but he preferred to be held on my hip as close as possible. He did have a lot of fun though. After a bit he was blowing raspberries on my neck, which made all the kids in the pool constantly turn and stare. I know they were wondering who farted. Oh, well!

The hardest part was getting cleaned up after. All of us were cold. Christopher's lips were a blue or purple color. We all went into the handicapped shower. I turned on the warm water as soon as possible. Isaac and Abby washed off first and went to get dressed. Then I cleaned the kids and myself off. I got dressed while Christopher and Evie fought over the shower. It was one on a hose! They loved it. After that I dressed the kids, Christopher first while Abby watched Evie.

Finally we were done and ready to head home. We all had wet hair so I wanted to hurry to the car, but Evie didn't want to be carried! I was carrying Christopher already when I had to grab Evie with my other arm. She ended up being carried like a football to the car. I had to walk fast so I wouldn't drop her. I felt bad, but it was to cold out for wet hair.

MINE!

It seems that sometime during the night this week my daughter was replaced with a "MINE" monster. All of a sudden everything is "MINE". Things she freely shared yesterday are not without a price today. I have tried asking her to share, but she just throws a tantrum crying as if her life depended upon it. She does this with things that she never plays with and things that aren't even hers. Suddenly whatever her brother has is hers, and it is very special to her.

I still ask her to share, but I know the response will be tear soaked checks so I redirect. As quick as I can I happily bring up anything that I can that is not related to the item. This works about half the time or at least for a few minutes. The rest of the time I end up taking the toy away. Due to the fact that Christopher had the toy first he is very hesitant to let it go. So a tug of war match erupts, and never ends well. Evie has become an expert at pushing down her brother. Which I am not to happy about. I use time outs, but they are young and it will take time.

I know that neither of my children are capable of sharing yet. However, I still want to encourage that type of behavior. On good days they do share, and do so without any interventions from me at all.

The second First Birthday Party!

Christopher turned one on Jan. 25th. So we had a party at home for my family. He had a Batman cake, and lasagna for dinner. Daddy, Mommy, Evie, and Christopher were here of coarse. Grandma, Grandpa, Uncle Isaac, Aunts Abbie, Racheal, Haley, and Ashley were here also. Ashley brought a friend over. It was a little crowded in our 2 bedroom apartment, but it was fun. Daddy worked the night before so he slept until cake time.

My mom's birthday was a few days before so we bought her a game called whonew (I think). We all played that after dinner it was fun. The kids played a lot. Evie and Christopher got a ride on train for Christmas, that they haven't been able to play with much. So Racheal and Isaac set up the tracks and helped them play with it. Christopher loves it, but he can't hold down the button to make it go. He was so excited that they helped him ride the train. Evie is slightly afraid of it. However, the kids brought over their Nintendo DS' which Evie loved. They let her play some game. She couldn't really do it, but she had a blast all the same.

When it was time for cake we turned off the lights and sung happy Birthday. Christopher cried. I don't think he knew what to think of all the attention. It was funny. I had to take him out of his highchair and hold him for a minute. He isn't that into cake anyways. He did eat some. He wanted to play more than anything. He actually unwrapped some presents finally. We bought him some super hero cars that go after you shake them up. Evie liked those to. He also got some mega blocks, diapers, an umbrella (that Evie quickly confiscated, so mommy had to hide it), and some money that we put into his bank account.

It was so much fun. The best part was having all of my family together. Except my 17 year old brother who is apparently to cool for us. He was mad a our parents for "ruining his life" so he didn't come. I was mad about that, but got over it. All in all it was a good party. Evie and Christopher were so excited from everything that despite being extremely over tired at the end of the party it took me forever to get them to fall asleep.

Friend or Foe!

Everyday I feel like I am going insane. I am constantly saying things like "Don't (hit, push, kick, pull hair, bite, or what ever else) your brother/sister! Despite being the best of friends they are also their own worst enemies. All day long they play nice, with many interruptions of the worst kind. I don't know what to do about it. I don't know if their is anything I can do. They don't actually hurt each other, not physically. Other than making the other mad and hurting their feelings.

A big problem we have is that Christopher pulls hair. I don't know how to get him to stop. We all tell him No. I have tried over and over to show him how to touch hair. He just loves to play with hair, and his fingers get stuck. Sometimes, but other times you can tell he just wanted to pull your hair.

I wonder if Evie thinks that Christopher has been pushing her. He is still very clumsy and falls a lot. He often uses her to stabilize himself, resulting in one or both of them falling. Lately she has been pushing him. She will even use her entire body to push him out of her way. Sometimes she doesn't even wait for him to get into her way before she pushes him. It is as if she thinks, "I know your gonna get in my way, so I'm gonna push you away before you have the chance." It is horrible. Most times he doesn't get hurt. Sometimes it hurts his feelings and occasionally he actually gets hurt. I keep telling her not to push. I've tried time out. I separate them both often. Usually, just for a few minutes.

However, if he cries she is always concerned about how he is doing. I take that back not always concerned. If she caused him to cry she usually doesn't pay any attention to his crying. She often says, "Sorry Baby!" Sometimes she apologizes before she pushes him! I know she is learning, but I don't want them to bully other kids!

For the most part they get along good. The biggest problem I have right now is that Christopher wants to do all the things that Evie does, but he just isn't ready to! The developmental gap between one and two is huge. He gets very upset with that. He gets jealous sometimes to. If Evie is sitting on my lap he will cry or pout. I just tell him it is ok, and have him come sit on the other side of my lap. He usually is fine with that. But it isn't long before the two of them are playing or fighting on my lap.

Not up to posting.

If your wondering why I haven't been posting as often lately it is because I haven't been feeling good. I have been having horrible headaches. I have been plagued with headaches my entire life, but these lately are like nothing I have ever experienced. They are so bad at times I can't even take care of the kids. The other day, I hurt so bad I accidentally put my daughter's coat on my son. It took me several seconds of looking at him wondering what was wrong before I figured it out.

Today I hurt so bad it scared me to death. I though what if something happened to me what about my kids? I was giving them a bath when my head got really bad. I had to get them out of the tub. I was afraid if something happened to me they would be in the tub with no one watching them! That scared the crap out of me. Yes, it hurt that bad.

So I saw my doctor, twice this week, and I am having a CT tomorrow of my head and neck. The pain seems to start in my neck and move up my head. It is worse on the left side between my ear and forehead. It feels like someone is stabbing me in my ear. The pain pulsates from achy to horrific pain I can't stand. It is up and down. The worst part is it is making me mean. Lately I have a very short fuse. I feel awful about it, but I am in constant pain. I can't think half the time. My back is achy as well. I also have been having chest pain, numbness on my left side by my breast. I think all this is anxiety. I hope that is it. I know I have a lot of stress. I wear the weight of the world on my shoulders.

I have a sore throat this afternoon, as if I needed anything else to hurt. I took a 2 hour nap while my sister watched the kids, thank God. When I woke up my throat hurt and has been sore ever since. I just hope the kids don't get sick. I can't handle that and this right now. I'm just praying to get through this. It should be a universal law that mommies can't get sick. Or daddies!

His first first birthday party!

My family lives in Indiana, but my husbands lives in Michigan therefore often the children will have 2 birthday parties. This was one of those times. Christopher's first birthday party was a week and one day before his actual birthday. He got mostly clothes and shoes. I asked for no toys. Being so close to Christmas we were already completely overwhelmed with toys. He did get an Elmo that plays music.

The party was fun to fun. Christopher was so excited he didn't want to go to bed that night. A lot of family came to making it more fun. Christopher, mommy, daddy, and Evie were there. So were nana, papa, (it was their house), uncle Mike, Uncle shaun, and Aunt Morgan stopped by to. His great Aunt Diane, her daughter Nicki, and Nicki's kids saadie, Montana, and Lonnie were all there to. His great Aunt Charlotte, her grandkids Taylor, and Xavior, and her son Dan along with his kids Jordan, and Emma, who is 18 months, were all there to. Both the kids were really excited with all the people around.

Christopher was walking to so everyone had to watch out for him because he was everywhere. They also played rock band. Which both my kids loved, it turns out that Evie is quite the rocker once she started singing she wouldn't stop. They both loved to sing and dance. It was fun. Something that we all could do. I think we might get that game!

His first cake was a Bob the builder cake, and he wouldn't even eat any of it! I got him to eat some with ice cream. Mostly he made a mess with it. I don't think he liked the way it felt in his hands. He did play with the little truck that came with it. He didn't pay much attention to everyone singing "Happy Birthday". I don' think he knew what to think about all this. He almost burnt his face on the candle. You could tell that he got to close to it, because of the look on his face. So I blew the candle out for him. He did grab the cake.

All in all it was a fun day!

Christopher self feeding!

Christopher is doing really well feeding himself. I got some great advice from others who have read my blog. I got some bowls that suction down to the highchair. All of which he eventually gets lose and dumps. He is so strong. I also got some shorter spoons. I love the bowl I found by Gerber. It has 3 pieces a suction cup for the base, a plate, and then a rim that goes over the plate. This allows him to eat without pushing the food off his plate, or the plate of the high chair. Gerber also had some neat shorter spoons. One set came with the plate and has a thicker handle. That seems to be his favorite one.

He is doing great despite the fact that he has only been feeding himself for a couple of weeks. He uses his hands a lot and makes a big mess. I do worry about how much he is actually eating versus wearing, but I have learned to accept it and let him go. I actually had to he wouldn't let me feed him anymore. I try to get a few bites in here and there, some he eats and some he spits out just because I fed him. He is so independent lately. The look on his face when he feeds himself makes it all worth it. Thank you to everyone who gave some tips.

One food I found that both my kids love is soup. They love ramen noodles, and Campbell's curly noodles. They make a big mess, but they have so much fun! I am still extra cautious with Christopher, he has just choked way to many times. Not actually choked, but he has had some close calls. I think it is because he tries to swallow food to soon. When it gets to the back of his throat he gags and vomits. Plus, it scares him and me! This is because of his throat condition Laryngomalacia.

He is also holding his sippy cups now. Something he wasn't doing 2 weeks ago. His favorite cup is by Dr Brown. He still gets a bottle, but most of the time rejects it. He only wants one when he is tired. He is growing so fast!